Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Big Raf's Fencing - Now Accepting New Clients

Anyone need a fence? We have combined the experience of 3 weeks. Although this might not seem like much, we have God on our side. The positive reviews of our last 2 customers have established a positive rapport. We specialize in wooden fences and charge $15-$20 per linear foot. YOU could be the next client of Big Raf's Fencing. Give us a call today!

Big Raf's Fencing - Built by Raf. Protected by Jesus.



The day started with a few tears shed. The family from Colorado that we have become acquainted with departed at 8am. The St. Croix Students headed back to Brian's fence to put up the last panels and finish painting. Dawn, Brian's wife, brought us donuts from Dan D's Donuts. Word on the street says this is the 3rd best donut shop in the entire state of Florida. And our tastebuds agreed. We finished our last job site at noon then headed for the beach! Pier Park has been the beach we go to. There is a shopping mall with lots of souvenir shops and any food we want. We ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. We swam, shopped and played volleyball on the beach. We went back to the parsonage for a 6pm devotion and grilled burgers and hotdogs for dinner. We played some more games at night and then prepared to leave tomorrow.

A few highlights of the day:

  • Swimming in the ocean
  • Swimming with stingrays
  • Swimming away from stingrays (very quickly)
  • Saying goodbye to the Colorado Family
  • Accepting the fact that Kim isn't Asian :(
  • Saying goodbye to Jim, Jen, Croix, Ryder, River, and Creed :(
  • Talking with Dawn and Brian about their neighborhood.

Jim - If you are reading this, we miss you!

All 11 kids that are staying at the parsonage

SCL Students with Brian and Dawn 
by one of the two fences we constructed on their property

The branch that bothers us...

Madison and Dr. Pepper

Raf says you are all a little salty

We enjoyed our watermelon

Monday, April 29, 2019

Fences, Fences, and more Fences

WE FINALLY FINISHED A FENCE!

Monday morning we were back to work. Madison and Katelin went to the old fence job. The Rafs along with Sam, Sammy, and Zoe went to the new site at Brian's house. We had the task of constructing two fences. The first one was a panel fence and the second was a picket fence. By 1:30pm we had finished both fences and began to paint the picket fence. We got partially done before needing to quit for the day. Tomorrow, we plan on finishing the painting and laying a few more panels that Brian was going to purchase tonight. Once at the house, we showered and relaxed. Kim, the organizer from C.A.R., flew into Panama City around noon. We enjoyed switching our names to trick Kim. (It worked for a while) We had leftovers for dinner. The evening concluded with playing games and a bonfire. Tomorrow morning the Colorado Family flies out :(

A few highlights of the day:

  • Getting to hold Jack-Jack
  • White Paint Highlights in our hair
  • Confusing Kim with our names
  • Big Raf forgetting his towel
  • Killing Bear Grylls twice
  • Hanging out with Colorado family one last time :( RIP Jim

Jack Jack - The super cute dog

Raf and Sammy Painting the fence

The completed Lisa Fence

Big Raf and Creed

Sam and Zoe painting the fence

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Let's go to the Beach, Each!

Yes, that is the words of the song.

Sunday morning we went to church. Amazing Grace has church at 10:00am so we were able to sleep in. Pastor talked about Doubting Thomas in his sermon. We went back to the parsonage to eat a quick lunch then headed out to the beach. We spent the afternoon shopping, swimming and playing volleyball on the beach.


Highlights of the day:

  • Sammy giving consent for videography on the beach
  • Madison fighting for her full refund
  • Big Raf window shopping "for shells"
  • Big Raf dancing to heart and soul
  • Ron Jon's Surf Shop
  • Taking a shower to remove saltiness
  • Jim keeping us all alive

Because today's blog is a lighter day, we decided to give you a tour of the parsonage.



Saturday, April 27, 2019

Work hard. Play Hard

Saturday morning started by saying goodbye to the three other people staying with us. Ron, Marj, and Marladene left at 6:30 to catch their flights. We had planned to resume work on the fence at 8:00am, but we received word that there was some controversy among neighbors. Jim went to the site to see what was going on, while the rest of the group bonded or got a little extra sleep. It sounded like that neighborhood needs some Pastor Enter counseling. The Rafs, Jim, Croix, and Sam went to the fence site around 10 while everyone else cleaned the parsonage and organized the 2 Christian Aid and Relief (C.A.R.) trailers. The fence crew made progress, but there is still another day of work left. Everyone met at the parsonage and headed for the beach. We enjoyed swimming in the water, taking pictures, and playing volleyball and football. We parked at the Christian retreat where early C.A.R. volunteers were housed. We had devotion with the pastor at 6pm and ate a wonderful taco and fajita meal. All of our dinners while we are in Florida are being cooked by Pastor's wife Ellen. They are all very good and we never leave hungry. Today was Jim's birthday so we had a birthday cake for dessert. The evening concluded with more volleyball in the backyard and we played drawful (online pictionary).



