Grandma Honey: 4/1/16

What I learned from this

So last Friday morning I was excited because Den and I had a day trip planned.

I was so happy about it that maybe I had a bounce in my step because

when I got out of bed at 7am, I immediately ran my foot into the leg of this chair.

I slammed it hard and knew it wasn't good,

but still I thought maybe if I just prop it up for a few minutes the pain would subside.

It didn't.

So I called Kaiser and got an appt later that afternoon..

They called me just before my appointment and said

"go right now and get an X-ray"

So I did exactly that, hobbling all the way in there, until Den found a wheel chair.

Then I came back 2 hours later for my appt.

The Dr took one look at my foot and said,

"Your toe is broken and you don't need an X-ray because I can tell without one."

"Well I already had an X-ray."

"But that was unnecessary. Why did you do that?"

"Because whoever I talked to, said to get one first."

"Well how would they know you need an X-ray? They didn't even see you."

(And here I thought I was being such a good patient. It's not every day I am.)

So this doctor brings up my X-rays and lets me look at them while he is saying, "I've worked in
trauma for 10 years. This is my speciality. I know what I'm talking about."

Then as he is studying the picture, I hear him say quietly in a rather muffled voice,
"It shows no break."

I felt kind of sorry for him at this point,

so then I said, "Well it feels broken. I'm sure it's broken."

He looks at a 2nd and 3rd picture and then excitedly says,
"Here it is right here! Your middle toe is broken. Can you see it? It's broken right where the toe
meets the foot. See I told you. I knew from the beginning."

He was happy to be right.
And I was happy it was my toe this time and not my foot.

He said I should heal in 3 weeks.

Okay, so here's what I learned:
To fix broken toes just tape the broken one to the toe next to it.
That's all this Dr needed to do for me.

I wish I had known this a million years ago when I broke my toe as a young kid.
I just limped and hurt for weeks and weeks. Maybe months.

Also I learned this....
Many foot accidents happen in the middle of the night when people get up in the dark.
Even though I ran into the chair in daylight....I had left the chair out a few inches from the night
before. Our brains don't compensate for a few inches, and then our feet pay the price.

The sad part is I missed church last Sunday. It was stake conference and too far to walk in,
and then too much sitting for my fresh break of a foot.
So I stayed home and listened to this great talk my sister had told me about:

(The speaker was captivating, but not her personality. Perhaps she was nervous.
About an accident involving her 4 year old and how it changed their lives.
How life does not always go as we had planned.)

Some of my favorites lately

1. Kleenex Perfect Fit

I don't know about you, but I struggle with tissues in my car.
Something about driving makes me sneeze. Or I need to wipe my lipstick off or something.
Or one of the grandkids in the back seat says suddenly, "I need a tissue."

I either I have to lean over to the other side and grab the box of tissues off the floor....or I have to
reach over to the passenger seat and reach for tissue out of my purse.

Now, I just keep one of these in the extra cup holder.

They are right where I need them.

You may think they are a little pricey at $6.99 for a 4 pack (VONS)

but convenience, and even safety, is worth it.

2. All Cheerios are now gluten free!

When I first went gluten free 3 1/2 years ago, one of the hardest things to give up was a bowl of

Cheerios late at night.Now, finally they are all gluten free!

I've lost my interest in Cheerios, but just in case it ever comes back, I can eat them now.

And so can every other GF person.

3. Six Frozen Cheeries

I don't necessarily buy this brand, but I read somewhere a long while ago

that eating 6 cherries is like taking one aspirin.

So I keep frozen cherries around for when we have pain, and whirl them in smoothies.

And it seems to work.

They are also good for sleep....having a natural melatonin affect.

4. The Wet Brush

Since discovering this, I can now comb through my granddaughters' hair with no problem

at all. Wet or dry. I even gave one to Elora who is 13. She loves it but she admitted later

that when I first gave it to her she "had low expectations." Not sure what that says about

me, but she said again last week that this brush works really well.

5. Microfiber drying mat

I use to lay dishtowels on my counter to dry things that didn't go into the dishwasher.

