What we did when Arama was in surgery.....

When Arama went into Surgery last Wednesday at 8am,  the Surgeon told us leave the hospital and get some head space or we would go nuts!  He told us not to come back to the hospital until 4pm.  So we reluctantly left!  First Keith went and got a hair cut then we went to Takapuna and had some breakfast and then we walked along Takapuna beach.  It was a funny day the sun was wanting to make the most of it and it really came out to brighten our day as we walked along the beach,  it almost seemed like T.Shirt weather,  it was amazing.  The photos below are of our beach experience that day.  It looks like a romantic day or something but believe me we were both in Kinda LA LA land and couldn't think much past Arama.  We then left the beach and headed to 'Little and Friday as I have always wanted to take Keith there for a look (and a kai  lol).  So I can now tick that one off my 'want to do with Keith' list.  I love that place and the food always makes me happy and satisfied beyond my greatest dreams,  ha ha only a 'Fatty Foodie'  would speak like this aye!

Here are some photos below of our time on the beach with the i phone and our  attempts to photograph ourselves while holding it.  

Our funny faces below.....

CRAZY PEOPLE!!!

At about 2pm   I said to Keith,  "I feel we need to head back to the hospital now",  Keith said stop stressing the surgeon said 4pm we have heaps of time.  I said no this is a prompting and I have to listen to it.  So we started heading back.  We literally drove into the car park and my phone rang,  It was the Surgeon saying everything had gone very smoothly, that they had finished sooner than predicted, no blood transfusions needed etc and that we needed to head back as he was heading from recovery back to the ward.   We rushed from the car park to the lifts and just as our lift door was closing, we say Arama coming around the corner in his bed on his way back to the ward.  Wow! It was only 3 pm and it was one of those experiences yet again that testified to me that Heavenly Father is so aware of my individual needs and is whispering  guidance and direction to me and all of us very frequently!

ARAMA'S SPINAL SURGERY

Arama has a rare Syndrome called Sticklers Syndrome with that comes many health challenges for my special little man.  He has had a tough year loosing his most special buddy in the whole world,  his Poppa.  Now his spinal surgery along with a few other challenges too.  But we wished that his Poppa had been here for this one.    We had a lovely Family Home Evening Last Monday which many of his cousins and friends came to and then we arrived at hospital last Tuesday at 2pm.  His surgery was scheduled for the Wed morning.  Arama had decided that he wanted 'Carls Jnr' for dinner the evening before his op.  I had said no its too expensive!  Anyway on our way up to the ward,  Arama and I were walking along a corridor and there was no one to be seen,  then I saw $20 on the ground and I picked it up and said there you go Arama there is your Carls JNR.  I texted Keith and this is the reply i got from him.

"There you go,  his Poppa would have bought him CARLS JNR, in fact he did buy him CARLS JNR today.  Nice doing business with you!"  

When Dad would drop him at school in the Mornings he would give Arama money and say to him "Nice doing business with you".  So I thought that text from Keith was just perfect.

Here is a photo below of Keith and Arama on the bed before they escaped the hospital the night before his op to get their Carls Jnr,  courtesy of Poppa!  We love you POPPA 4eva!

Below:  Arama and I just before he got wheeled away to surgery.

Just after Arama's operation.

Arama sitting in his chair for the first time about 3 days after his op below.

Arama's whopping great cut on his back below 

Terina giving Arama a Batman comic book that they bought for him.  My poor girl is missing Arama and mummy and the usual routine,  I can't wait to get home for her sake!

Arama's friends coming in to visit him from school Carl and Joel,  the nicest kids with lovely parents who bought them!

Arama's other friend Eamon below,  funny guys.

Here is a litte shot of one of Arama's 'Diary of a Whimpy' kid books.  I have been reading them to Arama in hospital and think I have become addicted too.  They are so funny.  The little Jar with the Yellow lid on top of the book is a sample off cut of the titanium that the surgeons put into Arama's spine.

                                        BEFORE                                 and                              AFTER

YOU CAN SEE THE SCREWS IN HIS SPINE IN THIS XRAY ABOVE TOO.

Below is Arama today  which is 5 days after his surgery.  

Arama is making amazing progress and has been walking today and I gave him a shower etc so that has boosted his confidence somewhat.   He even sat in a wheel chair and I wheeled him to Auckland hospital for a change of Scenery.  The girl who we have shared our room with all week, Phillipa, went home today,  she was 2 days ahead of Arama after having the same surgery as him.  I think if we are lucky, he may go home tomorrow we will just have to wait patiently and see.

He is getting more cheeky too that is how I know he is getting better.

King Arama sitting up watching TV eating his Salt and Vinegar Pringles,  make the most of it buddy 

soon your siblings will be annoying you again!  LOL! 

