Results Day?

We were notified this last week that Nate has an appointment with his cardiologist at HSC tomorrow.  I'm assuming that this means the team has met and discussed results, following our tests in Edmonton.
We're leaving tomorrow morning as soon is Brady is off to school, and praying that the foot of snow that they are predicting will not affect the roads.  We always give ourselves 2 hours to get to our appointments, and it's usually right around that time.  Hopefully the snow will not slow us down to get there for 10:30.

In other news, nothing has been close to boring in our family....as per usual.

This time, it was an unfortunate accident involving Nate, and the ski of Brady's GT racer, at the bottom of a snow hill.  The result was Nate losing 4 lower teeth (teeth 71, 81, 82 and 83 for my dental friends :).  Thankful that he didn't have any further injuries.....it could have been much, much worse.  Everyone seems to be on the mend.  Although Nate can't bite into things, he has been eating pretty well, (something that was an immediate concern for me).  Brady has also recovered from the fear, guilt and sadness.  He felt incredibly guilty and was scared seeing all of the blood (it was bad).  Don had to calm him down on the drive, even more than Nate.  He kept saying 'he's losing a lot of blood' and even asked if Nate was going to die.  I was conveniently at work, just down the hall from my friends at the dental office, so I rerouted Don from going to the ER, and just told him to come straight to the office.  Nate was very brave through it, although it did get a little loud in the room (sorry to the people in the waiting room :).
At one point, between sniffles, Nate even asked:  "Am....I....sniff, sniff.....going.....hiccup.....to.....sniff......die?" Oh, the poor guy!!

And in totally unrelated news, we're getting our house put back together again.  Glad to have carpet downstairs, and furniture to actually sit on down there and up in the living room.  Will post pics once I take a moment to take some!

Finally something soft to walk on! 

Just need to put the pieces together!

Well, that's it for now.  Thanks for your care and love in the last week and for the prayers as we head into our appointment tomorrow.  Praying with expectation!!

All (Un)Settled In!

We're about as settled as unsettled can be!  We've been in our home for just over 2 months, but it feels like this has been home for a long time!!  Now if only we were able to actually inhabit the whole house, it would be great!

We've been doing a LOT of fun work around here.  When I knew we wouldn't be building a house, I figured there would still be lots of opportunities to get the look that I was hoping to achieve through building, in a facelift type project here.

It's been a labour of love (for the most part!).  We've done most of the work after the boys are in bed, so it's been a lot of late night work, but that's how life goes.  I feel like we've painted the equivalent of two homes already - boy, painting white isn't easy!!  After two coats on the ceiling, 4 coats on the walls in the main upstairs rooms, taping and mudding and then painting the basement, I'm ready to put the brush down for a while!  The only problem is we're waiting on carpet for the downstairs, so we've been living/playing/lego-ing/vegging upstairs in our living room for the last two month, on very limited furniture (ie. two chairs!!).  Oh well, I guess that's why they call it a living room!  But I'm ready for the Lego to make it's way to another area of the house!!

I don't know about you, but I love a good before and after, so I'll share a couple of pics of the progress.
Thankfully Don has been pretty easy going about the look I was going for.  At times, even I was wondering if I'd miss the cozy, warm feeling that color on the walls creates.  But I'm glad I stuck with my gut!

So here is the 'Before' of the dining room - the only room that is mostly 'done'!!

 And here is part of the basement, in the process of being mudded!

And whenever the boys can, they LOVE to help!  Here's a little video of Nate helping us paint downstairs!

I'm sure you professional painters are cringing as you watch that ;)

Many more "Afters" to come....hope you like this sort of thing!  It's been good therapy for me!!  Looking forward to getting the house put back together again....

Wipe Outs and other Sunday fun!

We had a pretty fun Sunday afternoon.  And even captured some parts on camera to share!

After church and a quick lunch we headed out to the big snow hill for some GT Racing. All four of us had so much fun, complete with one of the "older" boys hitting a few snow ramps, and then admitting he wasn't 10 anymore, and maybe should avoid those from now on!

Also, Don captured him and Nate going down on the GT.  He wanted to get Nate's expression as they went down....which was great, until they had a major wipe out!  But it was a fun one, according to the boys!

After some Timbits, Nate suggested we warm up in the hot tub.

Supper at Dairy Queen followed, meeting cousins and friends while we were there.  And then home to bed for the boys, and some Grammy entertainment for Don and I.

A fun day!  Good ones to have, with memories to keep close!
We don't have any more information on Nate yet.  We're still waiting on the team conference and their recommendation.  Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!!

Glad to be home!

We're back at home....sweet home! Wow - if this was just four days, and didn't even involve surgery, how in the world did we get through 4 weeks of this the last time we were there?!? I guess that wold be called God's grace and mercy - getting us through a time that seemed impossible. But anyway, back to 2013!

Procedure day went as well as could be expected. Things did get delayed (surprise!), Nate complained about being hungry, but did okay with all the waiting. We got in shortly after 11 am, started the anesthesia with the IV this time (didn't enjoy that, but it was quick, and we haven't talked about it since!). The MRI and 3D echo took about 2 1/2 hours. Recovery in at the MRI unit took a bit longer than usual. The anesthetist, when beginning the intubation said Nate was just full, full, full of secretions. She said is was pretty bad. After the procedure she did some serious suctioning, and got him cleaned out, but did advise that there was something else going on - possibly with sinuses being infected or a ridiculous build up from his cough that he had. Anyway, after an hour there, we moved up to the ward at about 3pm. The typical recovery from anesthesia played out, but by 7 pm all systems were 'go' and we were ready to leave.

