Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today did NOT start out well at all.  I went to bed last night and had a dream nightmare that I took Autumn to the dentist b/c her teeth needed to be looked at.  That part is true…her teeth do need to be looked at.  The two bottom ones are a little loose b/c she fell Saturday when Mom & Dad were watching her while I was working and hit her bottom teeth.  And, Dad found a few back teeth that have some decay b/c I used to let her sleep with a bottle at night.  Anyways, so in my dream the dentist said she had to be put under b/c they would have to pull some teeth.  Well, I was sitting out in the waiting room waiting for them to tell me it was all done and that I could go back and see her, but the dentist came out and gave me a sad look and I knew in an instant that she had died.  He came over and said she was allergic to the anesthesia they had given her and they didn’t know and were incredibly sorry for my loss.  I sat straight up in my bed and realized it was just a dream nightmare, but I started sobbing uncontrollably for about 20 minutes.  I went through 1/2 a box of Kleenex from blowing my nose.  I couldn’t stop crying at the thought of losing my sweet little Autumn and how that would just kill a part of me to not have her in my life.  I finally calmed down a little bit and went in her room and picked her up out of bed and carried her into my room and put her in bed with me.  She was asleep and not very happy that I woke her up and when I would try and touch her face and play with her hair and kiss her cheek she would sleepily say, “No, Mama.  Leave me alone.”  It made me laugh, but I couldn’t help snuggling w/ her.  I kept whispering in her ear how much I love her and how she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.  I was finally able to fall back asleep after about an hour.  That was THE WORST feeling in the world of thinking she had died.  Anyways, on to happier and more positive things.

Dad turned 55 today and I figured we’d kick off his birthday celebrations with a review of the past 3 years.  This was 3 years ago, after Autumn & I had only been living here a few months.  Dad is SUCH a good sport that he sat there w/ throw up from Autumn all over his face while I ran and got the camera so I could take a picture.  Now that’s true Papa love right there!

2 years ago…Dad is the BEST Papa EVER b/c he is always making things fun and is all about creating memories.  I think he will always be remembered by the kids for lots of things, but one of them will definitely be him making smoothies all the time.  He’s such a fun Papa!

1 year ago….Dad is always encouraging the kids to be brave and try new things.  He always says, “excellent” when they try something.  He loves to swim and have the grandbabies out in the pool w/ him.  He has a beard this year b/c he was in the Book of Mormon pageant.

Today…this is only the beginning of the birthday celebrations for September.  Today is his actual birthday, but when Lexie & Jon come to visit in a few weeks we are going to party and celebrate some more.  Since it’s his birthday today, he gets to pick what meal he wants.  2 years ago he wanted the whole Thanksgiving spread.  Last year he wanted rouladen.  This year he just wanted grilled hamburgers and corn.

Mom was glad it was easy to make, especially since Dad grilled it all himself.  However, we weren’t so excited to have hamburgers when he brought them in and we got our buns all prepared only to bite into them and have them be bright pink in the middle as if they hadn’t been cooked at all.  I took a bite and had to spit it out b/c it was so uncooked.  I said, “I think I heard it ‘moo’” and we all just started laughing.   Mom put them on the Foreman grill inside to cook them some more so we could eat them.  Then, the corn wasn’t even cooked all the way through.  Maybe it was b/c Dad was just super hungry and didn’t want to wait for them all to cook.  Or, we think it was payback b/c he had to cook his own birthday dinner.  I guess that’s what we get for not spoiling him on his special day.

Mom made up for it, though, by making banana cream pie from scratch, which is Dad’s ultimate favorite.  He always tells the story about how Mom made that for him for his birthday when they were first married and how she made it w/ instant pudding and he said, “What is this supposed to be?”  WHOOPS!  She didn’t try making banana cream pie for him for a few years after that.  But, he wasn’t being mean, he honestly didn’t know b/c Grandma Johnson had always made them from scratch.  Anyways, Mom has since perfected the art of banana cream pie making and Dad always requests that for his birthday instead of cake.

Mom had rented a Dora the Explorer DVD from the library and Autumn spent most of the evening in watching that b/c she LOVES Dora.  I finally told her it was time to go at 8:45 and she did just about everything she could to stall.  She said she couldn’t find her shoes, so I went and got them and told her to put them on.  Then she insisted that she didn’t know how to put them on, which is funny since she’s usually telling me to “leave her alone” b/c she can do it herself.  But, Papa stepped in and helped her w/ her shoes.  But as you can see from this picture, she’s even being a little tool-a-remia (that’s what Dad calls her) by twisting her foot around.

Then she was EXTRA generous w/ the hugs and loves and good byes and then coming back for more hugs.  I want to get mad at her, but how can you when she’s being so cute?  I was finally able to pry her away from Papa to take her home and put her to bed.

I really can’t even begin to express how thankful I am for Dad.  He is the most spiritual, hard working, loving, giving, kind, smart, and every other good word you can think of person.  He gets up at 5:15 every morning to teach seminary, reads his scriptures every day, comes home and does yard work and things around the house, then goes to work at night.  In between all of that he finds time to go around to the neighbors and put away their garbage cans, do house calls for sick people in the ward, and on and on and on.  He’s really a remarkable man and I am eternally thankful that I get to have him for my Dad & to have him for Autumn’s Papa.  We are definitely better people for having him in our lives.

WE LOVE YOU & HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!