Happy Father's Day!

At this very moment while I write, I'm sitting at home....my parent's home and am so glad that I was able to be home to celebrate Father's Day. So while we're all sitting here watching The Office, Season 2 "Drug Testing" I thought I'd toot my horn and talk about how great my Sweetie Thomas and my Dad are on their special day.

However, Aiden just approached me and said, "Mommy, I have an idea....Let's take turns." (You see, he wants to watch a Thomas DVD.) I said,"Great idea." And he replies,"Great! It's my turn first."

So, I'm gonna have to finish this later....Aiden...you're up buddy!

(((two days later)))

Okay, so I was gone longer than I thought. But I still wanted to be sure and brag about Thomas and my Dad.

I know I've mentioned this is many earlier posts, but Thomas really is a great father. In fact, on our way back to the airport yesterday we had to stop at Costa Vida so I could get my favorite pork salad and a water. (Seattle has nothing that compares.) Aiden was playing around in the kids room while we ate and Thomas finished first and said, "I'm going to go play with Aiden." And off he went to go play in the kids room. My sister in law replied, "He's a good dad, isn't he?"


Absolutely. He's patient, he's kind, he's smart. He knows how to relate so well with kids. He is sincere and genuine. Never jealous or arrogant. Always supportive and appreciative. I love him!

And, Father's Day wouldn't be complete without expressing my love and appreciation to my Dad. One of the things I have always admired about my Dad is that he's really easy to talk to, and no matter how bad things get, he always has a way of smoothing things over and making you feel okay, even when things are tough.

I consider myself really blessed to have a Dad that really tried his best to make sure his children were happy and successful. We worked together as a family and we played together as a family. Here's a brief highlight of some of those funny memories with Dad.

* We loved to go for jeep rides in the mountains. We'd pile in and go, and every time without fail, at some point in the ride, my Dad would pull right up to the very edge of the road, next to a cliff or steep edge and we'd all scream like crazy. Only after we cried and begged he would put the jeep in reverse and back away.

* We had a lovely brown and black couch with great big cushions and when he would tease us he would say, "Who wants to be put behind the couch!" He would then scoop us up, take the cushion off and put us down in the couch. Then he would put the cushion back on the couch and sit down on us. We would cry for help and act like it was scary and rude. So he'd get us out. And as soon as we got away we'd taunt him and tease him until he put us back in the couch all over again.

* How awesome he was to never miss a dance or piano recital for all of those years. I'm sure it wasn't his most favorite thing, but he was always there to support us in the things that were important to us. And, he still is there to support us now.

* So I've never quite forgiven my Dad for this one, but I did learn a valuable lesson and that's worth something. When I was in the 8th grade I was grounded for a whole quarter. I had a busy quarter with dance lessons, Nutcracker rehearsals, piano lessons, early morning speech & debate class, and an advanced algebra class. With everything I had going on my grades slipped and I missed the honor roll by .13. So close, but not good enough. I was grounded until I got back on the honor roll. I was not happy about this at all but my Dad wouldn't change his mind. I finished high school with consecutive honor roll and high honor roll grades. I learned how to try harder and since life is always going to be busy, I have to learn how to balance all of the good things in order to achieve success in everything I do.

* And the last little memory I want to reminisce was about my Dad's green truck. It was the coolest truck. A 73 Green Chev that had a loud muffler and a cool spotlight device. The spotlight was on the roof of the truck, and just above the rear view mirror was a handle you would use to move and adjust the spotlight. Very cool. But anyway, when I was in the 6th grade I was working on a report about ancient Indians and petroglyphs. There happened to be some petroglyphs up in the White Hills, east of town. Dad took Erin and I up to the White Hills to do some research. We lasted for about 10 minutes and got bored and went back to the truck. And that's when we decided to drive it, and that's where I first learned to drive a stick. Out in this bumpy field, full of rocks and sage brush Erin and I were flying around, bouncing all over the place while my Dad climbed around in the hills looking for petroglyphs. We had so much fun and I'm sure it wasn't the best thing for the truck. When my Dad came back he didn't say a word except for, "Did you have fun?" I answered positively "Yes" and was so glad he let us spin around in his truck for the day.

I've got many more to write about, but I'll save them for another day. Now that I'm grown I'm so appreciative for the person my Dad has helped me to be. Thanks, Dad, for all of the sacrifices you've made, the patience you've had, and advice you've given, and the love you've shown. I love you!