New Orleans

Last week Jeff and I took a vacation with our sisters down to the New Orleans area. We worked Tuesday through Thursday and then headed down to the French Quarter to play for the weekend. We spent St. Patrick's Day down there, and even got to be in a "parade!" (Ok, so we joined a wedding party processing down the street, but whatever!) Below is the family we worked for in Slidell, the Atlows (minus Brandon and Erica, who were working).

We were blessed to work with Carl Bauer, a man from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who was in week three of the six weeks he planned to be in Slidell helping with hurricane recovery. In the picture, he's holding up the baby he found in the King Cake that Megan brought for us. That means he's throwing the next Mardi Gras party!

There is still so much clean up and restoration to be done that it truly is overwhelming, even a year and a half after the hurricane. The good news is that the two women whose houses we worked on in September had been moved back into their houses before Christmas! There are moments of hope in the midst of the devastation. It makes me proud to be a part of an organization that has promised to be there for the 10-12 years predicted to recover. (UMCOR, the disaster recovery agency of The United Methodist Church, has made the commitment.)

I'm so glad we made the trip with our sisters, truly one we will talk about and remember for years to come. We made some good memories!