Our quick, mild, summer has turned into a fast-paced, cold winter (we skipped Fall this year). A lot of snow, early on, has quickly made up for our mild winter last year. It was minus 10 degrees before Thanksgiving! Guess we better hunker down and be prepared for lots of firewood going into the stove and driving verrrry slowly on the ice.

    Tom is finishing up his 3rd year of law school. His 4th year starts soon and it will be California Bar prep time from here on out. Along with answering NATHHAN / CHASK calls, he is working at Wilson Law firm 3 days a week and getting just about the perfect law apprenticeship a lawyer-to-be could ask for.

    Sherry is working at home with her family, in the NATHHAN/ CHASK office and as a midwife as the needs arise. She is helping remodeling a house in Libby, Montana as a birth center. They should be done by January. She is also taking a trip with Sheraya to Oaxaca, Mexico, to visit a family with Missionary Ventures, who are also building a birth clinic.

    Jake and Renita: We are very excited to be sharing in the pregnancy and soon birth of our first grandbaby. Jacob and Renita are expecting February 23rd. This will be a milestone of sorts and a moment we as grandparents have been waiting for. Renita is a good mother already, eating well and taking rests when needed.

    Josh (25 yrs old) has just finished re-setting his 2nd log home. His custom work is very nice. The extra effort to be done by the first snow fall were all in vain. It was bitterly cold, raining, and then LOTs of snow. He is very glad to be done.

    Zack (19 yrs old) is working odd jobs shoveling snow, pick up work, living and working in Sandpoint, Idaho.

    Zeph (17 years old) is almost finish with his GED and has been thrilled with the start of skiing season again.

    Jordan (23 yrs old) is getting better and more thorough with washing dishes and pitching in helping with household chores. I know he misses being outside. His steps and balance are not sure enough for negotiating the snow and ice, so he stays inside.

    Sheela (22 yrs old) is helping Lynny with her occupational therapy exercises now. We had a therapist come in to help with wheelchair renovating and providing an exercise plan to help with Lynny’s contractures. This was really exciting for the girls, as visits from the OT therapist was a lot of fun. They see her as a “visitor” just to “visit” with them.

    Lynny (18 yrs old) has been working on using a sliding board to get directly from her wheelchair to the toilet or bed, instead of getting out of the chair, onto the floor then up onto the toilet, onto the floor again and then up into her chair. This has required a much sturdier chair and we are working on getting some bathroom adjustments made too.

    Sheraya (15 yrs old) is mostly working on Spanish and spelling this year. She is going to Oaxaca, Mexico with Sherry in January, to visit and work at a newly developing birth center, Casa Compasiva, for a few weeks.

Mercy Grace (13 yrs old) is taking on more of the cooking and household management. This has been totally fine with her, as long as she gets to keep her baby-sitting job a few houses down.

    Jayben (9 yrs old) and ShaHannah (6 yrs old) are both doing school work and working at staying on task with their chore/school routine. ShaHannah loves to go to the library each week. She gets to spend a day or two with Grandma each week and has a special section of a room filled with wonderful educational stuff and toys to keep her busy.

    Our family is working through the normal winter schedule. We balance school work with snow boarding and skiing. The older kids work all Spring and early Summer to purchase their season passes by July. They are super cheap. Then they negotiate all winter for rides and opportunities to get up on that mountain!

Most importantly, we strive to find the time (no substitute exists) we need to keep our relationships growing. This means meaningful, heart-to-heart communication. This making-the-time is vital to our marriage and for keeping the hearts of our children close to us. We make time to hear the emotional needs and concerns of those we love.

NATHHAN / CHASK News E-Style

Like many of you, NATHHAN / CHASK as an organization is feeling the down economy by a lowered amount of donations coming in. There is absolutely no way we are going to turn away a birth parent in need of finding a family for her baby. We continue on. So, we are not giving up ship, but tightening our belts. This issue of the NATHHAN / CHASK news is available on the internet instead of our normal print style copy. As the funds are not available to print this issue, the NATHHAN / CHASK board unanimously voted to go to a e-style magazine and see where we are next issue.There are no apologies needed for hard work in rough times. As you are, with your individual families, we are prioritizing what is most important, what can we cut and still do a good job.

Informative Quarterly Fund Raising Letters

We will be sending out very newsy quarterly reports to our donors. These 4 page letters will be stories of what is actually happening with the birth parents and adoptive families in a much more candid format than in the NATHHAN / CHASK news. They will also share our needs and what we can expect together as we are serving birth families calling in crisis, with a baby they cannot keep.

We will be sorting our data base and selecting donors that have given $25.00 a year or more. If you want to help us make CHASK happen, join with us in meeting the needs of families dealing with disabilities.

    May the Lord bless your home!

Tom, Sherry, Jacob and Renita, Josh, Zack, Zeph,

Sheraya, Jordan, Sheela, Lynny, Mercy, Jayben and ShaHannah

Bushnell