missionaryMAC

I think I mentioned in my last post that the a few of the group members from Mt. Prospect, IL, used some of our scrap materials to build Chris's 2 dogs, Ninja and Bear, a doghouse. Well, this morning I painted it! I am not a dog person at all, but I do like expressing my creative side every now and then! Now, he just has to figure out how to make them go inside it. Maybe when it's 105 degrees they'll figure it out! Until next time, blessings!

...but I wanna know for sure. I'm pretty sure I like the color (the yellow on the outside of the house is called Wildfire, as you will see later), but the song got REALLY annoying by the end of last week, when a group from St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mt. Prospect, IL, was here to build a house for the Olivas family in Horizon City. It is the same family whose tiny, run-down trailer we "winterized" over Thanksgiving; now that Mayra had her baby (a girl, Camila) on February 15, I was excited that we were able to give them something more permanent. The group even went above and beyond, using a large portion of the extra funding that people in their congregation had donated to ensure that there was enough construction money to add insulation, interior and exterior paint, tile, and cove base to our standard build. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed working with them. It was kind of a last minute switch due to the other group that was here the same week--Trinity...

So I know it's spring according to the calendar everywhere now, but it's definitely spring according to the weathermen in El Paso--70 plus degree days are quickly becoming the norm. It was especially gorgeous out (well, minus the wind) on Friday when Kristine, who was here visiting for the week, Chris, and I had to pour the concrete slab I mentioned in my previous post; the sun and warmth almost made up for the fact that we had to spend our Friday pouring a slab. Honestly though, we didn't have to work all that hard since the people the lady had been telling us all week were going to help her actually showed up. The "pretty girls" did have one job though: Since the families usually pour the slabs, and I consequently don't usually have any pictures of that part of the process, here is what the whole scene looked like: It seriously was pretty fascinating to watch since I would have had no idea where to even start, and I got to see with my own eyes that if they...

So I just got back a little bit ago from helping pour a slab in Horizon City that we need to start building on this Saturday. The lady kept telling us all week that she had people who could help her do it, but when we dropped off more materials today, nothing had been done. No worries though, we're gonna make it happen and it's gonna be AWESOME. Today we put up the forms and leveled the ground, and tomorrow we'll pour the concrete...with a concrete mixer! Chris might even have to do the "Flat Slab Happy Dance," which he invented when we worked with a group from MN back in June. Maybe the 50 mph winds we are supposed to have tomorrow will even help it dry faster! Last week, however, he was definitely NOT doing the Flat Slab Happy Dance when we built a house near Cristo Rey with a group from Martin Luther Chapel (Michigan State University). We invented a lot of other Happy Dances (for instance, the "The Piece of Drywall Fit on the First Try Happy Dance"), ...