Today was a day of travel back to Winkler, via a crazy cab ride (can you say a nine-point turn to get out of the hotel parking lot???? Don was ready to volunteer to drive himself!!) out to the Edmonton airport, then on to Calgary and back home.



So thankful for safety through travels and procedures.

Thankful for parents, who cared for Brady and gave him safety and stability while we were away.

Thankful for elite medical professionals, in a specialized centre for their knowledge, skill and care.

Thankful for understanding employers who allow us to take time off without an issue.

Thankful for the best friends and family who support us, care for us, show their love in many different ways, and commit to praying for us as a family and ultimately for Nate's healing.

Thankful for other heart families who are taking this journey with us - for their understanding, advice, prayers and love.

Thankful beyond words for our Heavenly Father who gives us strength for each moment, and hope for each new day.


All the waiting....

After the hard part of recovery was done, we got a good smile out of him!

Hot wheels from the treasure chest and a Blue Jays toque from the ward.

Here We Are!

Things haven't changed since the last time we were here, lol!

Here we are, in an eerily familiar hotel room, with a very familiar view. We had our pre-admission appointment at the Stollery (University of Alberta hospital) and saw some familiar faces. I had to work hard to purposefully not think about our circumstances in these exact same locations 3 years ago. Nate did just fine at his very easy appointment this afternoon. Praying that tomorrow also goes smoothly, especially with the 'NPO' orders in the morning. I explained it to him, as he is a bit older and can understand much better now. I could tell he was trying not to show his emotion as he told me that he would need to eat something in the morning. Hopefully the distraction trick works again this time!


We're last on their list for tomorrow morning, due to the need to add on the 3D echo after the MRI. Praying there will not be any delays leading up to our turn. We report at 9:15am, and expect to get started about an hour after that. He will be under general anesthetic for both procedures, which should take at least 2 hours. Then about 5 hours up on the ward

So that's the plan! Thanks for praying for some serious 'shock and awe'!!! Lets give those doctors something to be amazed at!!


Happy and hyper at the airport.....

A fun surprise for the flight.

Yay for Apple products to distract during loooong waits at appointments!

Where have we been.....and where are we going?

That's a very good question, indeed!

The last three months have been a flurry of activity in our house!  School started up and Brady is in Grade 2....and loving every single minute of it!  So thankful for a great school, amazing teachers and a boy who loves to learn!  He also started piano lessons (another hi-light of each week!), and Awana (easily his favorite event each week!).

So, along with the start of a new school year, school pictures were next on the to-do list.  I won't tell you how hard I had to work to get one.  Oh my.... I mean really - the facial expressions were hilarious (but not in a good way!).  I don't know how many times I heard Brady say, "but mom, I AM smiling".  And then just when the nostrils stopped flaring and the smile was genuine, do you think he was looking AT the camera???  Oh well!  Out of the hundreds, I did get a couple for each boy that worked out!

So yes, there were a LOT of outtakes....had to throw in just a couple for you!

This outtake isn't so much about the boys, but rather, their beloved Barn Cat (BC for short), who appears to be feeling somewhat....stressed?!

This one just screams "CHEEEEEEZ"!

A little bit of brotherly love....

And finally.... their reward for nearly sending their mother over the edge - a fun quad ride!

In the midst of the back to school routines starting up in September, we put our house on the market.  And in the perfect timing that only God could orchestrate, our house sold!  This again confirmed how God's got it all under control.  We don't see the big picture, and so we start to question God, or start to stress and worry about things.  That easily could have happened to us, and probably had moments in which the doubt did get a hold of us.  Why didn't our house sell 6 months ago, when we were getting plans together, and were ready build a house on the lot we bought last summer?  At that time we didn't know, but God did, and he had something different in mind for us!

What He did provide for us is a story in itself!  Since Brady started kindergarten, I kept thinking about how wonderful it would be to live closer to the school.  I grew up across the street from my own school and loved it, and now having my own kids, that convenience would be so great!  There was a particular bay that I really wanted, and only a handful of homes that would work (in my mind!).  Being a bit of a Real Estate guru, I had always watched the realtor's websites like a hawk, but nothing came up in that area.

But one afternoon this Septemer, as I went to check new listings, the words "Chestnut Bay" jumped off the page at me.  The listing hadn't even loaded, and I had the phone in my hand and was calling Don at work,   telling him to call our realtor....we had a house to look at!

Given the location of the house, I knew it was going to sell quickly, so the pressure was on!  Later that afternoon I met our realtor (Don was too busy at work to come) and literally checked out the house in about 14 minutes!  Twenty minutes later the offer was written up and then the waiting game began.  There were more showings and offers in the coming hours, so I knew it was out of our hands, and into God's.

And, 24 hours after seeing the house online, we found out it was ours!  So yes, I bought a house.....without Don even seeing it!  My mom made me laugh by emailing me a verse from Proverbs 31, "...she considers a field and buys it."

So, next weekend we'll be loading up!  I'm excited to be so close to both our elementary and junior high school.  Our backyard will have 9 acres of green space and 3 play structures, and the best part is, I don't have to mow any of it!  And we're steps away from school!  See....God had this all planned out for us.  His ways are the best!

Now, after all the drama of buying this house, and selling our own house (which was another another display of God's plan, totally being done in the lives of another dear family!) it was time for a pumpkin carving party!

And now,  on to Brady's latest involvement.....hockey!!!  This boy is loving it!  And even this morning, when they had to be on the road at 6:30am, to get to the arena in time, there were smiles all around!

And even though you can barely see the snow, the GT racers came out, with the excitement of snow days to come!

Well, that's a bit of a long one....  I guess it was 2 months of missed blogging wrapped up into one long, overdue post!  It's fun to be able to share some of the 'normal' things that happen in our family!!