A long overdue post

This post is long overdue, as we have been both busy and neglectful. Everyone is doing well as summer begins. Camp has begun at IRBC (Iowa Regular Baptist Camp) and we had the opportunity to spend the week out there last week. The first week of camping season is the combination of Special Camp and "Water/Work Week (WWW)". WWW is the week where teens from all over Iowa come to camp and bust their butts working on the campground, getting it ready for summer and also trying out for part-time positions at the camp. They learn how to do the jobs they would be assigned to if they are offered positions, such as dining hall, dishroom, lifeguard etc. Caitlin and Grace both attended and received work weeks this year. Caitlin will be working in the dining hall during the weeks of Junior Girls Camp and Deaf Camp. She will also work in the dishroom the week of Family Camp 2 over the week of July 4. Grace will be working in the dishroom for Senior High Camp. The girls will also be attending camp this year, with Caitlin attending Senior High Camp and Grace attending Junior High Camp. The whole family will be attending Family Camp 5 again this year from Aug 4 through 10. All in all, Caitlin will be spending 5 weeks of her summer at IRBC. Fun!!!

The other camp going on last week was Special Camp. Mary has worked as RN for special camp for 7 years now. Special camp is a week for special needs/mentally challenged individuals from all over Iowa to attend camp and hear about God's Word. They enjoy the many things to do on the campground, have craft time and Bible lesson time, and go to Chapel every evening for songs and a message. The speaker this year was Pastor Garry Moore who does a good job of speaking in a way the campers can understand. On Tuesday and Wednesday evenings after Chapel, the campers participated in their annual "Talent Night". There are many versions of "Jesus Loves Me" sung (some you can even understand the words!), and each one is a blessing.

Jeriah worked as a counselor for Special camp again this year, and John spent the week in our camper on the campground taking care of the little ones. This freed Mary up to devote her time to her nursing duties. Thankfully, the Stephenson kids were able and willing to play with Sarabeth, Nathan and Juliana during the daytime all week, thus freeing John up to do a little fishing. The results can be seen in the pic below (a nice 21" walleye- one of 3 keepers on this day)! Some special camp pics are also attached.

Some new pics

Sarabeth and her friends
Caitlin has her learner's permit!!
Grace's new 'do and glasses

April 19, 2007

Nathan had his "crown" removed today at the Univ. of Iowa hospital in Iowa City. After six weeks of distraction and the implantation of a bone graft in his right lower jaw, he looks like a different child. I hope to have new pics posted soon. We were hoping to be able to feed Nate some steak this weekend, as he's been on a mostly pureed diet the past 6 weeks. Unfortunately, his doctor wants his diet to remain "soft" for a while.

Other recent events around the Kamberger household include:

-Grace got her hair cut shoulder length and got glasses. These changes make her look about 16!

-Caitlin participated in a solo ensemble last weekend. She played the bells in a group percussion ensemble and did both a tympani solo and voice solo. I taped the tympani solo and have uploaded it onto youtube.com. If you want to see it, go to youtube and search "Caitlin's tympani solo". I also taped the percussion group. I will try to upload this to youtube soon. I'll also try to put a link here in the blog so you can watch the videos from this site.

-Spring may finally have sprung. This week the temps are in the 60's and 70's, but just a week ago we had another 6 inches of snow! I'm hoping that was old man winter's last gasp. We were able to get out and do some yard work this week, and I think it will be time for weed killer and fertilizer soon. Mary's tulips and crocuses are coming up and one of the crocus has a bloom on it.

-Baseball season has begun, and I (John) got to go see the Orioles play in Minnesota on April 9. Three buddies and I drove up to the dome and had great seats in the 6th row along the left field line, right behind the Twins' bullpen. Although the O's lost 3-2, it was an excellent game and a good time. Thank goodness for the dome. It was snowing outside while we were quite comfortable inside. The two hour drive back to Clear Lake took a bit longer though, because the roads were very icy when we left the dome. And to think... in a few years the Twins' new stadium will be ready for play- an open air stadium with no retractable roof. In this day and age, that is ridiculous! I much prefer baseball outdoors, but in April in Minnesota.....it's gonna be COLD! As late as the playoffs and world series are now, if the Twins make it that far they could be playing in snow like what happened in Cleveland last week. Many of the newer stadiums (Toronto, Milwaukee, Arizona, Houston, Seattle) have retractable roofs. I think the powers to be in Minnesota are going to regret their decision not to go this route with their new ballpark.

-The walleye spawn has begun in Clear Lake. That means the fish will be very hungry soon as they complete the spawn and the water temps go up some. I'm looking forward to getting out on the water and beginning the hunt! I'm not much of a fish eater, but fresh walleye makes a fantastic meal. Mary will dip the fillets in batter and fry them and we all enjoy the results. The walleye in the pic below was caught last summer.

-We had an excellent Easter. Sarabeth enjoyed coloring eggs for the first time, as did each of the other kids. I've attached a few egg coloring pics below. Enjoy!

