Uncle David Oct 18, 1953 - April 20, 2008

This last weekend Gabe and I went up to WA with my mom, Julie and Jaden. Dad was already up there.
We ended up getting there around lunch time on Saturday. Went straight to grandma's. It was strange walking in knowing that Uncle David wouldn't be there.

Neko his dog greeted us at the door. Dad says that he's been pretty sad. He's not eating well and he lays by Uncle David's bed. Makes me SO sad. I made sure to give him lots of love.

The boy's got reacquainted with their Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. We talked for a while and then Gabe went down for a nap. Julie, Jaden and I went to the store to get a few things. When we got back my cousins were there and we left to go to dinner at Red Robin. Mom and dad watched the boy's. It was kind of fun just us cousins. I think it's been 15 years since I've seen Naomi and Miriam. They shared with us how they're feeling…the things that they have been doing the last few day's, with my dad, going through Uncle David's things. It was great to catch up and just kind of talk about everything. I think we were there for a few hours and probably could've stayed longer.

Naomi told us that one time they were all in Uncle David's room going through things and my Grandpa walked in and said that he was going to help. She said that he went into the dressing room for about 45 minutes. When he came out he had his arms folded with a large pile of socks. He looked at them and said, "I'm taking these" They all looked at him and said, "grandpa, you were in there for 45 minutes and all you came up with was socks?" He replied "well they're NOT going to fit you!" HA My grandpa is a funny guy.

We stayed at the Motel 6 that we always stay at when we go there. It's about 10 minutes from my grandma's and it's a nicer one which is nice. Gabe and I got our own room and Julie, mom and Jaden stayed in a room right next door. We didn't want Jaden and Gabe waking each other up during the night.

So after dinner with the cousin's Julie and I met my mom and the boy's back at the Motel for bed.

I got to bed pretty early because I didn't want Gabe to wake up so I didn't watch any TV and had the lights off. Gabe woke up at 1 and I brought him to bed with me and that was stupid. He moves around SO much. He rolled and rolled. At one point he smacked me right in the face. I decided to put him back in the pack n play at that point. He woke up at 4 crying so I changed him and gave him a bottle and he fell back to sleep and we slept till 9. When we got up I got him ready and started packing everything up. Gabe had breakfast and I put him in the pack n play to play with his toy's while I showered. Dad had stayed at Grandma's so he came back that morning to help us pack up and we headed to Matt and Jessica's house. She was having us over for lunch. There was quite a crowd. Me, Gabe, Julie, Jaden, Mom, Dad, Aunt Lolly, Jessica, Matt, Caleb, Kirsten, New baby boy Brennon, Naomi, Miriam, And Aunt Kim. It was a lot of fun. We shared stories and laughed a lot. It was a great time. Around 3 I think Dad, Julie and Jaden drove back home. Jaden had a fever and we weren't sure why, but he just wasn't having a good time. :o( Poor thing has just not gotten a break.

Mom, Gabe and I left Jessica's around 5 I think and we went to Grandma's. Mom wanted to spend some time with Grandma. We didn't get on the road until 8ish and didn't get home till 10:30.

Gabe, BTW, did fabulous on the way up and back.
SIDE NOTE: a couple days after Gabe turned one we switched him to whole milk. We noticed that since then he's been extra whinny, moody and kind of aggressive. Last weekend we switched him to soy milk and wow what a difference. He's a new baby! MUCH BETTER!

Monday - work
Tuesday - work (mom and dad went back up)

Yesterday we got up at 5 and took showers. We got on the road by 7:15 carpooling with Nathan and Julie and made it up to my Grandma's by 9:30 safely.
Everyone was dressed and ready to go (we had to be at Tahoma National Cemetery at 10:15am) Bryan, Nathan, Julie and I got dressed in our nice clothes and we were off. When we arrived, there were already a ton of cars in line waiting. They had us go to the front of the line since we were family and we proceeded to the commencement area.
It was a beautiful day yesterday. A bit chilly but the sun was out and that cemetary was really pretty. We all got situated. There were 10 chairs total. It went, from left to right…my aunt (uncles ex wife), Miriam (27), Naomi (28), my grandma, and my grandpa. The next row from right to left was my dad, mom, aunt Lolly, cousin Jessica and one chair was empty (wishing Uncle Kim was there to sit in that seat). The rest of the family gathered behind them and more friends and family behind us. They started the service. Because my uncle was in the military, he was given military honors.




It was so hard watching them hand the flag to my cousin. It's such an emotional thing when someone is honored. When they did the 21 gun salute we covered Gabe's ears, but it still terrified him. His eye's got HUGE and he started to cry, but as soon as it was done he was ok.
After the service we mingled with everyone for a while and then we went over to the wall where we laid him to rest. Now that was a difficult thing to watch. Grandpa did it and then we left while Naomi and Miriam stayed to say goodbye to their dad.


We went to The Keg for lunch. My dad's cousin's made a little slide show of Uncle David with the song "dont cry for me" by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton.

When I get where I'm going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly

I'm gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it's like
To ride a drop of rain

[Chorus]
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here

I'm gonna walk with my grand daddy
And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I missed him
Every minute since he left
Then I'll hug his neck

[Repeat chorus]

So much pain and so much darkness
In this world we stumble through
All these questions I can't answer
So much work to do

But when I get where I'm going
And I see my maker's face
I'll stand forever in the light
Of his amazing grace
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
Hallelujah
I will love and have no fear
When I get where I'm going
Yeah when I get where I'm going

We all ate lunch and just hung out. Everyone started leaving around 2 and we said our goodbye's to Aunt Kim, Naomi and Miriam. I don't think that we'll see them for a while. Aunt Kim lives in Burma, Naomi lives in NY and Miriam lives in Mexico. Good thing is that Aunt Kim does have a house in WA and we can visit them in the summer. I really want to keep in touch.

Here is all the cousin's

Us with all the kids

Mom and Aunt Kim (who acted like they were best friends and like they see each other everyday)

Naomi and I

My Grandpa with no teeth and Miriam

We left and went back to Grandma's. Changed and Bryan took Neko for a walk. Neko pulls a little and my poor Grandpa can't handle him when he does that. They have a ton of hills around their house and Neko literally pulled my Grandpa down.
Dad went through some more things in Uncle David's room and Gabe had fun playing/walking/ crawling around.
He has been in such a good mood lately. Always smiling, laughing and talking. I am so glad we took him off whole milk. He did so well yesterday.
We left around 5 to head home. Mom cried all the way home. I got teary a few times. I am just physically and emotionally drained. What a day!

When will the sadness go away?

I will miss you, Uncle David!