Because it's my Daddy's Birthday

What better way to restart this blog than to celebrate the special day of one of my biggest fans? You see, this has always been a place where I could be as unabashedly mushy as I wanted openly to my beloveds. Not one to show overt physical public displays of affection, I always preferred the use of words and pictures. Superlatives I love, like 'love', 'awesome', 'best', 'super', 'wonderful' et all might sound cliched to some, but to me, they mean exactly what I feel. And these words I string together last forever, and you can read them over and over, because when distance makes hugs impossible, and time makes wonderful experiences just far-away memories, the written word and photos that captured a special moment shared can make you relive a time when everything was absolutely perfect.
So, today, because it's my super-est beloved-est awesome-st Daddy's birthday, we take a tour in the house of memories that we built together in 2012. And we relive how loved and lucky I felt every single time we were together. And we see this as an auspicious start to the foundation of more and more memories we will be building together in 2013.

Here's to us, daddy dearest.

My trip back home. This is our fave japanese restaurant. 

Our family doing what we love best. Eating. Together. 

You must be able to tell why I love this picture. Two of the most amazing people in the world, who I love soooooooooo much. Looking absolutely beautiful, contented and happy. In my hometown. 

This is bliss.

I write to show my love. Daddy cooks for us to show his. 

And his cooking is phenomenal. Lip smacking, thumb curling, yummy yummy, filled with love.

A prelude to one of the most beautiful holidays we've had together. And I love how we looked as we anticipated fun, but not realizing just how much joy we would have. 

 Ah. Here we are. Somewhere in between Turkey and Greece. My entire birthday week. With my most loved ones in the world. Me, lucky? Yes. Very.

Looking at this picture, I realize I don't remember us ever swimming together before. 

It's thankfully never too late, and I'm grateful that despite us 'knowing each other' for more than 33 years, we still get to experience plenty of firsts together.

 My birthday foot massage. On a boat in the Aegean sea. 

I couldn't have asked for a better present.

Meet Sophia. Our family's newest love. The new girl in Daddy's life. :D

Ahhhh. And here we are. All your kids and grandkid. In Hanoi. 

Reminiscent of yet another superbly awesome year-end family holiday together. 

 And this, is recently. And perfectly signifies what Daddy's always, always, always been like. He surprise-visited me when I was visiting Luxembourg. Taking almost 6 hour long train rides from Amsterdam for the first time in his life. For just one night.

Thank you daddy, for always being there when we need you. 

Thank you daddy, for loving us the way you do. 

Thank you daddy, for showing us, with your actions, what generosity and kindness of heart means. 

And thank you daddy, for letting us be who we are exactly. 

Happy birthday today, and decades to come.