A New Floor, a "New" Stove, and a New Princess

Dear Everybody,

I am at a loss to know how to start this blog.  So much has happened!  Maybe I will just start with what we did today.  The kids were back in school today so we got that done in the morning.  The guys ran to town to buy the rest of the copper pipes and fittings they needed to finish installing the cook stove in Horeb.  In the afternoon, they worked on getting the stove pipe installed and all the water hookups for the water tank done.  unforntutely, they weren't able to get that done so it will get done tomorrow.  Miguel should be moved in over there as soon as they get the stove working.

Here is the stove and the tank in place but not connected yet. 

The boys got 5 wheelbarrows full of firewood for Miguel up to Horeb

time to solder some copper pipes

Miguel worked on getting the stove pipes in

The rain and wind have been constant here in the south of Chile.  We have many many tree limbs down all over camp but other than that no major damage.  We felt a tremor on Thursday when we were in Temuco.  The weather is never dull here!

Friday, Danny and I worked on getting the ceramic floor down in the bathroom in the guest house.  We chose white.  You probably think we're crazy but hear us out...  First, we chose that color because it was on SALE and second because we want it to show dirt.  I know usually, one hears the opposite reason but because of the purpose for the guest house, I want to be able to go in there and see at a glance that it is clean and white looks clean when it's clean.  Make sense, no?  We will be putting white tile on the walls that have the "internit"  (cement board) and in the shower but we will try to see if we can put some color accents too along the way.  We were going to grout today but the damp weather we have been having prevented the tiles to dry so we will have to wait a little bit longer.

we also covered up the hole where the main door was before

Cutting the tiles with the grinder

we enjoyed the warmth of the stove

second to last tile. 

there you have it.  

Friday night, Danny got a bus to Santiago and spent all day Saturday in meetings with the national board for the UCB.  He was replacing our field director who went to the States for other special meetings.  He took another night bus on Saturday night and got home on Sunday morning.  We were planning on going to Conaripe to church but Danny's bus got in a couple hours late so it was too late to make it to the service.

We are glad to have Dad home.  While he was gone, Morgan received the long awaited birthday package from Mamie (my mom).  The Post office lady was on the lookout for a package from France and as soon as I stepped foot inside she was waving the package excitedly over her head.  Funny!
Morgan was soooooo excited to open a brand new handmade princess dress.  My mom is an amazing seamstress!!!   She couldn't believe that Mamie had made it especially for her.  Not only that but she sent all the accessories to go with it (earring, necklace, ring, bracelets and a crown).  The boys had never seen so much pink in their life!

it's not the best picture because of how late and dark it was but it gives you an idea.

of course you have to twirl in a new dress!

This picture makes me laugh!!!!!!!  For any of you who read my blog on Dan's side of the family: Who does this picture remind you of?  I caught them both playing with their hair while Micah was reading to Madeline.  They both do it all the time... I wonder who they take after.... TERRY!

Well, I think that catches you up on our news.  Love you all very much and thank you for your prayers.  Sometimes these menial tasks on camp don't seem to have any spiritual value but we trust the Lord will use what we do for him to allow many boys, girls, young people and families to hear the good news of the gospel here at camp and receive it for salvation.  Thank you for praying with us toward that end.

Liz

3 Days Worth of News

Dear Everybody,

After a few "out of the ordinary" days, today was back to our normal routine.  Let me explain what happened the other days.

Sunday:  We were all set to go to church, leaving a little early for a special Thanksgiving service at the Liquine church.  We piled into the car and after a half hour of drivning, we get to the part of the road that changes to dirt road.  The trip to our Liquine church is about 1 hour of dirt road driving and part of that is driving switchback roads on the side of the mountain.  Since we have started going to Liquine, the road is much improved.  There are more guardrails, wider roads, and new concrete bridges instead of the old wooden plank ones.  But there are still many accidents on the swichtbacks and on Friday a bus overturned and got caught in the trees on the cliff side of the mountain.  We knew about the bus but what we didn't know is that the authorities could not remove the bus during the storm so decided to remove it on Sunday when the weather was beautiful.  Well, as we approached the dirt road, a Carabinero (policeman)stopped our car and told us the road was closed to Liquine while they removed the bus.  So we drove home.  It was too late to go to any other church service so we had our own in our living room.  I think the Lord knew that the guys, after their trip and meetings, needed the rest.

all ready to go to church

Monday:  We celebrated 2 things on May 21st:  Morgan's 6th birthday and the 49th anniversary of the Bible Institute in Temuco where Danny teaches.  First, we went to Temuco.  The students and professors were invited to a lunch put on by the Institute.  It was a good time of fellowship and we enjoyed the wonderful food.  We went to Temuco early to get a few groceries and then right after the lunch we headed home.

