West Virginia Mission Trip 2010

This is tori logging on for the last time

2010-07-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today we are leaving. Well we actually left already. We left the site at seven thirty and went to mcdonalds for breakfast. We piled into the van and started a game of country city state. And five hours later we are still playing with out a start over. I am ready to be home, although this week has been exciting and new, and a chance to get out of e city for a while, I miss it and my family and friends. So we are sixty two miles from Richmond. And almost home. I must say thanks to all of our prayer partners for helping us to stay safe. See you all Sunday! Tori is. Out.

We are on the way home!

2010-07-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

We are in the van on the way home. We just went over Afton mountain. We left the center at 7.30 and stopped at McDonalds for breakfast. Joni is going to PA so we split from her close to Waynesboro. We have had a great time but I think everyone is ready to be home. Thanks to everyone for all of the prayers.

Our last work day

2010-07-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, today was our last day at the work site and we leave tomorrow. It was beautiful today and the coolest since we have been here. Joni came up to see our work and then Jack spent the day with her. We finished painting the kitchen, we finished the steps and did other odds and ends. The work on Mr. Cody's house is done until next year. Tonight we are having leftover night so we will have a choice of whatever we want to eat.

Hey this is Tori logging on: day four slash five

2010-07-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hey guys and gals, i apologize for the nonexistant post yesterday. I was going to, but i was having so much fun that a ran out of time. Run down of yesterday was, we woke up for ms jans birthday breakfast, then we headed to brushing falls. It was a ton of fun. I took my shoes off and jumped from rock to rock, praying that i would not kill myself, well i didn't:) then we went to a cool little store and bought stuff. Then we went to another store which was nothing compared to the other store. Then we went to a dairy queen Eco mended by one of carols friends, mhe said that they had the worlds best hotdogs. They were really good. Then we went to pipestem. There we had a blast, we played mini golf, then my best friend mr chuck and uncle Tommy went to play big people golf after they drooped the rest of us off at the gift shops and the tramway. We bought more stuff, and i went down the tram and saw the river where i saw a very large eight legged fury thing the ran across my foot, i was later told that it was a tarancula. We went to dinner and then i raced my best friend mr chuck to lookout tower. I thought was gunn a die, i was so full and i ran it was hot and i was very out of breath. But i beat him. We came home and i played a very intense game of spit with mr chuck. Then we finished our evening with some skipbo. As for today, it went very well we got a lot accomplished at mr codys. I was supposed to help with stairs which i did, but mr chuck needed me to do some stuff. I got stung by a wasp that proved my point of being terrified. I went to pAint the face board on the porch there were wasps everywhere they liked me. Cathy took pictures, so you will probably geT a chance to see them. Ughh. They are not pretty. We came home and had a really good brisket. Then we went to see our park ranger when jack got a really bad toe injury. He fell and bleed a lot, but hopefully he will be okay. I am sure he will be apparently there is always an injury. He said that you can't fix stupid, i said yeah you can you just can't cure clumsy. Haha. But anyways. I will be back on tomorrow as it is our last full day. So:) PEACE OUT<3

Day 5

2010-07-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

We had a good day at the work site. Chuck and Mark (our crew chief) got the roof on the porch. We were able to get Mr. Cody a new cabinet also. Cathy and I were able to get most of the kitchen finished and should finish tomorrow. We had a good talk from a local park ranger and learned a lot of local history. Unfortunately Jack fell and hurt his toe. He is ok but will lose his toenail. Ouch!!!!! We had more card games and another delicious dinner. I will post some more photos after I get home. Carol

Day 4 Cathy's Bkig

2010-07-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

We're at Pipestem Park waiting for the restaurant to open, a usual activity for this mission team. It's been a fun day; a stop at the Pipestem Trading Post, Grandpa's Store, DQ, miniature golf, gift shops. It's been a good trip so far. Several jobs and several teams, seems to be just enough work to keep us all busy. I am getting tired of photographing the same eight people. So more of you need to come with us next year. It's enough of a vacation to justify using a week if you get several weeks a year. The sunsets have been awesome, beautiful full moon, a bon fire last night with smores. We have great food to eat compliments of Joni. Well Tori wants to blog, so bye for now.

