Happy Birthday to my dad! We went to dinner at Little America last night and really enjoyed our time together. I can't believe that my dad is 79 years-old - he said that today he is starting his 80th year! I have been very blessed to have such an amazing father. My dad has always been a great example of service and love. He started his law practice and soon after he was called to be a bishop. He served in the Ivins Ward for 10 years. I have so many wonderful memories of those years. The ward was our second home and we were so involved in all of the great things that were going on. We attended numerous ward dinners, the annual carnival, road shows, and I have great memories of a 24th of July float. My dad always made all of these events so much fun.
During those 10 years my dad didn't have much time for family vacations and such - building a business and serving in such a difficult church calling didn't leave much time for those kind of things but we always took a trip in August to Beaver, UT. We went there for the archery deer hunt. We stayed in some great rustic cabins and drove all over the mountain in our Jeep. The air was so clear and fresh and we always felt like we had "come home" when we got there. Dad always made these trips so much fun - he would sing at the top of his lungs as we drove around the mountains..."Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on?" or "You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd." He always made us laugh. We have so many great memories of that mountain - such amazing family time together - fishing, hunting, reading the classics, eating great food, taking trips to the biffy, making a raft on Deer Lake, boating on Puffer Lake...it was amazing and dad made each and every trip memorable.
My dad is a good man with great values and an amazing capacity for love - he has always made each of us feel like we were his favorite and he continues that practice with each of his grandchildren. I worked with my dad for a summer as his secretary - we would drive to work each morning and he would look at the sun so he could sneeze - it always made me smile. He was very patient with me - I didn't have much experience being a legal secretary so he gave me the benefit of the doubt and helped me to sharpen my skills - I'm sure there were many times he would have liked to fire me but he didn't and he always made me feel very appreciated.
When I was a teenager my dad started working for the County Attorney's office - he became a prosecutor and worked very hard to make sure that criminals were punished for their offenses. He was assigned to work with abused children and that was very difficult for him - he had to see some really tough stuff - but he knew that he was helping these children to find closure and some small amount of peace. I have always been so proud of my dad and the many wonderful and difficult things he did during this time in his life.
Over the years my relationship with my dad has changed - although I still consider myself his little girl I also know that he is one of my very dear friends. At least a couple times a month Ray and I will double date with my parents and have our Friday date night. We always have such a good time! We also love going to the University of Utah Football and Basketball games, my dad has always been a great fan of the Utes. He played football for the Utes in 1949 as a nose guard - he loves to tell the story of when he broke the nose of the quarterback in practice - he was definitely doing his job but the coach told him that he had to remember that he needed to go easy in practice against his own quarterback.
My dad always did things over the top - he is an amazing man and I am blessed to be his daughter. I could probably write a book about all of the things he taught me and all of the wonderful experiences and memories I remember about my dad. Happy Happy Birthday daddy!
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