Our Sweet Angel

The following are some excerpts from an email we sent to family and friends on August 1, 2006:

It is with aching hearts that we write to tell you that Heavenly Father has taken our sweet little Jacob home.

We are in California. We rushed down Friday night at Matt's mom's request to see us one last time. We've been waiting for several days for her to pass, and the ward here has been wonderful to watch our children so we could be with Dorothy.



Unfortunately, he slipped away and managed to get in the neighbor's pool. The hospital was just wonderful to us and worked on him for so long before we told them to let him rest.

We were able to spend some precious moments holding him and saying good-bye, and we were so blessed to feel the presence of his sweet spirit there with us.

Matt's mother was finally able to be at peace and join Jacob this morning. It is a great comfort to us that his grandmother is there with him.

We love you all and appreciate your friendship at this difficult time. We are so grateful for our Savior and the Plan of Salvation. It is our only comfort at this time.

Love,
Matthew, Angenette, Taylor, and Nathan

Fond Memories from Jacob's Mother

Memories~



• Whenever I made bread, he’d stand in the kitchen, point at the mixer, and scream, “bed” until I picked him up and let him look at the dough.




• He loved to climb up on the piano and either pull flowers out of the swag that hung on the wall above it or beat the grandfather clock with a piece of hardware from the piano lamp. When I’d go to get him down, he’d look at me and say, “Noooooooo!” I’m not sure he was telling me that he understood that what he was doing was a no-no or if he was just protesting me getting him down!




• He loved the triple fan we’d recently purchased. He was constantly pushing the buttons on it. He also liked to stand with his back up against it. I think he liked the vibration.




• He loved the chewable Vitamin C tablets we have. He always wanted one, and I’d bite it in half before I gave it to him. He didn’t like me doing that, but I was worried about him choking on it. He'd shriek at me until he had it in his mouth. He seemed to instantly forget that he was mad about me biting it in half.




• I always got him out of the bathtub first. I’d wrap him in a towel and snuggle him, and he’d look up and me, grin, and say, “Teeth?” because he knew that brushing his teeth came next. He was getting good at swishing and spitting.




• Jacob was always pulling the metal piece at the top of the gas fireplace out. He’d do it on purpose and say, “Uh-oh!” I think he did it just for an opportunity to say "Uh-Oh."




• He loved playing with the GeoTrax airport. He always tried to grab the arm so the plane couldn’t fly in a circle.




• He loved to splash in the toilet. Sometimes he’d use the toilet brush, but most of the time his hands were enough for him!
  
• During the last week of his life, he discovered he could climb up on the counter. He'd climb up there and get pens out of the holder and scribble on important papers. I pulled him down several times a day. Funny how something that irritated me so is now a fond memory.




• When Matt got home from work, Jacob would get so excited and run to the door screaming, “Daddy!” He was also always the first of the boys to run to Matt and give him a hug bye-bye in the morning.




• We were trying to teach him to kiss on the cheek. At first he would turn his cheek to us expecting to get a kiss. But more recently he’d press his mouth to our cheeks, then pull away and make a kissing smack noise after he’d pulled away.

• Whenever he colored a page from a coloring book, he’d insist on me writing his name on it several times. He’d bring it to me over and over again, push a crayon into my hand, and say, “Mame (name)!” Most of his pictures had his name on it 3 or 4 times.




• He was beginning to tattle. He’s come to me and say, “Mommy…” then would follow unintelligible words, but clearly in that tattling tone!




• He liked to spin in circles. He’d try to twirl on his toes like a ballerina, and he usually fell down. Then he’d say, “Ow!” Even if he wasn’t hurt.




• He was learning his colors. He could identify red, blue (his favorite), and green.




• He could do all the actions to Popcorn Popping.




• When I would use the bathroom, he’d come knock on the door. I always thought it was one of the older boys because he had such a hard knock. I wouldn’t know it was him until he said, “Mommy!” like he was impatiently waiting for me to come out.




• If I put up the footrest on the recliners, Jacob would crawl under them and not come out so that I couldn’t get up.




• If I needed to shush him in Church, I’d put my finger to my lips and say “Shhhh.” He’d try to imitate me. He would put his finger to his lips and says, “Sssss” like a snake.




• He was having a hard time getting used to a big boy bed. He kept coming downstairs to see me. He’d pop out from behind the end of the couch with the proudest look on his face like to say, “Hello, I’m here!” Sometimes he’d say hi, but most of the time he’d just pop up all proud of himself.




• We loved watching him when we were walking to Church. He’d have to run to keep ahead of us (where he liked to be). We loved watching his little body bounce and listening to his footsteps as he pitter-pattered along.




• He would make faces trying to imitate whatever face we were making. My favorite was a really big grin with his eyes bugging out and his eyebrows raised.




• Jacob loved to pick up the wood chips in the play area and throw them on the bottom of the slide. Even as we’d be calling to him not to do that, he’d pick up speed to get a few more handfuls in before he quit or we made it to him.




• Jacob loved food, especially meat. He was always asking for more, and I couldn’t cut meat and give it to him fast enough. He usually ate his portion and half of mine.




• He recently discovered that if he colored on the vinyl floor, I couldn’t get it off easily. His artwork would remain there for a while and he loved it. He always drew circles.




• Jacob called Taylor “Kaylor” and Nathan “Nanan.”




