A Father's Day Tribute

With father's day coming up, I Had been thinking about my dad and also my grandpas, and reminiscing about fun times.  So I decided to do a little post about them.  I started looking through some old pics, and I don't have many of either of my grandpas.  Then I started realizing that there is a lot I don't know about my grandpas.  Unfortunately both of them have passed away, but I wish they were still around so that I could ask them questions about their lives when they were growing up.  And I miss them because they were both great grandpas!  I found the programs for both of their funerals and it made me all teary-eyed.  My goal is to do some research and talk to my mom and dad and see what more info I can find about them.  In the meantime, I thought I would just share a few fun memories of my grandpas and my dad, and of course the main man in my life, Kevin.

This is my grandpa Bell, on my mom's side.  He was a great grandpa.  I know he was in the military (I think the Navy) but I don't know anything about his time in the military.  But I do remember spending a lot of time at my grandparents house.  I would go there almost everyday in between school and work, and my grandpa would always have a can of  spaghettios for me because he knew I loved them so much.  He also had some tattoos on his arms that he got while he was in the Navy.  One of them was a Panther, which I always thought was a little scary.  The other was a picture of a naked lady, but after he joined the church he tatooed clothes on her!  My grandpa would give me blessings when I needed them, and I always loved to see how he treated my grandma.  he loved her so much and was so good to her.  I always thought it was so cute when I would catch them holding hands:)

My grandpa Bell in his military uniform

Dinner time at grandma and grandpas

This is my grandpa Nelsen, on my dad's side.  He too was a great grandpa.  He was the most generous person, and he was also very neat and tidy.  When we were little, he used to babysit us on the weekend, and we had the same menu everytime:  Hamburger helper cheeseburger macaroni, canned peaches, and oreos, and then later we would have black cherry ice cream.  We loved it!  He also had a closet full of games that we would play, our favorite one being kerplunk.  My grandpa had false teeth, so he would always play tricks on us my flipping them upside down!  Then he would put them back, and try to pull on them really hard and pretend they wouldn't move:)  Everytime he saw us, he would give us a roll of quarters.  And because of my grandpas generosity, I was able to attend a four year university, which I am very grateful for:)

My grandpa and me on my graduation day

At grandpas house in South Dakota for Christmas

This is my dad.  He is hilarious.  I of course have lots of funny memories with him.  We had a drinking fountain in our front yard (which was awesome!) that gave really cold water.  Almost every night at dinner, my dad would have one of us kids go fill his cup up with "fountain water" because he loved it so much.  We also had the best decorated house for Halloween.  My dad would fill his clothes with newspaper, put a skull for the head and make a scary guy to put up in our tree.  And he would put a real ax in his hand, with spray painted blood.  Kids were terrified!  The scary man sat in a chair that was on a pulley, so before my dad would put the guy in the chair, he would give us rides in the chair.  He would pull us all the way to the top, then let go of the rope, then catch us at the last minute!  It was terrifying but we always went back for more.  And, whenever we would go swimming we always made whirlpools and the biggest waves!  My dad would also get fixated on words, and then would use those words over and over again during the week, which I always thought was so funny (it turns out Kevin does it too!).  Remember dad, when you used to throw pillows at us and say "Carolanne!"  and we would freak out?  I could go on and on with the fun memories.  Happy Father's Day dad!  I love you!

Holding Jacob at Thanksgiving

Me and Holly with dad

Just relaxing

The scary man in the tree

bike riding with daddy

This is my Kevin.  He is also very hilarious.  I think I am the only one that gets to witness the full comedic act of Kevin, because he is a little more reserved around others (except for maybe his close friends).  He and Jacob have tons of fun together.  He gets Jacob laughing so hard and gets him so hyper that it takes him a while to calm down.  He is such a good daddy to the boys.  Hudson just grins from ear to ear when he sees Kevin, but it is Jacob who gets to have the most fun with daddy right now.  They go on bike rides together, build forts, play with trains, watch funny videos, and do lots of other fun stuff together.  I am lucky to have a guy who is a great dad and a great husband to me!  He works hard for us, makes us laugh, makes us feel safe, and makes us feel loved.  Happy Father's day babe!  We love you!!!!!!

My boys at Disneyland