To all the fathers out there.

Happy Father's Day. This year we spent Father's Day getting out the door early for baseball and not even seeing our own fathers. Different for us considering we live 10 minutes from them. Usually we celebrate with each of them separately one in the morning, one in the evening and then Joe gets to do what he wants in between :) Today that was not the case, but I think Joe had a good day nonetheless. We lost our game and were headed home pretty soon after, and had take and bake pizza for lunch. Not exactly how I planned it. But what are you going to do. He rolled with it :)

TO JIM-
I have been blessed to not only marry a great father (for my kids :) But I have a great father-in-law, in fact I tell him all the time, he is my FAVORITE father-in-law :) It's a short list, but he is on top. He loves his family so much and has worked hard his whole life to provide them with an amazing life. He is a man of few words, and a lot of times the words he says are laced in sarcasm and humor, but I can peel through the layers to see the real deal. I see the love through the smart ass comments :) I guess I am gifted that way. When I started dating Joe I think I surprised him with how easily I did not get offended. I was only 15 years old (gasp!) and I was able to take his ammo and not just deflect it, but dish it back! It is a gift that was given to me by my father. Thank you Jim, for helping make your son the man he is. By being an example of love and strength to your family and letting me be a part of it. As unwilling as you seem to be to admit it :) I'm onto you, have been for a while and I love you too.

TO MY DADDY-O! My dad is a brilliant, loving, sainted father of 4, yes 4 daughters! Some might question his sanity, but he has never complained about the lack of sons, mostly because I was a pretty good one (as daughter-sons go :) It was not easy for him in a house full of women. We were loud, emotional, hot tempered, and opinionated. He never complained about any of that either though, mostly because we got all those awesome attributes from him :) Sorry Dad, but it's true. OK actually he did complain but we didn't really listen. We were very good at tuning out, if need be :)
We did not have an average run of the mill childhood, My dad worked crazy hours in the movie industry for most of my early years. When he was home we listened to great music, we'd sit at the coffee table at dinner and watch horse races, all of us picking our favorites, we laughed and played, my dad the biggest kid of us all. We were always surrounded by friends. He'd tease us and give us a hard time, thickening our skin. But even as young children my dad talked to us. We would have very deep, thoughtful conversations.
During the recession, he worked really hard to keep things together for us. He had stopped working in the movie industry before that, because he felt he was missing us growing up, so with that decision he took a nice big pay cut and after trying and trying, he with my mom made a life altering decision to move us fom Southern California, to Washington. A bold, scary move. One I resented, and I never let him forget it. Well for at least for that first year, then I found my happy place :)
I will never wonder how my dad feels about me. He tells me all the time. Over the years since my childhood, we have argued, debated, and concurred on different issues at home and in the world. We have also had heart to hearts and teased each other, laughing until we cried. We have spent many late nights sharing a bottle or three of wine and listening to music, and we have shared our hopes and dreams for the future. He has taught me about being a friend to my friends and a friend to my kids and a friend to my husband. A lot of the type of parent I am is due to his tutelage. My mom and he have been together a very LONG time, they have had ups and downs in their life and I am always in awe of how they come through it. They have taken many leaps together, and many falls and my dad would not be my dad if it weren't for my mom.  So she is a part of this as well. But it is Father's day so I digress.

Thank you Dad for being my Dad. You have given me too many gifts to mention. Most of them not visible to the human eye, but overwhelming in their grandeur! And in honor of this day a little poem

I love you more then the sky above and the earth below,
Just how much you'll never know.
You make me mad, you make me lean,
You take the hair right off my bean
You're the darndest thing I've ever seen
I love you!

Happy Dad's Day!I love you so much!

TO JOE-My friends who are moms and I sometimes joke that we want to be the father the next time around. It seems like a sweet deal :) They get to come in and save the day, not the one that's been harping on the kids all the time (me) and they are always excited when he wants to take them somewhere. "What Dad, you want me to go pick out bolts with you?!? Sweet!" All I get is "What Mom, you want me to go to Target with you AGAIN! UGH! :) " I hear myself say often a certain saying about chopped liver...
We kid, but we wouldn't trade them or want to do it with out them. My kids are so lucky to have a hard working loving man as their dad. He struggles with being 100% there in ALL the aspects of his life as many do. I think sometimes he probably wishes we had 44 hour days. But I am proud of him for really working over the years to achieve balance in his life. I know it is harder for him then some, but I know that we are always in the for-front of his mind, and that everything he does, he does for us. My kids learn from him that with dedication you can achieve great things and they see that because he loves them so, he would do anything for them. They also have inherited his sweet tooth, short fuse and in Keegan's case his laugh and curiosity for what makes things work, in Delaney's case his quiet side and drawing skills, in Cam's case his perfectionism and speed, and in Maddie well we know the sweet tooth is DEFINITELY there, but I think we'll see more as she gets older. I am so thankful that he is here for me and for them. This is exactly where I wanted and hoped we'd be when we grew up. I kind of mentioned before but Joe and I started dating our sophomore year of high school. I was 15 he was 16 :) We have grown up together and with one another we have made a life and I wouldn't want it any other way. Thank you Joe for being the best Dad for our kids! We love you so much! Happy Father's Day.

To all the fathers out there...I hope you had an amazing day! Thanks for all you do, today and all year through!