Happy Birthday to Grammy

Happy Birthday to Grammy, we love you!! Dana, Greg, Landon and Kasey


recorded - 2/13/11

Grandpa Myers

1/28 - Greg had decided he wanted to go see his grandfather one more time (he had stage 4 melanoma), and so he flew out early Friday morning. We knew grandpa wasn't doing well, but we didn't expect him to pass away this day. Greg and his mom were there with him along with his caregiver Karen when he passed away that afternoon. The kids and I were at Grammy and Gramps house hanging out and having dinner.

Grandpa was a wonderful man and grandfather and we are going to miss him very much!

1/29 - Greg came home today from Odessa so we could drive out as a family for Grandpa's funeral.

1/30 - We drove 6 hours to Odessa with the four of us and Aunt Cindy. The kids were pretty good. Kasey watched Kung Fu Panda about 3 times but it kept her content. Landon watched Cars - he's actually started to venture into the special features because he's seen the movies so many times.

If you don't like gross dont read this - we stopped at Wataburger for a bite to eat. Landon was feeling terrible, and threw up on the tray - all we had. Then a little later - Kasey also threw up her entire dinner. We think she just choked on something. Needless to say it wasn't a great experience, but luckily it wasn't crowded.

1/31 - In Odessa it was beautiful (in the 70s) so the kids played football & soccer outside and we took them to the park for a little while to run around. Some of the other family that was able to make it to Odessa came over - Audrey, Steven, Kathleen & Basil. I was glad they got to see the kids some. That evening we went to the viewing. We kept the kids in the back room playing for a few hours, and then when the viewing was over we had them close the casket and took the kids in to see the video of pictures and say goodbye. I think that Landon understands, but Kasey does not. He understand that Grandpa has died and gone to heaven.

2/1 - Of course it got REALLY cold over night (in the teens) and snowed which it doesn't really do in Odessa, TX. We got bundled up and made our way to the funeral home. I ended up outside for most of it because Kasey wouldn't sit still, and Landon had to go to the bathroom, etc. They are 2 and 4 so I didn't expect much different. Greg's dad Tony got up and talked at his dad's funeral. I really wished I could have heard his talk as everyone said it was great. He thanked Greg's mom and Grandpa's special friend Nadene for all of the help they had given to take care of Grandpa. He also told some fond memories for different times in their lives. He got choked up a couple times, but commented that he was waiting for the train outside to pass (there were trains for some of the instances).

It was really cold so after the service just immediate family went to the graveside and we had a quick prayer and said goodbye.

Grandpa's church made a great lunch at Grandpa's house for the family. This ended up feeding us for days.

2/2 - 2/5 - At this point the weather got bad both in Odessa and back in Dallas. It was snowing, really cold etc. So we decided to stay a few more days in Odessa. Back in Allen school was cancelled Tuesday - Friday, Landon's soccer and swim were cancelled, and Kasey's Gymboree was cancelled. Basically everything shut down with the weather. Greg's dad, mom and sister drove back to Dallas on Wednesday - it took them 16 hours to get back (usually a 6 hour drive). We considered having me and the kids fly home Friday, then it snowed another 6 inches in Dallas so that was out.

A lucky thing was that it was cold in Odessa, but the roads weren't to bad (better than Dallas). We were able to get out. We went to YMCA to take pictures of lifeguard stands that had Grandpa's name on them (he donated money to the pool at the YMCA each month and used it all the time up until about a year before he passed on). We went to lunch at a great place that my co worker's mom owns Yana615 - We had a great lunch there and stayed warm. We went by Nadene's house to visit and let the kids play - they like her toys. We took Kasey to her first big screen movie - Tangled on 2/2/11. She actually sat through most of it. We were the only ones in the Theater so it was fine. We took the kids to Gatti Land to eat and play.

Thursday night Kasey got sick while eating dinner. We thought that she just choked again. She went to sleep a little early, and then woke up at 11:30 and had gotten sick again in bed. She also had 102.3 fever. I ended up sleeping with her in a chair because that was where she was most comfortable. She got sick a couple more times. Kind of like Landon she was sick for about 12 hours then got better. We all got up around 8 and Kasey and I went to the front bedroom and slept again until 11. I haven't done that in a while.

