Spring Break 2010 (Part I)

Spring Break started early for our family this year. Mindy, Claire and Ian flew to Dallas, TX early on the morning of Wednesday, March 17 to participate in national children's choirs for the OAKE music educators conference. Later that day, Andrew flew to Salt Lake City for a "college visit" at BYU (and to hang out with Scott).

Spencer and I held down the fort in Hilliard. On Saturday, March 20, Spencer and I packed up the car and headed for New Orleans. We drove to Nashville the first day and stayed overnight at a Quality Inn...(a bit scary, especially the big brown spider in the sink - which Spencer did not see). Spencer enjoyed watching the last of a Harry Potter movie, while I watched BYU lose in the NCAA tournament (online).

On Sunday morning, Spencer and I left early to drive on to New Orleans. Andrew flew from Salt Lake to meet us in New Orleans. He volunteered to change his flight and rather than flying through Memphis, he came through LA (and received a $200 voucher). Mindy, Claire and Ian flew from Dallas to New Orleans.

Spencer and I arrived at our hotel in New Orleans (Metairie) around 1:30 p.m., but the rooms were not ready yet. So, we headed off to Spencer's favorite spot for lunch - Subway. We went back to hotel after lunch and were able to check in around 2:45 p.m. We then unloaded the car and rested for a bit before heading to the airport to meet the two flights. Andrew's flight arrived shortly after 5:00 p.m. and Mindy, Claire and Ian's flight arrived around 5:30 p.m. Mindy, Claire and Ian were visibly "pale" as they had a fairly rough landing...one which drew spontaneous applause once they were on the ground.

After gathering everyone and their bags, we headed back to the hotel to unpack. We then went to a nearby IHOP for dinner.

Monday morning we headed downtown NOLA for a tour of the city. The (Grayline) tour included the city and highlights of the effect of Katrina. It was a 2 1/2 hour (very comprehensive) tour. We saw and learned about all areas of the city. Following the tour, we ate beignets at the Cafe du Monde, walked through the French Quarter and French Market and visited the outdoor shops. We took a very brief stroll down Bourbon Street (to allow the kids to check it off their list), but avoided the skankier store fronts and bars.

Monday evening we met our good family friends - Jessica and Emily R. (who live in New Orleans now) for dinner at Voo Doo Barbeque. We had a great time visiting with them over dinner and learning about their schooling and other activities. It was neat for the kids to hear Jessica's Katrina story first hand. Following dinner, we drove past the LDS Chapel located on St. Charles avenue and then headed back to our hotel.

Tuesday morning we headed to Camp Hope to start our volunteer service. Initially, there was a bit of confusion, but it was quickly resolved and we were assigned to assist an organization called "Serve Green." We traveled to the offices of a non-profit organization (Common Ground Relief) in the Lower Ninth Ward and assisted in landscaping and planting a "rain" garden. The rain garden consisted of special plants that retain water in order to reduce the amount of water running off into the ground water and drainage systems. We worked together with two student groups (of about 12 students each). One group was from Ohio University (Athens, Ohio) and one group was from the University of Illinois at Chicago. The project coordinators were two Americorps Volunteers assigned to Serve Green. It was interesting to work at Common Ground Relief, which was in the heart of the "Brad Pitt" homes being built in the Lower Ninth Ward. We worked all day, taking a break for lunch. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and ate other snacks at the car. We cleaned dirt and sand out of the streets and gutters surrounding the office, planted plants, placed flagstones and worked on a couple of ponds. We ate back at the hotel (soup and salad) and enjoyed the evening.

Wednesday morning we headed back down to Camp Hope. The original plan was to assist in a cemetery clean up and restoration project. However, we were running a few minutes late and the cemetery crew had already left. So, we hooked up with one of the Americorps volunteers we had worked with on Tuesday and left to work on a shoreline clean up in St. Bernard Parish. The drive to the clean up area was about 45 minutes. Again, we were joining a couple of "Alternative Spring Break" college groups. One group was a Jewish student organization from The Ohio State University and the other group was from The University of Illinois at Chicago (different students from the Tuesday group). As soon as we opened our car doors, we were immediately accosted by mosquitoes and gnats. We immediately sprayed ourselves with Off, but it was already too late. Most of us ended up with a number of bug bites.

The Americorps volunteers had a small shallow boat that was used to ferry us to the opposite side of the canal. Only four workers could ride with the two rowers at a time and so it took a little while to all reach the other side of the canal. We spent the morning cleaning up the canal shoreline that had an incredible amount of garbage. There where countless plastic bottles and aluminum cans, but also things as strange as shop vacs (2), shoes, lumber, aluminum siding, golf clubs, fire extinguisher, miscellaneous electronics and household items, old broken/bent lobster traps, plastic shopping bags and more.

Once again, we took a lunch break at the car and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with our other snacks. Ian, Spencer and Andrew spent time at lunch with the student groups. We visited a nearby Katrina memorial during lunch time. After lunch, we started ferrying the garbage from the shore back to the Americorps' trailer.

We finished working around 4:00 p.m. and then headed back to the hotel. We next got cleaned up, ate dinner at the hotel (hot dogs and salad) and piled in the car to go back downtown. We attended a New Orleans' Hornet vs. Cleveland Caveliers sold-out basketball game at the New Orleans Arena next to the Superdome. The Cav's prevailed 105 to 92, with LeBron scoring 38 points.

Stay tuned for more Spring Break news coming soon!

2009 in Review

Mindy prepared our family Christmas "letter" and so I thought I would share it here:

This is a special Christmas--- being back in our home after an 8-month displacement from a house fire and all being together again. Here are highlights from the year:

DAVE

*Family trips to Florida and taking Scott to BYU
*The death of his father, Wally Cook
*Overseeing the rebuilding of our home
*Serving in the Stake Presidency
*Rotary board member

MINDY

*Sunbeam Teacher
*PTO President
*Compiling the insurance inventory
*Life in a hotel, rental home and moving back home

SCOTT (18)

*Playing “Tommy Djilas” in Music Man
*Graduating in the top 10 of his high school class
*Becoming an Elder; receiving his Patriarchal Blessing
*Completing his Eagle Scout Award
*Attending BYU-Provo on a scholarship

ANDREW (16)

*Turning 16 and getting his drivers license
*Attending EFY in KY and Prom in WA
*Appalachian Trail 50-mile High Adventure
*1st assistant in the Priest Quorum
*HS Basketball, Sr. Choir, and Student Council

CLAIRE (14)

*Turning 14 and attending Stake activities
*Attending a new middle school
*Playing soccer and softball
*A bad bout of poison ivy!
*1st chair violin in Concert Orchestra

IAN (10)

*Getting his own room!
*National Children’s Choir Trip to DC
*Playing “Winthrop” in Music Man
*An undefeated soccer season
*Student council, safety patrol and FOCUS class

SPENCER (7)

*Playing the part of “Peter Pan”
*Taking care of Tish, the guinea pig
*Playing soccer and baseball
*Playing with Cook Cousins in Washington
*2nd grade, Mrs. Miles and Explorations class