Thermal Ablation a vein of lies!

I decided it was time to get my veins taken care of, that throbbing, burning thing had grown old.

I went to get assessed and started my treatments on Monday November 11th. They tell you it really doesn't hurt, and maybe comparing the procedure to a crowning baby head, they might be right... It hurt! It felt like they were digging through all my very sore veins... It was horrible!

Here is a video, you don't need to watch the whole 5 minutes, the first 2 minutes pretty much show what it is.

The recovery is a little more painful than I had anticipated, but not bad, I can walk, but it feels like all the blood is rushing to the sore incision spot. And the compression stockings make it hard to move, or wear anything but sweat pants... Non the less, I am getting around more, hobbling a bit, in my sweat pants. So pretty!



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A ahh haaa moment!

I love a good Ahh Haaa moment. When you really truly get something!

I have been percolating on my lesson this week for the 12 and 13 year old girls at church, (that is how I prepare, read, percolate, prep) What is the Lord’s way for providing for the poor and needy?

How does God help us on earth?

I am a believer in miracles! I do believe God can make anything happen, although it may not be what we want or on our time card, with God anything if possible…

Those big miraculous miracles are not a everyday occurrence. The majority of the time, we receive little miracles, nothing big, nothing miraculous, just little day to day things, we most likely do not notice God helping us on a daily basis. He can be very subtle…

I have been blessed many times throughout my life by people helping our family. To just name a few

1) when I was in JR high we couldn’t go to our families for Christmas. I had a single mom who was raising us on a waitresses salary, we didn’t have the gas money, or the tires on our car. Just before Christmas I woke up to some noise and commotion, pretty sure to a crying mother. A woman who was a regular in the restaurant I worked in was in the house. She wasn’t taking no for a answer, she was taking my moms car keys. When she returned with the car, it was full of gas and had new tires… And I was headed out the door for Christmas with my cousins.

2) Twice in Shane’s College days, when we reached our low, the cupboards were bare, the bank account dry, we had food show up on our door step. It never failed it was always exactly what we needed in it, generally fruit, vegetables, diapers.

3) Once I entered a Christmas wish contest, I didn’t wish for much, pajamas for my sweet baby Josh, a new rolling pin. I of course being awesome, never sent in the entry! You can imagine my surprise when 2 boxes were delivered to my apartment, full of food, pies and everything else we could want for a Christmas dinner, oh and a marble rolling pin and pajamas for my sweet baby Josh… No one knew of my entry, or lack there of Well no one on earth…

4) Christmas 2000, we lived in a glorious little town in Southern Alberta (I won’t say the name so everyone can think it was their town) we were pretty poor. Shane had started a business, and you know how that goes sometimes… One day I came home to a yard full of men stacking wood by our house, I was so relieved that we would have wood to heat the house, it would save us a bundle. I was confused why Shane hadn’t mentioned ordering the wood, but trusted him. When I got out of the car and the men left, he explained they just showed up, it was a gift from a ward member. My heart was full, but would soon be brimming, it seemed like every time darkness hit the doorbell would ring, 90% of the time no one was there, but there was always something, egg nog, cookies, toys, gifts, money, food, treats you name it, it was delivered.

As I thought about my lesson, I realized each time we received these gifts, these little miracles in our life, it was from God. Now God is not going to go chop firewood and drop it off, He most likely won’t make me cookies, or go to the grocery store for groceries. He probably will not head to Fas Gas and pay for my fuel or put tires on my moms car.

But, He sure makes sure it happens. God is a pretty lucky guy, he has millions of Angels and Messengers, so when a need arises,  He sends His Angels to do it for him. His Angels work around the clock, generally unnoticed, just doing God’s errands. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t noticed them, the are really hard to spot, they really don’t stand out in a crowd whatsoever. In fact, they look just like you and just like me…

Small Ahh Haa moment, His angels are YOU and ME!

We are God’s messengers, we are on His errand.

Plain old You and I, we are what makes the difference in peoples lives. Some of us are skinny, some of us not so much, some of us our wealthy, some of us not so much, short and tall, loud and quiet, but we do have a few things in common, we are here to comfort the meek and to provide for the needy and poor.

I guess my Ahh Haa moment was a combination of realizing I am one of His angels and something else I have been working on. I have been thinking for sometime on how to memorialize my friend Geneva, and those thoughts led me to the idea of random acts of kindness, which led to Pay it Forward for Geneva.

As we randomly do kind things for others, who in turn will do kind things for others, the world becomes a better place.

