My Dad

Happy Fathers' Day

I love my Dad. He is a wonderful father and an excellent example to me of how to pattern my life after my Savior. He gave me a name and a blessing when I came into the world and he was a witness to my temple sealing when I got married to my beloved husband. I love him for how he has taught me to love life:

My very earliest memory of my Dad is special to me: I can remember standing at the window (we had windows that went really low, within a foot of the ground), looking out, and being excited that my Dad was on his way home. I could hear him whistling as he came along. As I saw him come toward the house, I was very delighted. When I think of him, he is surrounded by music.

Another of my early memories is my first trip to Timpanogos Cave. I was less than two and he probably carried me the whole way there, but I still remember it. It was fabulous then--and I still love to cave. I participated in the BYU Caving Club in college, and my first date with my husband was to a cave. I actually belong to a caving grotto now.

Dad-isms: He has simple sayings that taught some of life's great values, such as: "Don't sweat the small stuff", "footsacker", "space-cadet", "hardening of the categories" and "Don't be a dog in the manger."

He truly taught me a love of learning. There is a family saying, "Dad knows everything, and Mom knows where everything is. . ." Even though he doesn't truly know everything, he wants to know everything. He is always learning. He taught me to love maps, adventures, reading, traveling, and much more. I attribute my great love of hiking from him. When I lived in Alaska with my in-laws, after about the fifth day, my husband's little sister said to me: "Are we going to go hiking every day?" I probably would if I could, but sometimes other, albeit trivial, things come up like laundry, schooling, chores, etc.

One of my favorite things about my Dad is his music. He truly has a beautiful voice, a talent from our Heavenly Father that he has always shared with others. Not every child's Dad wrote cool songs like Chattanooga Choo-Choo, or Yellow Submarine. I must say that he never professed to have written them, a little girl just assumes that only her Dad could write such silly songs. He also has a song for each of his children.

The other day I found myself on a family camping trip that I had planned, doing a 3.5 mile hike with my three children age 5 and younger, under the unrelentless Arizona sun, reading Roadside Geology of Arizona in my spare time and loving it, wishing that I had brought my guitar because it lends itself so well to singing.

Thank you Dad, for how you have shaped my life. Thank you is simply not enough. I always love you.