• Jacob loved to open the recliner and stick his legs through it. This was great fun until he realized that he was stuck, and then he’d SCREAM. We’d have a really hard time getting him our without hurting him. But it never seemed to deter him from doing it again!




• He loved to climb up on the arm of the living room couch and fall backwards onto the couch. It didn’t matter to him whether anyone was sitting in the way or not!




• At bath time, Jacob always wanted to sit by the faucet so he could drink from it as the tub was filling. I was always trying to get him to stop it because we have soft water and it wasn’t good for him. I was trying to teach him to spit it out after he put some in his mouth. He was able to do it a few times.




• I loved when he would first get up in the morning. He was usually the first of the boys to awaken, and that was our snuggle time.




• He loved spitting after he had his teeth brushed.




• He had recently chipped his tooth. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but I suspect he did it when he ran into the kitchen cabinets. He and Nathan loved running back and forth between the family room and the kitchen, and they usually plowed right into the kitchen cabinets before turning around to go back. He had his first dentist appointment a month before he died, and his dentist said it would be fine. I grew to love that little chipped tooth, a testament to his exuberance.




• He liked to sleep on his tummy with his knees tucked up under him and his bum in the air.




• He always said “Cheese” for pictures.




• He loved copying his brothers. In the final videotape we have of him, the boys were all singing and dancing, and Jacob copied everything Taylor did.




• Jacob could outeat both of his big brothers combined.




• Scott and Lisa were called “Gott” and “Eesa”




• On our last trip to California, he was unusually fussy trying to sleep in his car seat, but he would settle down when I reached back and rubbed his feet and legs.




• He called James “Dames!” and Percy “Ercy!” He squealed both their names.




• I fell down the stairs holding him once. I remember how hard I tried to keep him on top of me to avoid him getting the brunt of the fall. He was unscathed but scared, and I had a heavily bruised thigh for weeks.




• He loved to tuck his chin into his chest and then look up at you without raising his head. The result was a rather mischievous-looking scowl, usually accompanied by a big grin.




• Jacob would run into a room with his head turned sideways, but looking where he was going out of the corners of his eyes.

• Jacob:“Mommy?” Mom: “What?” Jacob:“Umm…”

• Jacob loved to dance. We’d often put on music loudly and dance. He especially liked to spin.

• He loved books and being read to. He was always bringing me a book to read to him. He was so excited when his big brother Taylor could read to him.

• The morning of his passing, I went into the boys’ room to see if anybody was awake. Jacob’s back was to me, and he said, “Roarrrr!”, then turned around with a big grin on his face.

• He loved to play telephone, saying “Hello Daddy, hello Mommy…bye-bye.”

• Jacob loved to eat- and no one was allowed to eat without him eating too.

• When he had a toy, he would run over to me, show it to me, and squeal what it was. He was so excited about toys.

• Jacob could hear a dog a mile away. If he heard a bark, he’d scream “goggy!” until you acknowledged him.

• His big brother Nathan loves the movie The Incredibles. When something would happen on it, Jacob would say, “Oh no! Oh no!”

• He was learning how to pray. He was very good at a mealtime prayers and was learning that bedtime prayers were not for blessing food. I got in the habit of nodding when he was on the right track saying a prayer. One time I opened my eyes while he was praying, and I saw that he was nodding all the way through the prayer!

• He always said, "Eeeewww, yucky!" whenever I changed his diaper, no matter what was in it.

Memories of Jacob's Final Hours~

• He was upset with me because I wouldn’t give him more toast for breakfast.

• He came into the room we were staying in and played with the phone “Hi mommy, Hi daddy, hello… bye bye.”

• He dumped the balls out in the living room at the Carter’s and was telling me what colors they were.

• He was so happy on Sunday afternoon eating cake and ice cream at the Carter’s, with a big grin on his face.

Fond Memories from Jacob's Father

Memories~

He would always come in to my bed to get me up, and give me a big hug, and say “et up dad”

He loved getting wet, and true to form, I found him in the upstairs bathroom in the sink soaking himself last Sunday morning

Reading Book of Mormon, he would sit with us and turn pages, and often would end up tearing the pages out.

One of my favorite memories is of having family prayer on the upstairs landing… I would kneel one step down from the landing and Jacob would always come kneel on the step with me, snuggle right up next to me, and rest his little folded arms on the top of the landing.

Memories of Jacob's final hours~

I gave him a big kiss when we got out of the van the day of his passing

He ran in and gave Grandpa a big hug and kiss and said hi to Grandma before going to the sitter

He was sitting in the high chair at the Carter’s happily eating potato chips when I came downstairs, making a huge mess.

Sunday, I found him in the Carter’s upstairs bathroom in the sink soaking himself

He came in to my bed to get me up, and gave me a big hug

After singing “I am a Child of God” in the car on the way from the Carter’s to my parent’s house, he immediately asked for “cudders” (Primary Colors)… we sang it with him and the kids.

We held his little body in the room at the hospital after he had gone, and sang “cudders” to him… when I got to “blue is for purity in thought and deed”, I could hardly finish the song.

Jacob's Second Birthday

Jacob could be heard squealing "Cake!" all day today. I made him a planes, trains, and automobiles cake this time, and he was enthralled. We laughed as Jacob insisted that he was "One, two, THREE!" instead of two years old! His presents were some toy trucks and new Nemo bedding for the toddler bed. Tonight was his first night in the Big Boy Bed.