We decided to drive home as a family on Saturday. The day was beautiful, temperatures were above freezing, and if we hadn't seen pictures on facebook we might not believe that there was a lot of snow and ice all over Texas. The roads were pretty clear. We did see a couple trucks on the side of the road.

On our trip Landon did a lot of coloring in some coloring books that I get the kids for Christmas. He was doing really well coloring in the lines most of the time and using different colors for different things. Grammy had gotten him a books of things to do for Boys and he did a lot of this as well, using stickers, colors and counting to several activities with various themes. Kasey did some coloring as well, but not in the lines (which is good at her age).

I think we'll be glad to get back to a normal schedule next week....

CLICK HERE to see some pictures

Douglas Harvey Myers Obituary
April 6, 1921 - January 28, 2011

Douglas Harvey Myers, 89, of Odessa, Texas, passed away Friday, January 28, 2011, at home. He was born April 6, 1921, in Osage County, Oklahoma, to O.H. and Julia Myers. He graduated in 1940 from Burbank High School in Oklahoma. Later he moved to Odessa where he worked in the oil fields of the Permian Basin and Alaska. After retiring, he spent his time delivering for Meals on Wheels and popping popcorn at MCH. When not volunteering, he could be found at the YMCA swimming, working out or visiting with friends. He was also active in Sunday school and Church at Second Baptist Church of Odessa.
Doug was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Bessie; son, Paul; parents, O.H. and Julia Myers; brothers, Tracy, Troy and Harry Myers and sister, Gilda Myers Pebble.
He is survived by his son; Tony Myers and wife, Janice, of Richardson, TX; grandchildren, Greg Myers and wife, Dana, of Allen, TX; Cindy Myers of Euless, TX; Julie Myers Heniford and husband, Jack, of York, SC and Heidy Myers of Denver, CO; great-grandchildren, Landon and Kasey Myers of Allen, TX; brothers, Travis Myers and wife Helen of Schulenburg friend and companion, Nadene Meachum of Odessa, TX and many nieces and nephe, TX; Harvey Myers and wife, Pat, of Ralston, OK and Basil Myers of Muskogee, OK; his sister, Audrey Myers Pickert and husband, Everett, of Kansas City, KS; a very special ws.
The family would like to thank the staff of Home Hospice for their kindness and support. We would especially like to thank his caregivers, Karen and Mary for enabling Doug to remain in his home where he was comfortable. We would also like to thank his many friends who visited him and kept his spirits high. He will be greatly missed by all.
Family visitation will be Monday, January 31, 2011 from 5-7 pm at Sunset Funeral Home. Funeral service will be Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 10:00 am at Sunset Funeral Home Chapel with Randy Duckett officiating and burial to follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Doug’s memory be given to: Meals on Wheels of Odessa or the YMCA of Odessa.

Pictures January 2011

Here are some pictures from January 2011

Kasey and Landon in their Chef outfits from Christmas - 1/1/11

Landon showing off all the stickers he put on Christmas card from David and Cheri - 1/2/11

Kasey trying out crib mattress on the floor at Grammy's - 1/5/11

Went to watch the A&M game with Doug, and my cousin Michael came by to hang out with us for a little while! - 1/7/11

I got to see Danny Gokey from American Idol at the Sony booth at CES in Las Vegas. Great show. I bought his album after when I got home - at least the MP3s for it - 1/8/11

My favorite bar in Las Vegas - Fontana Bar at the Bellagio - outside you can have drinks and hear/watch the water show - Doug and I got to hang out here a few nights while in Vegas for CES - 1/8/11

Kids playing in the snow - 1/9/11
running in the snow - 1/9/11
Landon is really getting into coloring and drawing more. This is the A&M football field he drew on his own - 1/12/11

We decided to put Landon in skating lessons to try it out and see about playing hockey - this is before his first class - 1/15/11

Landon in his first skating class - 1/15/11

We went to Fort Worth Stockyards to see some of our Cloud Cousins who were showing a heifer - 1/22/11

Landon got to walk our cousins 3 week old calf Mr Sir - 1/22/11

The family - Dad, Mom, Lee Cloud, Me/Kasey, Lauren Cloud, Peggy Cloud, Landon and Greg - 1/22/11