John

Pix of Nate in the hospital

I still gotta wear this "crown" for three more weeks! YUCK!
I want to go home - his most frequent comment, but this time it
was with big tears rolling down his cheeks. Nate did like riding the trike bike all over the halls in the hospital. One time he was "chasing" Mommy and took a corner a bit too fast ... wipe out!!! With 2 fresh incisions and a halo on, we thought the "chasing" should stop.

Mary

Nathan's second surgery

Last week, Nathan had his second facial surgery. The doctors removed a portion of his rib/cartilage, shaped it and grafted it onto his right lower jawbone. John and I were at the hospital with him from Monday night through Thursday night. Poor Nate spiked 104 degree fever on Wed night/thurs early morning. The docs obviously didn't want to send us home, but all the tests were clear for any new bacterial infection. Nate must have succumb to a viral bronchitis of sorts - John and I convinced the docs that we could go home. We didn't want John to have to drive 3hrs home on Thurs, work all day Fri and drive 3hrs back down on Fri to pick us up .... when we and the docs knew Nate had a virus that they could do nothing for at the hospital. Sooooo, we arrived home at 10pm Thursday - exhausted!

Sarabeth and Juliana stayed with the Cox's and Sarabeth was the one to have a hard time with it. She missed her Mommy! A wonderful thing for an adoptive Mom to hear - a great sign of bonding! We called early on Thursday to say we would NOT be coming home, but called again at 6pm to say we would be home by 10pm. Sarabeth and Juls came home with Caitlin and Grace around 7:30 and Sarabeth thought Mom would be there ..... I was not! She lost it! Sad for her, but a great boost that our bonding is strong! They called me on my cell and I assured Sarabeth we would be home by 10 and to wait up for us. All four of my girls were eagerly waiting for us to get home!

Nate has continued with a coarse bronchial cough, and reducing fevers. He has 3-4inch incisions on his right neck and left chest - glued closed! I also have gotten a cough and now a cold and feel pretty worn out. Last night was the first night we all slept well since arriving home!

I'll post some pix and then I'm off to bed - just wanted to get this belated posting finally up for you all to read.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!!
Mary

Sarabeth's "four" wheeler

An old bike of Grace's came out of hibernation and I pumped the tires and added training wheels. Sarabeth had been bugging me all week to ride her bike. She was ecstatic until she tried to get on!! I then lowered the seat all the way down for her. I said, "I thought you rode a bike in China?" Her reply, "I did, but it was a small bike!" She pedaled around the driveway and up the sidewalk, all the while leaning on one of the training wheels - us parents all know what that looks like! Juls and Nate whizzed by Sarabeth on their trikes and she kept yelling for them to get out of the way. To which, in true brotherly style, Nate only got in her way all the more! The day was overcast and dreary, but at least it was warm. With muddy shoes and dodging raindrops, the kids all came in tired and satisfied!

Oh, BTW, Nate broke another wire! The second unbroken wire has GOT to last until we leave for the hospital on Monday night. He goes for surgery #2 Tuesday morning, bright and early. The docs will harvest a piece of Nate's own rib with some cartilage attached (growth plate lies in between the bone and cartilage). Then they will graft this bone, after reshaping it, to create a new upper portion of his right mandible. The following 3 weeks his jaw will HAVE to remain immobile so they better triple layer those wires and use extra heavy duty this time around!!

Would appreciate prayer for his surgery - that the Lord's hand will guide the surgeon's and all will heal well.

Peace,
Mary

Tea for two!

What's better than a mini tea set with cups, spoons, real tea, sugar, creamer and cheerios? A sister to share it with!! Sarabeth and Juliana enjoyed their tea for 45 minutes or so. The only bad part was when Mom said it was time to clean up. Juls threw a whopper of a tantrum and I spent the next 45 minutes helping her wind down, relearn "children obey your parents" and snuggling in the recliner after the meltdown!! Ain't it great to have a 3 year old .... wait, we have two of them! Nate was resting, tho - he missed out on the party - after all we only had "tea for two".

Blessings,

Mary

Car sleepers

Okay all you viewers, just TRY to get your head to touch your shoulder like this. How can kids sleep like this? All three of them knocked off during a 10 minute drive after playing at the park Thursday afternoon. Grace had the last 2 of her necessary 4 teeth extractions that day - we dropped her off and then went to the park. The kids had a blast on the big twistee slides and swings. Grace was a trooper throughout her ordeal and now will wait the year out for her teeth to move around and then start into her invisalign in January 08. She can't wait!

Mary

A chip off the old block!

The "Big Meltdown" occurred over this last week. Caitlin loves to chip away at the huge slabs of ice and landed this 'big one' after a long effort! Nearly 4 inches thick and over 4 feet tall. We are sooooo glad to see nearly ALL the snow and ice gone now.

Mary

Quick update

It's been a week since we've posted - sorry!! The evening of the 17th (last Saturday), Nate broke his second wire at 7p. The docs at U of I didn't want to rewire him at 11pm, so John, Caitlin and Nate took off for U of I on Sunday morning. 3 hours down .... 10minutes to rewire him .... 3 hours back. I was glad to stay back home and go to church this time!!

We all went to the Wild Game Buffet at church that night - venison, salmon, wild turkey, goose and some normal fare as well. We always enjoy a nice fellowship at church!

Mary