A Tribute

Hey all!  How cute are these pumpkins?  I wish I had thought of that!  I hope everyone is getting geared up to have a wonderful Halloween! This isn't going to be a regular Halloween post filled with costumes of the past, although I wish I could do one, but I don't have any pictures, my mom has them! 

Dad with my little brother. Old picture, but I already had this one on hand.

 Anyways, the reason for my post is to do a little tribute to my dad.  He passed away in May of last year, and it has been really hard on me, and I feel even worse because he passed away on their (my parents) anniversary, so my heart just aches for my mom when that day comes.  I'm really blessed to have had 2 parents who loved each other as much as they loved us kids.

When I think of Halloween, sure, I think of costumes and trick-or-treating, but I also think of my amazing dad. Why? Because every Halloween dad always did something special with us. I remember a particular Halloween when he sat with us for hours carving pumpkins and showing us the way to do it.  He was always pretty patient with us and I could tell he really enjoyed doing all the "kid stuff" with us, because, after all, he was a kid at heart.

Dad always turned Halloween into a mini feast, cooking a ham and all the fixings to go with it.  People would always comment on how good it smelled when they came with their kids to trick-or-treat.  One year, he set up one of those big popcorn machines, and we gave everyone a freshly popped bag of popcorn.  Dad had a big heart for people, which is one of his traits that I am proud that I also have.

I miss dad a lot, but I know that he is looking down on all of us and that he would be so proud of what all of us have done in our lives.  He has been one of the biggest influences in my life and an inspiration to all that knew him.

I love all of you who are still reading this!  It's been on my mind a lot as all the Holidays are coming up, and I just thought I would share.
xo Julia