I finally made a connection today… At Geneva’s (or G as we like to call her) funeral in July, her sweet husband Ken had his kids go to the front of the chapel and look out at the audience. He told them -(disclaimer, this is how it went in my brain, it is not word for word and may have gone in other brains very differently)- that even though their mommy was gone, they would be taken care of, in fact they know had mommy as a Angel, and everyone that loved their mommy would be their angels on earth. He then invited all of us who would be willing to watch out and protect Geneva’s children to stand. With something like 800 of us standing, he told the kids that all of those people standing were now their earthly angels, who would do all we could do to help them, and to protect them.

It was a touching moment for me, who wouldn’t want to protect those sweet babies! And how am I going to help living 14 hours away?

But then it dawned on me, the true Ahhh Haaa moment (yes, just now 4 months later, I know I am awesome like that)…

As we Pay it Forward for Geneva, as we spread kindness, compassion and love, as we do all we can do to help others, are we not making the world a better place? Are we truly not being God’s angels on earth? Are we not making the world a better place for G’s babies?

I challenge you, let down your fears, let down your walls, and be you, when that little voice in your head says -call so and so, let that person go first, X needs help, look that stranger needs help to pay for their groceries- don’t second guess yourself, don’t argue with yourself, don’t worry that they will think your crazy. You are on a divine errand, when you have thoughts to do good that is God calling his Angel with a errand. Let it be, act upon it. 

Give what you can give, love whom you can love, serve whom you can serve!

Help make the world a better place! Be a messenger, be His Angel.

For Geneva, who taught me to put the world aside, and live for what is truly important. She would have given anything, just to hold her kids a little longer, laugh with her husband, smell her little boys hair while snuggling in bed, to just live a little longer.

We love you G, we will be their Angels!

Heather

Halloween for our missionary

I really wished I would have taken better photos while doing Elder MacKays latest package. But I guess I thrive on disorganization....

My inspiration came from my friend Mel who did a package for her missionary daughter and Pinterest of course! (hbmackay if you want to follow me)

We started with some cute Cadbury mummies 

Which I know Elder C. Loved! 

Next we took orange tic tacs and printed the print out we found on a blog (trying to find it to give cred)

I covered a Pringles chip containers with Halloween themed paper for Elder Mackay and Elder C, then I filled them with pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Each held a dozen.

Next I took Meliah to Wallyworld to fill the box, she picked candy, glow sticks, decorations, ghost marshmallows, eye patch and a clown costume. She was a great resource.

One of my favourite finds was Evil Twin candy, which I added a picture of our twins too

Here is a few assembly pictures

I enlisted my good friend K to make some Halloween cut outs to decorate the box, and it made it adorable! Thanks K! 

There is just something about sending your missionary (or any child away) a package, it warms my heart and fills my soul. It makes me believe 2 years will be over before I know it.

I have to say I was very pleased when I received a letter from Elder M telling me thank you for the package and how good the cookies were. He also mentioned his companion is a new member of the church and was very happy to receive the gifts.

Firstly it made me extremely happy to have listened to my inner voice aka  the Holy Ghost to include his companion. Who said they were the best cookies of his life.

Secondly I was super proud my son finally has learned to say thank you for the gifts I send.

Thirdly with love in my heart, tears in my eyes for both Elders(I cry a lot on Mondays) I immediately ran down to the post office Monday and mailed both Elders. I included a little note for Elder C and carried on with my watery eyes Monday.

You can imagine my happy heart when on Friday I recieved a letter from Elder C thanking me for the love and kindness he got in the Halloween package, he rarely gets anything in the mail and was so appreciative he thanked me a million times. I was so happy I had sent him more cookies, after all the first ones were "Heaven in his mouth"

Moral of the story, I love my missionary and am adopting Elder C. How grateful I am to receive those thoughts in my head that can bring joy to those in need! It isn't that I am special or intuitive or thoughtful, it isn't my thought! It is just that I learned sometime ago that when you get a good thought, it is God needing you to run his errand. And I just get to be a messenger sometimes, I hope I always hear them, and always remember to listen!

Heather

P.S. Send missionaries mail...

Lets play catch! Or shall we say Catch up!

Ya, it has been exactly 1 year, 6 months and 1 day since I last blogged… But hey, I got busy

Let us go back in time…

My last blog posting was May on 2012, since then…

Christmas 2011 Cause I missed it, and we had so much fun!

We went to Canada for Christmas this year, our status had to be changed, so we thought we should go during a school break. Of course,  we couldn’t haul much in our car, so we sent Santa a letter telling him we were having Christmas early this year, he was so kind to come early! In fact, he wrote us a letter to let us know he would!

On our Faux Christmas Eve, we reenacted the Nativity story,

I was Mary

Caleb was a Wiseman  

Josh a Shepard

For evening entertainment we had a strength competition

Meliah got her favourite present ever! A American Girl Doll that looked just like her.