The Beautiful Panama City Beach

The St. Croix Group along with Croix, River, and Creed

Zoe and Sammy on the Beach

LOL


You can't go to the beach without doing this!

Friday, April 26, 2019

Tetanus, Toby, Turtles, and Trees... Oh My!

Once again, the St. Croix group was divided. The Rafs along with Ron, Croix (Co), and Jim (Co) went to continue their fence. They are about 2/3rds done and are going to try to finish tomorrow. The big group went to Violet's house to clear brush. This was a never-ending task. We tried to just clear some places so she could walk around her yard. We finished the first section around noon, then decided to start another. This took longer as it was getting warmer and we needed more breaks. Violet made a request that we clear an area so that she could see more of her lake. That guided where we chose to clear trees. At the end of the day, everyone was tired and ready to be done. We could have spent a week on her property and not have been finished. Both groups returned to the parsonage at about the same time. We had a very good Steak dinner cooked by the pastor's wife. Dessert was strawberry shortcake. After dinner, we played volleyball and Uno.

A few highlights from the day:
  • Finding a turtle while clearing brush at Violet's
  • TOBY!!! See yesterday's blog post
  • Madison finding the ONLY nail and stepping on it (Tetanus)
  • Big Raf's near death experience. (Don't dig near power lines)
  • Ron
  • Coming home and eating
  • "Watching" Avengers End Game
Creed wanted to be in the blog


One area of brush cleared. 
At the start, we were unable to see the boat on the left

The second cleared area (right middle)

Progress on the fence by the Rafs

Sam cutting a tree with the chainsaw

Building the fence
from left to right: Jim, Big Raf, Croix

TOBY!!!

Zoe with the big turtle

The brush crew

From left to right: Creed, Ryder, Sam, Katelin, Zoe, Sammy, River

Madison getting her tetanus shot

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Thursday, April 25, 2019

Shingle Shindig

Thursday - April 25th

Today was the first time our SCLA group split up. The two Rafs went with the Colorado family along with Ron and Marj to build a fence at a job site. Their day did not go quite as planned as they ran into complications. (Tree roots, late deliveries, not enough delivery workers, Portuguese language barrier, etc.)

The other group (Zoe, Sammy, Sam, Katelin, and Madison) did a variety of tasks. We started by cleaning the parsonage and then traveled to our first job site. We helped Heather move her shingles to the side of the road where the city trucks would come to remove them. Heather and her family were choosing to reroof their home by themselves. The shingles we took off the roof over time and it was good to see the bare ground under the piles. We finished the shingles around noon then headed back to the parsonage to finish laundry and eat lunch. We enjoyed FaceTiming with some of our classes back in Minnesota. This group then split once again. Sammy and Madison stayed to help make dinner, while Sam, Zoe, and Katelin went to check out two potential job sites. On Monday, we are planning on helping Brian put up a fence. His family of 4 are living on their property in a shed and a camper while they rebuild their home. We then went to Violet's home (an 80-year-old lady who lost almost every tree on her property). She rode out the storm in her small home with only her super cute dog named Toby. We are helping her tomorrow, pending weather. Sam, Zoe, and Katelin then went back to the parsonage to cut the grass of the parsonage and neighbor.

The night commenced with a devotion by Pastor and a shrimp dinner.


A few highlights of the day:

  • Sammy thinking they were shindigs, not shingles
  • Playing Volleyball in the backyard
  • Going to the beach with Brian
  • Shimp Conversations with Pastor Enter
  • Playing with Violet's dog



Madison and Katelin having a Shingle Shindig

Before the Shindig

After the Shindig

Some of the trees we are planning to clean up tomorrow

Violet's dog Toby enjoyed giving kisses

The hurricane lasted over three hours 
and there were over 120 tornados

Getting a snack at Walmart!











Wednesday, April 24, 2019

As seen on HGTV...

Wednesday was our first day of work.

We left the parsonage a little after 7 am and arrived at the worksite at 7:30 am. The St. Croix group along with Marj and Ron (a couple who has been in Florida for 3 weeks) went to Cici's mom's home. She was displaced because of the hurricane and has not been able to move back yet.  We installed new insulation and removed some undamaged insulation. We took a snack break around 10 and a lunch break at noon. After lunch, we only had about 30 minutes left. We were done at Cici's home by 1:30.

We met up with the family from Colorado and helped them finish clearing brush at another home. We finished up work at about 4:00 pm and headed to the parsonage to spend the night. Our supper is Spaghetti, with brownies and lemon bars for dessert.

Highlights of the day:

  • "Hey look at that roof! There is no roof!" - Sammy
  • Finding a bird's nest in the roof
  • Seeing Lizards!
  • Helping people
  • War on Wasps
  • Passing bricks across the yard using an assembly line
  • Showering

Ghost Busters!

Sammy Lee staying safe

Big Raf broke out of his Suit

Installing Insulation

This finished dining room

Finished install in the home!