Farewell to Grandpa

On May 28, 2008 my beloved father made his passage to the other side. It has been something he has waited for, but at the same time it was unexpected. I know that he is so much happier and better off and we are better in this life for having him a part of us. On Tuesday, the 27th, we took Beylin, Maysi, and Gehrig up to say goodbye. As we walked in to the hospital room we explained that Grandpa was sick and that he would be going to live with Heavenly Father soon. Maysi said, "if Grandpa is sick we need to bring him some food so he can get better." Beylin, who understood a little more said, that she didn't want him to go and live with Heavenly Father yet. He was in and out of consciousness, but he knew we were there. Beylin touched his hand and got a little closer to tell him that she loved him and goodbye. Maysi kept her distance, but as she left the room she turned back around and said, "I love you Papa." Gehrig also held Grandpa's hand and sat by him for the second and last time since he was born.

We went down to the fountain at McKay Dee and got ice cream, the weather was beautiful and it was peaceful. Beylin asked if she could have a coin to make a wish. She turned and threw the coin while closing her eyes. When she was done she said, "do you want to know what I wished for." I said not to tell us or it wouldn't come true, but she continued to talk and she told us, "I wish that we can be a family together." It was a memorable day and I am glad the kids got to say goodbye.

On Wednesday we took turns being at the hospital and going back and forth, but we knew the time was short. That evening the three children, me and my older and younger brother managed to all be in the hospital room at the same time and within a moment of that happening my dad passed to the other side. We love him, we will miss him and are grateful for the plan of happiness.

I have been trying to upload the picture of my dad for this post, but it just hasn't worked. When I have a chance I will get it on here, it's a fun picture of him just this last Christmas.

Gehrig is so Big

Gehrig is such a big boy, he is growing up so fast already. After all he has two big sisters to catch up to. He is already stealing his dad's baseball tie when he gets himself dressed for church :) Actually, this is one of the first times Gehrig starting sitting up on his own, he was very happy with himself.

Is she creative or what?

Beylin decided one Sunday after church that she would surprise us with a piece of art work. She used various items she found to turn the stair post into a person accessorized with Beylin's very own necklace. It can't be seen in the picture but Beylin's "friend" is even wearing shoes. When she was finished she ran to us and said "you have to come here, I've got a surprise for you." She was delighted with herself and we enjoyed it too.

The mullet had to go

After months of going back and forth on whether or not to cut Maysi's hair we (Aunt Staci actually) finally cut it. Here are the before and after pictures. Is that cute or what?

I know, I know, we are really slacking!

I was pretty sure everyone had given up on looking at my blog. But now, Kristy is holding Beylin's bow as ransom and my sister-in-law, Staci, mentioned my lack of posting as well so I guess I will give everyone an update. I tried for weeks to upload videos of my kid's on here and I finally gave up. It think it's because my laptop can not stay connected with the router long enough to upload them, of course, going downstairs to use my desktop is just to much to ask.

What's in a name?

The first thing that we learn about ourselves is our name. When we meet someone new, we find out their name. There is a high stress level that goes into naming a child, some people have a name in mind their whole lives, others fight this battle long after the child is born. In naming our little miracles it was completely a team effort, we left no option unused in finding what we think are three perfect names.

BEYLIN RUTH: I (Matt) discovered the name while serving a church mission in Argentina. I was in my fourth area and we ate lunch with the bishop of the ward and his family every Wednesday. The bishop had a little granddaughter about eight years old who wanted to hear the discussions, but her mom was a little leary. Somehow we convinced her that it would be great for her whole family to hear the discussions. At the conclusion of the discussions this little angel, Belen, went into the waters of baptism, because that is what she wanted. Her mother had not yet been baptized when I left the area. The spanish meaning of the word Belen is Bethlehem, the birthplace of our Savior. These two reasons made me want to name my first daughter this, so we did, we altered the spelling for English pronunciation. Beylin's middle name, Ruth, comes from a long line of Ruth's, I will let Tiffany explain. My middle name is Ruth, my mom's middle name is Ruth and both of my grandmother's, my mom's mom and my dad's mom, are named Ruth. As a child I was not a big fan of the name, at times I even swore I would never give that name to my child, but in the end the heritage of the name had to be passed on and so we name our first daughter, Beylin Ruth.

MAYSI KRISTINE: This name came from the genius of my wife. We went back and forth for many months on this name, there were many contestants, but none distanced itself from the other. One day Tiffany presented this name and we both felt that it was the perfect name. It comes from my grandma, her name is Edna May, and has gone by the name May as long as I can remember. Grandma Great has always been a great example to Tiff and me. Maysi is just like her namesake very smart and independant, always caring for those around her. Kristine is my mother's first name. The love of her can be felt by all who have the honor of meeting her. Maysi will be well advised to try to live like these two amazing women.

GEHRIG NOLAN: On our first campout as a married couple many years ago, while discussing baby names I came up with the name, but kept it to myself. Later on when everyone had gone to bed I told Tiff the name. I saw the gears grinding in her head and slowly she came around to it and told me that it was a great idea. My all time favorite baseball player is Lou Gehrig, if you know even a hundreth of his story you know why I respect him as a person and an athlete so much. We went back and forth on what his middle name should be, Matthew or Nolan. When it came down to it I wanted to name him after my father more than I wanted to name him after myself. My father is a quiet confident man who will never leave another person in want, he will always be my ultimate hero. I am proud to have Nolan as my middle name as well.

So there you have it, our little ones and their names. We are so proud of our kids and love them more than anything in this whole world.

And the winner is...

All of the above! Stay tuned for quality Leishman entertainment. Beylin will show her moves, Maysi sings "magic"ally, and Gehrig is a real Tiger.

One of these days I will figure this out

I really do want to start blogging, but I need some practice. This is a test, I will keep working on it and when I figure it out, maybe I will actually tell someone we have a blog.