We had a great first choir tour this year.  Twenty-two youth and four adults went along on this adventure that started off at FUMC Denham Springs, LA, a suburb just northeast of Baton Rouge.  Our group led worship and sang at their Wednesday night service and were treated like royalty by this gracious church.  The next morning we stopped off in Coventry to visit an old monestary, and then drove accross Lake Ponchetrain to visit the French Quarter of New Orleans.  We toured Jackson Square, the French Market, stopped off at Cafe du Monde, and had a great dinner on the Square.  The next day we did a work project through UMCOR; we helped to clean out a house on Canal street for an elderly woman.  Her home had not been touched since hurricane Katrina, and neither had she seen it.  We helped to salvage those items of worth to her that we could find and cleaned out her house so that it could be demolished by the city.  Hopefully she will then be able to sell her lot and rebuild her life.  It was a very meaningful time both for her and for us.  We also had a chance to sing for the UMCOR staff, which proved to be an uplifting experience for them. That evening, we got cleaned up and went on a dinner jazz cruise up the Mississippi River and had a blast!  On Saturday we drove into Galveston and went to the beach.  It was the first time in the waves for many of the youth, so this day was memorable as well.  On Sunday morning we sang at the early service at Moody UMC on the island.  It is a beautiful church, and we had a great time singing there.  On the way back we stopped off in Ross' home town of Lufkin and his parents cooked for everyone.  It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved.  Special thanks to Sandy Shelley for all the hard work she's done this year with the choir.  She is one of a kind.  Also thanks to Don Shelley for all of his assistance this year, and Julie Rose for helping chaperone!  And finally, thanks to Lauren Sowers for heading up worship for us and Kirby Krol and Danyelle Graves for leading our devotionals.  You guys are awesome.

This summer's Junior High Mystery Ramble went off with great success!  We took fifty-two youth and eight adults in four vans down to Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island (via Lufkin for some great small town barbeque!).  We stayed in an amazing bay house where we could swim, fish, hot tub, or just relax.  We spent all afternoon on the beach and finished up the day with hamburgers, hot dogs, and fresh shrimp right off the grill.  On Sunday we got moving and went to the new Schlitterbahn water park right on the island.  We had an amazing time and some tired-out kiddoes and adults.  A big thanks to all the adults that went and to Chaz Wallace and Jacob Fedosky for leading us in worship.