Cousin Lauren Cloud showing the kids calf Mr Sir - 1/22/11

Landon had social with kids from school - Alfonso and Evan - 1/28/11

Landon's class this year is small so the kids are really close - Evan, Brooklyn, Landon and Brooklyn - 1/28/11

Grammy and Gramps gave Kasey a doll house for Christmas - This is how she plays with it. She thinks it's for her :) - 1/28/11

Landon getting ready for indoor soccer game with Raptors - He's number 10 (like Landon Donovan) - 1/29/11

Greg and kids at one of our favorite restaurants Zorbas (Greek) - 1/29/11

January 2011

See Grandpa Myers post for the rest of January and early Feb.

1/29 - I know I'm in trouble with Kasey. I was on the computer on an entertainment page that had thumbnails for videos. Kasey pointed to one wanting to see it. It was a video of a cute boy on the Ellen show taking his shirt off to put on an Ellen tshirt. Completely innocent. So today I'm on the computer and Kasey points to the screen and says boy then something about shirt. I had to laugh out loud

1/18 - I took the day off today since I was gone a lot around CES. I got to go to music with Kasey this morning. She's not really into it, which I still don't get because she loves music and dancing. Then Greg and Landon met us for lunch at Cotton Patch Cafe which was pretty good. After that we went to Parker train station and took the DART down to fair park. We went to the Dinosaur exhibit and the children's museum down there. Landon was a little scared of the dinosaurs but did ok. I thought it was pretty cool. They had a great time playing at the childrens museum. They looked at all the body parts stuff, planted seeds, picked up different vegetables and fruits and then later organized them back into the correct place. Kasey actually did pretty good with this with Landon's help. They got to milk a cow (or at least get water out of it), play in the water area, make lots of noise and pretend to be firemen. We had fun and then rode the train back (Kasey slept 90% of the way home).

1/15 - Landon had his first ice skating lesson today at the Stars Center in McKinney. Landon has been drawing a lot more lately. He drew several football fields (A&M and Cowboys), and he drew water with several fish. He's also coloring within the lines much better than he used to. He seems to like doing that.

Greg and I got to have date night tonight. We went to see Riverdance in Grand Prarie, and then came back and had a few drinks at the Londoner because the kids were staying at the grandparents. We had a good time.

1/13. Kasey counted to 3 today. With me being gone quite a bit Kasey is getting closer to Greg and asking for him to do things she would normally ask me to do. Some of it is just to stall bed or getting a bath

1/5 - 1/12 - I had to go to Las Vegas for CES. I worked the first day and evening, and then worked during the day after that. Doug was there as well so we got to go to our favorite bar in Las Vegas (Fontana Bar in the Bellagio overlooking the water show) a few times and check out a few other places as well. Thursday multiple plans got changed and Doug and I had reservations at Nobu (Yum!!). Friday we went to Blondies in Planet Hollywood to watch the Cotton Bowl (Aggies vs LSU). My cousin Michael came up there to visit for a little while. It was great to see him and catch up. On Saturday I got to go look around the show floor. At the Sony Booth, they had a 45 minute concert from Danny Gokey from American Idol. It was great!!! I bought his album when I got home...

I got home Sunday night, then Monday through Wednesday I had all day world wide meetings at work. Monday night I had a team dinner, but was able to get home to see the kids for about 15 minutes before bed. Tuesday night I ran a board meeting so again go to see the kids very little. By Wednesday night I was tired, ready to not have to go anywhere etc.

More December 2010 Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from December 2010

When we got back from Odessa we converted Kasey's crib to a toddler bed. I think Landon was just as excited as she was - 1/28/10

Kasey in her new bed - 1/28/11

Reading a book in Kasey's room - 1/28/11

They are both pretty excited - 1/28/11

I thought this was pretty impressive ensemble from Kasey, her clothes with my socks and shoes that she put on herself and Mr Potato head glasses - Classic - 1/29/10

We had our annual Christmas dinner with the Steiners and Doug - Tillman's Roadhouse - 1/30/10

We spent the first part of new years evening at our neighbors eating dinner and kids playing XBox kinect - kids are dancing - 1/21/10

Kasey tried out dance central as well - 1/31/10

December 2010

12/31 - As a gift from Greg's office they gave us an XBox360 with Kinect. Very cool for us and the kids. New Years Eve we hung out and played some Xbox. That night we went to get dinner at Durken's Pizza, and took it over to our Neighbors the Hotze's. We had some good food, a few drinks and then we played Xbox Kinect (they got one as well). Everyone had a good time.

