Celebration of Papaw

In January, Brad's Papaw passed away. It was both expected and unexpected, in that he'd been ill for a while but had been fairly stable-ish around the time that he passed away. It was a sad reason for a trip to Tennessee, but we had a really sweet visit with a lot of Boswell family.

Due to tricky scheduling, we North Carolinian Boswells got to the funeral home with about 4 minutes to spare, pre-funeral. My mom very kindly came up for the services and graciously took Lily to walk to the halls. The service started just shortly before the girls' usual bedtime and came right on the heels of a 4.5 hour trip, so Lily was not exactly suited for sitting quietly in a memorial service. Claire did amazingly well, and I was so so proud of her. The service was a very nice time of remembering Brad's kind, funny, and godly Papaw. He will be missed.

We were able to stay for a 4-day visit, allowing us to visit with family and to spend time reminiscing and remembering. They girls were great at keeping spirits up and generally entertaining the crowds. Which can be helpful during hard times, ya know?

The girls were so good at the graveside. Claire took her job of passing out roses to anyone who wanted one verrry seriously.

Lily's real rose matched the roses on her coat.

After the graveside, we were able to gather (probably 20 or so of us) at Brad's aunt's and uncle's for a meal and a good visit.

I cannot even handle Lily's face in this picture. Believe it or not, she was saying "cheese."

A few more Lily Antics:

Always with the climbing, y'all.

And thinking.

Kidding! Just wearing some reading glasses and sitting in the most comfortable spot.

"I can start that fire for you."

A little early morning cartoon watching.

One fun little element to this visit was getting to spend some time with Brad's aunt and uncle who are stationed with the Army in Arizona (i.e. we hardly ever see them). They had previously spent very little time with the girls, and everyone enjoyed getting to know each other a bit!

Brad, his Mamaw, his dad, his aunt (Bill's sister)

Grandpa helping Lily on her balance bike.

Lily bonded with Uncle Chris...especially when he helped her pull her feet off the ground so she could actually "ride."

Buds.

We were really glad that we brought the girls' bikes with us. It was a lot of fun to watch/play with them.

At least Barbara was cooperating for both of these pictures...

Coloring with Ray Ray at Sunday lunch.

Lily stayed focused despite the distractions.

And then everyone said "cheese." Bless it.

Chatting.

"Turn your head to the camera, Gran!"

"You smile for Mom's picture. I'll keep coloring."

We're really thankful that we were able to go and visit for a few days. And, a HUGE thank you to my mom for coming up and helping us so much with the girls. It would have been so much more complicated to wrangle the girls otherwise. We're sad to say goodbye to Papaw, but we're thankful for the hope we have of reuniting with him again.