Granddaddy Byars

Jay's granddad, Lex, passed away last Friday night. He was 86 years old. He lived a long full life and left behind a wife, four children, thirteen grandchildren, and seventeen great grandchildren. We went to the upstate this past Sunday through Tuesday for his services. We had the rare opportunity to visit with several family members who we don't see often enough. It was sad to say goodbye but nice to celebrate his life along side family we love so dearly.
Jay's granddad was a man of few words but I had a couple of memories to share. When Jay and I first started dating we decided to take a trip to Florida. Jay's dad lived there along with his Grandmother and Granddaddy. We went to stay with his grandparents in West Palm Beach for part of the trip. I remember Jay's granddaddy watching Westerns on tv most of the time we were at his house. He kept calling each one a "good un (good one)." Ever since that trip I have never been able to pass a western on tv without thinking, "there's a good un."
The other funny story was when Jay graduated with his masters from Georgia. His grandparents came along with several other family members for the ceremony. His granddad was notorious for only hanging around for a small bit of time and then heading to the car. On this particular day we all went to make pictures after the ceremony and Granddaddy headed to the car. He had the window rolled down and was smoking a cigarette. I went over and started talking to him. While I was in the middle of whatever I was saying he started to roll up the window with a smile on his face. I pointed my finger at him and said, "Don't roll that window up while I'm talking to you." The window never came back down but he kept a smile on his face the whole time. That was a classic moment!

This is Granddaddy with our dog, Baby.This is Granddaddy and Grandmother with their children, Mickey, Linda, Jim and Joan.
Here is Grandmother and Granddaddy with Katie Jo.
Here are some pictures of our time the past few days with family.

This is John Paul. He Jessica's (Jay's sister) youngest.

This is Aidan (Jessica's oldest) and Georgia.

Aidan, Georgia, John Paul and Sara
Katie Jo, Justin, Aidan in the red, and John Paul in the blue
Grandmother, Katie Jo and Mickey.
Me, Jay, Mema, Joni, Jim (Granddaddy), Austin, Jessica, Jason and Kim


Starting in the front and working our way to the back left to right is Ben, Joni, Nathan, Jessica, Liz, Jay, Anna, Carey and Lee. These are Jay's sisters and cousins (minus Scott) that he grew up with.

Here are all the cousins playing a very loud and fast card game.
Jay, Grandmother, Jessica and Joni
Jay and his sisters, Joni and Jessica
Joni, Me and Jessica

Grandmother and Georgia. Every grandchild and great grandchild has been rocked in this rocker by Grandmother.

Granddaddy, Joni, and Georgia
Granddaddy with John Paul, Georgia, Katie Jo and Aidan Aidan
On our first night in the upstate Jay's cousin, Ben came to crash on Jay's mom's couch. That night Georgia woke up crying multiple times waking up everyone in the house. Poor Ben will never want to have children after that experience. He was still very nice to Georgia the next day and even came back the next night again. Thankfully she only woke up one time and didn't wake anyone up. She redeemed herself so hopefully Ben will one day forget what happened. I had to get a picture of Ben with his favorite girl, Georgia!

Here is a slideshow of all our pics. This is for the die hard fans!