Chamberlain Family Reunion

We have been in Utah now for a month! I know...a month is a long time to be away from home. All I can say is that if I can't be home, Utah is where I want to be. It's my first home and I still stay in the home I grew up in that belongs to my parents and it's fun to be "home."

This summer has been a hard one because my Dad went in for a new knee replacement and ended up having a stroke the following day in the hospital. Not a bad place to have a stroke, but strokes are not fun...anywhere. Dad is doing well. He has limited use of his left side (especially his leg) but is gaining some use here and there. He is living in a care center for now and we hope he can come home really soon with a lot of work and physical therapy on his part. If you feel so inclined, we would appreciate your prayers in his and my Mom's behalf. This has been very difficult for them especially. He can't walk because his "good" leg is the one that had the surgery. Thus, both legs are out of commission for now. Not a good combo.

Before Dad had his surgery we had a family reunion with Martin's family in Bear Lake. It was such a party! We got to catch up on everyone. It's the first time the Chamberlain's have gotten together at the same time since Lisa's wedding (10 years). I didn't get many pictures of the reunion for some reason (oh, wait, that's because Martin's mom took about a million). However, one day we did go to Minnetonka Cave and I got some photos there. Here's everyone that went that day!

Look at these cute little guys! These boys are all about the same age and they did great on all those (700 some odd) stairs...way, better than me. Let's just say I'm not used to the altitude yet! This is Josh, Caden, Isaac and Sammy.

Here are some more silly pictures of the reunion. Aunt Debbie made lots of beautiful dresses so the girls could all dress up. Here's Olivia, Skylar and cute little Kendall.
Uncle Nasib also playing with the dress-up items. Any man who can wield a gun for his job like Nasib and still feel comfortable dressing up is a-okay in my book!!

The fun thing about spending time with the "cousins" from the Chamberlain side was seeing how similar they all are. Here's a few pictures of them with my kids and you can definitely see the resemblance!

This is Alex and Nathan. They are a year apart. I just notice their smiles are similar (also their love of video games!).

Here's Caden and Isaac. These two are so alike it frankly scares me. Not only are they the same age and look alike, but they have the same temperament and like to do similar things! They had so much fun sleeping in the cabin together!
And, of course, here's Livi and Madison. These two are 5 days apart in age and they have the same eyes and same personality! They are bosom buddies forever and get along so well together! I think Madison got the "tall genes" of the family!
One cold night we went to the beach for dinner. The whole weekend was too cold to do much of anything outside although the sun shone quite a bit. This night we took silly family pictures with the beautiful dusk sun.

Livi being Livi...(freak!)

We had a great time in Bear Lake with the family. We love you guys and miss you all!

School Year Tie-Up

The end of the school year is always a lot of fun....not. I cannot believe how busy life gets every year at this time. Oh, it's a hassle. We've got baseball play-offs, dance recitals, piano recitals, graduation from middle school, graduation from elementary school, volunteering tie ups, weddings, birthdays, Father's day, and our anniversary; oy, the list goes on and on! I barely get a chance to hit the gym in the morning and do some minor cleaning. I get behind on the cleaning and the yard grows wild! Some days I don't get to shower until late in the evening. I always wonder why everything ends up in the month of June. By the time July gets hear I take a deep breath and sigh...(sigh).

Here's some pictures of the kids with their school teachers. Mrs. Burnett was Olivia's teacher and loved Olivia very much. The feeling was mutual. Livi was given a lot of responsibility in her class this year and helped a lot with organizational things in the class, so the two of them became fast and close friends.

Isaac and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Miller or, as I like to call her, the Miracle Worker. She was a perfect fit for Isaac's first year of all day school and taught him with patience and kindness to which Isaac greatly responded! Thanks for all you wonderful teachers at IVE. We have loved every one we've had for the past 10 years and we are so grateful for the Issaquah School District!

The last day of school was Martin's and my anniversary. Number 16, people...oh, I feel old. I've almost been married half as long as I've been alive! It's a cruelty we have to grow old. For our anniversary Martin down-played greatly what the plans were. He told me we were just going out to dinner and that he couldn't get me a "nice" gift. Uh-huh, whatever. That night he presented me with the most thoughtful gift I have ever received. He gave me a journal that he had been keeping behind my back for the last year. I looked at it for the longest time and couldn't say anything. I was speechless and confused. He had tried to write every day for a year about us and our relationship and family and how he felt about things that happened. I couldn't breathe as I read about some really good (and really bad) days and remembered things I had already forgotten. Who does that??? It was like he made a photograph of our lives that changed daily for a year. It gave me a little snippet of what we were doing and where we were going. I will always be thankful for this present; not just the book itself, but that he thought about "us" every day of the year. What a gift! Sorry, ladies, he's taken....

