Do you Remember?

Last week I blogged that not to much was happening and that is why I hadn't blogged. This week is polar opposite. I've had so many ideas swimming around in my head that I think instead of a brain I just may be the first person who has an ocean instead.

The biggest event is the one that slipped through my fingertips and try as I may to sit down on the actual day to type I was always taken away (Kendo's hairball, the cricket who made itself at home near the TV and gave me a run for my money trying to capture him, LD chatting through what should have been a nap, or walking with HS in a school event).

Well, I'm typing now and nothing can stop the rhythm of the keys as the crickets sing outside, geckos chirp on my lanai, and the kiddos snore in their beds with visions of adventures in their heads. I have my time now....Happy Birthday, Papa!

Do you remember:

*reading to sis and I in the camper or by the campfire in all kinds of crazy accents further sucking us into the story?
*playing games camping and then hearing the 'wood sprite' bounding around like a little ping pong ball?
*having a tomato squirted at you from an elementary school gal who thought it would be funny, but quickly learned from your facial expression and booming voice that...nope...that wasn't the best choice she could have made
*bringing home a bundle of fur that fit into the palm of your hand to two girls who thought it was too cool that they had a papa who would "save" a rabbit from being eaten
*allowing a pet menagerie and traveling with those family members to every new duty station even if that meant the fish traveled in the sink of the camper
*having "office" chats in the basement to make sure that your daughters were always staying on the high road
*making it difficult for any other guy to ever take the place of the joy you brought as we danced and enjoyed a dinner at the base O'Club at the father/daughter banquet
*walking me down the aisle and patting my hand and telling me my life would be whatever HH and I made of it from here on out
*teaching me everything I know about saving and money matters...thank you for forcing me to sit. It has made all the difference.
*getting stuck in the Nebraska mud in the middle of the biggest thunderstorm we'd seen in a long time
*asking me to open the door on going to the sun road because the fog was so thick we couldn't see
*driving around the golf cart on the tarmac at Offutt and me asking why there had to be so many "civilans" visiting our nice base
*watching countless hours of plays put on by our theater group of stuffed animals and being a good enough sport to pay a penny a show
*holding your grandson and granddaughters for the 1st time and bringing tears to your own daughters' eyes
*giving me a hug for the last time before we all moved to the other side of the pond again because I was bawling and stewing that we were trekking away again

I could go on forever with all the memories that I have of you each year we celebrate the day you were born. You have touched the lives of many, enriched understanding of hundreds, and been our hero and now our children's "awwww...popop" magnet. Happy Birthday! Here's to all the new memories we'll form during the coming year. We love you!