Baton Rouge Clean Up

One of the unique things about where we live is its proximity to flooding.  We have been lucky in that our ward has largely been spared even when other areas in our stake have not.  As a result, our ward has often been called upon to help with cleanup in nearby areas.  

In mid-August Baton Rouge had a terrible storm that resulted in massive flooding in some of the city.  Our stake committed to helping for two weekends and I was happy to volunteer, along with 20 other members of our ward, to help clean up the second week.  It was an amazing, heart-breaking experience being able to help people who had essentially lost everything they owned.  Most houses were completely empty when we got there, so our job was to gut the house--dismantle walls and floors that were affected by mold.

One highlight of the trip was the sacrament service we attended with hundreds of other volunteers from nearby states.  We partook of the sacrament, a few members bore testimony, President Russell M. Nelson spoke to us, and then we went back to work.  In total, we were able to gut five houses before driving the five hours back to Houston.  

For more info about the Church's efforts in Baton Rouge click HERE or HERE.

To see a video the Church released about the Church volunteers (our local Bishop is the one doing the walking interview on the street) click HERE.

First Day of School!

I know Kiddo had a good summer, but he sure loves school!  This was the last picture we took of him before walking to school:

He couldn't wait!

A couple of weeks later, it was BG's turn to start preschool.  She was thrilled!

I'm glad they both love school so much, but I sure wish they would stay little a little longer!