Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Happy belated birthday, Matthew! Our internet was down for a couple days and didn't come on until late Tuesday night, so I missed posting something about Matthew's birthday on Monday, January 19th. I guess it is just as well, maybe since we kept this one low key he will forgive me when I make a BIG deal out of the next one....=)

We love you, Daddy, and want you to know how thankful we are that you take such good care of us. No matter how this world may measure success to us you are at the very top of the ladder! Your love for us - me and all your kiddos - is what makes you the very best of all! Thanks, honey! =)

A Night on the Town

We have had a good week! As a quick re-cap my parents flew in on Monday and we celebrated Kendrick's birthday that day as well. Along with his birthday we also celebrated a few others that had been missed in the coming and going of our Chile trip so we had a fun, present filled evening.

The next day was Mr. Charles funeral, both Matthew and Uncle Dave had a part. Matthew was one of the pallbearers and Uncle Dave had the closing words and prayer. What an honor to know Joe Charles and be a part of his life these last 5 1/2 years....His funeral and his life served as a testimony of the God he served.

After that we continued our family time and had our 'Christmas' with my parents. The kids had fun opening another batch of gifts, of course, and we enjoyed spending the evening all together. Lincoln, Sheena, Layla, Elijah, and Helaine were missed....

Wednesday we took a trip to the library and then had AWANA/prayer meeting in the evening while Thursday we spent mostly at home catching up on chores while my parents spent the morning in town. And then came the weekend!!!!!

One of Matthew's and my Christmas presents to our family was to get tickets to a hockey game in Rapid City - there is a new team in it's first season and we all got to go - and I remembered the camera;)

When we got there and went to get the tickets I had purchased ahead of time over the phone there was an immediate problem....the dates were for last Friday's game! We were sent to the 'ticket office' and the lady didn't even let us finish the sentence before she said, "You didn't pay for these tickets, there's no price listed on them, there's nothing I can do". I assured her I had payed and then our case got handed off to the all-important supervisor. Meanwhile I was standing there thinking "WHAT!!! Ok, Lord, there can be no good reason for this. Why is this happening when there are 12 people here with us who drove up here so we could enjoy this time together...." After several minutes the guy who I had spoken with came over to the window and said "That was my mistake, I apologize. I've upgraded you." Alright, now I see the reason for this! FYI - My Mom is from Canada, thus a hockey fan....all 6 starting players, including the goalie, for the Rapid team were Canadian....=)

I know that God can do big things and heal cancer and supply financially and all those things....but when He does the little things it surprises me the most. Not only were our seats upgraded - the winning team scored 6 goals which means - the Watiki in town gives anyone with a ticket stub a free pass to their water park any day next week. How neat is that!

Watiki, here we come!

Kristi Lynn

In September of 1981 my parents took me over to some new people's house. I was told that they had a little girl just about my age that I could play with, I was so excited! However, when we got there I met her two brothers first because she had gone upstairs to hide - she was a bit shy of new people.....That awkward introduction took place in the home of missionaries Terry and Carol Thompson in Dalcahue, Chile shortly after my parents had arrived for their first term. It wasn't long after that when we declared ourselves best friends - fast forward over 28 years and we still are! I thank the Lord for Kristi Lynn! Through the up and downs and back and forths of life she was a constant, a gift that He gave me to help me through so many things I won't even try to list them.

High school days....At this very moment she is getting ready to step onto a plane with her husband and her 3 children and head to Chile for their first term as missionaries! It has been a busy day today - my parents flew in to spend a few days with us, it is Kendricks birthday, we just finished a multi birthday celebration with all those that were missed when we were in Chile.....But in the middle of it all my mind is never far from my friend. I've been flooded with memories of so many special times that we have shared over the course of our lives. I just can't explain this kind of friend - and the only ones who come close to understanding are our parents, although our husbands are getting better as the years go by=)

College days....So, my friend....over our history there is really nothing new to say that hasn't been said, but I'll say it again anyway! I love you and I am praying for you and I am jealous you get to go and I am proud of you for going and I am already missing you and I am laughing and crying and I am planning our next trip to Chile so I can see you again!

And now-a-days....

Chao friend!

The kids at home....

