My Dad...

Father's Day is a wonderful day to celebrate our dads. Today I want to tell you about my dad. He is such a wonderful man. He brings laughter wherever he seems to go and people always think he is just wonderful. I have to agree with them. My dad is one of the hardest working men I have ever met. He has always been driven to be successful and provide for his family. My dad is very proud of his children and has never been afraid to tell us so. He has always showed his love and support, but at the same time has always been firm and disciplined where needed. My dad has never been afraid to tell us that he loves us and it is something that I have always known from the day I was born. I have seen my dad in a new light as Benjamin arrived in our lives and later the other three grandchildren. My dad lights up when his grandsons are around. He loves every moment with them. He makes sure they too know how much he loves them. I am so glad that my children will know my dad so well. In fact Benjamin is pretty in love with his PawPaw as well... He talks about him at home all the time and gets so excited when he sees a picture of him or if he gets to talk to him on the phone.
One thing I have always loved about my dad is that he is a softy! He can't go to a wedding or even see one on television without getting all teary about it. Today when Benjamin walked in with his little gift for pawpaw (something he colored) my dad got all teary. He is just a sentimental man and I think that is such a wonderful quality to have. Dad has also never been to prideful to tell us he is sorry when he has messed up. He made sure that we knew that he was not perfect, and that dads can be wrong too.
My dad is known among our friends for always being a wonderful host for events (such as my wedding). He wants it to be a fun event that everyone will enjoy. I still have people who talk about my wedding reception and how great it was that once Brad and I left that everyone was welcome to come back in because the party was not over.
I have thousands of memories with my dad... dove hunting when I was really little (i am an animal lover so this was a one time thing), deep sea fishing, birthday's, graduations, recitals upon recitals, gymnastic competitions, etc. My dad has always believed in me and always enforced confidence in me. He always gave me the opportunity to try different things and never held me back from being the person I am. I have a lot of my dads characteristics... I get my ability to wake up early and get my day going in the morning from him. I am most productive first thing in the morning. My dad is the same way. He gets up way before I would ever think of getting up though. I am the type of person who has to always be doing something and don't really like to just be sitting still. This is completely from my dad. I get a large portion of my kind heart from him as well. He also loves animals (even though he is a hunter) but he is softening about that over the years as well ( sometimes just watching the deer from his tree stand instead). He will always help someone in need. One of my favorite things to do growing up was on Saturday's to get up in the morning (knowing that dad would be the only one up) and going down stairs and having coffee with him. I always loved this. I miss being able to do that now that I have my own home.
If I wanted to use 10 words to describe my dad I would say he is loving, honest, hardworking, determined, ambitious, adventurous, kind, forgiving, fun, and best of all he is MY DAD.

Dad... Thank you for always loving me, thank you for never being afraid to show how much you care about your children. You are so much of the reason I am the person I am today. Thank you for giving me so many opportunities in life and for teaching me so much about life. Thank you so much for being there for me and keeping me in line. Thank you for loving my children as much as you love me. It makes me so happy how excited Benjamin gets to see you. You brighten his little world! I am so glad that you are such a big part of my kids lives and that they will know you so well. Dad I hope you know that today is a day to truly celebrate YOU.. You deserve to be celebrated for all the years of hard work for us. If God had given me the choice to pick my dad I would have wanted no other person but you! Thanks for being my boot camp partner... I have fun doing that with you. I love you so much and just wanted to say Thank You for being the best father.