I went right to work on making a pink cake with pink icing and sprinkles for Morgan.  Then wrapped her gifts. We decided to let her open them right after I got them wrapped since it was already late in the day.  I think she was surprised by each one.  We got her a pink helmet for roller blading, a new notebook, some hair ties, and some special paper for her crafts.  Morgan is our creative one.  She is always cutting, gluing, and coloring things.  We found a set of instruments for making paper crafst in Temuco.  It came with special hole punches, scissors that make design,s and an embossing kit.  She LOVED it!  I am telling myself to be patient with her because when she gets that stuff out, there tends to be confetti everywhere when she is done!  The boys enjoy working on crafts too so it's been fun so far.

new pink helmet

Tweetie Notebook

her craft kit

Madeline was sooooo sure that it was her birthday again!

Do you see the confused look on Maddie's face?

Tuesday:  Today, the kids were back in school.  They seem eager to just get their work done.  They're doing great and learning lots for which  I am thankful.  There is usually something to say about each subject at the the lunch table.  Morgan is doing much better with her reading skills so we are also thankful for that.  During that time, Danny studied for his class.  He is starting a series of classes on Catholicism.

 Miguel worked on getting the old cookstove from the old adminstrator's house up and running.  He had to replace just a few pieces of metal and repaint it.  We will be putting that stove into Horeb Cabin (at the back of camp) where Miguel will live.  Danny replaced the serpentine (pipes in the stove that water runs through).  The water runs through the serpentine, where the water gets hot, then into a tank for storage.  This water is used for hot showers or hot water to wash dishes.  It's a great system.  The guys also got the wood stove installed permanently in the guest house.  It looks wonderful and feels even better on these cold days.

Before

After (this is the only color high temp paint they sell here in Lican!)

rebuilding the serpentine

saudering used copper pipes from the guest house

running water though it to make sure there are no leaks

getting the pipes in for the wood stove

It has been very cold here the last few days.  Yesterday, the water in our five gallon buckets froze.  There was frost on the ground till noon.  We're in for a cold winter I think.

Well, that's all our news.  Thank you for your prayers,

Liz

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Dear Everybody,

Today was our 11th anniversary, and Danny and I ended up spending the day in different cities.  Danny was in Puerto Montt for his district meeting and got home this evening.  He said they were good meetings. But, coming back to the main topic which is our anniversary...

Here are a few pictures from May 19, 2001:

We had a storm come through last night which left us without power till after lunch.  So the kids got a day off school.  With no lights in the house and the skies very dark outside we lit my oil lamps and read books, worked on puzzles, and created our own little comic book.  We had lots of fun!  

But Danny's home now so I will finish this blog and spend my time with him.  

Liz

Anyone up for a pig rodeo?

Dear Everybody,

As I sit and write this new blog post I am marveling at the quietness.  I hear absolutely nothing coming from the upstairs kid's bedrooms.  Should I be worried?  I think they are just plain tuckered out.  Last night was a horrible night in our house.  For some reason, Madeline woke up at 3 AM talking and singing.  She was very happy but loud about it and it lasted about 2 hours.  At 5AM,  all 4 kids were awake and Danny and I thought that we wouldn't get any rest at all.  Of course as a Mom, all I could think of was: "Great, all 4 kids and I will be grumpy and tired tomorrow and Danny will be gone!"  But the day turned out ok after all.

Danny took off around 8:30 AM after a cup of coffee and some cinnamon rolls.  The kids were sad but knew that it would be only a one-nighter. We started our school day as soon as Dad left.  They got done with school on time and with great attitudes for which I was so thankful.  Madeline was a little bit more needy than usual but after lunch she got a good nap which made up for the tiredness.

our lunch

Right before lunch, I went and fed the pigs.  Remember that ok?  Because after lunch, I cleaned up the dishes and decided to give my sister-in-law, Kristi, a call.  The kids were playing a video game in the living room so I went to my bedroom to talk to her in peace.  As I'm talking, I look out the bedroom window and what do I see walking around the yard as happy as can be?  My cute fat piglets!  No pictures for this part, folks, I was panicked enough.  So, as I'm listening to Kristi, I get the boys attention and ask them to do a little pig round up and see if we can catch the crazy things and put them back in the pen.  I could just picture us running all over the camp!  But, contrary to my pessimistic thinking, the boys got them cornered and we put them in their pen, very quietly and smoothly.  It couldn't have gone any better!  I was pretty proud of my pig wranglers!  At least it was Mom's fault that they got out in the first place!

