Great-Grandpa Frank's 90th Bday!

So, my father's family is....complicated to say the least:) No hard or bitter feelings, just not the tightest knit group and with LOTS of divorces--my dad is the only member of the church and the only one married just once. So I was very close to my dad's mother and step-father--Grandma Helen and Grandpa Paul (who were also divorced later in life:). Both of these wonderful people have passed on and so the only living parent my dad has is his biological father--Frank Bellows Knoop Sr. My dad is his oldest child and so he is named Frank Bellows Knoop Jr. I guess Frank Sr. would be considered a "Dead-beat Dad" nowadays but I don't know anyone else as golden as my dad--he is good and kind through and through and I don't think he's even capable of holding a grudge against anyone. My dad has worked hard to maintain a relationship with Frank Sr.

Well, my dad called me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to go up to Michigan for Frank Sr.'s surprise 90th birthday party. I figured, "Why not?! He's 90..I'll probably not have another chance to meet him." The birthday party fell on the same weekend as the Scouts Pinewood Derby and Ethan did not want to miss it. So I decided to take Carlie and Max and leave Ethan and Tatum (because she's too much work:) with my mother-in-law.

Carlie and Max were SUPER excited to be going on an airplane again so they didn't mind getting up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning to catch our flight to Chicago.



We left the perfect weather of Phoenix (77 degrees the day before) and headed off to Chicago where it was 22 degrees and snowing!!! FREAKING COLD!!! HOLY COW! We had a little time before my dad arrived from his flight so I got our rental car and was scared out of my mind to be driving in the snow in a completely unfamiliar town. I picked a road, and I drove straight in one direction until I found a place to eat. We found a nice little sandwhich shop, ate, and went back to the airport to get my dad off his flight.


We then drove on to Holland, Michigan. BTW--I drove the ENTIRE time and never killed us! I was soo proud of myself:) It snowed the entire time we were in MI. This place was absolutely breath-taking with the snow, I imagine it's even more beautiful in the summer. Holland, MI is named after the country and apparently they have a huge "Tulip Festival" every year--would LOVE to see that someday. Here is Holland in it's winter glory:


Well, my grandfather had NO idea about this party. It was completely planned and carried out by my dad, his brothers, and Virginia--Frank Sr.'s wife. He's a funny old man. He is 90 years old, still works a 40-hour work week, and is only on 2 medications. Healthy cuss he is. My dad is the spitting image of his dad, so now I know what my dad will look like when he's 90--except my dad doesn't drink so hopefully he'll be in a little better shape:)


This is a picture of my dad and his only "full" sibling, Tom (whom I know well). They NEVER miss a chance to pick on each other:)



We had a fabulous time. I met a couple of half-brothers and sisters that I honestly didn't know existed--Frank Sr. was quite "fruitful:)" Everyone was super nice and I LOVED hearing stories of my dad when he was younger. There were about 5 boy cousins there that were quite smitten with my Carlie Mae. It was quite funny actually because we all stayed at the same hotel and those boys were surrounding Carlie CONSTANTLY! Each one trying to keep her attention. Umm...I hope their moms explained that A) They are kinda related and B) They were too young for her anyways:)

We got up early on Sunday to go hang out with Frank Sr. for a little while before we headed back to the airport. He is quite the craftsman! He had an AMAZING train set that the kids could have played with all day.



He also loves to build model ships. Here is some of his handy work--I find this funny because Frank Sr. is very detailed oriented in his work, my dad, who is a farmer, is NOT!




So we had an awesome time. I am so grateful for my dad who sets the perfect example of loving your family no matter what. He has NEVER spoken ill of anyone in his family. I know that my dad is not the most successful financially as some of his half-siblings but he is DEFINITELY the most content and happy with his life. I was soo proud that Frank Jr. was MY DAD this weekend (and everyday for that matter:)