Fathers Day

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home, glad as I can be!
Clap my hands and shout for joy,
and climb up on his knee.
Put my arms around his neck,
hug him tight like this...
Pat his cheeks and give him what?...
A GREAT BIG KISS!!!!! MWAH!!"

As I'm sure everyone has realized today is fathers day, so I thought I would blog about my Daddy.

I've learned a lot of things from my both my parents, but I want to mention things my dad has taught me. (my mom has also taught me some of the same lessons.) One of the biggest things my dad has taught me is a love of music. I grew up in a house of music, (which not very many would believe considering the lack of piano skills that I present to the world. But I would like to submit to the world that piano is NOT the only musical skill in this world. thank you)
When I was younger my dad would use the bathroom across from my bedroom to shower in in the morning after he went running (it was known as Dads bathroom and me and my siblings pretty much never used it...to this day i still am not sure why...it was right there.) I would wake up in the morning and hear dad singing in the shower. (and now anyone who knows me knows where I got it from) Although it was usually something classical so i didn't ever recognize what he was singing.
But my dad also taught me an appreciation of classical music. When we lived in Minnesota, he organized a "Messiah Sing-in" the last four or five years we lived there. (if you don't know what a Messiah Sing-in is, you are slightly deprived in my eyes and you should ask me about it.) For a few weeks and months before the sing-in (dad was the conductor) he use to turn on his recording of the messiah and practice conducting to it. I use to lie on the couch and laugh as he did it. (If you've ever seen my dad conduct you know why, he would exaggerate even more when we started laughing.)
My dad taught me how to ride a bike without training wheels on it. Out on the street in front of our house. I was wearing my blue helmet when I was learning Officer Kyper (he lived on our street) came out and gave me a ticket (for a free ice cream from DQ)
But Dad would hole on to my bike seat as i started going and then he would let go as I got going.
My dad taught me that he loves my mom. He doesn't realize how much he has taught me that. Anytime mom would go out of town, the day before she came back dad had us attack the house so mom could come back to a clean house. On mothers day mom gets breakfast in bed and is grounded from the kitchen. Lately he has been traveling a lot for work, and a lot out of the country. Every new country he goes to he brings us all back something, but the few times I was home when he was giving out the presents(I moved out a year after he started traveling) he always had a different tone when he gave mom her gift, subtly different, but I could tell he took care in picking out her gift and wanted to get her something that she would love. My dad loves my mom, and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise. Because I've seen that I won't settle for anything less when I get married someday.
My dad taught me that he loves me and my siblings. (some of the ways he showed me that i didn't learn till i was older) My parents made us do chores growing up. I had friends whose parents would never make them do chores, I use to be so jealous. But now, I know how to clean. I can clean a bedroom, a toilet, a kitchen. I can wash dishes. These seem like simple things, but I know people who don't know how to do these simple things because they never had to do them. My dad taught me how to accept "no" as an answer. There were a lot of times in my growing up life that we were given chores and if we didn't do said chores we couldn't go out and play. My dad always held up his end of the deal. We didn't do chores, we didn't play. Sometimes we wanted things and dad would say no. I didn't like it growing up all the time. But now I can take the answer no when it comes, which also makes me appreciate what I do get even more. These are the lessons that I don't know if dad knows he taught me, but he did. And I'm glad I've learned them.
There were other ways my dad showed us he loved us. I remember when i was younger and we would go on daddy/daughter dates. Dad also was more likely to say yes at the store if we wanted a candy bar, we discovered. I can't speak for all my siblings, but some ways that dad showed he loved me. Me and my dad have a musical that is our musical...Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of fleet street. (No, I'm not kidding. Come to our house for dinner sometime...me and my dad will start singing it at the dinner table.) The Broadway revival cast was touring in Dallas around my 17 birthday. My dad took me to see it, it was the first daddy/daughter date we'd had in a long time. But it was awesome. He taught me how to change the tire on a car. He let me drive his car up and down the driveway before I had a permit. (trust me, you would be surprised at how long i can go up and down a driveway without getting bored) He taught me how to light the grill. He does my taxes and FAFSA for me. And every new country he goes to he buys me a new pair of ear rings. Dad was the one who took me to get my ears pierced.
One more major thing my dad taught me was that he loves the Gospel, and the temple. We went to church every week growing up, and I can't tell you how many times my dad has been the choir director, which was always wonderful. We would go to ward choir, and music is one of the ways I feel the spirit stronger than anything else. Every year before school (as i'm sure many peoples dads did) Dad would give us a fathers blessing. When I was on a pioneer trek, they had one of our parents write us a note that would be delivered to us on trek. Dad wrote mine, and he bore his testimony to me in it. I still have that letter. But the thing that really sticks out to me most about my dads faith, his dad isn't a member of the church. Never has been. It would have been very easy for my dad to not be active in the church, to not grow up with a testimony. But he did. I also know that he loves the temple. He's been a temple worker many times, in fact I think he is one in Dallas right now. But every time he goes to a country that has a temple (time permitting) he'll go do at least one session. If time doesn't permit he'll at least go to he grounds and take a picture. It makes me want to go to the temple.
My daddy has taught me a lot of things in life, and I'm still learning from him, even if he doesn't know it.

Happy Fathers day.

I LOVE YOU DADDY!!!!!!!!