Then after I hang up on the phone with Kristi, someone walked up to the house.  No one ever comes on a normal day.  It's always when Danny's gone.  This time it is the census taker.  This year in Chile, the governenment is doing a census.  So I sat there and answered all her questions and got our sticker to prove it.  Hopefully I understood all those questions right, right?

Then I had the kids do something for Danny.  Micah came up with the design.  He sat down with a piece of paper and drew feet and figured it out.  Well done Micah! We sent the picture to Danny's phone to remind him we love him.   After our little photo shoot, I talked to my sister which is always fun.  Thanks for the long talk, Esther.

"Look at the camera.... toes up everyone..."

Today is Friday so as usual I baked some homemade pizzas and we had our pizza/movie night.  We watched the new Tintin animated movie.  It's awesome!  I grew up reading the Tintin comic books (in french).  They changed a few of the names for the English version but all in all it is very acurate.  Love it and the kids did too!

We had our family devotions and prayer time and now as I said when I started this post, the house is quiet.  We miss Danny but we know WHO is watching over him.  HE's the same God who is watching over us! What a great truth for the kids tonight!

Liz

More Cupboards!

Dear Everybody,

   The plan today was to work some more on the guest house and get the plumbing done, but it didn't quite work out that way.  Danny had  a lot of emails to respond too and camp ministry stuff to do.  Miguel doesn't care for plumbing work so instead we gave him the option to work more on my kitchen cupboards.  He jumped to the opportunity.

Madeline is always at Danny's side when he studies or writes.

This project has taken longer than Danny wanted but I am just happy that they are making headway. Today they installed two more sets of cupboard doors.

Never mind the messy kitchen.. we were getting "completos" ready for supper.

After school was done, the boys helped me make some cinnamon rolls.  Tomorrow Danny will take off around 8:30 AM for Puerto Montt which is about 4 hours south of us.  He will be gone two days.  He's picking up 3 other guys so they should enjoy some sweet treats for the way.  The boys did well helping me.

Micah getting his batch ready.

Then it was Peanut's turn with his.

Then, since I had the camera out I tried to get some pictures of the four of the kids together.  What a disater!  They are so goofy!  If one is smiling nice, someone else has their eyes wide open, or shut, or isn't looking at the camera at all.  Oh well, at least I tried.

Micah and Matti 

this one wasn't too bad but Micah had his hat on 

Can Morgan's eyes get any bigger?

Micah has to outdo her I guess...  They were laughing sooooo hard!

This one is probably the best one.

Gooffy picture to end with

Liz

Heat!

Dear Everybody,

   After a deluge yesterday, we woke up to beautiful sunny weather today.  What a drastic change!  This weather gave the guys the window of opportunity they needed to install the wood stove into the guest house.

First, Danny had to cut some of the existing tile.  He decided to round the edges so that it would match the curvature of the stove.

Second, Miguel then drilled through the roof to make room for the stove pipe.

Third, they layed down the glue.  We had a box of slate tiles left over from when we installed our wood stove so we were able to save a few pesos.  The slate looks really nice and takes the heat from the stove too.

Then Danny cut the slate tiles to fit.

It's winter and there is lots of humidity in the air so to help the glue dry, they installed the stove over the top of the tile temporarely.  If it's not raining tomorow, they should be able to drop the stove down onto the slate and into its final position.

When that work was done.  We lit the stove and it works!  It really made a difference in that house already.  I'm sure it will be even nicer once the house has all the final insulation and windows in.

After that work, they focused on getting some of the plumbing work done. Miguel took apart all the old copper plumbing and cleaned it all.  Then they started putting it back together for the new water system.  Hopefully they can get that part of the house done tomorrow.

Morgan took a break from school to come and see the work with me.

The kids had a good day in school.  We are still right on track.  The boys then helped me rake leaves in the back yard and pick up chestnuts for our piggies.  Did I tell you about the pigs?  I can't remember.  Here is their picture.  They are from Liquine.

Thank you for your prayers.  Danny has a test to write for his BI students.  He and Miguel are also getting ready to go to Puerto Montt Friday and Saturday for the district meeting.

Liz