Photos 3

2010-07-28T14:07:00.001-07:00

More Photos

2010-07-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Photos

2010-07-28T13:54:00.001-07:00

This is tori logging on: day three

2010-07-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Howdyyy. Today was an early morning for all of us here in west va. Even chuck was dragging today. We had breakfast at seven and departed at eight. Upon affival we head into our work. I worked with mr Tommy mrs k and jack later on. My job was to level where we demolished the rotting back deck yesterday. After that we realized that the skirting where the deck was, was missing. Sooo, under the direction of mr Tommy i had oit the skirting back on. It was A LOT harder then it sounds. After many hammer swings to my finger i was done. But i had a lot of help, so when we get back, do NOT let everyone say that I did all by myself. We got home and i ran straight for the shower. I got ready and came for dinner which was make your own pizza. Shortly after we had a man come and sing to us and tell us about the cu lture and history of appalachia. Then we had evening worship which was short but delightful. The CAKE for mrs jans birthday, it was yummy. Then our crew leader told us that he had started a bon fire. We went and roasted marshy mellows. We tried to sing songs, BUT obviously all of us here needed to learn all the words to at least one song. We could NOT manage to sing one song in in full. Now we are playing skip Bo. I am blogging when it is not my turn. So...i will go and play my turn. I will tell you what goes on tomorrow. Tomorrow is our free day! So i haven't the slightest clue as to what is in store. This is Tori logging out.

Day 3 Jan

2010-07-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Emmanuel,
This is Jan on the keys. Today we had a little rain at the work site. Wish we could send it on to. Hampton. We had a good day with the roof rafters up over the porch, the primer paint on in the kitchen, and the side door site ready for the steps. Best of all is we were able to take the broken computer, freezer and four bags of trash out to the garbage place. This will make it easier to put all the items back in the kitchen when we finish the painting. Also Chuck and Mark figured out a way to fix the toilet so the Mr. Colby will have a nice working one.That will be as much appreciated as the front porch I am sure. Joni has be feeding us very well. We will miss the delicious prepared breakfast, eggs to order with sausage and fresh hot biscuits this morning. I can get used to that in a hurry. We are relaxing now and smelling supper being cooked. Sun is out, sky is blue and the temperature is lovely with the fans blowing, I even needed a blanket at nigh it has cooled off each evening. We are almost finished with the first puzzle a d have played many UNO games already this week. By, Jan

Chuck's entry

2010-07-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

Our first day was short, Mark (our carpenter) showed up at nine with Bob another foreman. We loaded tools to construct a porch roof and to paint Mr Cody's kitchen. After a 35 mile drive, we got to the job site unloaded tools and material went over the job list. Jack went with
Bob to complete a shower at another site. We built a header and plate to mount the porch roof, demolished an old deck out the back door and "cleaned" the kitchen walls for paint. All this in just four hours. Tomorrow we'll start at eight and work a full day.

The heat was up to 93 today.

