My Favorite Dads

Since today is Father's Day I'm writing about my two favorite dads.


And yes, you've already guessed who they are, but I'm going to do a little reminiscing and yes, just a little bragging because I feel pretty lucky to have these two men in my life.

Chris became a dad 10 years ago when Kiersten arrived unexpectedly 3 weeks early. She was so tiny that I was petrified to change her diaper or bathe her or clip her tiny fingernails. Add on to this that she had to sleep on a bilirubin bed because of jaundice and I didn't know what to do! But Chris took charge, acting like he had done this all life, taking care of her and teaching ME what to do. From the minute she was born I think she had him wrapped around her finger.

Here are Kierst and Chris in her first snow outside the townhouses where we lived during med school.
With all of the girls he got up in the middle of the night for feedings, changing diapers, etc...how great is he??? This was right after Abs was born:

Chris sharing one of his favorite things with Kierst and Abs...fireworks!! O.K., he's looking a little tired with baby #3...

I always laugh when people say that they feel sorry for him having three girls and no boys, because I was the one who wanted boys, Chris loves his girls!!

Really, the best compliment I can give Chris is that the girls prefer him over me!

How do I describe the person whom I feel lucky to have as the father of my children?? I love that he cooks for our family, knows how to fix anything (and if he doesn't he'll figure out how to do it), can answer scientific questions, is tech saavy, is willing to try new and crazy things with his family, is slightly OCD (ha ha!), and puts in long hours and lots of hard work to provide well for us.

Most importantly, he honors the priesthood that he has been entrusted with.

And after 3 girls he's even pretty good at putting in hair bows.

We love you!!!

The other dad I feel lucky to have in my life is my own Dad. I think of all the memories I have about him and realize how much he shaped the person I have become.

Just a little background about him: He was a miracle baby. Born 3 months premature in 1940 meant that you would not survive, but the nurse who delivered him dunked him alternately in hot and cold water until he started to cry.

He met my mom while attending Stanford and they were married in the Idaho Falls temple in 1964. My mom was diagnosed with M.S. the following year. When they found out, my mom asked my dad to divorce her, knowing that it would be a long road for him. He refused. That pretty much tells you what my dad was like.

Growing up my dad would work a full day as an attorney then spend the rest of the night taking care of his family. I'm not sure how he did it. Like my mom, I never heard him complain about how much work he had to do or how tired he was and he must have been pretty tired most of the time.

This is one of my favorite pictures with my dad. It's an old polaroid that I have up in my house. It was taken at Easter and I think I was about 6??

My dad loved scouting. At one point he had considered becoming a professional scouter, so there's some irony that he had three girls (although he did take my older sister on a scout white water rafting adventure:), but he was always involved with the boy scouts as a legal advisor, he even received a silver beaver.

Here's our family pic sometime in the 70's. My older sister has most of our family pics at her house. I'm the girl on the far left.

My Dad made the best fudge. It was his mom's recipe and he would make huge batches of it every year at Christmastime and take it to our friends and neighbors. I can see him standing over the stove carefully stirring the butter and sugar so that it wouldn't burn.

Sometimes my Dad traded his legal services for goods so we often had fun things at our house: full sized arcade games, a pool table, and for a few years fireworks! My dad blockaded the street and we set off hundreds of fireworks and ate Casco nut bars (ice cream-don't know if they exist anymore, but yum), maybe that's where I get my love for fireworks?

My dad really got interested in geneology when computers really took off, he and my mom spent hours and hours in the geneology library, here he is working on some sheets:
My dad loved singing and when I was little I performed with him in "South Pacific," and "Fiddler on the Roof," and other various church musicals back in the day when stakes would have big productions.

My dad was always involved with politics and the Republican party in our city. We were always passing out fliers or stuffing handouts, I remember that he took me with him to a few Republican party dinners and breakfasts, it was really exciting for me.

One of my favorite memories is my dad showing up to one of my tennis matches. I remember his car pulling up as we had just started to play and I was thrilled that he had moved around his schedule enough to make it. Even though he was busy he always made time for us.

My dad instilled in me a sense of integrity. Someone gives you back a penny more than they should have? You better return it. Sneaking into a movie like the rest of my friends was never even an option in my world.

Like my mom, my dad loved to laugh, he and I would turn on music and dance around the room, our goofiness was pretty much the same.

My dad could talk to any stranger on the street and usually did. Kierst remarked the other day that I could talk to anyone and I took it as the highest compliment to be like my Dad.

It didn't matter to my Dad who you were or what you did, you were important to him and he would do anything for you. I can't think of someone who practiced charity in life more than he did. He loved the gospel and his Savior and truly honored his priesthood.

Here we are at my wedding in 1995:

My Dad died suddenly in 1998. He had had an emergency surgery and Chris and I flew out during his spring break to be with my mom, thinking that he was recovering well. Our family friends took us directly to the hospital when we arrived, he had gone septic and the doctors were trying to stabilize him. By the next night he was gone.

I miss my Dad more than I can even say. Writing this post was really hard for me, to bring back such good memories, memories that I wish my children had of my Dad, the smiles and laughter and friendliness that made my Dad who he was.

Happy Father's Day, Dad. I miss you.