Hurricane Harvey Clean-up

After making preparations ourselves for Hurricane Harvey, we got lucky when it turned east.  But poor, poor Houston!  They just got pummeled.  Thousand of homes were flooded, and the devastation was severe.  Once we were given the go-ahead, we went with a group of hundreds of people to areas all around Houston to help with the recovery and clean-up.  We packed our car to the gills, donned our yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts, and hit the road before 5am.  We worked for two days straight, mucking out houses, and helping as many people as we could.  We focused our efforts on the elderly, and it was a life-changing experience.  The people we helped had lost everything, and they were feeling so depressed and overwhelmed.  We came in with groups of 20 or more people, outfitted with tools and a willingness to help, and we did the hard and emotional work of ripping out walls and flooring.  We were so happy to be able to help!  We spent Saturday night sleeping in the cafeteria of a local high school, and that was actually really fun.  The girls and I pitched a tent inside, and despite the mocking we received, we were thrilled to have it.  And we slept great!  Tyler basically got to have a co-ed slumber party, so he had the best night ever.  It was an exhausting and wonderful weekend.