Jul 15

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Keep your heart open to dreams. For as long as there’s a dream, there is a hope, and as long as there is hope, there is a joy in living.

Anonymous

Last night for reflection we were asked to reflect on hands and everything we do with them each day. We went around the room and shared how we used our hands during the day. People shared how they hammered, painted, held the hand of a child, petted a beloved family dog and hugged someone goodbye.

This morning started off great as we were greeted by homemade zucchini muffins baked with love the evening before by our cook. Then it was off to sites….

Much to our amazement, volunteers started and finished a Ondura roof in Lilydale in 1 day! This even included a short delay because of rain. Volunteers also continued worked on the floors and hauling trash out in Simon and well as the mudding, sanding and painting out in Long Branch.

Soccer camp continued with a full house and lots of fun! We were even greeted with a nice 1/2 hour downpour. There is nothing like soccer in the rain, the kids (and the PVs) had a ball. After a quick lunch the soccer camp folks headed down the road to McGraws to install a new waterheater and patch a roof.

With the cooler weather and the rain, today is a perfect day for the chili that is being prepared for dinner…

Jul 15

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Keep your heart open to dreams. For as long as there’s a dream, there is a hope, and as long as there is hope, there is a joy in living.

Anonymous

Last night for reflection we were asked to reflect on hands and everything we do with them each day. We went around the room and shared how we used our hands during the day. People shared how they hammered, painted, held the hand of a child, petted a beloved family dog and hugged someone goodbye.

This morning started off great as we were greeted by homemade zucchini muffins baked with love the evening before by our cook. Then it was off to sites….

Much to our amazement, volunteers started and finished a Ondura roof in Lilydale in 1 day! This even included a short delay because of rain. Volunteers also continued worked on the floors and hauling trash out in Simon and well as the mudding, sanding and painting out in Long Branch.

Soccer camp continued with a full house and lots of fun! We were even greeted with a nice 1/2 hour downpour. There is nothing like soccer in the rain, the kids (and the PVs) had a ball. After a quick lunch the soccer camp folks headed down the road to McGraws to install a new waterheater and patch a roof.

With the cooler weather and the rain, today is a perfect day for the chili that is being prepared for dinner…

Jul 14

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.

Herman Melville

Last night we had a wonderful reflection on community and how important having the community support and sharing our experiences is when doing service. The reflection closed with everyone sharing their “new and goods.”

Today was another wonderful day out on the sites. Two sites were finished!!! PVs finished the site with the additions so hopefully now they will be able to get their grandchildren. Thanks to all the PVs who put their hard work, sweat and tears into this site. We also finished the site we started on Thursday, doing flooring and roofing on a back porch. Many PVs also worked on this site. Kudos to all!

The other two home repair sites for today went smoothly as well. PVs continued to drywall, mudd, sand and paint up in Long Branch. We also started a site out in Simon today. It will be an ongoing site throughout the summer, but this group of volunteers began to replace the kitchen floor and helping remove garbage from the yard around the house. It was a dirty job, thanks to all the PVs who went today.

On a non-home repair front, we had another exciting day at Soccer camp with a record 23 kids!!! Lots of soccer was played and fun was had by all. Because of soccer camp we have temporarily moved tutoring to the afternoons. Very impressively all the kids from tutoring came and were very attentive, even after a morning of soccer playing!

I’m going to be late for dinner…..we are having veggy and chicken stir fry, yum yum!

Jul 14

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.

Herman Melville

Last night we had a wonderful reflection on community and how important having the community support and sharing our experiences is when doing service. The reflection closed with everyone sharing their “new and goods.”

Today was another wonderful day out on the sites. Two sites were finished!!! PVs finished the site with the additions so hopefully now they will be able to get their grandchildren. Thanks to all the PVs who put their hard work, sweat and tears into this site. We also finished the site we started on Thursday, doing flooring and roofing on a back porch. Many PVs also worked on this site. Kudos to all!

The other two home repair sites for today went smoothly as well. PVs continued to drywall, mudd, sand and paint up in Long Branch. We also started a site out in Simon today. It will be an ongoing site throughout the summer, but this group of volunteers began to replace the kitchen floor and helping remove garbage from the yard around the house. It was a dirty job, thanks to all the PVs who went today.

On a non-home repair front, we had another exciting day at Soccer camp with a record 23 kids!!! Lots of soccer was played and fun was had by all. Because of soccer camp we have temporarily moved tutoring to the afternoons. Very impressively all the kids from tutoring came and were very attentive, even after a morning of soccer playing!

I’m going to be late for dinner…..we are having veggy and chicken stir fry, yum yum!

Jul 14

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.

Herman Melville

Last night we had a wonderful reflection on community and how important having the community support and sharing our experiences is when doing service. The reflection closed with everyone sharing their “new and goods.”

Today was another wonderful day out on the sites. Two sites were finished!!! PVs finished the site with the additions so hopefully now they will be able to get their grandchildren. Thanks to all the PVs who put their hard work, sweat and tears into this site. We also finished the site we started on Thursday, doing flooring and roofing on a back porch. Many PVs also worked on this site. Kudos to all!