Alex got his patriarchal blessing early in June. It was an awesome experience for him and me and his Dad. I loved seeing Alex prepare with his Dad to get this blessing and I loved his excitement. He had a lot of questions and understood in the end what he was going in for. He was totally prepared! I will always remember that day and how I felt when the patriarch pronounced those blessings on Alex. I think Alex will too. Here's him with Martin that day. "He looks like a missionary," Isaac said when he saw this picture. Oh, only a few more years, Isaac, and your brother will be a missionary. Yikes!!! I better get him cracking!!

The month of July has been even busier than June, if you can believe it. We have been with family in Utah and enjoying it very much. However, my Dad had a stroke after knee replacement surgery and we are reeling from that still. Things are crazy now and I'm trying to be here without burdening my Mom and trying to help. But I will post more when I have some time! There are a lot of stories to tell!

Spring is for Seven Year Olds

Isaac celebrated his 7th birthday on May 29th. (This is him wearing the hat he got in school).

What did he want to do for his birthday? Get a new Mario Galaxy game and spend literally all day playing it. SURPRISE!! So, that is what he did. He also asked for a telescope. He has been enamored with the solar system and galaxies and planets now for a while. He told me one night as he was looking out of his window at the moon that he likes to imagine there are other worlds behind the moon. He also keeps telling us he wants to learn everything. I do mean EVERYTHING. This kid has quite the imagination and asks some really interesting and difficult questions. Like for instance, he wonders where the exact location of heaven is. Is it in this galaxy or is it in another galaxy? Etc., etc.. He has a love of learning A LOT like his father.

The only problem with getting a telescope for his birthday is that there has not been a clear evening since his birthday! We have had no breaks from rain except two nights. Both of them were nights we got home late and didn't have time to look.

Rain, rain, rain, rain and rain. I know I live in Seattle but this is ridiculous. Since I have lived here (13 years) we have never experienced this kind of spring. Alex has had over 10 "rain-outs" in baseball this year. Every time they try to reschedule a game it has been rained out again, and again. It goes on and on. I've never had a spring like this and it's been really ick, for lack of a better word. And I don't even hate rain!

Anyway, back to Isaac. He is a real trip. He LOVES his primary teacher. He actually has a little crush on her, which I won't complain about because it makes him happy to go to church! She is a really good sport about it and tells us funny stories about him. Like, a couple of weeks ago, after the kids were settled down for class, Isaac said he had something he wanted to say. Apparently, the kids in his class have a habit of hiding from the teacher when she comes in under the tables and in the cupboards or behind the chairs. So Isaac stood up in front of the class and said, "When you guys hide, it's getting old." This is really Isaac. He does not like chaos or unrest and I think he wants the kids to "respect" his teacher, the love in his life. Martin and I were talking about this and thought it was so funny. Isaac is a very quiet kid and ignores a lot of stuff, but for him to bring this up was just awesome (and uncharacteristic)! We hope he doesn't become one of those weird kids that nobody likes....but he doesn't act like a know-it- all so I hope that doesn't happen.

Some of Isaac's favorite things:

1. Mario, Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Bros., and, well, pretty much any game with the name "Mario" in it.

2. Pizza. He eats nothing else. I'm serious about this....nothing.

3. Playing "World Championship Baseball" in the living room with Alex. This consists of hitting this mini ball with a mini bat and running the "bases" while knocking my pictures down and breaking them.


4. Playing "Avatar The Last Airbender" (wrestling) with Alex on the trampoline until they are both hurt/cut/bruised up and Isaac is crying. While they are wrestling we have to remind Isaac repeatedly that he has to scream and laugh more quietly because the neighbors complain. My Isaac is loud???? Oh, yes.

5. Watching Spongebob every morning.

6. Reading the scriptures. He recently got really upset because we weren't including him in scripture study with the older kids. He wants to read the real scriptures now. But he still wants us to read his Bible reader every night. So basically we have to read twice to him.

