Celebrating our Daddy

Our sweet daddy turned 70 on December 17th. As it worked out, we were able to have his party on his actual birthday which helped so much with keeping it a surprise. Thanks to my sister, who did all the planning and most of the work, he had a wonderful celebration with over 100 family and friends present to share well wishes.

Connie and I were excited to host this party for Daddy. He has meant so very much to us throughout our lives and it was important that he know just how much this birthday meant to us. There have been many times of fear and uncertainty with Daddy's heart, making us very aware of how blessed we are to have him with us to celebrate his 70th birthday. Without a doubt, he has raised two Daddy's girls and we are still crazy about him.

The pretend plan was that we all (Connie, me, Sam, Mikie, and our families) would come to have dinner and celebrate at his house that night. This gave Nana a good excuse for cooking two huge pots of soup all day. Cooper and I headed up early to help Connie decorate. We ran around like crazy getting ready. When it was finally time for guests, it was so fun to see everyone who came because we knew it would mean so much to Daddy.

Granny hanging out with beautiful sisters, Doris and Dean. Mrs. Doris has been one of Daddy's very best friends for most of his life. He has stories that include her from way back. Her husband was also a great friend to Daddy and losing him a few years ago was really hard for Daddy.

The crowd hanging out talking while we wait. So much fun walking around taking pictures and seeing everyone.

Cooper and Devon had lots of fun while the adults worked on pulling it all together.

Beautiful Courtney and her grandmother, Mrs. Dean.

Granny was so happy to see all of the guests because they are all her old friends as well.

Barbara brought some horseshoes from their barn for me to add to the table decorations and they looked great. They were all rusty and actually have been used before. That is so Daddy and just perfect for his party.

The crowd gathering to wait for his arrival...

 He was supposed to come in the side door and enter through this hallway. He thought he was coming to help his friend, Ray, work on the heat thermostat for a Christmas party someone was having at their church. All the family had parked in the back so he would not get suspicious.

I never dreamed we would be able to pull it off but he was genuinely surprised. It was so exciting to see his face. When I asked him if he was really surprised or if he had known, he told me if he had known, he would have dressed in nicer clothes.

One of my favorite things was following him around and taking pictures as he greeted his friends. He was so happy to see them all.

I had scanned a ton of old pictures and made a video for us to show. It turned out really great. We had Daddy sit right in front. Before we started, Connie thanked everyone for coming and just about melted me into a puddle of tears. As wonderful and exciting as the night was, it was also very emotional.

After the video, Daddy's long time friend had something to say. Just the week before, Daddy lost his favorite horse, Dusty. He'd had Dusty for about 27 years. Dr. Jordan (below) was scheduled to put Dusty down on Saturday morning but he went on his own in his sleep during the night. Daddy was heart broken to lose Dusty. Dr. Jordan talked about Dusty and how he just knew Daddy could not be without a horse, it just wouldn't be right. He said he and another friend had gotten together and had a horse for him, along with a bag of feed. He went on and on about when it had been broke and all this stuff and Daddy said he really started to think, "surely they are not about to give me a horse that I cannot even get on".

But in the end, it was a much easier to ride horse, complete with sound effects.

He thanked everyone for coming and shared how touched he was that so many would come to celebrate his birthday. He was so happy and it blessed my heart to see how much it meant to him.

We had one candle per decade of his life for him to blow out.

All of the grandchildren except Addison were there. He surely loves being a PawPaw and they all adore him.

This pretty girl is always quick to make sure all of the younger ones know that he was her PawPaw FIRST.

The relationship I have always had with Daddy has been special. I have learned so many things from him. I admire him and I treasure what I have with him. For this reason, I am thankful my sweet Claudia is a Daddy's girl. I want them to have the precious relationship that I have enjoyed with my Daddy. For every single opportunity I have to be with him, I give praise to God. It is by His grace that we had a 70th birthday to celebrate and we were all full of thanks!

PawPaw and Nana going through his cards while we cleaned up after the guests had left. I don't think he has ever had a birthday he enjoyed as much as this one.