Papaw Bell

Since November when I lost my Papaw Bell, I have wanted to do a post about him, but I have felt like I could never capture what he meant to my family.  That is still true, but I have decided to just share a little bit about him.

My brother and I are so fortunate to have had four truly wonderful grandparents, all of whom had big parts in our lives.    I think every little girl and boy should have the experience we have had of growing up with such wonderful grandparents.  I have so many sweet memories of playing Candyland, Checkers, cars, Little People, and Cooties in my Mamaw and Papaw's living room floor growing up. He carted us around anywhere we wanted to go, was at all our "events", gave me my first car and kept it running until I got a new one when I was married, and was our family Mr. Fix-It.  He had patience that was unmatched and a good sense of humor.

I have been struggling over this post for months because how do you truly capture what a person means to you with a few paragraphs and the handful of pictures you can round up?  Well, you can't, and that is okay.  I have those memories and I am blessed that my boys were able to know him too.

I have always loved this picture - this was taken in April 2009

This is a picture of a picture but it is from their 50th anniversary, when I arranged for some friends and family to surprise them at a restaurant. It was worth every moment!  Scotty and I were "taking them out to dinner" and they weren't even suspicious when I pinned these flowers on them.  I told them, "This is what you do when it is your 50th anniversary!"  So thankful Jessica was there to take pictures for me - the first event I asked her to do! 

This was taken in the July 2006 at Scotty's graduation from fire academy

This came from a picture of a picture that I took (I dislike scanning) so the quality isn't the best but I love the grin! This was when Scotty first got an apartment in Richmond - Papaw was there to help with everything.

Love this one because it illustrates my Mamaw's efforts to always have Papaw's clothes match or compliment hers, haha!  This time, it looks like she picked out my clothes too!

Cannot even guess how many times I saw him just like this.  

I love this one from Christmas 2006 because when I see it, I can hear his laughter.  He loved a good prank. 

We miss you Papaw!

Handing Over the Keys

Since last November, Caleb has been content to sit in the passenger seat and let Adam be the driver. Or in this case, even let Brennan have his turn. 

But on this day, he had a thought.

He wanted to take a ride, but Adam was inside. 

This is the moment he really decided to make his move.

He hit the gas a few times, and loved the result!  He looked at me like, "Look Mom!  I can do it too!"

Brennan was like, "Hold up, there, cuz!"

"Make sure you put some gas in right there!"

That must have been his "in".  Now, he was bravely Caleb's first passenger. 

Can't beat this!

Brennan's face might tell a little bit more about Caleb's driving.  

He's probably thinking, "Where's Adam?"

Trucks and Stuff

We enjoyed the Touch-a-Truck event at Keeneland today.  Big trucks, a crane, a helicopter, a hot air balloon - what little boy wouldn't love that?

My boys

Driving some big truck 

My oldest speedracer

 ...and my youngest.

 Inside the giant hot air balloon

I liked this cute little machine - a mini excavator - but LOVED the look on my boy's face!

Long line to sit in this crane, but it was worth it!

Cue the garbage truck song here!  This one was really cool.

Adam got to dump the garbage can!

Caleb inside the fire truck

A hay ride to finish off the day!