Monday, our first day on the job and meeting the family

This morning started with wake up at 7:15, morning devotions at 7:30 followed by breakfast at 7:45.  Some of the teams will have some light morning chores while the adult team leaders are picking up supplies prior to heading out to the families.  This will be our normal morning pattern for the week. 


Each day we'll have one of the teens from each of the work teams blog about the family they are working with, the work we're doing, and the experiences they are sharing.  We're not able to include pictures in the blog, however we do have a link to a share site in Shutterfly where we'll add pictures daily. Pictures of ASP trip


Here are the comments from the teams:
This is team Portego. We had a great first day today. First when we got the are work site the mom came out to greet us then she got the dad to come and greet us. Then some of the kids came to greet us as well then the dad just showed us what we needed to do. Then after we got done having to little tour we unpacked and set up are tools and equipment. So most of us went to the right side of the house to dig a trench to move water away from the house and a few of us were on the left side helping the dad put underpinning on. After we got the underpinning on we start on the porch next. Then around 12:00-12:30 we had a lunch break. After lunch we started to make a trench on the left side of the house we finished the trench on the right side and got the left side trench half way done and got the porch floor done. So today was a great day for us everyone worked really hard.


David Truskowski checking in from team Incendio. Today was a great day of work, despite the early wake up time. It was only a short drive up to our house for Day 1. We soon learned that we had a fortunate spot in the mountain, covered all morning from the sun by the trees. Mostly present was the mom of the children and the grandpa, although there were others, especially the group of kids who came to play after lunch. The site has two dogs and a small kitten, who are all very entertaining as we work. As for that work, our day had a lot of measurements and problem solving to do before we could get down to business, but we did get some hard labor and carpentry in. We have to build handrails down some existing stairs and on the edge of the porch. After figuring out where to dig our post holes in the tough terrain, Jack, Frank, and I put some muscles to the dirt and dug around the rocks and roots. After that, everyone pitched in to cut and assemble the spindles and rails, which went up on the porch. We nearly finished the porch side, and tomorrow we will tackle the harder but ever more exciting task of stair rails.


This is Homorphus! Our first day was very successful. Dan, Sam, Adeline, and Sean started and completed tiling the kitchen. We are super lucky because our house is air conditioned!! Sarah and Doug were ripping out the floor in all of the bathroom and most of the hallway. Our family has one little girl and a boy but he never showed. They also have a cat that was very entertained with us working.


HI this is team Portego II Today was the first day we started working at the houses. We started off waking up at 7:30 and went to a meeting. After that we went to breakfast which included hash browns, biscuits, and sausage. Then we got ready and went to our work sites. The ride to the site was filled with astonishing views of the smoky mountains. The family that we met today was very friendly and loving. Mr. Curly and Ms. Trish welcomed us with great ecstasy. We began our work just as the sun began to come out of the clouds. The objective of the day was to dig a trench around the house so when it rained, water would pass around the house instead of flowing right towards the home. We dug a trench over 55 feet long along with 2 pits 3ft by 18 inches deep.  After the long and tiresome day at the site, we said goodbye to the family and headed back to the middle school. When we got to the school, everybody showered and cleaned up for dinner which consisted of biscuits, salad, and chicken pot pie. Now that day 1 is coming to a close, everybody is looking forward to day 2 and it's fun adventures and memories that it brings.


Hi this is Sarah from Team Duro. Today was our first work day and we were so excited to get started. Debbie, the homeowner was unfortunately feeling under the weather today; hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow. We started building a 5x5 porch for her back door. Digging the holes for the posts was a bit of a struggle until Debbie's friend Mumbles let us borrow his post hole digger and "God rod", and then the work went way faster! With all the team work, we were able to almost finish the porch. The rest of the week we'll be adding spindles and railings to the two porches. Our ASP leader was impressed with our progress today and we are excited to make more progress throughout the week.


Hey Y'all this is Julia from Team Serpensortia. This is the first day of a week full of fun here for us. We went and met our family. There is a father named Anthony, his two parents, and his two young daughters: Ava and Khloie. Our entire family is so sweet and so helpful and they love talking to us! Our project is going swimmingly for just the first day! Our entire project is creating a bedroom for the two little girls out of the living room. We already have the structure of the wall separating the two rooms and we have the plan for tomorrow,


Our day started off at 7:15 to the cotton eye joe song. We had a Devotion prayer at 7:45 before we went to breakfast in the cafeteria which consisted of hash browns, biscuits, and sausage. We got ready and left for our work site at 9:00. The family at our site, The Bunch's, had a 6 year old and her two parents. We got back at around 4:30 and headed straight for the showers. After, we had dinner and did our chores. Now we are preparing for a 7:30 meeting in the gym.


Hi this is Emma from Team Nox. After morning devotional outside (which we shared with the other youth group from Minnesota), we ate breakfast in the school cafeteria. Gabby and I made sandwiches (with love) for our family, and then we loaded our van with all the lumber, tin, and tools we'll need for the week. Once we got to our work site, we assessed the task ahead of us. Most of my work today consisted of underpinning the tin around the mobile home, but my team also worked on the roof, laying the material down, and inside, layering the levels of floor boards. We ate lunch and visited with our family before finishing up for the day, knowing that we accomplished so much and that there is even more to complete.