We were very blessed Christmas 2011, we had a pretty rough year financially and were not sure how we could manage Christmas. Shane had voted to just cancel it, but some lovely elves were so VERY generous and we were able to have the best Christmas!

Meliah turned 8! Which was very exciting.

First we had a Hello Kitty Rainbow Party.

We got some pictures taken at the Salt Lake Temple

But most important and special, Meliah was extremely excited to get baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Seriously. This child was over the moon for her special day. We even had some special visitors for the event!

She was baptized on my Birthday! May 5th, but it was fun to share the day with her. We went out for dinner later in the day and had a great weekend.

We decided to head down to Zions national park for Memorial day. Guess what happened?

The only belt in a trooper broke.

But we did have a lovely ride in a tow truck.

By the time we made it to Zions it was all full, so we ended up at Bryce Canyon at Ruby’s canyon.

Someday I will find the pictures.

 

Summer 2012

Meliah and I were SO very lucky to get to go to Canada for over a month! In that time we stayed with my sister in law, with Melanee, with my mom, my sister Kat. Here is a couple pictures of the joy of that visit! We all went up to go house boating, and Meliah and I stayed until Shane came back for the family reunion.

Highlights definitely include breaking down on the way to Canada, on the 4th of July in Idaho… Our time with Grandma Karen and the twins. Houseboating with our little family, and then Meliah and I with Grandma and Grandpa MacKay, Magrath days with the Millers, hanging out with the Sandbergs, and of course Shane taking all of Meliahs clothes to Utah so she had to get all new clothes! hahaha

(Ruby and Meliah, Nelson Market face painting, Eli the eccentric, Clementine in her life jacket, Cleaning up the log debris so we could boat)

We attempted to go camping for for Fall break… You should take a guess what happened… We left for Zions National park. Super excited, super great dutch oven meals all ready to consume…

Made it to Santaquin. Yes twenty minutes, until we broke down….

Football Season was awesome this year.

Terann was a Freshman Cheerleader

This was a learning experience. It was great, she loves it and made so many friends!

Just so you know, Cheerleaders, probably work harder than football players. Except they get little respect and are heckled or ignored… So next time you see a cheer leader, give her some love. Chances are she is at practice at 5:30 am everyday 10 months of the year. Pays oodles of money for the privilege, and has several injuries including concussions to show for it.

The boys team won state championship, which is amazing… the final game was seriously in double over time… amazing!

Aren’t we looking all American?

We ended up moving December 1st, 2012. It was a crazy fall… With football going until the end of November, us deciding to move into something smaller and cheaper, and Shane's work sending us on a cruise December 9th… it was crazy and fabulous!

The cruise was to Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel Mexico. We had such a great time, and cannot wait to go again!

We stayed home for a lovely steak dinner for Christmas which was the best ever! Shane decided to spoil the kids this Christmas, so got them each something that gave them a huge shock. We try to be frugal at Christmas, we get them something they want, but keep it in a lower price bracket… We didn’t follow that plan, but the reactions were worth it.

2012 was a great year! Lets see what 2013 brings… Oh gosh, seeing's it is almost 2014 I already know, and it has been a ride! Catch ya up on that one later!

 

Heather

I am just going to say it…

This is not going to be my usual happy post or one that is even coherent…

But I am just going to out it…

It just isn’t fair…

How can G’s cancer have spread so quickly? How can such a young fun loving mom, be facing this?

Ya I get God has a plan, and I am a strong believer in this, but how can this beautiful loveable mommy have stage IV cancer?

She should be worrying that her little kids turn out to be good teenagers, not be worrying that she won’t see those years. She should be adoring her adoring husband, not wondering if she will live happily ever after with him.

I am sorry, I am being selfish, and not a good friend. But I hate this. When my gramma died of cancer, she did it with courage, without complaint, because in her mind she was saving the young mommies by being the one with cancer.

I invoke the trade my gramma was willing to give, let this mommy live! Let her raise her kids! Let her do all those silly and funny and wonderful things she has dreamed of doing. Let her be her.

The other sucky part, as much as my heart breaks for her, I am just so dang glad it isn’t me! What a awesome friend I am, I will do anything for you, except trade spots with you… That isn’t a path I want to take.

Please pray for my dear friend G. She is going to fight this, pray she wins! So her little kidlets W, K and C can have their mommy.

If you want to read more about my beautiful friend, check out her BLOG. If you wish to help her financially as she fights for her life. Fights for the opportunity to raise her kids…  We are putting together an auction to benefit her and taking donations HERE.