7. Playing his DS.

8. Laughing...he laughs all the time and it makes us all laugh when we hear it!

9. Making "movies" with his block.


10. Playing with his friends, Isak, Solomon and Miles as much as possible.


Isaac is my sunshine and my sweet boy. He makes me laugh daily. We love him more than any family could possibly love a son or brother!

FACEBOOK UGH!!! (No offense Facebookers)

The other day Martin was looking on his Facebook page, and though I haven't been on FB for 8 or 9 months, I got seriously nauseous. I was reminded of why I HATE Facebook, and the reason I deactivated my site in the first place. Martin isn't a huge fan either and we have talked extensively (probably too much) about the phenomenon that is "Facebook." We have come up with the 8 top reasons we don't like this social networking staple. Maybe we should try to come up with 10 like David Letterman does on his "Top Ten" but, hey, I'm no David Letterman.

*Disclaimer: I realize many of you are "on" Facebook and I am in no way trying to make you feel judged. You all have your reasons, and I had mine, for using it. My reasons for abstaining just outweigh my reasons for partaking. Also, these things I'm listing here are all things I TOOK PART IN and DID when I was on FB so I am not saying I am innocent of anything. :).

Okay, here we go:

1. Our egotistical/narcissistic tendencies. I bet we all do this. We have all posted how much we got done before sunrise, how many push ups we did this morning, how fast we can wolf down a Big Mac and side of fries, and what a great gift we got our dad for Father's Day. My question is why do we feel like we have to talk about ourselves so much? I found myself bragging and fishing for compliments on an hourly basis on FB and thus, I became more and more self-centered. I was addicted!! I hated that about myself and I don't care for it in other people. It makes me compare myself to people I have no business comparing myself or other loved ones to. And while it made me feel good to say things about yours truly, I hate to think it made other people feel inept or inadequate in any way.

2. This leads me into my second point: The obligatory "sunshine up the rear-end," as my Dad would so eloquently put it. I LOVED it when people would follow up my bragging with a "way to go, Heather," or "Heather, you're such a good person." However, I have come to the conclusion that when I would compliment a person in kind for something they did I didn't mean the compliment AT ALL. To the contrary, I was usually jealous, annoyed or I just plain didn't care. Now I look and still see people doing the same thing. Everyone is just so blasted complimentary. Do they mean it? Are people really that nice? I truly believe there are people like that out there, I'm married to one, but I know I'm not one!

3. I feel like I can't say how I feel on-line. Sometimes I want to tell a friend that they are idiotic or that they're a moron, or just that they made a bad decision, but sometimes I shouldn't. I don't know about you, but I get sick of being positive all the time, so I had to remove the temptation to say what I felt completely. There have been more times than I can count that I've said something hurtful to a "friend" not purposefully meaning to hurt, and vice-versa. I've actually lost relationships because of this pitfall.

4. Pictures and comments about meals. Wow, I don't even know what to say about this. I guess eating is a big part of being a human, so we include it in everything. It just seems weird to me that I get to know what so-and-so had for dinner last night or what this guy bought at Starbuck's. And do I really need to see the photos of it? It's just a weird observation that Martin and I are stumped over. I actually got to see a photo of a ham sandwich some dude had for lunch. A ham sandwich. ATTENTION: We know what a ham sandwich looks like. Sometimes imaginations are required and preferred.

5. Status updates, status updates, status updates. When I deactivated my account it took me 3 weeks to quit thinking of my life in status updates. I realized I was walking around thinking, "I am going to the store now," or "A mean guy cut me off on the freeway today--how shall I get revenge?" I decided I needed to stop thinking of my life in status updates as it was also contributing to my narcissism.

6. Major Time Suck and Distraction. I was checking my FB page almost hourly. I was wasting time I could have been spending with my kids and Martin. I couldn't make a move without first checking my Facebook. I was too dependent on it to feel connected to people, but missing my life with the most important people in the process. Some people can check once or twice a day, but I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried.

7. Poor Grammar. This needs no explanation. I hate poor grammar and bad spelling and it thrives on Facebook. I guess that's what you get from an English Major.

And last but not least:

8. Getting left out. I really got tired of seeing all the dinner dates and parties I wasn't invited to. It was depressing and humiliating to see my friends were getting together and I didn't have a place there with them. It reminded me of High School and everyone knows I hated High School.

