Surprise, Dad! I forgot to send you a card. I know, I know - you're totally shocked. I do want you to know that I'm thinking of you though, and I love you. I hope you like this list.1. My dad is a christian.
2. This is the #1 thing that defines his life.
3. He married a christian.
4. They will celebrate their 40th anniversary this year. Wow!
5. He loves her VERY much.
6. When he helps her cook dinner, you don't want to be there. It ain't always pretty, folks! Two people who know how they like things done - Yikes!
7. He is the grill-man in the family.
8. His ribs are AWESOME!
9. He is always proud of his own cooking.
10. He tells us about that.
11. He likes to shop at Sams.
12. He and mom go there every Sunday after lunch.
13. He doesn't like to shop ANYWHERE else.
14. Mom buys his clothes and brings them home for him to try on.
15. They eat lunch at Pappas (seafood) almost every Sunday.
16. He knows (and calls) the waitresses by name.
17. He LOVES seafood.
18. He has two brothers.
19. One of them is his twin.
20. When they were kids and people would ask if they were twins, they liked to say that they were triplets but their other brother died. They found that really amusing.
21. They also find it amusing when their grandkids get confused by the twin thing.
22. He has 5 grandkids.
23. He LOVES his 5 grandkids.
24. He works the hardest at Katie.
25. She is the only one old enough who he stands a chance at being #1 with. (The other 2 have fallen for mom completely).
26. Katie LOVES him.
27. Noah LOVES him too.
28. Dad plays Noah's character on his Ninetendo golf game to make him better so Noah will have more fun when he comes to visit.
29. Noah is so happy about that.
30. He bought swings to put on his swingset for each of the three older grandkids to play on when they visit.
31. The entire time we lived in Houston, he never put swings on the swingset for his own kids.
32. He has 3 daughters.
33. He was a good father of girls.
34. He let me put barrettes, and I mean A LOT of barrettes, in his hair when I was little.
35. I used to sit on him and scratch his back.
36. He and grandpa taught us how to fish.
37. He lost his dad this year.
38. It has been hard on all of us.
39. He loves his parents.
40. He is taking good care of his mom.
41. I'm crying now - I'm sure he will be too by the time he gets this far.
42. He's never been afraid to cry.
43. You can almost always count on it when he gets in front of the church.
44. My whole life I remember him in front of the church.
45. He sang in the Edmond Church of Christ men's chorus.
46. I loved it when they sang Church in the Wildwood and he had to hold the high tenor note.
47. I love to listen to him sing.
48. He was the announcement guy at church in McAlester.
49. I remember him preaching once in McAlester.
50. I was always really proud to be his daughter when he was in front of the church.
51. I thought my friends were all jealous.
52. He was fun around my friends.
53. He has been a deacon in the church for most of my life.
54. He served as an elder for a time in Kingwood.
55. That was a very difficult time for him.
56. He feels very passionately about the church as a family.
57. He has been on two mission trips.
58. He doesn't want to go on another one without my mom.
59. He missed her too much when he was in Africa.
60. He has terrible teeth.
61. He's spent more time in the dentist's chair than I have spent at the hair salon.
62. I'm lucky to have a good relationship with my dad. So many girls don't.
63. He calls me (and everyone else in the family) almost every Saturday.
64. He does it after he finishes mowing and is too hot and sweaty to go in the house.
65. He is good at keeping in touch with the family.
66. When I was young, making a long distance phone call was the height of frivolous spending.
67. I used to have to beg him to let me call my camp friends.
68. Since cell phones came along, long distance is now his friend. You can't get him off the phone!
69. He loves Sooner Youth Camp.
70. He went as a kid, and wanted his daughters to go too.
71. All 3 of us went for all 7 years we could go.
72. He was a counselor one year while we were all 3 there.
73. He cried a lot (in a good way).
74. He is a very supportive father.
75. He went to almost every football game and band concert I was ever in.
76. I think he genuinely believed there was a connection between my being in the band and all 3 of my high schools' football teams having extremely successful seasons (2 state championships and 2 semi-finals).
77. He took me to my All State Band tryouts.
78. He knew before me that I made it.
79. He cried.
80. He always encouraged me to do my best.
81. I loved it when I made him proud.
82. He has had a difficult professional career.
83. During times of unemployment, he read the entire bible - I don't know how many times through.
84. He also watched the entire OJ trial.
85. It still makes him mad.
86. He loves sports.
87. I always used to ask him, "Whose team are we on?"
88. I always thought he knew everything about sports.
89. Still do.
90. He is very smart.
91. We usually play "Everyone against Dad" when we play trivial pursuit.
92. I can rememember racing him to the pond when we lived in McAlester.
93. He didn't let me win.
94. I always thought he was so fast.
95. He shot a nail through his hand with a nailgun when I was little.
96. I was scared to visit him in the hospital, but he left his room to come see us girls in the waiting room.
97. I was so happy to see him and that he was okay.
98. I loved my Daddy.
99. I love my Dad.
100. I'm lucky that God gave me to him and him to me.
So Noah and I went to check a limb line and got quite a surprise. We caught a blue heron!