The night before we came into hospital during our Family night,  we got everyone to write little messages to Arama and we decorated his wall.  All of the doctors and nurses have said it is by far the coolest wall they have seen!  He surely is well loved!

So many people have come to see Arama in hospital and have all bought him treats.  This whole cupboard plus the top draw which you cant even see in this photo, is full with sugar etc.  He can't even eat much let alone junk so I must confess I have been helping to reduce the amount we need to take home and have probably put on a good 4 kg or something since I have been here.  Oh well back to normal soon hopefully!  Yeah right,  I am on a junk food roll now I think.  ARGHH!

Above:  Arama and Phillipa who he shared his room with all week.  She is the same age as Arama and they both had the same proceedure done.  We will miss them as we got quite close to them over the week.  I am so bummed as I was not there at the hospital when they left and I really wanted to get their contact details so we could hook up again sometime and discuss progress etc.  

Another girl has just come into our room and we asked if she was going to have spinal surgery too.  She replied no I have cancer and I am having my leg amputated tomorrow!  Flip  just when you think your lot is hard you get a reality check!  We are so blessed that Arama is okay and that he is making a speedy recovery.  We also believe in prayer and the beautiful blessing that his Dad and Uncles gave him last week before his surgery.  We believe in God and that he can work miracles.  We know Arama still has many challenges to face relating to his health  and that will probably include many more surgeries but he is loved by so many and his special personality will yet touch many lives!  I am so proud of you my son for your strength, bravery and faith.

This little movie above is one his class made and emailed to him this afternoon. 

The staff at MBI have been amazing.  Some of the teachers have even visited him 

in hospital,  I think that is going the extra mile and am very humbled by the love that I have felt from them all.

WELCOME BACK MARMITE!

Two weeks ago Arama headed off on his School camp to Kawau Island, which he loved by the way.  The interesting thing is that Arama is the BIGGEST Marmite fan eva, apart from his  Uncle Aaron, my brother  and his POPPA who is bound to be eating it in Heaven.  He has felt very betrayed by Sanitarium over this past year or so as he has had to go without and endure Vegimite while he waited patiently for Marmite to come back on the supermarket shelves.  We always said that when Marmite comes back, we will have a welcome back Marmite feed!  Well when Arama was on a remote island during his school camp week,  Marmite came back and so we had to wait until he came home to celebrate.  When he arrived home from camp I had a hot loaf of  hot bread waiting for him in the Bread Maker and his very own jar of marmite and some real soft Butter of course (none of this fake marg or anything)  See the photos below of Arama with his first piece of Marmite bread in over a year.  

YUM YUM!

Arama turns 12

 On the 12th of Jan,  Arama turned 12, yes my baby is now at that lovely age!  ARGHH!  He ordered a Minecraft cake which I was silly enough to agree to.  I hate working with fondant and so below was my attempt,  but from now on I will stick with my good old cake transfers as they are heaps less work and time to prepare.  This is what the offical Minecraft cake looks like,  I think the design is pretty boring to tell you the truth but anyway there you go!!!

Here are some of his friends below who came to his party (minus his fav cousins Tristan and Dahlin this year as they were still away).

They all went over to Mum (and Dads - I will always still say Mum and Dads),  for party food and a swim.  Prior to that they went to Timezone for a birthday party gaming hour.

In the pool having lots of fun,  and lots of noise too!  LOL




After their swim,  they went back to our home for a Minecraft gaming afternoon.  Oh my goodness they are all such addicts but hey it was his birthday and so what the heck.  My home was taken over that afternoon by zoned out boys.  Fun Fun Fun.  Happy Birthday my special little 12 year old,  you are so special to me and always will be.  You have taught me so much over the years and I know you will continue to do so as the days go by.  I love you so so dearly,  you are one special special spirit!

ARAMA RECEIVES THE PRIESTHOOD

Then the next day on the 13th of Jan  Arama received the Priesthood at church.

For those of you who are not of our faith, The priesthood is the power of God, which is given to man to act in His name. It is given to every worthy young man when they turn 12 to bless the lives of others.  It is here on the earth today. The blessings of the priesthood are available to everyone.  Please follow the link below to find out more.  This is a video of The Prophet of our church Thomas S Monson talking about the sacredness of the Priesthood.

Priesthood Power

Arama's  Dad gave him the Priesthood and Some of his special Uncles and cousins joined Keith in giving him this blessing.  It was a lovely simple blessing that he was really touched by.  His eyes were filled with tears as they all said Amen at the end of his blessing.  I love how Arama is always so receptive to spiritual things and how his heart is so so tender.  I know this will bless you Arama as you use your Priesthood power to serve and bless other people.  This photo below is of those who joined in his blessing.

