And the last week in the school begins…. this week we have the largest group of the summer with 34 volunteers, which is great as we try and finish up as much work as we can this week before we move to the house.

On Saturday we only said goodbye to three volunteers, but over the weekend we welcomed 18. With a full house and a lot more names to learn, we were once again led in community building activities by our two summer longs. Once again, a good time was had by all. Since this was the last Sunday they will be with us, we just wanted to say what a wonderful job they did all summer long as our community liaisons. They did a great job bring each community together.

Shortly after community activities finished it started pouring down rain. It was raining so hard that water kept coming up the kitchen floor drain and flooding the kitchen. We were armed with mops to tackle it each time it came up, but it was quite a battle. Eventually we ended up “plugging” the hole with one of our cups and at the same time the rain subsided, we are not sure which acting stopped the water, but as long as it stopped. After that excitement we went outside to check the creek and the water was high and moving very fast from all the rain.

For the evening meal, we had our usual Sunday cook out meal. The excitement this time was that the Hanover Fire Department came as someone had called in thinking the school is on fire. Soon after the fire department called, the principal called. It is good to know that people are looking out for us : )

We closed the evening with the commissioning service and jobsites for Monday. We are looking forward to another great week!

And the last week in the school begins…. this week we have the largest group of the summer with 34 volunteers, which is great as we try and finish up as much work as we can this week before we move to the house.

On Saturday we only said goodbye to three volunteers, but over the weekend we welcomed 18. With a full house and a lot more names to learn, we were once again led in community building activities by our two summer longs. Once again, a good time was had by all. Since this was the last Sunday they will be with us, we just wanted to say what a wonderful job they did all summer long as our community liaisons. They did a great job bring each community together.

Shortly after community activities finished it started pouring down rain. It was raining so hard that water kept coming up the kitchen floor drain and flooding the kitchen. We were armed with mops to tackle it each time it came up, but it was quite a battle. Eventually we ended up “plugging” the hole with one of our cups and at the same time the rain subsided, we are not sure which acting stopped the water, but as long as it stopped. After that excitement we went outside to check the creek and the water was high and moving very fast from all the rain.

For the evening meal, we had our usual Sunday cook out meal. The excitement this time was that the Hanover Fire Department came as someone had called in thinking the school is on fire. Soon after the fire department called, the principal called. It is good to know that people are looking out for us : )

We closed the evening with the commissioning service and jobsites for Monday. We are looking forward to another great week!

And the last week in the school begins…. this week we have the largest group of the summer with 34 volunteers, which is great as we try and finish up as much work as we can this week before we move to the house.

On Saturday we only said goodbye to three volunteers, but over the weekend we welcomed 18. With a full house and a lot more names to learn, we were once again led in community building activities by our two summer longs. Once again, a good time was had by all. Since this was the last Sunday they will be with us, we just wanted to say what a wonderful job they did all summer long as our community liaisons. They did a great job bring each community together.

Shortly after community activities finished it started pouring down rain. It was raining so hard that water kept coming up the kitchen floor drain and flooding the kitchen. We were armed with mops to tackle it each time it came up, but it was quite a battle. Eventually we ended up “plugging” the hole with one of our cups and at the same time the rain subsided, we are not sure which acting stopped the water, but as long as it stopped. After that excitement we went outside to check the creek and the water was high and moving very fast from all the rain.

For the evening meal, we had our usual Sunday cook out meal. The excitement this time was that the Hanover Fire Department came as someone had called in thinking the school is on fire. Soon after the fire department called, the principal called. It is good to know that people are looking out for us : )

We closed the evening with the commissioning service and jobsites for Monday. We are looking forward to another great week!

“I’ve seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives.” Tracy Chapman

Yet another hot and steamy day. There is hope that this weather is supposed to break over the weekend… Today is our non-home repair day, but still a very busy day.

We sent a crew over to St. Vincent DePaul in anticipation of a truck arriving on Monday. The warehouse needed some organizing so that there would be space to put the items that will be delivered.

Another crew went up to Twin Falls to work on a trail in the park that they would like to open up to hikers and mountain bikers. The PVs worked alongside UGWA and the Hillbilly Bike Club.

We also sent volunteers out to the way to continue to work on the firewall and the tiling in the bathrooms. The place looks great and is getting close to where it needs to be to be open to the youth.

Another crew also went to Mullens Manor for a day of Banana BINGO. There were 16 residents that took part in the BINGO, with many staying afterwards for the nail painting and conversation.

