Thanksgiving is coming up fast. It is hard to tell with all of the Christmas stuff around. Thanksgiving is a good time to be with loved ones and taking the time to remember what we are thankful for. It is too bad that we as a society don't take the time to be thankful everyday instead of just one day a year. One of my goals for 2009 is to really reflect on the things I am thankful for EVERY day. I am thankful for this year my friends and my family. We have gone through quite a bit but the thing is that together we got through it all. We are still here for each other even though there may be physical miles between us, that will never change how close we are in heart.
Looks like we are going to be spending our Thanksgiving with Lisa, Buster, Eli, Kavon, Shilo, John, Mom, and Papa. It is going to be different without the other family members around, but we will focus on the things we are thankful for. I will make sure to take lots of pictures.

Today was funny. We were at Fred Meyer and I went to turn down the soup isle and couldn't go because there was a family blocking the way. That family was my orthodontist and his family. Rather funny seeing him outside of the office where I normally see him. Only in a small town can something like that happen. That is one of the perks of living in a small town, when you run into someone you know they say hi. I don't know of anyone running into their doctor in a big city and their doctor will stop and say hi and talk to them like they are long lost friends.

Oh I was asked to give a talk in church on the 30th on Obedience. I will be spending this whole next week studying and praying on the subject and see where God will lead me on that talk. I will guarantee one thing, that talk will not be from me, it will be from Heavenly Father.

November Musings

Snow, glorious snow!!!!!

John playing my Nintendo DS

My Augmentin XR

Well it is already November. Time sure flies. We were blessed with a couple of days of snow. That didn't stop my friend John from coming to visit for the weekend. I was really sick so we just hung out around the house. He found my Nintendo DS and enjoyed both of my Brain Age games. Last week I found out that I have an infection in my throat called peri-tonsillar cellulitis. My doctor prescribed me Augmentin XR which are 1000 mgs a pill and I have to take 2 pills twice a day. They are so huge! My throat is in so much pain that the doctor also prescribed me lidacaine to swish and spit so that my throat can be numbed. I have to tell you though the "flavor" it comes in is very unusual, it is cherry spearmint. And to answer your question, "Yes it is disgusting."

I have been doing well on my personal scripture study. I am learning so much and the thing is when I apply what I learn in my studies, I feel this peace come into my heart and I feel like I am weightless. I absolutely love learning from the scriptures, I know that the scripture study and Gospel learning is the most important education I can ever posses

.

I was really happy yesterday. I got to see Peggie! Oh after she left I got all teary-eyed. It was so good to see her. She looks very radiant. I am so proud of her. I just read her blog and found out that she got a calling to the Nursery in her Ward. That is awesome. I know that she is going to do very well in her calling.

Tomorrow is my brother Jonathan's birthday. I have not been able to get a hold of him lately, I am sure he is doing ok. He probably just ran out of minutes for his phone. I can't believe he will be 31. I love him and am proud of him for the things he has been doing to improve his life.

Today I was able to work on my home office. I was able to get some old things shredded and newer things filed. I have been working on my Christmas card list as well. I plan on having the Christmas cards all mailed off by the first weekend of December. I don't have to worry much about Thanksgiving as we are going to be spending it with Lisa and Buster, Hollis and Lois, and Kavon's bunch. It should be a very good Thanksgiving. Well the true test will be if I get to see my Cowboys play or not. I think I am the only football fan in the group lol. I love Thanksgiving....I will have to blog about Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving though lol.

I have a faith in God. I know that He hears our prayers and He helps us when we need help. I have to confess that I loathe giving myself insulin injections. Every time without fail, I end up praying to Heavenly Father asking him to help me be calm as I give myself the injection. For those brief seconds it takes to inject myself, I feel my anxiety lessen. I know that it is Heavenly Father helping me.

Auntie Tobi had an intestinal blockage and had to have surgery last Sunday. She is at home now doing well.

On November 2nd my sister Rachael gave birth to my nephew Isaiah. Don't know anything else than that. She kept it a secret from the majority of the family. I hope that she is doing well.

This month was also a month that will go down in our history books. This month we had our Presidential Elections. It was between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. What would have made it historical if Senator McCain won is that his running mate for Vice President was Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. The winner of the election was Senator Obama though. What people claim is the historical significance of him winning is that he is what some people say is the first African-American President. I disagree. You see Senator Obama is just as much white as he is black. His mother was white, his father was from Kenya. So to say he is African-American isn't accurate. I prefer bi-racial. He is a mix of different nationalities and to say that he is just African-American negates his other heritage from the woman who gave birth to him. He was raised by his white grandparents in Hawaii. To say he is solely African-American discredits his ancestry. What makes it historical for him to be President is that he is the first bi-racial candidate to be elected to President. I do not agree with his policies or his agenda, however I will lift him and our other country leaders in prayer as I always have done no matter who is our leader.

