My dad

My dad is the smartest, hardest working and most creative story telling man I know.  I was raised on stories by my dad:  gnomes, his childhood growing up as a pioneer on the Great Plains of Montana (seriously!  his stories are incredible!), Joaquin Murietta and other old ghost stories of the West, you name it.

Did I also mention the best looking?

(Hopefully, he won't kill me for posting these photos.)

As an aside, but so perfect for this day of honoring and remembering our dads, grandpas, and other great men in our lives, there comes a point in your life when pouring through your family photos becomes very bittersweet.  When the people no longer with you start to equal or outgrow those still here.  Such a great reminder to celebrate each day and not take a minute for granted!  My eyes are filled with tears as I type, remembering my grandpa (maternal), thinking about my paternal grandpa who died when I was just a toddler, and thinking about all the other men and women who loved, fought, worked, sighed, cried and laughed, leading to this moment of my typing on my laptop today.  Amazing and humbling, isn't it?

Back to my dad!

If I have a Puritan work ethic, I got it from my Dad.  Raised a farmer/rancher, he works from sun up to after sundown without flinching.  (Well, maybe a tiny flinch now and then.)

He worked hard, as so many dads so, to make his family's life easier than the life he had growing up.

I love that he is so tenderhearted, ready to give the shirt of his back to a complete stranger, a man of God who lives his faith.

I'll speak for all of his kids, including the one that left us far too soon, as well as the one who lives on the other side of the globe ...

We love you, Dad, and are so grateful that we were chosen to be your children.  I, for one, wouldn't change a thing.

Well, maybe a few things.  :)

But not very many.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!