Papa's Service

This post has been really hard for me to write.  I think I just keep putting off writing this post because I don't want any of this to be real.  I miss Papa so much.  He was more then just a grandpa, he was our second Dad, our best friend and one of our biggest fans.

We made these boards for Honey and Papa's anniversary party that my Mom and Dad threw for them.  I love all of these old pictures.   Papa loved cars.  Whenever we asked him anything about his life he'd always answer the question first by telling us what car he drove that year.   I love that we were able to put some of the pictures of the cars that he loved so much on those boards. 

I was one of the lucky grandchildren that got to have Papa for drivers ed.  Which meant that we probably did 5 times the amount of  driving hours that I needed.   He was such a good teacher and so funny!  I loved spending that time with him.

  Papa was such a cute boy.  Or as he would correct me and say girls are cute boys are handsome. 

  Papa loved the color yellow.  Which was so fitting because he was so happy.  Papa had a yellow shirt that Honey didn’t love.  No matter how many times she would throw that shirt away he always seemed to find it, he even ironed a liberty bell to that back of his shirt to add a little flair.   Papa was always smiling.   While I was in the hospital with him, a doctor came in the room while Papa was sleeping,  he said wow he even smiles in his sleep!  Even at the end of his life he had a huge smile under his oxygen mask.

I love this picture.  We have a very supportive extended family.

A few years ago Papa told me that he was partly responsible for my parents marriage.  When I asked him why he said that he has always loved my Dad and that when my Dad was serving his mission my Mom would write these beautiful weekly letters to him,  but she would forget to mail them.  So Papa would go downstairs and get them from her and mail them to him.  Papa has always loved my Dad.  They had such a good relationship.

Honeys amazing siblings traveled from all over to be there for us.  Aunt Ann came from Oregon, Aunt Ora came from "The Farm" and Uncle Dunk who was very very ill made the journey with all of his kids who could come.  His son Will hadn't been north of Nephi in over 20 years.   Papa's other nephew traveled all day to be at the viewing then he had a 12 hour drive back that night to be at work the next day.  He said he'd wouldn't have missed seeing Papa for anything.  So many people sacrificed so much to be there with us and we really appreciate them. 

Papa was always thinking about other people.  On all of Papa’s and Honey's many vacations, one of the first things that Papa did was buy and send post cards to his family and friends.  We loved receiving those post cards.  Papa made everyone feel special.

This picture is of Aunt Ora and my sweet Rhett.   Aunt Ora is such an angel in our lives.   Just before Papa passed away Aunt Ora and her son Bob drove the 6 hour round trip drive to come and say good bye to Papa and to give us the strength that we needed to get through the next few hours.  They were there for a half hour and then turned around and went right back.   They knew just what we needed.

We are so grateful to have had all of these wonderful experiences with Papa.    Papa loved spending time with all of his 12 grand kids and his great grand kids.  When we were very small children Papa had a big blue truck, that we loved riding around in.   He decided that he wanted to make it safer for us to ride in the back so he found a seat that he bolted to the bed of the truck and  seat belts to accommodate all of his grandchildren. Then he carpeted the back to make it more comfortable. He thought of everything.  He took us on so many adventures.  In the summer he loaded us all up and took us to the Creamery or Reams for ice cream, and in the winter he would take us all with our sleds to find the best snow hill available. We felt very special.

The above picture on the little screen is of Colby covering Papa's eyes in the swimming pool.  So cute.  Err handsome.  We will miss swimming with Papa so much this summer.

The other day I was driving around with Colby in the car and he told me that sometimes he just cries when he thinks about Papa because he misses him so much.  After I told him that I do too he said "well I think I am probably Papa's favorite grand kid, do you think that I am?"   I love that Papa made all of the great grand kids feel that way.

My Mom asked her good friend Janalynn make these beautiful flowers for Papa.  She was so helpful throughout this whole process. 

The pallbearers; My Dad, Rhett, Spencer, Colby, my brother Sean my brother in laws Dave, Blake, Shane, and Craig my cousin Jason.  And LaVar who is family to us.

 Taylor never wanted to leave Papa's side she even had to ride in the hearse with him and Honey.   I really believe that little Taylor Belle was sent here to be Papa's little friend.  They had such a strong bond.  Since his passing she has had several amazing experiences with Papa.  I am so grateful that I know that we have the chance to be with him again.

Papa was very proud of his time in the Airforce he would have loved their salute to him.

Papa always loved to spend quality time with his grand kids.  Every year he and Honey would plan fun trips for us and our cousins.  Katie and I went up to Lava hot springs one year.  We were both amazed at how brave Papa was.  He jumped off of the highest high dive which I thought must be at least a thousand feet high.  He was so high up that Honey thought that he looked like a postage stamp.  On our trips we would stay up late playing dominoes and card games.  He was so fun to be with.  He used to stop at gas stations to get us Neccos  and other yummy treats to eat on our trips. 

We loved our annual family vacations to Wayne County.  During our stay Papa taught us all how to fish.  He was so patient with us helping us cast our lines and baiting our hooks.  A few years ago Dave who is an avid fisherman went out on Fish Lake early in the morning to fish all day.  Later that afternoon when Papa and Honey joined the boat no one had caught anything all day, so Papa cast his line sat down and rested the pole on his shoulder to fish behind his back.   A few minutes later Papa caught the first and only fish of the trip!

My sweet angels miss their Papa Bear so much.

Stephanie made these amazing necklaces for all of the kids to wear.  She is so thoughtful.

I love this necklace that Steph made for Honey too.  The picture in the necklace was taken on Honey and Papa's wedding day. 

Papa has a wonderful relationship with his great grand kids.  He and Honey came out to Texas for two weeks to help me with Spencer and Colby after Colby was born.   Even right before Papa passed away he still wanted to have his great grand kids right by him.  Some of the great grand kids favorite memories of Papa were; when he would take them swimming, when he let them help him fix things, when he read them books, and when he would watch them dance.  Papa was our resident bike mechanic.  If we ever had a problem we could leave our bike in Papa’s garage and the bike would be oiled the chains would be fixed the tires would be pumped and the bike would be ready to go the next morning.

All the family.

Papa and Honey were married for almost 60 years.  You hardly saw one without the other.   Papa loved Honey so much he was always going on and on about how beautiful she is. 

This time without Papa has been so hard.  We miss him more then I can ever say.  I know how blessed we were to have him.