Then we took the kids home to get them in bed. Greg's cousin Rachel came over to watch the house and be there in case the kids got up while we went to a party at the Solis' house. Usually when the kids are in bed they don't get up. We had a good time with Dave, Tracy, Doug, and Juan and Marissa at the party. Of course as we were leaving Kasey decided to get up (the computer accidentally got turned off so Rachel couldn't see what was going on). As usual Kasey wasn't big on going back to sleep. We got home not to much later and Kasey was still up not wanting to go to bed.

New Years was weird, the stations in Dallas didn't show the ball drop at 11. We had to watch the Spanish station to get it. Even at midnight we had to really search to see the New York New Years. They kept showing stuff in Dallas which was just weird.

12/30 - Greg and I got to go out to dinner with Dave, Tracy and Doug for our annual holiday dinner. We went to Tillman's Roadhouse in Oak Cliff which was really good.

12/29 - I got to go to the Salon for a wonderful Manicure, Pedicure and facial. I only get to go once or twice a year, but I love it when I get to go.

12/28 - 2 years and 1 month old. We transitioned Kasey's bed to a toddler bed. We'll see how that goes.

12/20 - Kasey said Kasey for the first time. We were driving around looking at Christmas lights and Kasey kept saying more Christmas lights on my side and more Christmas lights.

12/18 - A&M was playing Arkansas in basketball at AA center so Greg, Doug and Dave went to the game. The kids and I stayed behind and went over the our Neighbors house to decorate cookies with the kids. We had cookie and wine which was fun!

mid Dec - Now Kasey is saying all of the Grandparents names - Pops, Grandma, Grammy, Gramps, Nanny and Grandpa.

12/16 - Greg and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary. Greg had beautiful flowers sent to my work on the 16th. Our first celebration was our trip to South Africa that we took this summer.

On 12/23 we went out to dinner at Seasons52 to celebrate our anniversary. The food and atmosphere was good. One of their things is that every item on the menu is less than 475 calories which is really good.

On 12/24 Greg and I went to see a movie as one last celebration. We went to see Harry Potter because that was the only thing we could really agree on :)

12/13 - Grandpa has been saying that he wants Landon to score goals for him, and tonight at his game he scored 2. He was very excited to score them for Grandpa.

Kasey decided she wanted to sleep with a pillow for the first time. We'll see how that goes.

12/11 - we think Kasey said Grandma, but she won't say it again. We had 2 parties to go to this day which were very different. The first was a Christmas party at the Cooks house. There were ~23 kids there under the age of 6 or 7, and lots of toys for them to play with. It was fun to visit with the parents and the kids had a great time. We also had some good food and drink. Then Grandma picked up the kids at our house and we went to a work party at one of the guys houses. Very different. No kids and a mix of several cultures including American, Israeli, Mexican and others. It was nice to meet various people's significant others and let them meet Greg. After the party Greg and I actually went out to the Londoner near our house and had a few beers and talked until 1am. We definitely don't get to do that much anymore. It was a good night and we got to do a mix of things with the kids and with just us.

12/10 - Kasey got a good haircut with the Lady that Greg likes to get his hair cut out. It looks cute and healthy!

Kasey started saying Landon more and said Grammy. We were at Landon's soccer game and she was yelling Go Landon. She also said Night Night Landon which made Landon really happy.

Kasey has decided she doesn't really like taking naps anymore. Of course if she gets in a car she's out in a heartbeat. Should be an interesting stage.

12/4 - Kasey said Gramps for the first time and Landon's soccer game. We had a busy day. Landon's soccer game at 12:30pm, I went to spend some time with a few sorority sisters for a few hours which was great, and then we went to our neighbors holiday/birthday party. All was fun, but a lot for 1 day.

