Happy Birthday Dad

Today would be my dad's 76th birthday. I've been thinking about him a lot over the holidays. It's hard to believe that it's almost been a year since he passed away. We all sure miss him!

Here are the two of us on a "Daddy / Daughter Date" when I was in Young Womens.

Here are some of the things I love most about and some of my favorite memeories of my dad:

• I used to love to have him tuck me into bed when I was little. What I remember most was him saying and me repeating “I, Love” and then together we’d say, “Yooooouuuuu!” Then he’d give me a kiss goodnight. I often do that now with my kids.
• Whenever my dad saw a need, he just did whatever was needed; he rarely had to be asked.
• He never wanted to be the center of attention. He always helped, but behind the scenes.
• My Dad always thought of others first. He was always in quiet service. My Mom would be cooking or working on something and discover she was missing something and Dad would calmly show up in minutes with whatever was needed. – Even if he had to go to the store, often without anyone noticing.
• My Dad could calm down any baby and rock them to sleep. All my kids loved to have grandpa hold them.
• My Dad would always make jokes whenever I called. If I asked if mom was around, he’d say something like, “No, she’s a square”.
• Dad taught me how women should be treated. I never heard him raise his voice with my mom, even when they disagreed. He never tolerated us being disrespectful to her either. It was always clear how much love and respect he had for her.
• My Dad always honored his priesthood. He was able to give us blessings whenever we needed them. He always gave us a blessing before each school year. He also participated in my blessing when Maddy was breech and I was worried about having a C-section.
• Once when Travis was out of town and I was really frustrated with Maddy, he drove 1 1/2 hours each way to our house to pick her up and bring her back up to their house to give me a break.

There was no one else like my dad. He was such a great example to me. I am so grateful and feel so blessed to know that we are an eternal family and that I will get to be with him again!

Happy Birthday Dad!