I am a very conservative person and believe that we should work for what we get and that we should be industrious, thrifty, and frugal people. That way our resources can be used up and appreciated rather than wasted. I think that this whole economic rescue plan should not go to the big companies I think the government should let these businesses do the bankruptcy thing. The companies should have to go to some kind of credit counselling class and do everything that your average citizen has to do to file bankruptcy now. I don't believe that giving a handout to these companies is going to solve the situation. I think the situation is also happening because people are not living within their means. They get themselves into an agreement to pay more than they can afford. Just because they can't afford to make a payment in whole, they end up making no payment at all. Or if they make a partial payment, companies hire collection agents to telephone and harass people. I honestly believe that there are other ways around this economic situation. I think first and foremost tithe! Secondly keep your money with local businesses in your community. If we all did this it would help to strengthen the economy of our country. Live within our means, don't get a new car or a big house just because you want to one up someone. It isn't worth it! Be content with the basic necessities of life. We all need to tighten our belts collectively and individually if we want to heal our economy. We can't expect the government to do it all for us. We need to be responsible citizens. Stand up America! Together we can accomplish much. Unified we can heal our economy and our homes. Simplify our lives, it is time to get back to basics. What are you going to do to help?

I think also that if the government taxed everyone 10% of their income and left it to that then everything would be ok. The people who have plenty, well their 10% would make up for small 10% of those who do not have as much. That way everyone is equal and it wouldn't be some complicated math problem to figure out how much a person owes. Wonder why the government has never implemented a flat 10% tax for everyone?

Ok enough of that. Those were just some thoughts in my head that I wanted to get out. Now that I have e-vented through my blog, all is well :D

October Goings On

Kenny carving a pumpkin and Kavon resting...she made us all nachos


Kendra's tortes



Gabe and Eli with Nana at the zoo in Portland




The nachos Kavon made





My Birthday Cake





I absolutely love my friends. To me friends are the family that you get to choose. I have three beautiful friends who moved up to Portland at the beginning of September. I am so proud of those girls, they are growing spiritually and temporally and it is so wonderful to see that going on in their lives. I was sad because I wasn't going to be able to see them as often, but my happiness for them and the change that they needed to better their lives outweighs the little bit of selfishness of me not being able to see them as much.






Now on this Saturday, November 1, 2008 my closest friend, Cari, and her husband (another good friend) are moving to Utah. I was so happy when they told me about Kenny going back to school so that he can work on a degree in engineering. I know that it is a good change for them spiritually and temporally as well. I am happy for them and I want nothing but for them to be happy and successful in all that they do. I know that Utah is only about a 12-14 hour drive from here, but I am going to miss them so much. Over the last year or so Cari and I have really gotten closer. She has become a sister to me and her whole family is my family now. It is funny because her mother in law did some geneology work and found out that she and I are 10th generation cousins so that makes Kenny my 11th and the girls my 12th. So they really are my family.






I have done so good this last month while helping Cari with some packing here and there and doing other things together. Today though it hit me hard. I actually cried today. I know that it is selfish of me but I am going to miss all of them like crazy. I realized that all of my close friends have moved away from here and I really don't have any friends here to hang out with. Well I am going to make an effort to spend time with and get to know Kavon better.






Friends are so precious, they are family. We need to let them know how much we love and appreciate them and thankfully we do live in the times of modern technology so we can still nurture friendships over the miles with cell phones and texting and phone calls and emails and heck even snail mails too. I know that even though we may be miles apart that the miles are only physically not the heart.






This month has gone by quickly. The weekend of the 17th and 18th Cari, Lisa, Suzanne, Kavon, Shilo, and I all went up to Portland to visit Peggie, Holly, Kendra, Matt, and Gabe. We had so much fun. It was good to see how much Heavenly Father has blessed those girls. It was a good opportunity for us women to also strengthen our bonds of friendship through upbuilding and encouraging words and even humor.






This month was my 10th anniversary. We weren't able to do anything for it but that is ok. I got James a card and a bag of hershey's kisses that say "I Love You" on them.






This month was also General Conference. All of the talks given were wonderful. The one that impressed upon me the most though was by Elder L.Tom Perry. He talked to us about simplifying our lives. Our lives need food, clothing, shelter, and fuel. He brought out the physical and spiritual implications to all four areas. I loved it! I also enjoyed the talk by President Uchtdorf as well.






Then later on this month we were blessed to hear from Elder L.Tom Perry and President Uchtdorf as well during our Stake Conference. They reminded us to obey the commandments and for worthy young men to serve missions. The Gospel is the way for us to return to our Father in Heaven.






We also had Branch Conference where we were reminded of temple attendance, Sabbath day observance, and being good neighbors.






This month definitely was full of spiritual blessings.