This mat has been life changing for me. No more soaked dishtowels on my counter,

and things dry so much quicker. It's like the microfiber sucks the moisture up, yet the mat stays dry.

Not sure how it works, but it does.

It comes in a variety of colors on Amazon.

6. Silver Shield Rescue Gel

We've just recently discovered this and it's already helped a few skin issues.

For example, I had a patch of rough skin on my face. Over the course of a many weeks I'd tried

several ointments on it. NOTHING would even phase it. So then I used this Silver Shield, and over

night it was better. And by the 2nd night, it was GONE.

I also put it on my swollen and red toe. Each day I use it, the next morning it's noticeably better.

Dennis has started using it on his scraped up bruised arm last night. We shall see.

7. Closet Dividers

This one we need a little work on.

I thought by labeling exactly where his clothes go, he would hang them up right.

Just days later we have this.

Not working so well for the husband.

But labeling works for me. I've been into it lately.

Having a name and a place for something takes the brain work away, even when I'm in a hurry.

Otherwise I tend to throw things where ever they will fit.

Especially when I have little people with me.

I don't have the organizing gene. But labeling things, seems to bypass that for me.

Another day at church

My Day at Church last Sunday.

Not sure why I'm writing this except I just want to.

It's all in the order it happened.

1. I had just arrived at church and found a place in the back amongst all the young families. I call it
"sitting in the trenches of life"....in other words, lots of very busy parents and little kids. My favorite
place to be. Sometimes I think it can be as noisy as the bird cage at Roeding Park, but I still love it. I
try to imagine the sacrifice these families go through every Sunday morning just to get there

2. In walks one of these darling families carrying newborn #5. I peer over to look at this new little
guy. A new baby to me is witnessing God's miracle. I feel it every time.

3. Teri gave a talk on listening to the spirit as a young mom. She told about a time her family was
living on the military base. Her family's living quarters were amongst several floors. One night Teri
could hear the water turned on two floors above her...where her young daughter was sleeping. As a
mom she waited for the water to go off. It didn't. She waited again.

She could still hear the water running....so she yelled up to her daughter, "Keri are you okay?" She
heard her young daughter answer back, "Mom! Come quick!" Teri bolted up there to find Keri's
desk in flames. Little Keri had been going back and forth to the bathroom filling up water in her
cupped hands and then throwing that water on the flames. Obviously this wasn't enough. So Teri
emptied the bathroom trash can onto the floor, and filled that with water and was able to put the fire
out. Teri pointed out to us that a Mom can be in tune with her children with help from the Holy
Ghost. That parenting is a partnership with our Heavenly Father.

4. Philip, a young husband and Dad of 3,
gave an excellent talk on trying to always remember Christ.

I especially loved his last quote he shared from Jeffrey R Holland:

"With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can
improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don't always
succeed. Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is
cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

5. So I was sitting in on senior Sharing Time (ages 8-11) when 2 boys who were visiting from out of
town (who I knew, but the Primary President I don't think did) were asked to come up front so we
could all sing the HELLO song to them. The older of the 2 brothers walked up there like one would
expect. But his 9 year old brother squatted close to the ground and waddled up there like a penguin.
He stayed in that position for the entire HELLO song, making him about half the size of his
brother, and then waddled back to his seat in that same manner.

So....later on the Primary Pres asked this boy to come back up and help with her lesson. Again, he
went right into this penguin routine. He didn't laugh, just waddled up there close to the ground like it
was perfectly normal of him.

But here's the part I love best....I kept thinking the Pres would correct him by saying something
like,"okay, you need to stand up straight if you are going to be my helper today." That's what I would
have done. But she didn't! She didn't say a word about his antics. She just instead got down to his
level....which was practically on the floor, as they did the lesson together. Maybe she thought he had
some kind of disability and couldn't straighten up. I don't know what she was thinking. But she loves
everyone and is sweet and positive and non judgmental. She only assumes the best about people.
That was a lesson to me in itself.

The girls pulled it off very well!

So it went like this....

Elora and Hailey had a detailed list of everything they needed to make us dinner.