While we were away there must have been some serious behaviour issues with the youngest two....I'm not sure what happened but they ended up in jail!I find it funny since the usual culprit is the middle child - but as you can see here he was on his best behavior....Jenna must have that effect on people.Uncle Kenny did a lot with the kids and even took Jesse out to play, bundling him all up to face the cold! He helped get kids dressed and fed and put to bed....my understanding is that Uncle Chad's role was to be on stand by for the more serious behavioural issues=)Here is a picture of a full living room - but imagine it with a few more kids, including about 6 or 8 more college kids that came over to hang out while we were away! I guess there was "Party at My Place" and we weren't even invited=) All in all I think things went well. We are very thankful our kids are at least somewhat manageable and we were able to go away for three days to attend the Flincks commissioning. Of course, the 'uncles' may have a different opinion.....

Our Minnesota Trip

As I just mentioned last weekend we went to Minnesota - it was to attend the commissioning of David and Kristi Flinck. I grew up with Kristi in Chile and we have been best friends since we were about 4 and 5 years of age. We stayed close through high school, college (even though we were at different ones), each others weddings, and even now in the years of raising our young families. So to be there at yet another milestone was SO great! And thanks very much to them both for making it possible! Anyway, here's how things went....

On Friday morning at 5:30 am we left our house and got there 10 hours later at 4:30 pm due to the time change. We enjoyed an evening of fellowship, Papa John's pizza and several puppet shows=) The next morning Matthew and I slept in (as we were ALL ALONE) and then went with Kristi and David to their home church, pastored by David's dad, Cary Flinck. The service started at 1pm and was really a neat time. Several of the Flinck's supporting pastors were there; David's missions teacher from NBBC Neil Cushman, who was his choice of speaker; Kristi's dad, general director of GMSA, gave a challenge to the church; and then many people from their church family. It was a very special service!

Mr. Neil Cushman from Northland Baptist Bible College

Terry Thompson from Gospel Mission of South America

Several pastors and deacons praying over David and Kristi as they head to the mission field of Chile!We stayed for the Sunday morning service the next day and then left after that, getting home just minutes before 12:30. Needless to say it was a looong trip but SO VERY worth it! I will miss you my friend, Chile has just become even sweeter to me! Pray for the Flincks as they fly out Monday, Jan. 12th.

And now to answer your question, "What in the world did they do with all their kids!?" Well, we left them home....My brothers, Chad and Kendrick, stayed here with them for the weekend. And of course, Monica is 16 and quite capable ~ arguably more than my brothers.....?! =) Here is a preview of how that went....I'll post more on the kids end of things tomorrow....maybe.

Not much

Yes, I do realize my blog has been very uneventful lately. I'm not writing to give an excuse because I'm really not any busier now than normal, I just haven't felt inspired.....I figured the only things going on that I have to write about are pretty ordinary so I just haven't=) Last weekend was definitely a blog worthy event but I am waiting on some pictures to arrive so that I can post them along with the story that goes with them.

There are no big plans for this weekend other than a birthday bash for a little 1-year old friend of ours=) But my parents arrive here on Monday morning and we will get to have them with us for just over a week which I am REALLY looking forward to. They will be here for Mr. Charles funeral, Uncle Dave knew him many years ago when he first went to the mission field in Europe. They are also coming to say a bit of a goodbye to Kendrick before he ships out to boot camp to become a Marine (not to be confused with Navy, Army, or Air Force!!!). We have a few other events planned so hopefully in the days to come things will become a bit more lively on this blog again....if I remember my camera, that is!

Joe Charles

Early this morning Mr. J. Joseph Charles went home to be with his Saviour. For any of us who knew him we are aware of what a great loss this is....yet what a sweet gain as well as he is now "absent from the body and present with the Lord." Here is a note we received from Mrs. Charles just a little while ago.....

January 7, 2009

Dear Friends,

Joe is with the Lord. I did not have to make the hospice decision; the Lord made His choice evident.

Joe seemed weaker today when I arrived at the hospital. With supplemental oxygen, at lunchtime today his oxygen saturation was 97%. Shortly after lunch there was an obvious change. Joe began very labored, stressful breathing. Even with a mask and oxygen turned as high as it would go, Joe kept saying he needed more oxygen. With morphine, Joe was able to relax and breathe more normally. He was kept comfortable and passed into eternity at around 2AM. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There is true comfort in grief because of the assurance our faith brings.

Jim and Anne Steel arrived at the hospital right as Joe was experiencing distress. They have been with me all day and were with me when Joe died. I had wanted to be with Joe when he passed away, and the Lord graciously granted me that privilege.

Thank you for praying during these past days – and even years. We have relied heavily on the prayers of God’s people. Thank you for continuing to pray as service plans are made.

