Happy Birthday Dad

This is the year I'm going to start posting for birthdays. Of course I've started late and missed several already - so I apologize in advance and promise you'll get a post soon. So this post is for my Dad.

The pictures of my Dad are not the most recent pictures - I don't see my Dad as much as I'd like since he lives way over in Virginia. But these are some of my most favorite of him. They almost always involve his grandkids.

This is when they took my kids down south on a mini-vacation. Hillary was 2 so it must have been in 2007.

This was last August when Hillary and I went to visit.

This was December 2008 when we were all home for Christmas.

Christmas 2008 - all the grandkids except Connor - who know where he was.

Here are some things you may not know about my dad, but they are a small part of what makes him great.

• Last week he sent all his kids a picture of his colon. Yes it's healthy and clean in case you were wondering. I guess this says more about his sense of humor than anything else. But it made my day when I got it.
• He is smart. If any of my kids has a question I can't answer - they always ask to call Grandpa cause he will know.
• He takes care of my Mom. And the last couple of years have not been easy for him. But he does it without complaint and with love.
• He loves fossils.
• He can fix just about anything.
• He will watch the same dumb cartoon over and over with a grandkid just because she wants to.
• He has freakish good taste in clothes. I hated to admit it when I was growing up - but the stuff he picked out and bought for me was pretty cool. And looking back - the best homecoming dress I ever had was picked out by him. The worst - was picked by me. Breanna is learning that now too.
• He is incredibly patient.
• A couple years ago he decided he didn't want to be called Grandpa - so now he refers to himself as "Super Ralph". Sadly he's the only one who has caught on to that name (at least in our house). He's still Grandpa Ralph to us.

So Happy Birthday Dad. I hope your day is great and you do something fun. We love you.