The other two home repair sites for today went smoothly as well. PVs continued to drywall, mudd, sand and paint up in Long Branch. We also started a site out in Simon today. It will be an ongoing site throughout the summer, but this group of volunteers began to replace the kitchen floor and helping remove garbage from the yard around the house. It was a dirty job, thanks to all the PVs who went today.

On a non-home repair front, we had another exciting day at Soccer camp with a record 23 kids!!! Lots of soccer was played and fun was had by all. Because of soccer camp we have temporarily moved tutoring to the afternoons. Very impressively all the kids from tutoring came and were very attentive, even after a morning of soccer playing!

I’m going to be late for dinner…..we are having veggy and chicken stir fry, yum yum!

Jul 13

Monday, July 13, 2009

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Marian Wright Edelman

I’ve decided to start each post off with the quote I put on each door that day. Maybe it will be inspiring to you at home…

Today we kicked off the Glen Fork Soccer camp. We were very excited to have a great turnout (16 kids!!!) and a wonderful group of PVs for the first day. Many returning campers returned to improve their skills, while several new kids joined in. After soccer camp, the group of PVs made a run of donations to the Itmann Food Bank in preparation for Friday distribution.

Home repair projects are continuing as usual. Two sites from last week carried over and we started a new site out in Long Branch. We are getting close to finishing a couple of more sites!!!

Getting ready for a scrumptious dinner of homemade pizza!!!!

Jul 13

Monday, July 13, 2009

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Marian Wright Edelman

I’ve decided to start each post off with the quote I put on each door that day. Maybe it will be inspiring to you at home…

Today we kicked off the Glen Fork Soccer camp. We were very excited to have a great turnout (16 kids!!!) and a wonderful group of PVs for the first day. Many returning campers returned to improve their skills, while several new kids joined in. After soccer camp, the group of PVs made a run of donations to the Itmann Food Bank in preparation for Friday distribution.

Home repair projects are continuing as usual. Two sites from last week carried over and we started a new site out in Long Branch. We are getting close to finishing a couple of more sites!!!

Getting ready for a scrumptious dinner of homemade pizza!!!!

Jul 13

Monday, July 13, 2009

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Marian Wright Edelman

I’ve decided to start each post off with the quote I put on each door that day. Maybe it will be inspiring to you at home…

Today we kicked off the Glen Fork Soccer camp. We were very excited to have a great turnout (16 kids!!!) and a wonderful group of PVs for the first day. Many returning campers returned to improve their skills, while several new kids joined in. After soccer camp, the group of PVs made a run of donations to the Itmann Food Bank in preparation for Friday distribution.

Home repair projects are continuing as usual. Two sites from last week carried over and we started a new site out in Long Branch. We are getting close to finishing a couple of more sites!!!

Getting ready for a scrumptious dinner of homemade pizza!!!!

Jul 13

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sundays are traditionally Community Day in the PV world. This week we had a full day together, starting out with the group attending services at New Life Church in Jesse. This church is very active in the community with a lot of social outreach happening. They have collaborated with St. Vincent DePaul and the Itmann Food Bank in the past and they are very interested in wanting to collaborate with us as much as possible. We met with them a few weeks back and besides talking about collaborating with work, they extended an invitation for us to join them for their services. Holy Cross did not have services this Sunday due to Fr. Jack being out of town, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity. We felt very welcomed and a part of the community.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat back at the school, we loaded into the cars and headed up to Twin Falls for a hike to the falls. The walk afforded lots of time for good conversation and lots of laughs. The fall were quite impressive this trip, lots of water pouring through due to heavy rains over the weekend. After we finished the hike some of the group went swimming up at the lodge while others headed back to the school.

We were treated with a departure from our regular Sunday meal when a couple of volunteers asked if they could cook dinner. It was a very tasty meal of kabobs and veggie soup, amazingly enough all done on the grill!

After a quick reorientation for the PVs who arrived over the weekend, we gathered together for the commissioning service, to officially welcomed and prepare the newly arrived for service. Sundays are usually a very full, but relaxing day. We are now ready for the upcoming work week!

Jul 13

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sundays are traditionally Community Day in the PV world. This week we had a full day together, starting out with the group attending services at New Life Church in Jesse. This church is very active in the community with a lot of social outreach happening. They have collaborated with St. Vincent DePaul and the Itmann Food Bank in the past and they are very interested in wanting to collaborate with us as much as possible. We met with them a few weeks back and besides talking about collaborating with work, they extended an invitation for us to join them for their services. Holy Cross did not have services this Sunday due to Fr. Jack being out of town, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity. We felt very welcomed and a part of the community.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat back at the school, we loaded into the cars and headed up to Twin Falls for a hike to the falls. The walk afforded lots of time for good conversation and lots of laughs. The fall were quite impressive this trip, lots of water pouring through due to heavy rains over the weekend. After we finished the hike some of the group went swimming up at the lodge while others headed back to the school.

We were treated with a departure from our regular Sunday meal when a couple of volunteers asked if they could cook dinner. It was a very tasty meal of kabobs and veggie soup, amazingly enough all done on the grill!

After a quick reorientation for the PVs who arrived over the weekend, we gathered together for the commissioning service, to officially welcomed and prepare the newly arrived for service. Sundays are usually a very full, but relaxing day. We are now ready for the upcoming work week!