What is the matter with me…

I swore I never wanted land again…

But I really want to grow my own meat, beef and chickens.

Have my own eggs, yum!

Why not grow some produce… I think I want some land…

But we all know what that means, MANUAL labour!!

Football and Politics…

This is not my usual rant on Football! Generally I have found it frustrating to watch the game, I admit I have been wrong on some points.

It was hard for me to go from small town football, where everyone got to play, to big city where you earned your spot.

I do think Caleb’s could have had a much better freshman year, a freshman playing his hardest and with dedication should not be benched. BUT coaches are not perfect, and time to move on!

So this is the scenario that currently has my panties in a knot…

The Superintendent (from now on shall be known as the Super) requested an audit on our boys football coach, or the football program. Not only was the audit requested, but his job was threatened. Needless to say there was a huge outcry of support, from parents, players and donators.

The critical issues were that he had raised a lot of money (like millions) to help the football program. The district wanted to be sure he was using the funds appropriately. They had reason to believe he had not.

Now a little background,

• In the past the Coach raised the funds for a astro turf field and a Football center.
• A player was injured the year before on the field, because of a issue with the field. The Freshman Player received a concussion that caused temporary blindness and he could not attend school for quite a while. The coach was told to find the money himself to fix the field. The district couldn’t afford it. Basically he was told to raise $200,000! From private donors, for something on school property.
• Coach Wong raised money to build a state of the art training center, where 100 people could train at one time.
• In May the principal retired and the Super brought in new blood from out of state.
• The Super requested a fundraising policy be made, there was none before, but with Wong having raised $2,000,000 (rumor, don’t know exact number, but it is around there) he wanted one. A committee was formed, they worked on a policy and presented it, but the Super didn’t like it. Rejected and he started to create one himself (with the school board of course). The Fundraising Policy Committee felt like they wasted their time and that the Super rejected it because he had an agenda that wasn’t being met (their words, not mine).
• The Super and the New principal McKee request an audit on the books. His job is threatened.
• McKee assures everyone that Wong is safe and Wong encourages all to work with and respect McKee.
• The Super quits.
• The Audit is sealed and private as of the beginning of March.
• I am contacted for a interview on March 13th in the early afternoon by a reporter.
• By mid afternoon reports of Wong’s personal gain from funds are ALL over the papers. Yes the audit is still sealed.
• Late afternoon Wong is given a 30 day suspension without pay, and then will be fired unless he appeals and wins.
• Outcry and Mayhem occur.

I have learned that the Board wants Wong gone, and no amount of begging and pleading would change their mind. apparently the board does not think they have consequences, it was their Audit department (with the Supers right hand man there of course) who leaked the information. I hope Wong sues the crap out of the board. I hope they DO NOT get re-elected. I personally have emailed them, and they are evasive and seem to not care.

So what did Wong do? He did use the schools account to fix his vehicle and never paid the money back ($600) ummm hello, did anyone ask, I personally have used company accounts to fix my vehicle and if they hadn’t taken it off Shane’s check, I wouldn’t have gone begging to pay. Could it have been to repay for things he had done? Maybe. Did they give him a chance to pay? No, they fired him.

They also found some shoddy book work. By several departments. Was anyone else fired? Nope.

He is in trouble for whoever takes care of the fees not depositing them within 3 days. The financial office was closed for the summer, and he couldn’t deposit them. I was aware this would happen, because I am a genius? No because all the money goes through the office.

He is in trouble for not getting bids on pregame meals, I mean, how selfish of him to feed the kids at the businesses that sponsored the team. I personally think that is the way to do it!

He accepted a $1500 clothing allowance from under armour, so he is in the hot seat for accepting something that could be personal gain. So all you in the corporate world, do not accept the freebies businesses give you to try to win your business, you could be Wonged! (my new word for unfairly fired) (by the way he used some of it auction off at charity auctions and to clothe volunteers, what a selfish guy!)

He used the football account to pay for coaches meals, on trips, probably meetings etc… Gee that sounds corrupt!

Is he perfect? NO!

Does he deserve for his name to be drug through the mud? NO!

Is the school board being unreasonable? Ummm YA!

This coach has aspired for all his coaching years to make good men. You’re the best player, but not being a good person? Hello bench! You’re kind of a crappy player, but need the team, you are on the team.

When my son has struggled with school or life, I know I can count on Wong. He takes the boys aside and talks to them. He mans them up. We begged our son to do better in school. We grounded our son till he did better in school. He did not even try. Coach Wong calls him in, and off he goes to work on his grades.

He is a good man, with good intent and crappy book work skills. (As are many other coaches at the school) and he is fired.

Way to go Provo!