Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is our dad's 51st birthday... or as he would say, his 38th-plus a couple hundred months. His birthday month started out great when his favorite team won their 13th National Championship game. Probably the entire state of Mississippi heard that man cheering them to victory. He is the biggest Bama fan there is, and it is entertainment in itself to watch him watch a game.

We are really proud of our dad. He is amazing at what he does. He has received salesmen of the year twice in a row with his company (which is extremely hard to do). He has always worked very hard to provide for us. Through the years, he went without many times so that we wouldn't have to. And even now as adults, we can give him puppy dog eyes and still get almost anything we ask. He was not only generous with us, but he couldn't even turn down the little old ladies at Schnucks trying to sell encyclopedias. This big man that can bench press 300lbs (we think) really wears his heart on his sleeve. Never once did we doubt his love for us, or that fact that he thought we were beautiful, or that he was proud of us-- because he told us constantly (and still does).

As adults, we (and our husbands) thoroughly enjoy his company. He, hands down, has the greatest laugh of anyone we know. You cannot help but laugh right along with him when he starts up. He is also a wealth of useless trivia and corny jokes. As much as we hate to admit it, he would KILL us at Jeopardy. In addition to wits, he is a master griller...He should be- he literally grills every night. He can cook a mean steak.

We love that what you see is what you get with him; he is an all-around likable person (unless you wake him up from a nap-that is how he earned his nickname "bear"). And if all this wasn't enough, watching him become "Papaw" has been a highlight in our life. He is, without a doubt, the best there is. Lily and Evie adore him, and why wouldn't they?! He is wrapped around their little pinkies. He plays with them, he watches movies with them, he brings them treats, he showers them with affection, and loves them to pieces. Lily says Papaw is one of her best friends.

For his birthday, the perfect day would include his whole family around, a game on with Alabama beating Tennessee, a juicy steak, and a chocolate milkshake made with HOMEMADE vanilla ice cream.

Happy Birthday, Dad-- We love you very much, and we hope we have many, many more years of birthday blogs for you!!- Corrie and Anna