Saturday, February 23, 2013

Happy 77th Birthday, Grandpa!

A couple of years ago, I blogged about Grandpa's 75th birthday. Today is his 77th birthday, so I decided to blog about him again. Here are 77 facts about Grandpa. (With the help of my lovely cousin, Hayley.)

1. He laughs a lot.
2. He thought this was a good thing to buy at a garage sale:
Creepy much?
3. He was born in 1936.
4. His first car was a 1951 chevy.
5. It was green.
6. He can cheer anyone up.
7. He's the second child in his family.
8. There was no electricity in the house where he was born.
9. He currently works as a substitute teacher.
10. He went to a two-room school house.
11. His name was changed when he was little because the doctor asked, "What are you going to call this boy?" instead of "What are you going to name this boy?"
12. He traveled by horse and wagon when he was little.
13. He has 4 children.
14. He was in the marine corps.
15. He went to Japan and Hawaii while in the Marines.
16. He has lived in 4 states.
17. He got his Master's degree from the University of Tennessee.
18. He has 10 grandchildren.
19. He grew up in Vendor, AR.
20. His first name is James, but everyone calls him Vernon.
21. His favorite color is green.
23. If you show up at his house in the morning, you'll find him looking like this.

24. He has trouble plugging in irons. (He didn't realize that the plug was upside down.)
25. He has 3 great-grandchildren.
26. He placed over 500 children in adoptive homes during his time with Highlands.
27. He watches a lot of Westerns.
28. He says, "Be Careless" a lot.
29. He's hard at hearing, which is very entertaining.
30. He can fall asleep anywhere.
31. He isn't very good at taking notes in a sermon.
32. He is an ordained minister.
33. He does his best not to miss his grandchildren's games.
34. My students used to call him Grandpa when he subbed for me.
35. My cousins and I call him Gpa, Pappy, Grandpa, and Grampy.
36. We have him wrapped around our finger.
37. He likes to tell random people that I'm single.
38. He has a hard time calling us by the right name.
39. He records Little Bear on his DVR, so his grand kids have something to watch when they come over.
40. Eisenhower is his favorite president.
41. FDR was president when he was born.
42. He got a Facebook before many of my friends.
43. He has a really hard time typing, and it makes us laugh.
44. He has been married to Grandma for over 50 years.
45. He claims that he asked her out during a game of Spin the Bottle.
46. She claims they met at church.
47. He likes to embarrass us as much as he can.
48. People used to call him Steve.
49. He grew up with three brothers.
50. He lets Cash pretend that his belly is a pillow.
51. He has trouble keeping his pants up. There are multiple hilarious stories we could tell about this at many locations like Home Depot or Walmart.
52. He makes our Thanksgiving BINGO game very confusing because he shouts out the numbers he needs while simultaneously repeating the numbers being called.
53. He once grew a beard, so he could look like Santa.
54. His favorite age was the year he married Grandma.
55. He is one person in the world who thinks I'm a good driver.
56. Peanut Butter cookies are his favorite cookie.
57. Coconut Cream Pie is his favorite pie.
58. He faithfully follows the Chiefs, Royals, MU Tigers, and Hogs.
59. He moved to Kansas City for the first time when he was about 8 years old.
60. Dad once said he was the smartest man he knew.
61. He broke a chair at Thanksgiving one year, and told Gma she was never allowed to buy chairs from garage sales anymore. She didn't listen.
62. His undergrad came from University of Arkansas in Russelville.
63. He pastored a church in Little Rock, AR and the congregation grew from 20 to over 100 in a year.
64. He was baptized in a creek.
65. Once when he was in college, they thought he was foreign because of his black hair and glasses.
66. He & gma used to be a foster parents for troubled teen boys.
67. He rear ended someone while driving once because he was playing with Aunt Marie when she was a baby.
68. He rode up on a horse to get Grandma when they eloped.
69. He likes for us to throw birthday parties for him.
70. He also likes to have his picture taken.
71. He got put in the brig a few times while at bootcamp for talking back to the officer.
72. His dad's name was Gus.
73. His mom's name was Ava, but we called her Grandma Avo.
74. They called his Grandpa Snake.
75. His brothers used to hide his glasses from him as a prank when he was little.
76. His favorite meal is meat and potatoes - or Kentucky Fried Chicken.
77. He's the best grandpa in the world.
Gpa and Hayley
:j

1 comment:

  1. What a kind blog and a great tribute! I bet this made him smile (and I hope you got his picture while he read it)

    ReplyDelete

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:j