We finally surprised him!!!!

Chloe and Grif are inseparable. He calls her "Chlo-nae" and he is "her Griffy".

Carter is always dreaming up some magnificent plan.  I love his imagination. 

Hazel Leah once again, snoozing.

Just as expected, Pop had to get the biggest rock he could find to lob at Ira and Carter. 

Check out Ira's reaction.

 I'd say dragging along the tripod was a good idea.  We were able to get a family photo.

A few weekends ago the fam headed over to Blanton Woods for a picnic and hike.  We played it off to Pop that this was all a spur of the moment deal and we just really needed to get the kids out of the house.  Little did he know, we all had something up our sleeves.  We have been planning a surprise for about 2 months.  We have been waiting for the right time to present it to him.  After a wonderfully delicious picnic complete with eyeball cupcakes (thank you Pam) my Mom read a beautifully written love letter to Pop expressing her appreciation for all that he has does for us everyday and all the times that he has rescued us in the past.  This brought us all to tears.  Once we all composed ourselves I let him know that there was one more surprise.  I told Pop that we, meaning Ira, Levi, Doug, Pam and I want to send him and Mom to Vietnam. He was speechless, flattered, and probably a little embarrassed. Pop has been talking about going back to Vietnam for a long time, so we all decided we wanted to make it happen and soon.  We were excited to finally surprise Pop.  He is not an easy one to fool.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking in the woods and throwing rocks in the creek with the kids.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful memory for us all to share.

Since our afternoon in the park Pop has spent about every evening in front of the computer researching Vietnam.  He even located a photograph of his old barracks when he worked at the Embassy.