My Dad

My dad is awesome!  He has taught me so many things over the years and has helped me become the person I am today.  He is one of the most generous, loving, kind, faithful men I have ever known.  His testimony of Christ and of Christ's church are evident by the way he lives his life.  He gives so freely of his time, resources and money and never thinks twice about it.  He has always worked so hard to provide for his family and I know that he loves us more than anything.  He works some crazy hours at his job now, but I still know that if I need to talk to him I can call him up and he'll take a break to talk to me.  Another thing that I love is that I can talk to him about anything, even girly things.  When I call to talk to my mom about girly things sometimes he answers so I'll just end up talking to him and I love it that I feel comfortable enough to talk to him about that stuff too.  He always tried to have fun things for us to do together as a family.  When we were little we went camping a lot, and then when we got older and more busy we would go on hikes or even just a drive.  He loves to learn and to read, especially gospel things and church history.  I learn so much every time I talk to him!  I could go on an on!  I feel so blessed to have a mom and a dad who are both excellent examples of righteous, faithful followers of Christ.

I LOVE this picture.  It's so typically my dad, he just loves explaining things.  And Michael is doing a good job looking like he's following along! ;)

Somehow my dad always ends up with some kind of crazy hat that my mom tells him not to wear in public.  I think this picture really captures that. 

His crazy, goofy side came out in the American History Smithsonian when we went with my grandma last year.  He is hilarious!

Cute Grandpa!!

Not only do I have an awesome dad, but I also have an awesome father-in-law.  It's so crazy how similar my parents are to my in-laws.  After Michael and I had met and were in the first stages of our relationship I had gone home to Virginia and had a really long layover.  Michael was so sweet and we talked through the whole wait.  I remember he started telling me about his dad.  He told me how his dad had converted to our church when he was 19 and went on a mission a year later and he is the only member of our church in his family.  That is exactly my dad's story!  It was so crazy to listen to him talk about his dad because it all sounded very familiar.  There are some differences of course.  For example, my dad has never been one to sit down and watch a movie from beginning to end with us.  I think it was two Christmas's ago that Michael and I were visiting with his family.  We were all sitting in the sun room about to start watching a movie.  His dad came in and sat down and watched the movie with us.  The whole time I thought it was so strange because subconsciously I was thinking of my dad.

Don't they just look like they could be brothers?!