Work, work, and more work!

Once again in the last couple of days we have been invigorated by the arrival of new people. For those of us that have been here a while it is nice when others come in fresh and ready to lend a hand! That has been the case since Dan, Diana, and Troy Kunnari got here yesterday along with Sharon Bisbee. There have been lots of things taking place all over camp. I thought I would post about all the work that has been getting done over the past week or so, on the house as well as other needed projects around here.

Before we arrived Dan and Greg tore down the old house so we could start from the bottom. They saved the styrofoam from the old house and have used it as insulation in the walls of the new house. Each piece has to be cut to size....
Greg has several of his own special projects and the main one has been pouring a concrete countertop for the kitchen. In Chile the options for countertop are very limited (unless you want to opt for very pricey). Here is the countertop being worked on...it is slate blue in color.Some of his other projects include all the plumbing and the electrical wiring.Here Brett and Troy are working on finishing up the last of the siding.Another recent project on the house has been getting the insulation in the ceilings and starting on the sheetrock. This may very well be the stopping point for our team - from here on out Dan and Liz will be left to finish on their own. This will include all the flooring (wood and tile), finishing the sheetrock, installing bathroom fixtures, putting in the windows and all the trim, getting kitchen cabinets installed, painting, and the list goes on and on....Not to mention that as of December 6 there are camps here that will continue on into the month of March!

Monica and Melissa cut most of the insulation, nasty fiiberglass stuff, that was then put into the ceiling.The sheetrock went up next, Matthew was usually on the ground cutting and then Brett and Dan would put it up, very heavy to hold up over your head and get it screwed in at the same time.Also, a tractor and driver was rented for a couple hours yesterday afternoon so that some of the heavier work could be done; like clearing the driveway area and burying the rubel left over from the demolition of the old house. Dan, Diana, and Sharon worked on burning brush, AGAIN, and hauling firewood. Monica and Zach worked with them and for some reason found it quite fun! Yesterday we also spent a lot of time in the kitchen working of getting ready for Thanksgiving (9pies and counting!). Our plan is to have our big meal in the evening which allows us to get in another full day of work. We are so thankful for the blessing of fellowship! Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family back home - enjoy your turkey, football and hunting, enjoy your Black Friday shopping (which I will not miss)! God Bless You All!

A Stubborn Tooth

Any one that has been around our family much lately (as in the last 2 months or so) is probably familiar with the 'tooth story'. Logan hates, hates, hates getting his teeth pulled. We aren't sure what exactly is the problem but it becomes quite a traumatic affair when he has a tooth that needs to come out. Well, Matthew told him he would give the famous tooth one good pull at a time, every once and a while, throughout the day. In appearance one would think it was hanging on it's last literal thread - but it was stuck in there quite well! So yesterday, after a pulling, Logan actually went back into the bathroom and kept pulling on the tooth on his own - this, you need to understand, is monumental! Well, it worked! So here it is, the big announcement that Justin and Roy have been waiting for since they left....

"LOGAN LOST HIS TOOTH!!!"

Here he is in a camera shy moment....The more time went by the further this tooth stuck out and the more crooked it looked!In a not so camera shy moment!And (even thought the entire last batch of pictures I took were all blurry) here he is shortly after the moment of victory!

Tooth number three is out - only like 19 more to go....?!?!

Beach Pictures

Today another week has begun. I don't often get to the blog over the weekend or take the time to write things but I do have some pictures. So today I thought I would just show some more pictures of our time at the beach.

Some cutie pies=)Morgan laying on top of Selah - who likes to dig herself out a place to lay in the sand so that it will be cooler.

The grown ups aren't usually as eager to face the cold water...unless they are covered in insulation and eager to stop the itching=)

This picture was taken by Micah, a budding photographer!

Here's Jesse - he woke up from his nap when our time at the beach was almost over so he didn't get changed into his swim trunks but, as you can see, he got into the water just the same!

And here is a fun sequence of pictures....Zach figured he'd go out and float around in this barrel. All the guys were sitting on the beach smiling - knowing that at 13 they would have done the same exact thing, but knowing also that it wouldn't work=)

Uncle Danny must have felt a bit sympathetic because he dissappeared for a little while and returned with a much more successful raft=) I think it made Zach's day!Some of the older guys convinced Micah to play a rather cruel trick on Bruno, his cat. He put him in the water and that silly cat just swam out and walked away, looking slightly annoyed but handling it very well in comparison to most cats I know!!!

"Uncle" Greg and "Uncle" Brett had some fun with Alana.... As you can see, she enjoyed herself, too!

I don't usually have many pictures of Monica...the reason is that for most of the day she is in the main bilding doing school work, not exactly a great picture taking opportunity! But hopefull this week she will be in front of the camera a bit more often as she is taking most of the week off from school. Just three more weeks and she will be done 10th grade!

And a pretty picture to close with!

The Birthday Girl

Today's post is about how the birthday girl spent her birthday. One of the biggest treats was getting to take the day off school which freed her up to do other things. She spent most of the morning reading a book she'd gotten right before our trip, Logan was doing school work so he joined her to do his reading and then Micah joined them both to hear Logan reading the story and then the cat joined them as he's always looking for good place to lay down.

There is another birthday left before we leave and that is Matthias who will be five next Friday. He got one of his presents early, a guinea pig! So Monica enjoyed cuddling with him for a while, too=)Later in the day we again worked on clearing the area for a new cabin. One of the MK's that grew up here is getting married next weekend so we are trying to get things picked up and cleaned for that. Part of it was working on burning some of the brush and tidying up so the camp looks clean. The birthday girl worked on that as well as playing around with her brother!And here is the birthday girl getting ready for her party...wearing a purple princess crown that I got for her=) Also, if you look in front of her you will see a curious looking pile of presents....I had no wrapping paper so I improvised. I used plastic bags, a sock, a pillow case, tied a shirt in a knot....whatever my uncreative mind could think of!And here comes Daddy - with the chocolate cake we bought in town, my baking here hasn't been successful enough to attempt a birthday cake!SIXTEEN candles!A plastic bag with a stationary set....A chocolate bar from Uncle Greg=)A pillowcase with a new pair of shoes... ...modeled here.I think she had a good time. There were no sleepovers or shopping trips to the mall but she did get to stay up late 'with the girls' (Liz and I) and watch a movie. It's been fun celebrating so many of our family's birthdays here in Chile - what fun making memories with our kids!