Dads...

I'm think I'm great at telling my friends and my own personal little family that I love them. All the time. Or how much they mean to me. Or how much I appreciate them in my life and the influence they have been on me. And it's not hard... But I have been sitting here for probably 15 minutes trying to think of "the right thing" to say to the DADS in my life... Blank. I'm nervous for some reason... WHY?!?!?!?!?! I guess that maybe I need to do it more often to become "good at it"... Well, here I go...

MY DAD, SHERRILL

holding Tanion at Keen's wedding...

at my baptism (21 years ago!)

I probably wasn't the BEST kid growing up, but I like to think I did pretty good. And I can't take all the credit. And neither can Mom. :) I know that you worked hard to support our family. And I know that you love us all. I can honestly say that I don't know "which one is the favorite" and that is awesome. I feel that I was treated pretty fairly and that I probably turned on you a few too many times. But I love you. I hope you know that. You have always been there to show love to us and I am grateful for that. I love how you interact with my wild kids. I think being a Grandpa has been your proudest accomplishment and I'm glad I could help you out with that. :)

My Father-In-Law, Twitch

holding Tanion at his blessing...

Thank you so much for raising a great son. I know that it is because of your example that I have such a great husband and father to my own kids. Thank you for loving our little family and for being patient with our kids. Thanks for feeding us on so many Sundays! Thank you for teaching my husband that it's important to work hard and treat people with respect - especially his wife! Thanks for being a good "dad" to my handsome little nephew... I know I speak for my whole family when I say that we love you and are thankful to have you in our lives. :)

My Kids Dad (& My Hubby),
Jeremiah

I love you. When we started dating, we weren't "supposed" to be together forever, but look at us now! :) Married for ALMOST 10 years, together for over 11 and 1/2. Three great kids who LOVE their dad because he's the best! I know how hard you work to do things for our little family and I can't express to you how much I appreciate that. I asked our kids what their favorite thing about their dad was and here is what they said:

DARTANION: "he plays with me and he lets me play Star Wars Lego and he helps me cuz he's really good at playing it and then we eat stuff"
ARCHER: "he builds me lots of tracks and buys me trains and can I have Rosie and ....." he started rambling about what trains he didn't have and still wants... Typical Archer...
ROBYN: I'm sure if Robyn was able to, she would say that she loves having a dad who has such great hair and can teach her awesome hairstyles when she is older. :) J/K!

I love that you play with our kids. And how you show patience with them when they want to learn how to do whatever it is that you are doing - from cooking to building! I've always told you that I think you are a fun dad and you set a great example for our kids. I'm glad I am married to such a great dad. :)

AND TO ALL THE OTHER
DAD'S IN MY LIFE...

Thank you...

...for all that you have done for me or my family. Whether you are really my BFF's Dad (love you, Sherm!) or one of my Grandpas (love you ALL!!!) or one of our loved ones who has passed on or just an amazing guy who has influenced me / us in another way -

I LOVE YOU!