Good Morning

Our host, Dave, has graciously suggested that we extend the breakfast 30 minutes. I am sure the youth will enjoy the extra sleep, and the adults will enjoy the extra ... peace and quiet.

We are looking foward to an other great day with our youth.

They are part of an awesome community ... thank you.

GOD BLESS!

Last Night

Well ... this is our last night/morning of the mission trip. The youth are currently sitting around a fire talking and sharing with each other. They enjoy being with each other and they enjoy their time together. Like every night, we will end the night with prayer, and will thank you for your love and support.

We have a fun day planned for the youth tomorrow. We will be returning some time between 6 pm and 8 pm.

Thanks again, and GOD BLESS!

Drive Home... day 2

We were up late last night. We had an intense dance party with ballet, hip hop, jazz and something shaun calls "butterfly hands". We danced until the leaders yelled. Four times. After our hour long dance party, stretching late into the night, seven thirty came really fast. We spent most of the drive either asleep or dancing and arrived in Manzanita at five o'clock. We were dismayed to find that the temperature had dropped over twenty degrees to a chilly sixty five degrees. The beach was beautiful and Sean, Josh and Alex all braved the chilly water to swim while the rest of us splashed around and shrieked at the cold. Alex then proceeded to eat a live swimming thing while the rest of us were completely freaked out. He said it was no different than sushi. We didn't agree. Then he ate another. We buried Zach and took many, many pictures. Our wonderful hosts then made us an amazing spaghetti dinner with many different kinds of unique salads. It was a long and exhausting day. All of us have mixed feelings about returning to "reality". We're all slightly dismayed about leaving one another after nine days of bonding and love. But we'll definitely spend the rest of the night fitting in as much fun as possible. (By ghost hunting)

Love and Blessings,

Catrina

Greeting's from Grants Pass

I hope you are all doing well and want to thank you for keeping us in your prayers throughout our Mission. I can't believe we are on day eight as it seems like we just left. You should all be so proud of the amazing kids you have. We have had an amazing journey and I feel truely blessed to have shared this time with our youth and my fellow leaders. We had a long drive today, but the music, laughter and conversations was awesome. We had pizza upon arrival and then praise and worship with Julie and Ryan, youth group leaders from St. Anne's which was amazaing. I would write more as believe me there is so much to share but it's lights out in five minutes so got to go. Blessings and love to you all. Shirley

Last Day of work

This is just a quick update prior to dinner. We wrapped up our last day of work with an "exciting and unexpected" finish. Around Noon, Mark cut his thumb. Fortunately, "Nurse" Susan was his adult leader and she put her great skills into action. Besides that good news, it resulted in all of us ending the day at the same work site for "one last end of work" photo with everyone in the picture. It was a great and fitting way to end the work week.

Our youth continue to shine and set a positive tone for the mission trip. They are working hard and getting tired, but they continue to push forward. They are learing a lot about Catholic Social Teaching, and are starting to understand their role. It will be exciting to see how they apply what they are learning.

By the way ... prior to dinner last night, we had a quick visit from Maria Shriver ... yes, the "First Lady" of California (Arnold's wife) stopped by to talk with the youth about the importance of service. It was great for the kids to hear from her.

We will be hitting the road around noon tomorrow, and will be traveling to Grants Pass. The youth director at St. Anne's is excited about our group coming in for the night, and is planning an excited night of activities ... pizza, games, praise and worship, etc.

Thank you all for the comments and for reading the blog. We hope it has been informative, interesting, funny, ...

It is hard to get the youth to devote too much time to the blog. They are much more interested in "hanging out" and "bonding" with each other. They continue to grow closer together and closer to God. They are all on an awesome journey.

We have 25 unique experiences to share. The great thing is that each of these experiences is helping us build a strong foundation for our community - at Holy Cross and beyond at these youth grow and mature.

Thank you for this opportunity, and thank you for your continued support and prayer.

GOD BLESS!

Hello and GOD BLESS:

Well ... we are getting closer to the end of our week of service here in San Francisco. Our 4 work groups have had a wide variety of experiences; however, they all have one thing in common about their activities ... they have all been doing God's Work. All of the work groups are accomplishing different tasks, but are all fulfilling the needs of God through their own calling for this week.

I have had the honor of working with each of the work groups these first 4 days. I am extremely proud of each one of them. They have come down here to serve and to do God's Work ... and they have done that well. You should be proud of them. They are representing all of you very well.

Additionally, they have been an active and enthusiastic part of the evening program. They have coordinated and facilitated many activities with the group from Divine Savior (Sacramento, CA). Our youth are an open and friendly group with outstanding "social skills" that open many doors.

We had a Mass last night for the Young Neighbors in Action participants. This was our second "private Mass" thus far. They have been intimate and special. Our youth have been alter servers, lectorers, singers, etc. They have been challenged, and have willingly accepted the opportunity to service.

We are all excited about the remaining days of this mission trip. We are all excited about our journey with Jesus. We are all excited about the search for those special "God moments" that provide an insight into God's love for us.

Thank you all for your help, support, and prayers. We continue to pray for you, and we hope that the Holy Spirit continues to embrace you and your family.

GOD BLESS!

love is, is what gets

hey this is Sean L. and Alex D. good morning everyone we are getting READY TO GO TO OUR WORK SITES. We went for a run this morning with Rob, the music director. We saw a mansion. the nuns turned it into a hospital and a school in the early 1900's. we played kickball and duck, duck, alligator last night before we got free ice cream :^} god bless every one and we'll get back to u later in the day with some pics and more great news