Wildfire, I think I love you...
...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 Lutheran in Lincoln, NE--adding a couple of additional people and there not being room for me in their allotted vehicles, but "Team Chicago," welcomed me aboard with open arms. (P.S. I will try and get some pictures from someone in the Trinity group for the YLM News blog, but if you're wondering they conducted a medical clinic that saw 468 people at and built a "house" that is going to be used for a youth/music room at Santisima.)
First of all, I HAD to include this picture for the group from Michigan State.
And this one...amazing what happens when your slab is flat to begin with!
Snack break already...but we were NOT going to miss out on Mayra's mom's still warm gorditas. They were unlike any gorditas I have ever had...they had cinnamon in them and instead of filling them with something, we ate them with Mexican creme on top. YUM!
OK now let's build some walls.
Dari's message on the doorframe. It's Psalm 23:1 if you can't read it.
After the front and back walls were stood, we built the side walls consecutively as a boys vs. girls competition. Notice how the girls are 1 piece of siding away from finishing, while the boys are attempting to remove what few pieces of siding they had already put on because they were on BACKWARDS!
Obviously, the girls were victorious.
Marybeth LOVED the power saw, so I taught her and her brother Josh to square and cut the rafters.
As usual, I somehow wound up in charge of the roof. You always want the seams of the OSB to hit the middle of the rafters, and if there aren't too many sheets nailed down yet, the rafters are fairly easy to push from side to side a little so that it happens that way, which is what I'm doing here.
Snack break again! Traditional gorditas this time, as well as pineapple and sweet potato empanadas (not together), which is what Megan and her mom Deb are enjoying in this picture.
The group also brought a TON of Beanie Babies to hand out. They even left some extras with Crystal. She is a social worker who works for Region 19 Head Start (the preschool where Mayra's 2 boys attend), which is how we found out about this particular family. She usually stopped by at least once a day to check on our progress.
I am sitting on the tile to hold it in place until the adhesive gets tacky, OK?
Because of where the power source was in relation to the house--not very close to each other--Debbie and I had to dig a trench and bury a length of wire so as to not leave it dangling loose across Mayra's yard. Chris took this picture and he captioned it, "she's gonna be sore." I am.
The beginnings of the "Rio Pequeno." It's like the Rio Grande--no water--only shorter!
The end of the trench!
Ellen was pretty cool, even though she was a Cubs fan...
Her son Josh was too. The whole group jokingly gave him grief all week for being the youngest team member, which is why when he and Ryan finished building a doghouse for the puppies that were around the site out of scrap lumber (they also built one for Chris's dogs), I HAD to get a picture of him inside it!
Me and the Wildfire house.
The whole group and the Wildfire house.
Mayra's existing home is the silver trailer on the left; her mom and brother or somebody also live in trailers on the same plot of land.
Bill taught me how to install cove base!
A new welcome mat and broom.
Mayra's boys, Sebastian and Ruben, checking out their new casa.
Mayra told baby Camila, "Aqui vas a vivir tu." You're going to live here.
Until next time, blessings!
First of all, I HAD to include this picture for the group from Michigan State.
And this one...amazing what happens when your slab is flat to begin with!
Snack break already...but we were NOT going to miss out on Mayra's mom's still warm gorditas. They were unlike any gorditas I have ever had...they had cinnamon in them and instead of filling them with something, we ate them with Mexican creme on top. YUM!
OK now let's build some walls.
Dari's message on the doorframe. It's Psalm 23:1 if you can't read it.
After the front and back walls were stood, we built the side walls consecutively as a boys vs. girls competition. Notice how the girls are 1 piece of siding away from finishing, while the boys are attempting to remove what few pieces of siding they had already put on because they were on BACKWARDS!
Obviously, the girls were victorious.
Marybeth LOVED the power saw, so I taught her and her brother Josh to square and cut the rafters.
As usual, I somehow wound up in charge of the roof. You always want the seams of the OSB to hit the middle of the rafters, and if there aren't too many sheets nailed down yet, the rafters are fairly easy to push from side to side a little so that it happens that way, which is what I'm doing here.
Snack break again! Traditional gorditas this time, as well as pineapple and sweet potato empanadas (not together), which is what Megan and her mom Deb are enjoying in this picture.
The group also brought a TON of Beanie Babies to hand out. They even left some extras with Crystal. She is a social worker who works for Region 19 Head Start (the preschool where Mayra's 2 boys attend), which is how we found out about this particular family. She usually stopped by at least once a day to check on our progress.
I am sitting on the tile to hold it in place until the adhesive gets tacky, OK?
Because of where the power source was in relation to the house--not very close to each other--Debbie and I had to dig a trench and bury a length of wire so as to not leave it dangling loose across Mayra's yard. Chris took this picture and he captioned it, "she's gonna be sore." I am.
The beginnings of the "Rio Pequeno." It's like the Rio Grande--no water--only shorter!
The end of the trench!
Ellen was pretty cool, even though she was a Cubs fan...
Her son Josh was too. The whole group jokingly gave him grief all week for being the youngest team member, which is why when he and Ryan finished building a doghouse for the puppies that were around the site out of scrap lumber (they also built one for Chris's dogs), I HAD to get a picture of him inside it!
Me and the Wildfire house.
The whole group and the Wildfire house.
Mayra's existing home is the silver trailer on the left; her mom and brother or somebody also live in trailers on the same plot of land.
Bill taught me how to install cove base!
A new welcome mat and broom.
Mayra's boys, Sebastian and Ruben, checking out their new casa.
Mayra told baby Camila, "Aqui vas a vivir tu." You're going to live here.Until next time, blessings!
Comments
What were u thinking when u danced?!?!?!?!?!? I was surprised that u even touched the Cubs shirt.
Luv Yah,
C u later,
Kara