My birthday was on the 27th of this month. On the 26th after Stake Conference, we all went over to Lisa and Busters where we celebrated my birthday and carved pumpkins. For my birthday I got a Black and Decker 16-Cup Multi-use rice cooker, Batman Lego game for my Nintendo DS, Seasons 1 & 2 of 'Little House on the Prairie', a dozen and a half of yellow roses, two big bottles of Tide Total Care laundry soap, and a new desk accessory set. Also on my birthday my mom called me, my Uncle Henry and his quartet called and sang 'Happy Birthday' to me, and my Dad called and sang 'Happy Birthday' to me as well. I know that presents are fun but the thing that meant the most to me for my birthday was the presence. Yes the presence of my friends and family through their time either in person or on the phone or through emails or snail mail. I really love my friends and family and I know that I am truly blessed to have all of them in my life.

Random Thoughts

Today was pretty kick back and relaxed for once. It was nice because one of my visiting teachers came to visit. She is a really sweet lady who lives basically across the street from me. I wish I had her patience and kindness. Right now I am working on getting all of the laundry done. The house is cleaned so the laundry is the last thing that has to be done. Thankfully though we are blessed to live in a time where we have washing machines and dryers to do the work for us. Today I also was able to get my visiting teaching route letters out in the mail. I feel like I have accomplished a lot today :D

Ok I have been thinking about my goals. I know that what the doctor told me about the weight thing is primarily due to the prednisone and once I am off of the prednisone things will go down for me. However, I am going to stick with the weight watchers points thing with the exercise. I do get about an hour of excercise three times a week at physical therapy so that is good. The days in between physical therapy I will be using my resistance bands for strength training, and I will use my stepper machine along with doing some yoga with my plank pose. Please keep me in your prayers so that I can succeed at being healthy again.

I have been working on my inner self as well. I have been doing my personal scripture reading and prayers. I have also been making sure that my Sunday School lessons are prepared ahead of time as well. I want to be a better person on the inside and out. It isn't easy to do the right things, but I have been scheduling in my time for reading my scriptures and saying my prayers every day and it has been making a difference. I know that after a couple more months of doing it regularly every day that it will become a blessed habit.

Some of our dear friends are moving to Utah. I am so happy for them. I am going to miss them a lot though. Life here in Klamath will not be the same without them. There won't be anyone to hang out with or to do Sunday family dinner with after church. I am praying though, that Heavenly Father will bless us with someone here to adopt us into their family so that we won't be so lonely here. I am thankful though that we do live in the electronics era so that we can still keep in touch through email and phone calls.

Conference

Last weekend was General Conference. I am truly thankful for the spiritual nourishment that was so generously provided by our Father in Heaven. One of the talks that stood out to me the most was by Elder L. Tom Perry about simplicity. We should be content with the necessities of life such as: food, clothing, shelter, and fuel. Not only can these things be discussed temporally but physically as well. Another talk that impressed upon my heart was the one on Sunday by Sister Dalton about a return to virtue. If we all worked on ourselves individually, others in our lives are bound to follow our examples.
I am looking forward to next Sunday when our Branch has it's conference which will show us as a Branch family the things that we need to work on to improve ourselves as a Branch.
Then on October 26th will be Stake Conference. I can't wait to find out the progress on the Stake goals. I know that I have been working on the Stake goals and I have been feeling so much better about myself as I work on those things.
This is definitely Conference season. I am thankful for the spiritual strength that I receive from the different conferences that we get to partake of this month.
There was a quote I saw today. It said, " God's love transcends our transgressions." How true about the repentance process. Repentance is a healing gift from God and it can make us whole again.

Tulelake Fair 2008

On Saturday, August 6, 2008 a group of us went to the Tulelake Fair. Because of my injuries from my car accident, also because of the nausea from the Imuran, I stayed on the sidelines helping to watch the babies while other people rode on the rides. This blog is primarily a photo blog. I hope that you enjoy the photos :D

Elias loved my sunglasses.

Elias and Gabriel enchanted by the Zipper.

Gabriel had to try on the sunglasses too

Laura and Kathryn waiting for the Swinger to start

Part of the group taking a break under the shade of a tree

Peggie and Ki m trying to hold their heads on straight after their ride on the Zipper

Some of our group waiting in line for the bumper cars.

