Countdown To Pearlington!

Well the countdown to Pearlington continues!

Four more days and the first wave of the Pearlington Team (8 of us) will be winging our way to the deep south for Christmas….well, we’re not going there for Christmas, we’re going there to work, but it just so happens that some of us will be there for Christmas…and New Years! The day after Christmas 2 people return home, and 11 more arrive for week two. My wife and I will be there for both weeks and are both very excited about going and doing and being!

I think everyone on the team is bringing something personal and “Christmasy” with them to help spruce up the house we‘ll be staying in, so that it will feel like we’re not so far from home and family. It’ll be a house filled with different family’s traditions…No surprise that my tradition has to do with food!!! For me, it’s not Christmas without Shrimp Scampi and pasta, so I will be in the kitchen on Christmas Eve.…a definite family tradition!! (now you want to come too, don't you?!)

I was looking through some old photos and found these couple of me and Santa! The first one I look pretty excited about talking to the fat man…although he looks a little young under that beard.

The second photo made me laugh because I look bored and unimpressed with this storefront Santa…and I think, as I look closer at him….is that?....no, it can’t be…..it is!…it’s Unkle Sherman!!!

Here is one of my faves of Emma….

This is her first Christmas!

Could that be any cuter?!

I want to wish all of you out there a great season…thank you so much for all your love and support…and whatever it is you celebrate at this time of year, even if you don’t celebrate anything, do it with those people you love and care about the most.

And if you can’t be with them…go be with your family!!

Wacka-Wacka!

Happy Happy Joy Joy !!

Ralphie

Getting Excited

I’m getting excited about our trip to Pearlington! We leave in less than two weeks, on December 18th!

I’ve been excited about going back since before we returned from our last trip!

The last trip we were only there for one week, and it just didn’t seem like enough time (there’s so much that still needs to be done there), but this time around some of us have the opportunity to go for two weeks!

Thanks, Frank, for getting me the time off, and thanks to Arden and Vick and others who will be doing my shifts while I’m gone!

And I must thank all you Pigs who have unselfishly contributed to this team, to help us get there and help one small town get their lives back! You guys never cease to amaze me!

I plan to be posting blogs (and Squeals) from Mississippi, internet access permitting…

Right now, it’s just planning and packing…I do kind of miss not having our Christmas tree up, but why bother! We’ll go cut one down from someone’s yard when we get to Mississippi!! OKAY, we won’t really do that…probably!

Brittany will also be blogging at the www.ca2ms.blogspot.com site. If you haven’t made a donation yet, you can get all the info there on how to do that!

And if you don’t want to give to this trip, that’s okay…give to Second Harvest Food Bank, or Valley Churches United, or The Salvation Army , or Jacob’s Heart, or any person or group that moves you…that needs you…and not just at this time of year, but all year long!

If you have the means to help someone, then you must do it!

If we all do a little, we can get a lot done!!

Ralphie