Happy Father's Day

To my own Father:

"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."

Here is my Dad with his parents

Here he is with my mom when they were dating (or engaged?) Not sure which but I would guess they were probably engaged, because I don't think my mom would have agreed to go skiing unless she was seriously committed to my dad.

"The greatest thing a father can do for his children is love their mother."

Here is me with my Dad at the hospital.

Dad taught us to love skiing and was really patient with us with all our complaining about being cold, or carrying our heavy equipment, or not wanting to go to ski school. But after all the torture of learning to ski was over, we now enjoy skiing together a lot more. And it's a good thing he was patient with us because so far, all of the sons in law are into snow-sports too. (Dad has been very accepting of their snowboards. :)

My dad loves hiking. He took us on lots of hikes growing up and as a result it's something I still love to do. On these hikes he taught us to love the outdoors, and about being prepared, because he was never without extra water, snacks, and a first aid kit, just in case.

I just love this picture of Dad and Reed.

I'm not sure what he's reading in this picture, but I remember him often leaning over the counter reading the paper or the church news or any number of things, just the way he's doing in this picture. In fact, one characteristic I got from him is the ability to focus so intently on something that you don't hear what's going on around you. I remember trying to ask him a question once while he was reading something and the conversation went something like this:

me: Dad? . . .

me again: Dad? . . .

and again: Hey, Dad.

(finally after proving unsuccessful in penetrating the focus, I said,)

"Dad, I was thinking I might dye my hair green tonight."

And then he said, "WHAT?!"

This picture here is funny because neither me or my dad are very athletically coordinated. So here we are stinking it up on the basketball court together. We were laughing at ourselves a lot that day.

One of my dad's greatest virtues, (and something that I am still working on), is his patience. My Dad was the father of six girls. I think anyone with any daughters will tell you that that takes a fair amount of patience. Three of us were in high school at the same time, so you can imagine what drama that must have been. Sometimes if we were cranky, Dad might make a comment about it being our "time of the month" at which point we would launch into a "you- have-no-idea-how-awful-it-is-to-be-a-girl" tirade.

I also remember a particular occasion when we were purposefully testing the limits of Dad's patience. Natalie, Jenny and I were probably 6, 4, & 3 at the time. It was a Sunday afternoon and Dad was playing the piano. At first we were just twirling around in our dresses, but after awhile we became really obnoxious. We kept hanging on Dad and being excessively loud, and he just kept serenely playing the piano. I remember thinking, "I wonder how long he will put up with this?" And then finally he snapped and said, "Will you girls just SHUT-UP!"

There was a collective gasp and the three of us ran into the kitchen to tattle on Dad.

Mom's reply was, "Well, if he said that, I'm sure you girls deserved it."

She was right!!

Thanks, Dad, for everything you are. For praying for and being proud of our successes, for teaching us to love music and the mountains, for being an example of a righteous priesthood holder, husband and patriarch of the family, and for teaching us by example how to live. You and mom are quite a team! I love you and am still grateful everyday that you are my dad.

To the Father of my children:

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful guy as my husband and the father of our children. He is a great teacher and wonderful example for them.

Arthur & Hayden

Hiking in the Pecos.

I'm so glad Arthur loves being outdoors and that we make time to go camping and hiking together as a family. We make great memories together that way.

Having a goofy tea-party with Daphne.

Arthur is a really good mix of working hard and playing hard. He makes sure we have a good balance of each in our family.

Arthur puts a high priority on teaching our children the value of a good Cougar Football game. This the BYU-Airforce game in Colorado Springs a few years ago. We make sure to go to at least one live BYU game a year, and plan our fall schedule around the viewing of the rest of them on cable. :) The children are taking these lessons to heart, for example, when he was in kindergarten, Dallin proudly declared to his class that he was a BYU fan even though most of them were wearing the UNM Lobos colors.

Arthur is a hard worker and the kids all know he can fix just about anything. I'm glad our children have such a good example to follow in working hard to take care of the things we have.

Arthur, thanks for all you do as the father of our little family.

Our kids are lucky to have you be their dad.