In Christ’s care,
Michele

Please continue to pray for Mrs. Charles during these days as she adjust to life without 'her Joe'.

Grammy Donut

Today is the funeral for Helen Severy, known by her grandkids as Grammy Donut. Friday morning she passed away at the age of 96 and went to be with her Heavenly Father. She had no relatives left here on earth other than her three grandkids, Lincoln, Helaine and Kendrick. Her name was Grammy Donut because she was known for making donuts as a special treat for her grandchildren when they visited. We will miss her but at the same time rejoice in a life lived for her Savior. She lost both of her daughters, her husband, her sister all before the Lord called her Home. Helaine has done a wonderful job of taking care of so many details throughout this whole time - as a family we are very thankful to her. We also appreciate the people in the church family there who are taking care of Helaine now, and have taken care of Grammy Donut for years.

Meat

Monday evening, while Monica and Zach headed into town to play games with a group of teenage homeschoolers, Matthew and I and Logan took on a quite different task. After coming back from Chile to an empty freezer (Ok, so it was empty before we left), we were really feeling the drawback of having missed out on hunting season. However, about 2 weeks ago, our neighbor across the street pulled his truck into our driveway and unloaded not one but TWO deer for us! Praise the Lord! We initially took some meat off and cut up a couple roasts and ground up some hamburg but then the weather was so cold that the deer hanging in the garage were frozen and it was hard to even cut off a chunk of meat. But, the last couple days, temperatures finally rose above freezing so last night we tackled the big deer and got it all skinned, cut up, ground up, wrapped up, and froze up=) Matthew did 95% of the work and Logan and I helped when we could.

Logan has enjoyed this process from start to finish....

Matthew's creative pulley system....

Getting the skin off....

Alana helped the first time around....

It takes a lot of work to keep that grinder working right....

Logan got to stay up late to help Daddy, his job was to cut the meat into a smaller size to fit into the grinder....

The deer are from inside the city limits of Hot Springs, fed off of nice juicy lawns and have fattened right up for winter. Because there are soooo many of them in town and they are safe where no one can shoot them, the city has hired some men to safely shoot some of them to cut down on the amount that have become a real nuisance. Our neighbor was one of those men - so despite missing hunting season we still will have some meat!

Christmas....and other stuff

My husband reminded me yesterday that I hadn't written anything on the blog in a week...well, I guess the blog was just one more thing I've been taking a break from right now=) Although, as the kids enjoy time off school I spent most of the day yesterday doing the lesson planning for this upcoming semester. It's actually one of my favorite 'home schooling things' to do and I feel a great sense of accomplishment when it is done and another semester is planned and organized.

We have been laying low and not doing much of anything too drastic. We've passed our time this last week going sledding, rearranging and rehanging lots of pictures (Matthew's favorite job), and doing other odds and ends around the house.

Christmas was a really fun day. Unfortunately the pictures I took aren't even worth posting so you will just have to imagine the faces of the kids as they unwrapped their presents. Matthew said his favorite part was watching Alana open her stocking - she exclaimed with great enthusiasm over each and every item, even those that she didn't know what they were! (Side note- I plan to use that in the future as a bargaining chip - you see I went against a Chamberland tradition this year....The tradition that has carried over from Matthew's childhood and with our kids is this - late Christmas Eve when we finally head to bed the stockings are placed at the foot of the kids beds. What happens next is usually a 2 or 3 am wakeup by the kids and they open their stockings and then TRY to get back to sleep, hopefully this all takes place without waking up their parents. Well, I put in my request and it was granted so that we could do things the way I always did growing up and we all open our stockings together first thing on Christmas. After having so much fun packing the stockings and getting little things that I think each specific child will like I HATE missing out on watching them open it and discover everything. Back to what I was saying....) We enjoyed a yummy and QUICK breakfast after stockings and then opened our presents. The kids all had their favorite gifts and Uncle Chad and Uncle Kendrick made things fun for them as they usually do.

For lunch another family joined us - Phil and Charlotte Shively. They are new to our church and have come to the area, after several years on the mission field in Papua New Guinea, to work at Cornerstone Bible Institute. We had a great time of fellowship and fun with them and our kids had a blast playing with their 3 boys. My parents are coming up in a couple weeks and we will have another 'mini' Christmas with them so our fun isn't quite over yet!

Sometimes lying on the floor is all you can do after so much time spent having fun!

Christmas Eve we also enjoyed a service at our church - we sang some carols and had communion, a fitting 'celebration' since this time of celebrating His birth we can also remember the reason that He came....to sacrifice Himself on the cross, taking our sin upon Him, to give us the precious gift of eternal life. I hope you enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did and I hope you, too, can know the true meaning of happines because of a life given over to God.

