Wednesday, July 1st

This plaque by ECC's school is why we do what we do!

Derek and A.J. enjoy jamming each evening

The birthday girl is delighted!

Alisa and Emily, the cake decorators

Todd and Dick, carpenters extraodinaire!

The sun rose this morning!!! It was a beautiful sunrise that only Craig saw, but he took a picture to show us the rest and maybe I'll be able to send that picture later. Most of us assumed there would be more rain, so no one planned on an early morning. But with every good thing, there's a shadow--steam city here in Marsh Harbour. Our one day reprieve with the cooler temperatures the rain brought is over. Back to sweating!

The men made a delicious dinner last night--chicken, rice, salad, more garlic bread on the texas toast bread we all loved the night before. Even though it was sprinkling, I convinced Kathryn to go in the water with me since it was her birthday, and Derek and A.J. went right along. They brought Craig and Emily's snorkeling equipment and the three of them traded that on and off for 45 minutes or so while I tread water in perfect temperature. Meanwhile, Alisa and Emily were decorating the chocolate cake we got to sing to Kathryn after dinner--she definitely was surprised and touched. And of course we had ice cream with the cake, and had popcorn and cheese and crackers while we played Hearts later on. There is no shortage of eating around here!

With the return of the sun, Craig, Ellen, and I decided to walk to the school this morning, while Todd brought the others in the van--it's only a little over 2 miles. Craig went ahead and Ellen and I stopped at the bakery to get some more of the fresh baked bread for lunch and dinner (the younger set is making "brinner" as A.J. calls it for tonight, and wanted this bread for French toast). Once again, the bread was too warm from the oven to slice! Fortunately, it was ridiculously warm in the bakery or Ellen and I would never had left because everything smelled so wonderful!

Today brought more painting, sanding, fixing windows, and Todd and Dick jumped on a new big project--making 6 3-shelf bookcases for the school. As I type this, they are already almost finished even though they didn't buy the wood until mid-morning. What a crew. The kitchen and bathroom look brand new, the floors upstairs that we painted are bright and shiny, the doors and windows all close easily. I know the staff is very happy with us.

I'm taking the ferry over to another island to see the little town of Hopetown where the school director, Lyn Majors, lives--she's taking me down there in a half hour or so. No one else really had the burning desire I did to see it--getting in the water on a sunny day is much more appealing to the younger set! I don't know that I'll get a chance to jump on tomorrow because we are only working half a day, and then the minister of the church at which we're staying is taking us up to Treasure Cay to see the beach there--everyone needs to pray for sun! Friday morning early we are flying back to Nassau for a couple days of R&R there, so once we are settled, I'll see if I can find a cafe somewhere there to write. I hope everyone there is not too hot! The ocean breezes here at least cool us off regularly! We miss you and wish you were here with us.