US Navy sailor giving Linda the flag from Dave's casket

 

George Davis Graves March 18, 1944 - October 21, 2006

Todd's dad passed away tonight, just 8 weeks after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. He had been sick since March, but until the cancer diagnosis, we had every hope that he would recover and be able to come visit us in our new home. We are heartbroken that we will never be able to explore Capitol Reef National Park with us. He would have loved it.
"Dave" joined the navy at age 17. He served in Vietnam. He was a volunteer firefighter from the year Todd was born until the year after Todd left for his mission. He worked as a machinist at a submarine base. He (and Linda) are heroes to me because they are converts to the church, and they raised my husband in the gospel and sent him on a mission.
None of us are perfect, and Dave was no exception, but he was a man who loved God, and was willing to do what it took to improve himself, and become a better husband, father, grandfather, and brother. He loved geneology, and we have no doubt that there were many angels in heaven to greet him tonight.
I am so grateful that he was able to retire and go full time RVing because it gave us so much more time to get to know him. He and Linda often spent several weeks at a time in Logan and we cherish those memories. He loved to "rough and tumble" with the grandchildren, and they will miss him greatly.
This picture was taken just over a year ago. Our family spent a few days at a cabin in Island Park, and Dave and Linda met us in Yellowstone. We had dreams of taking vacations with them in the future, and are so grateful that we got to do this at least once.

We are leaving for Washington tomorrow morning to spend a week or so with the family. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and concern.

Meet Rico, our "rich chocolate" lab

We hadn't even been home from Washington for an hour, when Todd was on his way to the neighbors house to pick up our new puppy. We spent the entire day last Saturday (the day before we left for WA) building his dog house. As you can see, it's not quite finished yet. We still have to cover up the "pink board" on each side. At first I was hesitant to insulate the dog house. After all, this blessed dog house ended up costing more than the crib our babies slept in! But now that we have snow, I've decided it's better to have an insulated dog house, than to have to bring him inside if it gets too cold!
We considered making the doghouse look like Uncle Rico's van in Napoleon Dynamite, but thought better of it. I prefer to think that his name is Rico (which means rich) because he's a chocolate lab. (he's also got brittany spaniel blood).
He was free, except for the cost of the doghouse, the leash and dog run parts, his food, the container to store his food, his dog dishes, his toy, doggie biscuits, and the upcoming shots and vet bills. I'm starting to think we could've finished a room in our basement!! The boys love him, though, (especially Todd) so I guess it's worth it. The boys will have a job now, too. I bought a special container for the dog food that they could reach into, so they can feed the dog every day. A giant garbage can would've been cheaper, but I've said all along that if we ever got a dog he has to stay outside, and I'm not feeding him every day! I have visions of my poor mom trudging through the snow to feed our dog that everyone else neglected.
Our neighbors have graciously agreed to feed and take care of him when we have to go back to Washington.

Brayden's Birthday

Last Sunday, we got a phone call from Linda (Todd's mom). The doctor suggested that it was time we come, so within a couple of hours we were on the road and headed for Washington. Although it was really hard to see Dave so sick, we are so glad we were able to be with the family during this difficult time. Now we feel like "a part of things".
Brayden opened his presents from Grandma and Grandpa Graves in the hospital, so Grandpa could see. Here's a picture of the volcano they gave him. Later that night, we had dinner with all the cousins at Larry & Wendi's house. Thanks, Wendi for all the food and fun! We had cupcakes and then Brayden opened his presents from us (he got a CD alarm clock and the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack). The best part of the whole week was playing with all the cousins. We were thinking about leaving the kids in Utah when we go back for the funeral, but I want them to have a chance to see their cousins again.
 

Todd's glasses are not safe ANYWHERE in our house!

This is a picture of Dillon after he removed the quilts that hang on this ladder, and crawled up to get Todd's glasses from the top of the computer armoire. What I want to know, is how did he know they were up there? The armoire is nearly 5 feet tall, and Dillon is around 2 feet tall. I think the glasses "call to him".

PS - The sack behind the ladder is not garbage, it's a sack of fabric. I'm running out of places to stash it.

But I wanted the picture where I'm going like this...

I showed Caleb his picture on our blog, and he was disturbed. He wanted this picture (going like "this") and holding his snack bag. 

Caleb's 3rd day of school

I figure a picture of your third day of school is better than none at all, right? Caleb's smile says it all. He LOVES preschool, and since he gets up early every day anyway, the days when he has morning preschool are his favorite. (He goes in the morning two days a week, and in the afternoon two days a week). He was so excited this morning that he barely touched his breakfast. Luckily, we send a snack each day, so he has yogurt and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in his lunch/snack bag.
Caleb is a very sweet boy when you dig down past all the stubborness. We butt heads each and every day (usually several times a day), but the times when he's sweet make up for it. One day, while he was potty training and had an accident, I caught him saying a prayer to Heavenly Father asking for help to be potty trained. It worked! If only we could all have faith like that...