Trees, trees, and more trees

Since arriving here more trees have been cut down than I can remember! Before we got here there were even more trees felled by Dan Thompson. Some have been cut down for lumber to use in the construcion of the house while others are cut down to clear the area for a driveway as as well as a future cabin site. Three separate times guys have come with a portable saw mill to cut the timber into beams or 2x4's, etc. Of course that's meant burning lots of brush and hauling firewood, and then hauling more firewood and more firewood....

Every once in a while the tree doesn't quite fall according to plan- this one got stuck since there was a very narrow strip through the trees for it to fill and actually make it to the ground. Dan then pounded it off the stump with a sledgehammer then pulled it with the pickup from its base so it rolled of the branches it was stuck on. Matthew felled several that were caught in among so many vines and fences that they rarely fell with the first cut through the base.

But that's not the only thing that's been going on with trees around here. There are some seriously big redwoods that have become favorite climbing trees, especially for a certain teenage boy! See if you can spot him at the very top of this one!

WORK

Fun and trouble aren't the only things taking place here at camp. Work is also getting done. The first week we were here most of the work went into getting the slab poured. A few people worked on that while others worked on some other jobs that needed to get done (there is still a long list left). Here are lots of pictures of the slab in progress.

As usual we've had lots of help from the little people on each of the projects.

Here Liz was working on metal twist ties to strap the tubes for the radiant heat to the rebar before the slab was re-poured.Dave Erskin was the 'concrete guy' most of the time.The cement mixer did about 3 wheelbarrow fulls at a time, somewhat slow work for a slab that size.

While working on the slab Logan found something to do and boy did he have fun! He spent literally hours working alongside Greg and Justin. They took the time to explain what to do and to teach him to do it and he really loved it. The older guys were impressed with how he stuck with the task and I must say I was too. He wasn't just a kid in the way but a boy helping with an important job, which in turn made him feel pretty good=)
And along with work comes clean up....
All of our kids have done well. Monica spent the grand majority of her time the first week watching a pile of young kids ~ eight kids six and under! Zach has found things to do all over the place and we are pleased to see them working and learning how good it is to have a healthy work ethic.

Morgan and Jesse

Yesterday the two youngest people here at camp definitely earned themselves their very own post! They've been getting to be pretty good friends and playing together really well most of the time. Yesterday they were thick as thieves and got into a bit of trouble....

Shortly before lunch we wondered where they were and then we found them in Dan and Liz's van. But let me back up first - Liz loves Twizzlers and you can't get them here in Chile so Aunt Carol, her mother-in-law, brought her down a bag of them. When we found Morgan and Jesse they were sitting together in the middle row of the van and as we approached Jesse shoved the very last one into his mouth fast...he knew he was in trouble! Poor Liz, she handled it quite well=)

Then right before supper we were gathering the kids together to get them washed up and once again we found them in the van, only this time they had locked themselves in! They had found Liz's purse and a lovely tube of lipstick. We're pretty sure Morgan helped Jesse get his on=) Thankfully we had the keys to get them out!

After all that trouble Jesse was pretty tired!

Bonfire & Beach Time

Ever since we got here I've been looking forward to cooking hot dogs over the open fire...just like we used to one evening of the week during the annual missionary conference. I brought down some marshmallows so on top of that we had s'mores which the kids thought were pretty cool. The Thompson kids didn't remember ever having s'mores before! Liz and I were on our own for meals this weekend since the Chilean cooks take the weekends off and go home....let's just say we managed but it wasn't quite like the meals they pull off! Also, yesterday was a day of general elections here in Chile (not presidential) and no meetings were held anywhere since it's against the law the day before, of, and the day after an election. So we had a mini-church service here together at the camp and then just did some small jobs getting ready to start the framing of the house tomorrow. Here are some pictures from our cook-out. After supper (and after the dishes were done - thank you, Roy!) we decided to go for a short walk on the beach. The kids had fun finding shells and we enjoyed relaxing and just sitting there soaking up the beauty of this area.

To market, to market to buy a...pigs head?

Saturday was a rather bleak and rainy day so we decided to make the hour long trip into Temuco, the bigger city around here, to get some needed supplies (and some much wanted supplies). We loaded three guys into a small, single cab pickup and the other 12 of us into a seven passenger mini-van....it was fun=)

Our first stop was lunch at the mall and then to the grocery store. Everyone stocked up on their favorite items - Toblerone chocolate, Nutella, manjar.... From there we went to an indoor market and I confess I didn't take any pictures. Our crowd of 'gringos' stands out enough as it is without pulling out a camera and looking completely touristy. Next we went to an outdoor market and, at special request, I did take some pics!

Everyone oohed and aahed over our blond pile of kids. I was walking with Logan most of the time and several people reached out to touch the 'golden hair of the little doll'=) We also stopped at the Bible Institute,belonging to the same mission as the camp, and while we were there the guys were quite impressed with this sight...

On the way back to camp we stopped at the Thompson's house and picked up some things. Since the break in they've spent most of their time here at camp with us and moved their valuables out as well. On this stop we picked up Micah's cat who happily rode along on his lap.

Tonight we grilled outside and had smores...pictures to come tomorrow, I hope!

Little Alana

Just a quick note to fill everybody in on something that happened to Alana....Last night she came running toward the dining room, crying, to look for me. She had run accross a bed of hot ashes and then ran over the length of a football field through dirt paths to find me. Long story short she cried continously for about an hour and has two little feet covered in blisters. She has lots of second degree burns all over but especially between her toes. All day today she was pushed in the stroller (we went to town shopping) but toward the evening she was up and about. When I took the bandages off tonight it wasn't a pretty sight but I think each day she will make progress. Anyway...thanks for praying!

Volcan Villarrica

Yesterday we went on a spur of the moment trip to the volcano that's about 2 km from camp. We were at a good stopping point as far as work goes so we piled the little kids in the van and everyone else in the back of the truck and headed down the road. This volcano is the most active one in South America. Every few years it spews out some lava and you can see black trails of it coming down the mountainside, but its last major eruption was in 1971 and we walked on the volcanic rock left over from that eruption. It is often seen smoking.

While we were there we the kids found a nest of eggs, right in the middle of the rocks! The mom stayed pretty close but she did let us get some pictures=) I also saw a little lizard - too fast to get a good picture but WOW was he colorful!

Half an hour later we sat down to lunch - home made empanadas! Empanda de horno con carne y empanadas fritas de queso=)

PS for Melissa - This was not the volcano hike we've been talking about, just a quick trip to see the lava=) You haven't missed it!

Every Day Life

Every day life around here is a bit different than usual - regular tasks take on a new twist. The first few days we were here, when it was raining, Jamie and I were getting close to serious problems with our laundry. We do have a washing machine here at camp but no dryer so we had to try and dry things by hanging them up in the dining room and getting the fire as hot as we could. We had many a meal with clothes and 'unmentionables' hanging over our head.This picture may look out of focus but it's actually steam rising up off the clothes.

Another thing we deal with is school. Liz, the missionary down here, has to continue on with her 2 boys regardless of how busy the schedule here is for her and I also have to do school for about half of the six weeks we're here. That's been....interesting. Alana has taken a liking to Micah, and he to her, so she enjoyed watching his school on DVD.

On this day Logan had a choice between nap and school....=)Hopefully tomorrow I'll post some pics of our trip to the volcano!