Enjoying the Break

It is sooo nice to have a small break to enjoy right now. The kids are taking 2 weeks off of school and it is a nice refresher for all of us to be able to enjoy days without schoolwork. I'm sure by January 5th the cabin fever will be getting to all of us and we'll be ready to start back again. And while we are 'taking a break' there is still a LOT going on right now.

First of all I'd ask you to pray for a family situation - Grammy Donut (Lincoln, Helaine, and Kendrick's grandmother) is in the hospital and we don't expect it to be too long before she joins her Savior. She is 95 and has a brain hemorrhage she is not expected to recover from. Related to that is a request for Helaine - she flew out to Maine to be with her for Christmas and has had to deal with all of this as the only family member that is there.

Last night we all piled on our winter wear and walked around to our neighbors with a plate of cookies and a Christmas, gospel message to hand out. It was COLD!!!! But we hope to have a positive testimony and desire to make an impact on the unsaved people that we are surrounded by. After that we headed to the Georgeffs house, a church family, since church last night was canceled. We enjoyed some fellowship and cookies and watched the movie 'Expelled' about the debate between Intelligent Design and Evolution being taught in our schools and colleges. It was worth the watch but very aggravating at the same time - there are so many people that are going to be held accountable for their own actions as well as the hundreds they have taught and led the wrong way!

The kids, of course, are counting down the days to Christmas with much anticipation. Once again the Lord has blessed us abundantly and we thank Him for His gift! We have invited another family to have lunch and spend the afternoon with us on Christmas Day. The Shively's were missionaries in Papua New Guinea for years and are setting up home here in the States for the first time in a long while. They have three sons - ages 15, 13, and 11 - and we are looking forward to the fellowship and getting to know them. They will be working at Cornerstone Bible Institute starting this coming spring semester. It should be a fun day!

Guess I don't have a whole lot to write about or pictures to post but I wanted to update you on a few things going on this week in our lives. As usual with the holidays here there a lot of you that we are missing even more right now! Maybe someday....

A big day!

Yesterday was quite a big day in our house - it went by uncelebrated but it still deserves some attention. Monica finished 10th grade! As most of you know she is doing her 4 years of high school in 3 years so a year and a half ago she started 9th grade, and in another year and a half she will be done 12th grade. Graduation should be somewhere around May of 2010. She has worked hard at it and been diligent, most of the time, to get it all done - her school days are often very long! But after getting an A on 3 out of 5 finals she is enjoying Christmas break, along with the rest of us, and on January 5th she will start her junior year of high school. Way to go, Monica!

Handsome Little Man

The day before we left for Chile we finally got these pictures from JCPenney, where we have the kids pictures taken. Since there were a few other things going on then (!) I didn't take the time to post them. So, here they are now....my cute little baby....two years old!

Time sure has flown since this picture!

Never-ending projects.

Once again we have done a few projects around the house. They seem to usually come about because of something that we finally get around to fixing or spur of the moment decisions or something suddenly gone wrong that need immediate attention - as long as we think we can get away with doing it for free or almost free=) So here is a project update on the Chamberland house....if you actually are interested=)

When we moved into this house it came with a washer and dryer that worked fine so we loaned ours to Chad and kept those in place. Now that Chad has moved out of his place we put our original pair down in the new bathroom downstairs - they are much nicer looking! Anyway, all that to say that we found yet another disaster hiding in the wall behind the old set. So Matthew fixed what he could and covered it with some sheet rock - the boys had fun helping.

As you can see, they were a BIG help=)

The other thing was an endless dripping that has worsened - it comes from our master bathroom down into the boys room downstairs. Matthew took out the toilet and found some more stupid (sorry, there is just no other word) stuff that has been done in this house. It's not like someone just did a poor job on the framing, or a homemade job on the electrical wiring...it's the whole house that continues to shock us with each thing we uncover. Anyway, he fixed the problem and in the meantime we tore up the rotten carpet and unveiled a not-so-lovely wood floor.

While I am at it I will post a couple pictures of the new bathroom we put in downstairs a few months ago - another project we did because of something we had to fix=) Not such great shots but I love this bathroom, it is officially the prettiest room in the house....at least it will be when it's done!

Matthew did some pretty incredible tile work in the shower. It looks really cool!That's it for now until we decide to replace the next thing....which will hopefully be the furnace!