I told Hailey she was just like her Mom....she use to make lots of lists too!

As soon as we got home Hailey requested aprons.

She said, "I know we don't need them, but I think they would be so fun to wear."

Hailey got busy de-boning the chicken.

She thought the whole process was funny.

I thought it was funny that the vegetarian was taking the chicken apart.

Elora jumped right into making her most popular banana bread.

She recently made TWENTY loaves of this for a fundraiser for girls' camp!

I have to tell you about those almonds...see them to the right on the stove?

Hailey found an almond recipe to use in the salad bar the girls were putting together.

They were SO SO Good!

1 T coconut oil and 1 c sliced almonds, with pinch of salt....

cook on the stove until they "are golden and fragrant," as Hailey read from her phone.

See the little salad bar the girls have set up there?

romaine, spinach, craisins, those almonds, apple slices, egg slices, croutons

Hailey called her Dad in Vietnam to get his mashed potato recipe.

Yep, you read that right.

See how beautiful Hailey's Chicken Pot Pie turned out!

She said she used Chicken Pot Pie IX on Allrecipes since it had the most and best reviews.

Hailey is giving Great Grandpa the details of their solid 4 hour cooking marathon.

I asked Hailey again before we ate,

"But Hailey, what will you eat since you don't eat meat?"

She assured me she would be fine with the salad and then added,

"It makes me happy watching people enjoy the food I make for them."

Hailey's plate

Susan's plate.

I think the last 2 pictures below pretty much sum up their week together.

And in case you didn't see Brock's video on Facebook of the girls' hike.....

I love the music he chose, not to mention the girls!

Elora and Hailey at Squaw Leap 2016 from Brock Heasley on Vimeo.

My Day at Church

I usually come home from church feeling

renewed and enlightened and happy.

But I want to be able to hold on to those feelings more,

so last week I decided to just jot down impressions

that were meaningful to me:

1. While we were all singing the opening song, "Behold the Great Redeemer Died" in walks Laura P
(who has MS) pushing her visiting friend in her wheel chair. That was a moment. A sweet one in awe
over Laura.

2. Lauren S, who is just 13, played the piano for all the hymns today. Never have I seen someone so
young do this in Sacrament meeting.

3. We have testimony meeting once a month where who ever would like to, may share their testimony
of the Savior and how He influences their life. MF said, "Families would not bring as much joy to
us if we just got to have them for a short period of time." (as in not forever)

4. RH said this in his testimony: "I have seen many miracles in my family through fasting and
prayer."

5. As one of our missionaries gave his testimony talking about how grateful he is for Heavenly
Father's love, I couldn't help but think of the missionaries who brought the gospel to my parents back
in 1955, and changed generations in our family.

6. Jonas and Téa (their parents were out of town) were with me and sitting so quietly. They waited
until after the Sacrament before they brought out their coloring books. Then kneeling at their chairs
and using those as their desks, they colored pictures of Jesus.

7. KF in her testimony talked about how grateful she is to be the stake historian because she gets to
see the Lord's hands in the different activities in all the wards.

8. RN, an older gentlemen, said, "I love the Lord, and I know He loves me."

9. TF, a single mom who has put herself through school and now has a job, said, "The prayers of
many is what has helped us get through so much."

10. JP said in his testimony, "I am thankful for all those who have taught my children the
gospel." Oh my, do I ever agree! One of my biggest regrets is that I did not express my thanks to
every teacher my sons had through the years. I could NOT have done this all by myself.

11. The twins kept saying they did not want to stay for Primary. I told them they would be fine. I
thought they were just feeling a little shy since our ward is not their regular attended ward. Finally
they admitted that they were afraid of the HELLO song that the kids always sing to visitors. I told
them we would wait out in the hallway until if was over. Finally the HELLO song was over so I
walked them inside. As soon as they got seated the chorister said, "Oh here are the Heasley twins.
Let's sing the HELLO song again." And so they did! And we all happily survived.

12. JP in her Sunday School lesson talked about this quote that changed her daughter's life (from a
seminary teacher) : "The Lord will have a humble people, and if they are not humble, the Lord will
humble them."

