Dad Day (Belated)

So I do realize that lately I have went a little posting crazy but lately blogging has been really fun, I know weird! But I mean it for reals. As soon as I sit down to tell you all a funny story I feel like I am telling a really great friend. I know, I am acting like a whole bunch of people read my blog but you get the gist. So no complaining about excessive posting! Only complain when I don't post at all :)

Any who. I wanted to write about my dad because it is father's day this sunday and I thought it would be fun to share a little about him and the other father figures in my life that influence me so much.

This is my dad:

My dadio, my pops, my dearest father

This is the one guy I feel has all the answers. Whenever I feel I have the trickiest of all questions I know my dad will probably give me the same look as if I am over thinking everything and give me the simplest answer. A game that my family and I play often is what I like to call the random question game. It ususally happens in the car. We will be talking about a subject and then someone will ask a "pop quiz" like question and it will just keep going from there. Sometimes it's "What's the standard deviation of 8?" or "What is the sugar that causes blindness in diabetes patients?" or "Who was the king Christ was descended from?" It gets pretty intense, but I have to tell you one thing, my dad never loses.

Woah! Blast from the past?

He is the type of guy that starts something and would never even dream of leaving it unfinished. It doesn't
matter if it is going to medical school, building a shop, or playing a fierce game of marbles; my dad knows how to get a job done. He has instilled that trait into all of us. I remember once my dad decided to build a cedar strip canoe. Now if you don't know anything about building canoes don't worry about it, just know that it is a messy and tedious process. Especially the part where you have to pull all the stapels out to take off the fiberglass sheeting. I remember he recruited all of us kids and even some of the neighbors, armed us with screwdrivers and told us if we got it done by the end of the day we would all go to Baskin Robins. Woah... instant euphoria for a ten year old. I started pulling out those staples like my life depended on it and although the job seemed easy at first I soon realized it really really sucked. We lived in Colorado at the time and even though the state is known for it's snow covered Rockies I remember that July was like living in an oven and constantly wearing a hot water soaked parka...ew. Bending over the canoe made my neck ache as I gently pryed loose hundreds of staples carefuly so not to damage the cedar. The little particles of fiberglass landed every where, getting underneath your fingernails and sticking to the sweat on your forehead. Terribly, unbearably, and cruely itchy! Once the last darned staple hit the garage floor I remember thinking: "Ugh, that was so not worth it" until my dad said "Well look at that! All finished and with so much help it didn't even take that long! Go wash your hands we have ice cream to eat!" Later as I was holding my cup of bubble gum ice cream and shivering in the air conditioned Baskin Robins I thought my dad smiling proudly at all of us made it well worth the hard work.

He is also incredibly talented. He knows everything it seems about everything. And I do not mean that in a demeaning way. He just knows! I feel like men in general just come with an encyclopedia built into their brains but my father's is especially large. He has taught himself how to be a pilot, mariner, carpenter, sportsman, hunter, mechanic, and doctor.

But the one thing about my father that I think sticks with not only me but everyone he meets is that he is genuinely kind. He cares about people he doesn't even know. I remember many a time being crammed next to a smelly hobo hitchiker on road trips even though we had a full car because my dad is such a compassionate person. Everyone has always been welcomed into my parents' home with my dad's bellowing laugh. He has never been very good with names but I swear he knows everyone in the valley by their face and their story. He always has something nice to say about them. Some of his common phrases are "She is the sweetest lady you ever saw" or "I would trust him over anyone" We will run into someone at the grocery store and my dad will remember what surgery he did on them, the name of their dog, where their cabin is on the deshka, if her husband got a moose last fall, but not their name :) Silly pops! He greets everyone with hugs. I remember the days when that used to embarass me. He would be meeting someone for the first time and when they went in for the handshake my dad would pull them into his big bear arms and say "Oh! Don't you know we're huggers around here?" And although a little taken a back at first the individual would be instantly at ease and later when they would encounter my affectionate father again they would eagerly zero in for the hug. Now it doesn't embarass me. It makes me see how others react to the truely pure soul my father has. You should see my dad stand outside of the chapel each sunday and the gaggle of people that literally wait in line to hug him. Now that says something about how he treats others.

Shrimp daddy

I am so grateful to have a dad that taught me all of these things to me. As I get older I see that I am my father's daughter. I see bits of him in myself and I can only hope that it continues with time. I also see it in the man I married because like it or not my husband is very much like my own dad. I think that is because I had such a good example of what a husband and father should be growing up and I was drawn to that when I first laid eyes on Steve. Because of my dad's joyful demeanor, incredible work ethic, powerful testimony of the gospel, and overall zest for life I am the person I am today. I couldn't be happier to have a father like mine. I love 'em  :)

And this is my husband:

Mmmhmmm. You know I definitely took that picture because I'm the only one who gets that "look" :)

He is not a dad... yet. But he will be some day. I already tell you all so much about him that I won't go into long drippy lovey dovey paragraphs about him. But I at least had to give him a mention because I know he is going to be the best father to our future children. He is sweet and kind. Even though he is tired or has had a bad day he never lets me put my own dish away and always tells me I'm beautiful and he loves me. He is the hardest worker I know. I don't know how he manages it but he always comes home dirty even if he works in an office. He makes me laugh. I didn't know a human face could make the expressions his does. And lastly he is strong not only physically but spiritually and mentally. Whenever something feels unbearable to me, Steve seems to be like a rock in the middle of a raging river. He knows me better than I know myself some times. I know he is going to be just as good at teaching all these things to our kids too. That's why I married him :)

Don't you just love dad day? Who are your father figures and what makes them special? Tell me about them!