Chuck

Tori logging on: day 2

2010-07-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hey it's Tori! Had a very eventful day here in west virginia. We woke up to a warm foggy morning for breakfast at eight. We departed to the work site at nine. The hour plus drive was very quite, i completed the easy section of cathys sudoku book. We arrived and boy was it hot! My first task was to clean the walls on the kitchen, which entailed taking down the wall hangings and clearing the top if the fridge. Once i completed that, i went outside for a break. My tasks change by the end of my break. I then went to assist mrs k mr Tommy aNd cathy tear off the rotting back deck. I went to swing a hammer to break down some wood, aNd i missed and hit my kneecap. I have a bruise. Shortly after we had awakened some wasps bees and hornets. One hit my ear and it scared me, i went into panic screamed and ran. Apparently i had scared everyone else as well. When i was done with that and was now in the front yard, i didn't even remember running. Whoops. Haha. But then we had our lunch and pretty much slowed down our work process. We left the job site at about two. Our crew leader wanted us to turn in early. It was pretty fun, besides being all sweaty and stinky. But i got home and showered and came back for some food made by My stepmom the greatest cook alive. We had pork loin chops Marinated in teriyaki sauce with some green beans, baked beans, rolls, and hash brown casserole. That leads me to right about now. Were i am going to play in la la land until called in for some cool whip summers pie for dessert. Then i will find something to do until i go to bed to wake up for some breakfast and the departure to the worksite at eight. Tomorrow we will be building some new stairs in place of the deck we demolished today. That is really all have done since yesterday. Well la la land is calling me. So i will report tomorrow with an update. This is tori logging off:)

Day 2

2010-07-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hi all! We left the center at about 9:00 this morning after an awesome breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs (thanks Joni). We worked on tearing out an old deck, building a roof on a new deck and cleaning up a kitchen for painting (big job). Our site is a loooooong way from our home. We just had a yummy dinner and the kp crew is I. The kitchen cleaning up. I still cannot load my photos so you will have to wait until Wednesday. Keep us in your prayers! Carol

Day 1 additional posting

2010-07-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

It is carol. I wanted to let you know I am having a problem posting photos. I will keep trying for tomorrow. We saw a total of three rainbows today and an awesome sunset. The weather was hot when we arrived but now it is wonderful. Going to play princess UNO. I will talk to you tomorrow!

This is Tori logging on!

2010-07-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hey this is tori from Hinton wesQt Virginia. We had a very fun trip here, the weather was great and the traffic was none. So the run of my day has been i went to the eight o'clock service and headed out at nine. We stopped for a break in short pump va. We then drove until it was time for lunch. Most of us went to hardees except for the few that went to arbys. We then got back in the vehicles and drove out of civilization. Where somehow we managed to find a place to stop for an ice-cream break. Then about four o'clock we had arrived. I was shocked i expected it to be like run down and not pretty and just weird. But it is Beautiful I love it and i have only been here for like an hour or two. So i got here and got my stuff out of the van and picked a room. I am roommates with carol. I made my bed and then headed off for orientation. Where i then realized just how beautiful it is. The grass is actually green not brown like at home. The weather is wonderful, it is cool and breezy. And the view is absolutely amazing, but i have been told that i haven't seen anything yet, i have yet to see a sundown and sunrise. I am super stoked to find out what else west Virginia has to offer. As for the working part, we found out during orientation that we would be helping an older gentleman Fix the roof over his porch which was recently fixed, also we are going to try and fix a window that is falling out of his house, then we are going to clean up enough so we can paint the walls, and then we are going to clear some brush from his house. I have been to the famous la la land and i love it! I am onto of a mountain and i just saw the most beautiful rainbow. This is a sign of God good things will happen:) in the mean time we have a wonderful cook who is cooking us a great dinner which i am going to go eat! I have no idea what else is planned for the night. But i will tell you tomorrow. So have a great day. Tori is logging out:)

Mission Group Prepares to Leave

2010-07-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

The group will gather for the 8:00 a.m. service on Sunday, July 25 and leave for Hinton, WV at 9:00 for a week of fun, fellowship and helping others in God's name. Come on out and see us off. Please pray for us to have safe travels! We hope to post daily blogs and photos. The team includes Chuck Gwilt, Tommy and Kay Taliaferro, Jan and Jack Kistler, Tori and Joni Foulks, and Cathy and Carol Bowers.

Getting Ready for West Virginia!

2010-07-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

In less than two weeks, 10 members of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Hampton leave to do mission work in Hinton, WV. We hope to post our experiences and photos here everyday. Stay tuned for more . . . .