70

today is a special birthday.

it's my dad's 70th.

growing up i wanted to spend as much time with my dad as i could.

my favorite times were our walks. 

the walks are still my favorite.

this morning i told my kids it was papa's birthday.

he's 70.

my girl wanted me to count it out for her.

1. 2. 3. 4 - that's you little girl.

5. 6 - that's you my boy.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11 - that's connor and jaden.

12. 13. 14. 15. 16 - aliyah.

17. 18. 19 - jade.

20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33 - daddy.

34. 35. 36. 37. 38 - me.

39, 40 - uncle timmy, aunt heidi. 

41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50...

i paused here and said "somewhere in the 50s are crazy ol' grandma and grandpa"

51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68 - gramma jeanine

69. 70 - papa.

they stared at me.

wow.

wow is right.

i am so thankful that my dad has had these 70 years.

and is healthy.

he's planning another 70 i believe.

i'm good with that.

because that means we still have many walks to come.

happy birthday dad.

i love you.

dad trying out dan's snowboard. - at the beginning of 2013.

building sandcastles with his grandson summer 2013

precious moments

this morning the kids and i had 'Bible Time'.

during breakfast i have made it part of our routine 

*on school days for sure*

to work on the kids' memory verses for sunday school

and to read the Bible.

yesterday we read about Solomon.

when the Lord asked him what he wanted he asked for wisdom.

today the question was:

"if you could have ANYTHING what would you want?"

i repeated it 

"if you could have anything in the whole wide world, what would you want?

if you could ask God for anything what would you ask him for?"

the boy thought for a moment.

"wisdom."

i was expecting to hear LEGO.

i said 

"like solomon?"

he answered 

"yes.  so i can make right choices."

the girl answered.

"a unicorn."

exactly what i expected.

love her mind.

then the boy said 

"i have a number two thing.  

if i was allowed a number two choice.

i would ask for God."

we chatted for a bit and worked through how money could buy things but wisdom helped you make the right choices..or be a great friend..

there was a fill in your own thing at the end.

money could buy __________ but wisdom could _______________

the boy: 

money could buy plants and flowers (like papa does for us)

wisdom could help you pick the right ones.

the girl:

money could buy a horse.

wisdom could help you take care of it.

*they did have a little coaching from me on the wisdom part* 

when it was time to pray i asked if there was anything they wanted to pray for today.

the boy:

thank God for trees, and flowers, and plants.  

for dads and moms and sisters and brothers and papas and grandmas and grandpas.

the girl:

that God will help me stop biting and eating things.

she always has to have something in her mouth so this was very cool to hear her say.

Love these guys.

*photo taken by me.   

with Gertie (my Canon T2i)