"Happy Burday Papa!"

This past weekend we got the special privilege of celebrating Papa's Birthday!  We have missed so many of these over the past few years and it is so wonderful to be back and celebrating.  All week I kept telling Lily that we were going to make a cake and go up to Mema's house for Papa's birthday.  She then repeated nearly every day, "burday, Papa, cake, burday, Papa!"  It was so cute to watch.  Now you have to realize that my Dad has a special way of celebrating another turn in the years.  WORKING!  All of us went up the mountain and Dad had a host of "projects" that, given the extra hands on deck, he knew he could get done.  Nothing gives Dad the satisfaction quite like having a to do list and getting the to do's crossed off.  

One of the biggest to do's was hanging up the several elk heads on their property entrance.  It was going to be a major project because they needed two people in the bucket, without harnesses or any safety gear I might add, and one person in the driver's seat to raise and lower them without dumping them out.  Bob's height really came in handy especially considering the bucket only extended so far and they had to put a kitchen stool in the bucket just for dad to be able to reach up to the elk head.  Yeah, if anyone from OCEA is reading this, we know it would not have passed inspection.

I  sat wordlessly on the ground taking photos, praying all the while that one of my photos wouldn't catch one or both of them falling through the air.  

At one point I decided that fretting over them was a poor use of my photography skills so I decided to turn the other way and catch a few pictures of the changing leaves.  It is simply beautiful this time of year and the combination of gorgeous tree colors and the blue sky makes for simply breathtaking images.  

The guys were still working when Lily woke up from her nap so Mema and she came out to observe the workers.  Lily was somewhat concerned about her Daddy, and even more concerned about the tractor.  She has a lot of fear these days towards anything that makes loud noises and is convinced that anything she sees out of her normal scope of life is going to hurt her.  Hopefully its just a phase, because it is driving this Mommy a little bonkers.  "Lily, calm down, its just a fire hydrant, no tears necessary."

The finished product.  They did a great job.  After this project there was a chicken coop to mend, hay to cover, poop to scoop, and a few other birthday chores.  By the time dinner rolled around, all of the chores were done and we were all in great spirits.  Including Lily, she loves ice cream and discovered this new dinner time game of put ice cream everywhere and lick it off. YUM.

Following our mexican feast, we enjoyed this delicious cake.  Daddy's favorite cake is German Chocolate with Coconut Pecan Frosting.  I love any excuse to bake so I made Grace and my famous chocolate mayo cake with homemade frosting. Oh it was amazing!  It was a blessing to be able to make Dad's favorite cake for his special day.  68 years and still amazing as ever.

Lily was afraid of the fire on the cake and she needed Bob's and GranFran's moral support.

It was a wonderful day to celebrate a wonderful guy! Happy Burday, Papa!