Happy 70th Birthday, Pop-Pop!!

As I type this Pop-Pop and Mimi are enjoying their last evening on a cruise! Tomorrow is Pop-Pop's 70th birthday and I couldn't miss this opportunity to honor him for the gift he is to our family. I've told him before that his marriage to my mom was an answer to many years of prayer. I am so grateful for the blending of our 2 families. Pop-Pop has been a wonderful godly influence in the lives of all our children and 2 weeks ago our blended family had a surprise birthday party for him before he and my mom left for their trip. (Sadly, I attended with only our 2 oldest due to the yucky stomach flu hitting our home.) My step sister organized a wonderful scrapbook for his gift and had each of the children and grandchildren answer questions about Pop-Pop. At the party we sat as he read excerpts from each page. What fun it was to hear what everyone loved about him. There was a common theme: Everyone treasures the time Pop-Pop has spent playing games, telling stories, taking kayak rides, riding bikes... the list goes on and on. He has made many rich memories in the lives of his grandchildren and what a blessing it is for us as parents to watch this. I'm taking notes and hope my hubby and I can live up to the example set by both sets of grandparents...what a rich heritage we have!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,POP-POP.
We love you!!
All 8 of us~

P.S. I thought I would share a few my favorite things the kids said about Pop-Pop:
*What one word would you use to describe Pop-Pop? One of my nephews wrote,"BALD!"
*What one thing have you learned from Pop-Pop? Odesco said,"Not to cheat in UNO or he won't play with me!"
Oh and there's Philip's humorous response to the question,"What's your favorite story about Pop-Pop" but I'd better not share it here...let's just say his kids had never heard it before Philip mentioned it and wondered why their Dad had censored this story!!

I love this picture--they both have the same eyes! This is my step sister who is a missionary in Honduras(with her hubby and 4 children)...she flew in(solo) to surprise her Dad. I missed the great unveiling but her siblings put her in a large box and she popped out! My family was blessed to have a day with Aunt Cindy during her time in the states:)

Mimi and Pop-Pop enjoying their first look at the scrapbook~

A captive audience listening to Pop-Pop's stories...

Pop-Pop and Uncle Doug

Blow,Pop-Pop, Blow!!

One of the things many of the kiddos mentioned was their appreciation for Pop-Pop's love of ice cream...whenever Pop-Pop visits there is sure to be ice cream for dessert! Doug loaned him his very own prized ice cream bowl for the occasion :)