6.16.2008

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. I know it seems like the little brother next to all the hype of Mother's Day but PLEASE know that we love and respect you fathers for working hard, playing at home, and loving your families.
We love our dad:
I knew long ago before we were married that Casey would be an excellent father. Around his extended family or our niece Jacqueline, he seemed like a natural. Since he always loves to "do stuff", you'll often find him playing basketball with the kids or launching rockets in the back yard. All kids seem to gravitate to Uncle Casey . Some reasons we love him...
He loves to spend time with his kids and is good about helping out with the babies (though he can't wait till they can "do stuff" too):He cries when they get hurt:or should I say, he's not afraid to make silly faces. He acts goofy:And he's always up for an adventure. Here's a shot from Chichen Itza in Mexico:He works hard for us. He goes to school at night. He loves to spend time with our families. He enjoys reading. He also enjoys video games. He mostly enjoys playing sports. He is a wonderful father and a great husband. We love you Casey!

And since I was a dope on Mother's Day and paid no tribute to our mothers....I thought I'd make up for it by highlighting our fathers. This is me and my dad a few years ago:
He is very mild-mannered with a great sense of humor. He's easy to talk to, he enjoys watching movies with the family, he collects old coins, he loves cars, he studies the scriptures every day and does a wonderful job teaching Gospel Doctrine in his ward. Everybody loves Bill. Honestly, I've never met anyone who hasn't had anything but the kindest words to say about him. He's full of wisdom but loves to crack a funny joke. He and my mom are great examples of how to live a happy and love-filled life. And most of all, he is the most giving person I know. If I had a flat tire up here in LA, he would drop everything and come help me. If he even knew I needed a dollar for something, he'd give me 20. If I was driving to their house late at night, he'd be on the couch waiting for me when I arrived (to make sure we were safe). He's amazing. And this picture is so random, but it really sums up my dad to me: This is when Casey, Eric, Meredith and Marty biked 90 miles to San Diego last year. They left super early in the morning. But never fail, my dad was out there in his PJs making sure they had everything they needed, that their bikes were working okay, that they knew where they were going, etc. He is always willing to help. I love that about him.

And here is Casey's dad, Parry (with his grand daughter, Jacqueline): He is also an amazing man. He is one of the hardest workers I know. He'll work a 14 hour day on the film set, then go straight to church meetings (he's bishop of their ward) and I'll never hear him complain about any of it. He just does what needs to be done. He also has a great temperment and he's so easy to talk to. He and Linda both are very welcoming to others into their home and they sure love their grandbabies:
Linda would hold them all day if she could, but I know Parry loves to cuddle with them just as much. He's always working on a project, fixing up their backyard, building wooden toys in the garage. I guess that's where Casey gets the urge to do stuff. He's a wonderful father, grandfather, and father-in-law. And we sure love him!

For Father's Day we went down to my parent's house to pick up Lucy and have dinner with everyone. When we got there, the table was set up in the backyard. Camille does a great job:
And we enjoyed some of my mom's yummy cooking. The homemade rolls were enough to fill me up!Jeremy was real cute and decided to make crowns for all the fathers. Camille helped him spray-paint them gold and then he glued jewels on:Here are all the dads wearing their crowns. Casey and Eric kept trying to do a Water Polo pose, so I never got a good shot. But here they are:
And here are 4 of the 6 siblings with my parents. We're missing Mark and Saunja:After dinner we opened presents and ate cake. Lucy's decided she loves cake. Casey was kind enough to share his with her:
And here he is opening his gift. But first, a scribbled card from Lucy:
And to finish off the evening, a beautiful sunset from my parent's backyard. An excellent closure to the day.

5 comments:

the bates motel said...

cute post. fun pics wish we could of been there. LOVE the sunset pic, it looks like it could be a postcard. so cute how excited lucy was to see you guys too :)! love that!

Camille said...

That was a nice tribute to the fathers in your life. You definitely described Dad. He is so kind and loving and ALWAYS willing to help. He still waits up for me sometimes when I'm out late running to the grocery store. See you tomorrow! GM baby!

The G-Funk! said...

Two thoughts here.

First, I love that picture of Casey "crying" because Lucy is "hurt". Awesome.

Second, the pic of the little boy making the golden crown looks, at first glance, like he is spelling "Nicole Richey" on the hat. Upon closer review, it actually reads Uncle Rich. I was almost disappointed that Uncle Rich wasn't going to get to wear a crown that said Nicole Richey on it.

Okay, and also, you were right that that avocado gelato looked like yummy lime sherbet. It's the actual pic from Martha Stewarts recipe, and I feel very deceived. It was NOT yummy at all!!!

(BTW, random dream you had!)

Sara said...

cute pics and what a fun father's day! I love the second pic of Lucy and Owen.

Saunja said...

That was really sweet, Dana. What a beautiful tribute to Dad, (and to Casey and his Dad, also!) I completely agree with everything you said about Dad. He is so awesome.