13. KS made a comment in Relief Society (our women's meeting) about how there is this one person
in her life who is causing her so much grief. She says she does not have a hard time apologizing for
anything but is realizing that she needs to forgive in order to be forgiven. So she is working on
forgiving this person. She is trying to love them. So far she can't say she loves them, but she's trying.

14. On the way home from church with the twins in the back seat, on came the choir singing, "I'm
Trying to Be Like Jesus." ...it struck me differently this time. I'm now hearing, "I'm trying to love
my neighbor." I'm trying. The song does not say, "I love my neighbor" or "I live as He did." but
instead it says, "I'm trying to live as He did." Maybe there's hope for me yet.

If I could talk to her mom.....

Hailey's mom has been gone for 8 years now.

She misses her in a way only those growing up without their Mom would understand.

It pains the rest of us just thinking about it.

If I could talk to Robin I would tell her what I observe about her daughter.

This is what I would say....

Today she wanted to make sure we got some fresh flowers to take to your grave.

After placing the yellow tulips right by your head stone,

she took one little one out, and placed it on top.

I didn't ask her, but I think that little tulip might represent Hailey close to her Mom

She placed it ever so gently.

And when the wind blew it off, she put it right back up there again.

Then she took a rag and some water and gently scrubbed your grave clean.

Elora did the spraying of water...

and Hailey did the gentle cleaning.

Then I heard Hailey say to Elora, "We need to go find other graves that need help."

I ask you, where does Hailey learn to take care of other graves?

It's not part of any conversation I've ever heard, any where.

But she does this every time she comes with me.

She cleaned as many as she could in the 45 minutes we were there.

And over lunch?

She knew my phone will no longer allow pictures so she asked me for it,

and deleted 500 pictures for me.

Elora and Hailey have a very special bond.

After we finished eating and we were all headed out the door Hailey said,

"I think we are suppose to clean our table up and put the baskets and garbage away."

So we went back to our table and did just that.

Tomorrow the girls will be making dinner in my kitchen.

The menu they planned is going to be:

chicken pot pie

salad

banana nut bread

Thinking of the chicken pot pie, I had to ask, "Hailey are you no longer a vegetarian?"

She said, "I still am!"

"Then why don't you think of something else to make for dinner....something you can eat too."

That's when she said, "It's okay. I really want to try this chicken pot pie recipe.

And I love cooking so much that I love it more than eating!"

Definitely her mother's daughter

I can't help but think Robin is parenting from the other side.

In ways we can't see, and don't know about...yet.

Well that was a surprise

So last night my sister in law, Wendy, called to tell me that Richard had his DNA done to see what
he's really made of. Direct siblings she said, would have the same profile so I was very interested.

Surprisingly I found out we are 20% Spanish. I don't know why, but this is exciting to me. Like we
have a certain flare to us that no one knew about. I couldn't wait to go tell my Dad.

So we loaded up the twins in the car, and off we went.

I explained to Dad how Richard got his DNA tested and I am amazed we are 20% Spanish. I'm
sure he didn't know this either since no one had ever mentioned it. We were just told growing up we were French.

I was kind of pumped up about this so I asked Dad,
"Did you know we have some Spanish in us?"

He answered, "Si."

I was still laughing about his answer late into the night!

I think the Spanish comes from my Dad's Mom....She's the one on the left, her sister on the right.

Funny how I can see it now in her, but I couldn't before.

I need to call back Wendy and ask her what the other 80% is.

I got too hung up on the Spanish part of us.

Dennis' recipe for waking up grandchildren.

The twins stayed with us all last week and...

Dennis has his own way of launching the twins out of bed every morning...

He starts by turning on the light by their bed, not the over head.

Then he leaves the room for awhile.

He returns and pats their backs and talks to them like they can hear him, saying things like,

"Did you get a good night's sleep? Are we feeling good this morning?
You are going to have such a great day." No response.

Then he sings to them, "The Day Dawn is breaking the world is awakening..."
(I wonder if McKay and Tyler remember him singing this around the house in the mornings)