HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

October 25th is Dad's birthday. On this day, in memory of him, we still celebrate Dad's life with his favorite birthday dinner...Hamburgers and French Fries, Apple Pie and Ice Cream!!!

Obviously, this is from a long time ago, but I love it!! Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

For our burgers tonight, we went with some good friends of ours to a "build your own burger" joint downtown. Of corse, Ryder came too. Dad would have wanted him there and he would have spent the meal laughing at Ryder's chubby cheeks, his huge grin, his "flirting" ways with the waitress, the way he grabbed my plate while we were "cheersing" and almost dumped the whole thing on himself and me, the way he grunted the entire time I fed him his pureed carrots and apples and the way he took a huge dump, right there at the table, head turning red and all...yep, it would have all been right up Dad's alley!

I am sad that Ryder won't ever be hugged by his Grandpa Chet, but he will know lots about Grandpa because who wouldn't have a million questions to ask about a man who chose Hamburgers and French Fries, Apple Pie and Ice Cream for every birthday meal???

Questions like:

Did Grandpa used to read stories to you before bed? yes he did, all the time. He would also tell us his own stories, like the one about the "Boogie Man" who lived in our closets. He had us all believing...still to this day, I hate sleeping with my closet door open....

Did Grandpa make his own burgers from scratch? Yes he did! He'd make real fat ones and he'd use saltine crackers to help them stick together. One time he held a bunch of crackers over Auntie Dic's head and told us he could make them disappear, then he crunched them all up in his hands and dumped them on her head...it was funny....for me and him and Auntie Aimee!! LOL

Did Grandpa always play jokes on you? Yep! He was a real big joker. He sure like dumping things on Auntie's head. One time he dumped a huge can of glue on her head....Grandma and Nic DID NOT find that joke as funny as the rest of us did!! He had a real big laugh, it was loud and contagious!

Did Grandpa like Hallloween? Grandpa always helped us make our costumes! There wasn't anything he couldn't create with a garbage bag and some bale twine! He was also a master or design when it came to birthday cake creating. He and Grandma could make a cake into any shape we wanted!!

What was his favorite kind of cake?? I don't know...I'd have to say, he was more of an apple pie guy. That's why every year, on this day, we have pie to remember Grandpa and make sure that he knows we still think about him and love him!!! :)