Happy Birthday, Daddy! {Picture Overload}

I always thought it was so cool that mine and my Dad's birthdays were two weeks apart.
They always fell on the same day of the week.
His is today {Friday}, so mine will be on Friday.
I discovered this early on in life...and was so fascinated.

Weird, I know.

My dad is so special to me.
I just have to share my favorite pictures of him.
I printed these off and they are sitting in my office at work.
To you, it won't mean anything.
To me, it means the absolute world.

This picture looks like we were caught mid-sentence.  But what you don't know is what he said to me that day.  He turned to me and said, "Don't worry if 'Your mother and I' turns into something longer."  I never picked up on what he was saying until we got down the aisle.  I absolutely love the fact that our photographer captured these special moments.

Here's the rest of the story.  Instead of giving me away with a simple, "Your mother and I," I got an entire poem written especially for me.  I had absolutely no idea.  That's the best part.  I keep a copy of that poem framed...and I hope to one day hang it in our house, in a more permanent spot.

My dad is selfless.

He is not one to do something for himself.

In fact, just yesterday he had surgery.

He was trying to convince my mom that she needed to go to her Bible study instead of sitting at the hospital with him.

I must say, he was a nut for even thinking that she would do that. :)

My dad loves Jesus more than my momma.

I'm so thankful for that.

I don't just know that about him.

I see it in their marriage.

When I was in high school, I hung out with 3 guys from my church.

They might not have had the best home life, but they were funny

and fun to hang out with.

After Sunday night church each week, we'd go to get some supper.

They would come with us, and I remember my dad paying for their food

most of the time.

He didn't care how much he spent on them.

He just knew that they were not getting themselves into trouble.

He was doing what Jesus would do.

After all, our money isn't ours.

My dad is constantly thinking about others in the church.

He's thinking about what he can do to help out.

He's thinking about who he can encourage.

He's thinking about who might need an extra buck or two.

My dad cares so much about his kids.

At different times in our lives {when we got older},

he's sat down to have conversations and to help

steer us in the right direction.

He would give us advice, but never

told us what we should do.

He never pushed his beliefs on us,

but taught us truth.

He has always supported us no matter what

we decided to do.

Dad's brother {my uncle} washing his feet at his ordination service when he was ordained as an elder of our church.

The elders praying for him at his ordination service.

Ben and Dad on the Thanksgiving 2010 ski trip to Keystone.

With my parents at my college graduation.

Random family photo circa 2007.

My dad is a goof! :)

Thanksgiving ski trip 2010.

At the zoo this past summer when they came to visit us!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I love you so much!!
I'm so blessed to be your daughter.

Thanks for always being a man of integrity and someone I can look up to!