Happy Halloween Birthday

It's my father's birthday today. Halloween.
I have to be honest - this would have to be the hardest day EVER to be born on. (It's also my aunt Alisa's and our friend Alexis and a few others I'm forgetting - because that's what happens to birthday that fall on THE most insane day of the year for mother's!)
But I didn't forget my father's birthday. I bought his birthday card 2 months ago. Sure - it's still sitting here next to me waiting to be mailed, but its the thought...
I love the image with he and Mac and thought it was fitting to use it since one is born on Halloween and the other is born on 6-6-(0)6 - feel free to draw any conclusions. Throughout the craziness of the week I did reflect on the wonderful things about my father. First of all, you have to know how to speak his "language" (Matt still hasn't figured it out). If you aren't well-versed in music then you have a strike against you...know your movies? then you may have gained a few steps...theater? even better. I figured out young that the answer to most of his "question games" were: Beatles, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Harry Chapin, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Beatles. Some of my fondest memories are cruising around in the BATMOBILE (a nissan 280 Zx - a 2 seater car for a man with 5 kids - this did not cause him to even pause, because the specific memory is of all 5 of us kids smashed like sardines in the back while he shut the back door - I'm sure Jace didn't have any shoes on.)
I can remember him taking all 5 of us kids on a Saturday to the old Yuma Plaza theater (so my mother could catch her breath). He would get 2 huge buckets of popcorn and dump hot tamales in them and then smack your hand if he caught you digging around for the candy :) Occasionally he would fall asleep during the movie :) (So many of these memories remind me of my own little family - weird). I loved when he would get an apple and go sit down in the living room with a knife and cut off chunks - we would all swarm around him like little beggars (my own children do this now) and he would cut off pieces and feed us. As I got older, he would take me to early morning seminary - he usually was awake around 4am. Occasionally we would "skip" seminary and head on over to Ray's Chat 'n Chew and eat biscuits and gravy with all the oldies/truckers. I was in heaven.
Then he was called to be a seminary teacher and he ended up with a class that was massive (we had at least 4 kids who weren't even members showing up regularly - and it wasn't even for the Friday morning spread - which was pretty impressive consisting of Mostly Muffins, yogurt, fruit, juice & donuts - slightly over the top :) During all this time he participated actively in scouting and truly has a love for scouting that compels him to serve above and beyond what is asked. His ability to "go the extra mile" can be quite astounding. He will drive 8 hrs to watch his grandchildren play 2-30 second piano pieces or to see them play a soccer game or pitch 2 innings. He would call Indy when he was younger and talk to him on the phone "just to make sure he could practice talking" and would send Laina boxes of Twinkies because he thought her mother was evil "holding out on her".
He loves to send the kids little packages in the mail - and had address labels made up with their pictures on them so they knew which packet was theirs - the kids of course go crazy for these.
I'm thankful for a wonderful father who works hard and works hard at being a grandfather. Since my birthday gift is still waiting to be mailed - I'll post this little "gem" of a Halloween image. Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa Wade!

**Yes my kids found Easter baskets to trick or treat with. No - I do not have any idea what Laina is NOR will I be buying her a Halloween costume next year since she had 2 and isn't wearing either one of them. Yes, Mac dug out an old hand-me-down costume and decided to wear that - no I don't know where he got the green clogs - and yes he ended up barefoot at the trunk or treat.**