Fred D. Mayes, Sr. 1915-2012

This past weekend my grandfather passed away. He got a little better early last week, but then got sick again. He'd been getting dialysis for almost 10 years and it basically stopped working. They stopped the treatments and he died early Saturday.

I'm really happy that I was able to see him and that even though he was not able to interact with us, he knew we were there and that we flew out East to visit him. We can't afford to go back for the funeral, but I'll be writing a reflection that will be read at the service.

Craig wrote a nice note on Facebook that I will repost here for those of you that are not on there to see it:

"Today's grandparents range in age from 30 to 110 years old. Today at 97 years old we lost Grandpa Fred Mayes (Carisa's Grandpa). He fully embraced his role as Grandpa and Great-Grandpa to over 20 grandchildren. He'll be missed but will always be an inspiration to us and permanently have his spot in our family tree."

Happy Birthday Zach!

Zach turns one years old today! We're doing cake this weekend, when Grandma Deb and come and celebrate with us. Not a big party of course, but he will definitely be able to get all messy and maybe eat some cake (it will probably be mostly a sensory experience, lol). I will be uploading some pics of our Philly trip hopefully tomorrow or Friday, sorry for the delay.

Here is the birthday boy!

To Philly and back!

We just got back from our Philly trip last night and it was overall an enjoyable trip. The boys did fine on the plane rides there and back. But we didn't fully anticipate how lack of naps could impact things after getting there. I think Gabe napped 2 out of the five days we were there, so his mood was not the best toward the end of the day. And while Zach kept mostly on his normal schedule, he was still kind of tired. But as everyone with kids knows, such is life when they are under 5, lol.

Unfortunately, the kids weren't able to interact with my grandpa because he got sick with an infection several days before we got there. He is in ICU, so Friday we went to the hospital and the nurses let them be outside the room to look at him. But gramps was not aware that we were there. Sunday, we went back and he was a bit more alert and knew I was there. But the nurses didn't want the kids in there again and risk getting sick. So that was definitely a bummer, but I'm glad Gabe was able to at least get a look at his great-grandpa.

I'll post some pics within the next day or so.

You Tube Links

It was just brought to my attention that the You Tube links I had given you guys in the previous posts were not accessible. I had the videos set on "private" which you can't look at unless you are logged in. I reset them to "unlisted" (you can see them if you are sent the link, but it cannot be found from a You Tube search, nor will it show up anywhere on YT) so you should be able to see the videos now. Sorry about that! Hope you enjoy them. :)

Dancing, James the Train

Two short vids here. Gabe is dancing to Billy Idol in what can only be described as the Fist Bumping Shuffle or something. The other is him showcasing James the train. I noticed he was licking James the train; he was pretending to paint him...don't be alarmed, lol.

Video Update: Thursday

Once a week, or maybe or twice a month, we're going to start doing video updates. This is what the kiddos and I are up to today...nothing terribly earth-shattering. :)

Click here to see it.

I think I am much better at writing than filmmaking, lol. We'll try to do another this weekend with Craig.

BTW, I tried uploading the vid to Blogger and it was taking like over an hour! Since I already had a You Tube account, I thought I would just use that. Took like 15 minutes to load onto You Tube. Another reason to convert this blog to Wordpress.

Spring is near!

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted (especially for those of you who are not on Facebook, where I post info/pics regularly). It's just about Spring, right? We have quite a bit going on, most specifically preparing for our first plane trip as a family to Philadelphia in early April…eeeek!

Traveling with little kiddos=High possibility of stress hormones going out of control.

I've been talking to all of our friends who have traveled with little ones, taking in all the advice that I can. I'm trying not get all dramatic about it. I'm grateful that at least I do not have to do a continental flight (one of my friends has in-laws in India). We're making preparations, making sure we have all the things the boys will need to stay occupied. Wish us luck!

So, the main goal of the Philly trip is to see my Grandpa so he can meet his millionth great-grands, lol. We've talked to him a few times over iChat on my mom's computer and he really wants to see Gabe and Zach in person. Gabe already met Craig's Grandma in 2010, so it's nice that he will get to meet another of his great-grandparents. Unfortunately, I never got to meet mine, so I am happy he will have pics and maybe some memories of it (poor Zach won't remember a thing).

This year other trips will include some small vacations, possibly another trip to see Craig's grandma, and maybe other family in Washington State. Haven't solidified plans yet, though. I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying life the best way you know how. We don't talk to many of you much, but we love you all! :)

Here some recent pics of the boys and us:

Finger painting

Me!

Zach+dad

Gabe's new earphones for the trip

Horsing around already!