Today is my Dad's birthday...60th Birthday, to be exact! In honor of how great I think he is, I thought I'd list 60 things I love about my dad!! So, in completely random order...here they are!...
1. I love how handsome he looks in a button down shirt with a sweater on top (something we wears pretty regularly during the winter months).
2. He knows how to give the best tickle tortures!
3. He loves my mom - completely. I have never doubted how much he cares & adores her!
4. He honors his priesthood.
5. His ability to always "look on the bright side" of every situation.
6. He can bring a smile to anyone's face!
7. He has always (and I'm sure always will) served diligently in his church callings.
8. He always takes a minute to give me a hug & kiss when I first come for a visit.
9. He is a jack-of-all-trades...he seems to know so much about so many things.
10. How he lip-synced "She Bangs" (Ricky Martin) at our families New Year's Eve party last year. (Thanks, Brig, for capturing that moment on video for all time.)
11. How he can fix just about any appliance that ended up broken in our house.
12. How he loves to sit down and chat with us kids when we are all visiting.
13. How willing (and able!) he is to baby-sit his grandkids.
14. How he loves to read and usually had several different books that he is reading at any given time.
15. His cowboy hat!
16. His patience.
17. His freckles...which I was lucky enough to receive!
18. The "I Love You" games that he would always play with his kids, and now he continues with his grandkids.
19. He always knows the right things to say, at the right time.
20. How he loves to dance with his granddaughters.
21. How he individually prays for EACH one of his kids.
22. His understanding of the scriptures.
23. He is an amazing teacher & never passes up a teaching moment.
24. Our tradition of going to cut down a fresh tree each year for Christmas.
25. His hard work ethic.
26. His summertime farmer's tan on his arms.
27. His enjoyment of lighting their house up at Christmas time...with THOUSANDS of Christmas lights!
28. His handwriting...I always had a hard time reading it when I was younger, but it is so unique (and very difficult to forge!).
29. His knowledge of the gospel.
30. He loves pork chops...which is something I just learned recently.
31. He loves to have toast and milk in the evenings (another trait I inherited).
32. He always helps with Sunday dishes...
33. And many other household chores!
34. He love for learning....and example to be a lifelong learner.
35. His willingness to help anyone, anywhere!
36. He loves taking the family on rides (usually a drive up the canyon)!
37. He loves peanut butter sandwiches.
38. How easy my kids can talk grandpa into reading "just one more" bedtime story.
39. Our annual summer hike to Mt. Timp.
40. Our annual "stop at the Purple Turtle" treat after hiking Mt. Timp.
41. His "I love you" in sign language to his family.
42. How he ties his shoes...he always does a triple twist before making a bow.
43. He is always good for a cuddle.
44. His interest and curiosity for astronomy.
45. His humility.
46. How much he loves and supports EVERY ONE of his kids.
47. Remembering how him and mom used used to go to the temple on Saturday mornings - instilling in me the importance of temple attendance.
48. His wisdom.
49. How, when Matt came to ask his blessing to marry me, Dad had a rifle on his lap the whole time.
50. How Dad had to borrow the rifle to use for Matt, cause he didn't really even own a gun.
51. His "Smokey the Bear" hat, and how, even with the hat on, he still almost burned down the forest with the white gas.
52. When I was in 9th grade, he stayed up until 4am to help me with an English paper that I procrastinated completing.
53. Christmas shopping with him! (usually on Christmas Eve!)
54. How he was prepared to push Michael back down the Magic Mtn Hill (in a wheelchair after Michael broke his femur) when Mike said he didn't want to ride the roller coaster after all.
55. How he tolerated mom's "helpful travelogue" for the ENTIRE California vacation.
56. He's successfully led us back to Provo through two blinding blizzards (Boise '98 and Green River '99).
57. His desire to do anything and everything he can to make it to his grandkids blessings.
58. The many times he cut the tv cable to prevent us from polluting our minds (and forgetting our jobs!)
59. Sitting out on the back patio to relax, enjoy the weather and all the chats that accompanied that time.
60. The power of his testimony of the Gospel - I never get tired of hearing it!
Dad...I hope you know how much I love you! I hope you have a WONDERFUL birthday!! Lots of love from all of us here!! XOXO
Annie's birthday was on Sunday!! We love birthdays & try to make them as special as we can!! This year, we tried to do a lot of our Easter activities on Saturday (pictures will come later from that) and celebrate Annie's birthday on Sunday. Our church starts at 9am, so we had to get going early so that she'd be able to open birthday gifts before we had to leave.
And...blowing out the candle....Annie requested Cinnomon Rolls instead of a cake!...
This is how he likes to "color"....his favorite is random pieces of papers, a pen & sitting on the counter!!
Eating up his yummy breakfast of rice pudding...his all time favorite breakfast is hot cereal!