The final group of the day finished up at our inaugural Hanover PV Basketball Camp. The crowds grew as the the week went on and the kids had a great time and leaned a lot. Big thanks to “Coach D” and “Coach John” for their tireless enthusiasm and patience they showed to the kids this week.

For dinner tonight we were treated with a combo of home-cooked veggie lasagne and chicken and slaw, brought down by the family whose house we are in the middle of building the ramp for. They wanted to thank the volunteers for all their hard work on the ramp by supplying us with dinner.

We wrapped up the week with a reflection on volunteering, how it brings up a lot of questions, changes us and reshapes our views.

“I’ve seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives.” Tracy Chapman

Yet another hot and steamy day. There is hope that this weather is supposed to break over the weekend… Today is our non-home repair day, but still a very busy day.

We sent a crew over to St. Vincent DePaul in anticipation of a truck arriving on Monday. The warehouse needed some organizing so that there would be space to put the items that will be delivered.

Another crew went up to Twin Falls to work on a trail in the park that they would like to open up to hikers and mountain bikers. The PVs worked alongside UGWA and the Hillbilly Bike Club.

We also sent volunteers out to the way to continue to work on the firewall and the tiling in the bathrooms. The place looks great and is getting close to where it needs to be to be open to the youth.

Another crew also went to Mullens Manor for a day of Banana BINGO. There were 16 residents that took part in the BINGO, with many staying afterwards for the nail painting and conversation.

The final group of the day finished up at our inaugural Hanover PV Basketball Camp. The crowds grew as the the week went on and the kids had a great time and leaned a lot. Big thanks to “Coach D” and “Coach John” for their tireless enthusiasm and patience they showed to the kids this week.

For dinner tonight we were treated with a combo of home-cooked veggie lasagne and chicken and slaw, brought down by the family whose house we are in the middle of building the ramp for. They wanted to thank the volunteers for all their hard work on the ramp by supplying us with dinner.

We wrapped up the week with a reflection on volunteering, how it brings up a lot of questions, changes us and reshapes our views.

“I’ve seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives.” Tracy Chapman

Yet another hot and steamy day. There is hope that this weather is supposed to break over the weekend… Today is our non-home repair day, but still a very busy day.

We sent a crew over to St. Vincent DePaul in anticipation of a truck arriving on Monday. The warehouse needed some organizing so that there would be space to put the items that will be delivered.

Another crew went up to Twin Falls to work on a trail in the park that they would like to open up to hikers and mountain bikers. The PVs worked alongside UGWA and the Hillbilly Bike Club.

We also sent volunteers out to the way to continue to work on the firewall and the tiling in the bathrooms. The place looks great and is getting close to where it needs to be to be open to the youth.

Another crew also went to Mullens Manor for a day of Banana BINGO. There were 16 residents that took part in the BINGO, with many staying afterwards for the nail painting and conversation.

The final group of the day finished up at our inaugural Hanover PV Basketball Camp. The crowds grew as the the week went on and the kids had a great time and leaned a lot. Big thanks to “Coach D” and “Coach John” for their tireless enthusiasm and patience they showed to the kids this week.

For dinner tonight we were treated with a combo of home-cooked veggie lasagne and chicken and slaw, brought down by the family whose house we are in the middle of building the ramp for. They wanted to thank the volunteers for all their hard work on the ramp by supplying us with dinner.

We wrapped up the week with a reflection on volunteering, how it brings up a lot of questions, changes us and reshapes our views.

“Sometime in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought or even kneaded it yourself. For that look on his face, for your meeting his eyes across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even.” Daniel Berrigan

Today was another hot, humid and steamy day, with the temperatures in the upper 90’s and the heat index at 105. Our mantra, drink lots of water, take lots of breaks and quit early….

There were two home repair sites today as well as the basketball camp. We were able to finish the site over in Lillydale. The place looks great with some new floors, new tiling, a new door and part of a ceiling replace. Great work was done by the PVs and the home owners seem happy with it. What more could we ask for, right?

The second home repair site was continuing to work on the ramp in Hanover, as well as finish up some ceiling tiles inside the bathroom. The ramp is coming along, with only about 35 feet of framing left to finish and the deck boards are almost caught up to the framing. It will be a beautiful ramp when it is finished.

Basketball camp went great today. We picked up kids both in the morning session and in the afternoon session. In all now, there are 16 kids participating in the camp and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

By the time dinner rolled around everyone was hot, tired and hungry. Luckily, we were having taco’s so everyone was able to munch on them to their hearts content. They were delicious!

The focus of reflection was on our and everyone else’s extra-ordinariness,using CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity as a prompt. WE were asked to share a moment in the day when we were extraordinary and when we witnessed someone else being extraordinary.