So From left to right those who helped to bless him were: Uncle Aaron Hall (Keith's Bro), Kalem Hall, (Keiths Nephew),  Aki Hettig, Keith's Nephew who is Elletta's son (Keith's sister), Arama, Keith and Niwa in the middle, The bald man behind Niwa's head is Alan Nonoa a good friend,  Next to Niwa is Uncle John Hettig (Keith's sister Elletta's husband), Uncle Donovan Bickford (very close friend), Derek Walters inbetween John and Donovan,  a very close friend also.  Terry Keith's bro arrived late which was a shame as we really wanted him to be there but never mind  Kalem his son was there.  I don't know the name of bald headed man at the back left.  He was a friend of Johns who came with him.  But anyway he managed to get into this photo also.  LOL.

Right at the edge of the photo to the right you can see one of Aaron's twins,  Niwas favourite cousins.   Aki had just got off his mission from Tonga, thus the Tongan costume worn by him and his dad John.  That night we attended a little meeting to hear of Aki's mission experiences in Tonga,  WOW how amazing they were!  What an amazing church we are a part of.  Our young people have such special experiences on their missions,  I went to Sydney on my mission about 17 years ago but I will always always treasure the sacred experiences I had helping people in and out of the church. I also loved coming  to know my god and sharing that knowledge with others!  I would say that serving a mission was  one of the hardest but happiest times of my life!  I hope and pray that Arama will be blessed one day to have such an experience!  I am converted to the fact that it will stand you strong in the Faith for the rest of your life.  How blessed I feel to have had this opportunity.

Below are a few added to the pic, Myself,  Nanny Hall,  Aunty Leonie, in the orange dress to the left, (Aaron's wife) and Aunty Elletta by Nanny Hall (Keiths Sister).

After this we headed home to our house for Brownie and icecream, Sausages and bread and left over birthday treats!   This was all spontaneous! Oh how I love spontaneous events,  (it was like the loaves and the fishes we seemed to fix up enough food to cater for everyone in no time at all)!

WE BURY DADS ASHES

 On Wednesday the 9^th of Jan 2013 we went up to Snapper Rock as a family and buried dads ashes.  It was just Mum,  Aaron and Sharis and Ethan,  Me, Keith, Arama, Terina and Niwa and Terry (Dads best friend and Business partner). The only ones missing were Aunty Colleen, Uncle Ken,  Sarah and the rest of the family.

It was the most amazing weather and we had a lovely day.  

We got 10 Helium balloons, one for each of us and when we had finished Burying the ashes,  we all cut one balloon each and said something as we released it into the sky.  It was so impromptu and special.  We all said something and it was quite emotional and spiritual.  We got this all on video which I would like to edit and  put on my blog at a later time.  I Liked what Terry said “I will cut the string but will never cut the ties”,  Ethan said,  “I hope you are enjoying playing bowls in Heaven Poppa”,  Terina said “I love how you gave me money every Wednesday for Mini Muchie Markets at school Poppa”,  I said,  “Because of you Dad,  I will always try to ‘Reach for the Stars’,  Mum said "I think of you all the time Roddy",  Keith said “We will see you again someday Rod”,  I can’t remember everything everyone said but these are some of the words I remembered.

It was kind of cool how we just sat around informally chatting about our special Hero.

My special Arama contemplating.

Below:  These are Dads Cherry Tomatoes that have just turned red.

Mum Buried some with his box of ashes.  She also took some roses from

the garden that grew outside their bedroom window.

Below:  Arama wiping away his tears. My Darling 

Arama was so close to My Dad but Arama tells me

he isn't sad because he truely believes in the Plan that 

Familes can be together forever. 

Thank you Arama for being my strength!

I don't know where I would be without you!

I love you so much. xxx

Above:  Terry with Diesel his best friend who goes everywhere with him.

Below the kids with their new Surrogate Poppa.

Not that there will ever be another one that could ever measure 

up to my Greatest Hero Dad eva!

We all also had a turn at shoveling in some dirt on top of the ashes.   

The next few photos are of us all having a turn with the shovel.

 NIWA

 TERINA

 ARAMA

 MUM

ETHAN

 AARON

 ME

 TERRY

SHARIS

 KEITH

We truly loved our Dad and Poppa and Companion  (in mum’s case).   

I have had a special dream since dad has passed to let me know that he

is not too far away at all,  this has been very sacred and comforting for me.

However....  on this day I missed him dearly.  I got home and I just

cried and cried and cried.  Some days I just can't believe he has passed!

I miss you so much my dear Daddy,  I know you are not far away but that

doesn't stop me from missing you.

Please be patient while I grieve for you.

You are my inspiration and will always be a good reason for me

to try harder each day and to get up and keep going when I feel discouraged and low.

You always were one not to muck around and to just 'get the job done'  

so I won't waste too much

time crying but a little here and there won't hurt.

 YOU ARE FOREVER IN MY HEART!

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER  xxxx