11/29 - I took the morning off, took Kasey to her Dr appointment (2 year checkup). She was doing great. 25.6 lb (35%), 34.5 inches tall (68%), and 19 1/4 in head circumference (84%). From there Greg took Kasey to his mom's and work. I went to Landon's class and read a book to them (a Toy Story adventure and 101 Dalmatians story) which was fun. Landon has a small class. They had a little chair set up for me and Landon got to sit next to me while Ms Nancy and his class mates sat on the floor in front of us. It was fun.

Christmas 2010

Christmas pictures - click here

Pictures from our Visit with Grandpa - click here

12/26 - 12/28 - Greg's grandfather lives in Odessa, and we wanted to go out there and spend some time with him. He has stage 4 melanoma. Greg was convinced that the airport would not be to busy so we left with normal time to have about an hour from arrival to flight time. Not a good plan for the day after Christmas. We pulled up and I saw how many people were inside. I told Greg to give me all of the luggage and the kids and I would go check in and he would park. So I had a backpack, 2 roller bags, 2 car seats and a 4 year old and a 2 year old. Luckily someone offered to help us get to the line which worked out well. The line was huge - around the corner and much longer than I had ever seen. Keep in mind this was an hour before our flight was to leave and we had to check luggage. I called Greg and said we would likely not make it, but we'll try. We finally got up to the front of the line. They said we were late and they couldn't guarantee that our luggage would make the flight. We said that was fine for the luggage, but we had to take the car seats or we wouldn't be able to leave the airport. We got to security which was a short line, and discovered that we didn't have our boarding passes. Greg went back and the machine was messed up and didn't give us all of them. Once he got back we got through security fine and didn't have to long of a walk to get to our gate. As we got there they were saying the flight was a little delayed because they were waiting on the Cru and some connecting passengers. This likely is how our luggage got on the flight.

Kasey is 2 now so she has her own seat. She was excited about this for a little while. We actually sat on 2 different rows.

We enjoyed our visit with Grandpa for a few days. He's now at his house with 24hour a day caregivers who are great. Landon showed Grandpa how he kicks the soccer ball, Kasey sang Rock a By Baby to Grandpa while rocking on the rocking horse. Both kids played with the Dinosaur Train. We played football in the back yard several times to run some energy off. We also took a trip to Sherwood park which both Tony and Greg have been to many times. They just recently renovated it. The kids loved it running around for over an hour on a beautiful day.

On the plane ride back, Landon was a sleep as soon as we started to taxi. Kasey wasn't to far behind. They were tired!

12/25 - Christmas morning the kids got up about 8am which was nice. We got some breakfast and then opened presents. Santa brought the kids some luggage. He also brought Landon a big fire truck and 2 large characters from Dinosaur Train (Tiny and Buddy) - He had asked Santa for Dinosaur Train. He brought Kasey a little cookie toy that talks and counts. They were excited.

We made a huge mess of our house just like we had the night before at Grammy and Gramps.

I actually got everything on my list from Greg and the kids - that's unusual because Greg usually doesn't like what's on my list like Twilight movies or Glee CDs. This year he gave in :)

For lunch we went over to Greg's mom's house and had lunch with Grandma, Nanny, Cindy, John, Laura, Rachel and Scott. Good food as usual. We had turkey & ham with the fixings. Greg made Pecan and Apple pies. Landon helped say the blessing before we ate.

That night we took home some left overs and packed for our trip the next morning.

12/24 - Greg and I went to see Harry Potter while the kids hung out with Grandma and Pops. Then we went home to decorate cookies for Santa and get Kasey a little nap. We went to Grammy and Gramps to Celebrate Christmas. We ordered in food from Uncle Julios and Greg made Pecan pie which ended up being much less stressful on everyone. We had good food, and then we all go to open gifts. Lots of fun this year with Landon and Kasey being into opening gifts. Kasey got a big doll house with furniture and Landon got a Grill (among several other things). Both kids liked both of these.

We got home and had left the Night before Christmas book at Grammy's again so we looked it up on the internet to read it :). We were watching the Santa Tracker on the internet to convince the kids they needed to get in bed.

We did a lot of cookie making and decorating this year. Landon made cookies with grandma and decorated them. Landon made and decorated cookies and little mice (with Cherry and hershey kiss) with Grammy. We made cookies and decorated them with our friends from our street. Then on Christmas Eve we decorated cookies for Santa and for us to eat.