Some people can have a healthy relationship with social networking. These eight things may even be the exact reason you LOVE Facebook and if that's the case, I'm happy for you. I know for a fact I have lots of friends who find happiness and fun in Facebook (you know who you are). You must have found a good balance. I'm glad someone out there likes it and finds a purpose for it in their lives. Don't be offended if I struck a chord here somewhere...like I said, we all have our reasons for doing what we do, and I can't speak for you. These are just some funny observations, so laugh (or not).

How Will His Garden Grow?/Phoenix

I went to Utah to help my Mom with my Dad. He's doing well. He still has the "cement" that is infused with antibiotic in his knee. This makes it so there is very little range of motion in his leg and it's still very painful. He's also taking Vancomycin via a pic line in his arm every day for six weeks. The doctor says after 6 weeks they will take him off the antibiotic and wait two weeks. Then they will check Dad's blood for infection. If there is no further sign of infection they can put in a new knee prosthetic and pray the infection doesn't come back. His chances are pretty good, but nothing is a sure thing. Dad's pretty healthy so we are hoping everything will go as planned.

"Who will be taking care of Dad's super garden this year then?" you ask. Good question. But my Dad has been trying to convince many friends and neighbors and family to prepare the soil and do some planting. He's got some of it figured out. My brother Todd is going to be visiting from South Dakota and Dad's got some plans for him. Dad put me to work on locating and obtaining hundreds of seeds for planting, which seems like a really easy request but you'd be surprised. I had to run back and forth from the computer I was ordering on line from, explaining the difference between growing seasons of everything from cantaloupes to pumpkins. It was comical after the first 10 times. Dad refuses to let the land go unplanted and it should be interesting to see how things come up (no pun intended).

I had fun spending time with my Dad and my Mom and I got to see a lot of Erin and Phoenix, my sister Jenny's two daughters. I love to spend time with them. The way Erin looks at me with those big blue eyes reminds me so much of Jenny at that age. She has a sweet disposition and rarely causes any trouble. She's a dream of a child! Phoenix is equally as sweet but let's just say she has more of her Mom's disposition/temperament :). She can be a bit stubborn but we all adore the funny things she says and does.

While I was visiting Phoenix celebrated her 4th birthday. It seems like yesterday that Jenny had given birth and was calling me to persuade me to come to Phoenix's baby blessing. She was really intent that I travel to Utah to be there for it. She even offered to pay for half of my plane fare. It was a touching time we spent on the phone for me, because I could tell that it meant a lot to her that I be there for this milestone. I'm so thankful I went because I got to spend a lot of time with my sister. I remember we shopped and had lunch together and I held sweet little Phoenix, who seemed so tiny. I hung out at Jen's house and we took walks and watched the sunset over Antelope Island and talked about our future plans, as she was preparing to move. I don't think Jen thought that baby Phoenix would ever make her safe entrance into this world. It was a relief she was here safe. I also remember going to see the architect who drew up the plans for her new house. It was to be built next to my sister Mindy and my Mom; the house she would sadly take her last breath. Those are such sweet almost dreamlike moments as I look back. I am so grateful I could get away for a few days 4 years ago, and again last week! I leave a lot of love back in Utah.

My Poor Papa

Last week we had a scare when my sister from Utah, Mindy texted me saying my Dad was in surgery. I, of course, freaked out! Apparently, Dad scraped his leg a while back on some farm equipment. He noticed it wasn't healing but didn't think anything of it and went about his business. He started running a fever one night and by the next morning he couldn't put any weight on his leg because his knee was so painful. Mom took him to the ER where an orthopedic surgeon assessed the problem. Dad's cut had become so infected that the infection traveled to his knee and his whole knee had then become infected. The problem is that Dad has prosthetic knees that he got about 8 years ago during a very painful double knee replacement surgery.

The only option seemed to be immediate surgery to remove the prosthesis, let the leg heal for 6 weeks and then put in a new knee once the infection was gone. This means a Summer of difficult recovery and no fun for my Dad (no growing corn, no puttering in the dirt, no devising new and interesting ways to grow tomatoes...nothing). Poor Dad. He lives for the summer like a kid does. He is totally taken aback by this blow as we all are. I feel so bad for the poor chap.

I am going to go home next week to help cheer my Dad up and also help my Mom with some of the nursing responsibilities. He is home from the hospital but can only walk with a walker. He has a pic line for heavy antibiotic therapy. I'm hoping he gets well soon.

I'm currently contemplating fun ways to keep Dad entertained this summer since he can't do his usual "stuff." I wonder how he feels about spending the day at the pool with about 15 grand kids and me....Any other ideas??