Catching Up

It has been an interesting month. My 1993 Ford Explorer was on its last legs. I didn't know what to do so I prayed to Heavenly Father. Next thing you know I was blessed with some money so I was able to trade in my Explorer and put a reasonable down payment on a newer Ford Explorer (2001). We need 4 wheel drive here in the mountainous region of Oregon. Now mind you when I traded in the 1993 I was expecting to only get maybe $500 the most for trade in. The salesman even came over after the mechanics looked at the 1993 and he asked me if I knew the 4 wheel drive did not work on the 1993. They ended up giving me $1,000 trade in for the old Explorer and then gave me another $1,000 off the price of the 2001 Explorer. My cousin ran the Vin number and the newer Explorer came back clean and I had my other cousin take the 2001 for a test drive and look at everything on it and it passed. What a blessing. I really know that God was looking out for me and blessed me with a newer car that is a little bit of a treat. The good thing is that when I get my settlement from my car accident that happened in April 2008, I will pay off the 2001 and not have any car payments. I am thankful that the car payment thing will only be temporary. My new Explorer has leather seats and a sunroof and 4 wheel drive that works. It is very nice. It is a Sport Edition so it has only 2 doors, but I hardly have a lot of people riding in my vehicle with me anyways.

On the health front, I am still going to the chiropractor and physical therapy for my rehabilitation from the car accident that occurred in Virginia back in April 2008. It feels like much longer, but I am thankful that the Lord has put me in capable hands to help with my healing.

On the Crohn's disease front, the doctor has me on the Imuran and I am still on the prednisone along with the other medications. Now I have steroid induced diabetes which means I have to test my blood sugar and give myself injections of insulin. The Lord helps me to get through this.

The sad thing is that with the Imuran, my immune system is shut down which makes me more susceptible to catching colds and flus and viruses. I am supposed to avoid contact with persons who are ill as well as persons who have received live vaccines, as these can pose very harmful to me. I have been using hand sanitizer very liberally. The Imuran has been causing me to be nauseated and I get really tired. I know though that God will help me to get through this, all I have to do is endure.

I am very thankful that Autumn is approaching. I love this time of year with the crisper, cooler weather. I love being able to see the leaves change colors and being able to go to the pumpkin patch. I love the fragrances of autumn time as well, the apples and pumpkin pies, the smell of wood stoves being fired up. What a blessing that the Lord gives us in the season changes. All of our senses get to enjoy many different aspects of this time of year. The Lord is good to us!

I am going to start working more on this blog to help me to be able to meet and reach my goals. Thank you for reading this. I hope that everyone finds themselves enjoying the blessings of the Lord.

July 2008

Fourth of July Weekend was spent camping with our Kiger Family. Not all of the Kigers were there though unfortunately. Never-the-less we made the best of it and still had fun. We decided to camp at Willow Lake. It is amazing how I have lived here in Oregon for over ten years now and have not realized or even seen half of the natural beauty and wonders that this state contains.


Some of the activities that were participated in were walking, swimming, rides on the paddle boats, enjoying each other's company around the campfires, and even some games. There were even some comic relief incidents that happened. One was that in the middle of the night, some people were arguing very loudly and I waited about 10 minutes then yelled , " shut up and go to bed." It turned out other people thought that was a good thing and didn't get mad at me. One more funny thing that happened (didn't seem so funny at first), was that James locked Cari's keys in her car and so Matthew and Kendra had to drive to Keno to get a spare set. Even though I was sick, it was nice to spend time with family and friends.








On the health front, I have still been having issues with the Crohn's disease. I am still on 60 mgs of Prednisone a day along with the Pentasa and the Zofran with occasional pain meds. Now I have to test my blood glucose levels and I have to use insulin now as well. I know that with Heavenly Father's help and guidance I will get through this. I had anaphylactic shock on Friday and was in the emergency room. It happened during a CT scan. Thankfully the emergency room was right there and the doctor and nurses were able to help me out.
I have also been busy with physical therapy and chiropractic appointments so that I can heal completely from the car accident that happened in April. I am going 3 times a week for each doctor. But I know that I am on the path of healing so it is ok.




HAPPY BIRTHDAYS FOR JULY ARE:

Grandma Day - July 17th (she turned 85 and she looks good!)

James - July 24th ( 40 years old already!)

Kendra Kiger - July 12th ( Happy 18th!)

Troy Gerber - July 16th

Aunt Diane - July 29th

Pappa Kiger- July 26th

Endurance

Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes the downs come all at once and it is difficult to catch my breath. This June 2008 has been one of the most challenging times that I have experienced with my Crohn's Disease. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks and it was awful. The solution? To keep taking the prednisone at 60 mgs and then get on the Imuran. The Imuran is an immuno-suppressant medication. What that means is that it will shut down my immune system causing me to be susceptible to infections. I am petrified, but I know that this is something that needs to be done. The thing that I have come to learn and accept over this last month is that I can get through this, that all I need to do is to endure. Yes, endurance is the key to my success in this situation. For now I am enduring this immense pain that wakes me up in the middle of the night. My whole left side is swollen from the prednisone, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am alive and I do have many blessings to focus on. I am loved by my friends and my family and I know that I am going to make it through. It just might not happen as quickly as I would like it to happen, but it will happen. I just can't give up. I have to keep pressing forward with endurance so that I can win this race. I hope that one day though that they find a cure for this disease.