Monday, June 16, 2014

Father's Day

Pops.


Leaving for college.


LOVES the photobombing.

Tiny daddy!

Hahahaha. Oh, the 70's.

My first day at church.

My daddy :)

Here's some things you may or may not know about him.

He researches movies/tv shows - in great depth. Mostly on Wikipedia.
(They do fairly well on movies.)
He's a vegan and an avid cyclist - that's one you really should know if you've met my dad.
He's one of my very best friends.
His dad died when he was 13, and when I was that age I was absolutely terrified he would die as well.
He taught me to appreciate great music - our tastes are slightly different now.
He took his ten year old daughter to a Dave Matthews Band concert.
He basically replaced me with a yellow lab puppy (Aubree or The Yellow Menace) when I moved out.
He's a super big fan of super heroes.
see what I did there?
He researches them thoroughly as well.
And then teaches me everything he knows about them.
He's the king of dad jokes and puns.
He was my alarm clock basically until the day I moved out. Seriously.
He tucked me into bed every night until I was older than I care to admit.
Cough cough. Junior High.
I'm fairly certain he wishes he had a Scottish accent.
He'll eat just about ANYTHING.
You know. As long as it's vegan.
And before that, he'd actually eat anything.
He cooks well too.
He's incredibly smart.
He gets passionate about learning everything he can about his interests.
He raised me in the church. And I wouldn't be who I am without him.
He loves his family with everything he is.
He's an absolutely wonderful dad.
He's always been so great to me and my brothers, and now to the step-siblings.



I'm pretty much his biggest fan.


Grandpa Jim.
(Mum's dad.)




He genuinely loves people.
He loves meeting new people and having a million friends.
He's gifted me books MANY times over the years.
He taught me how to use a record player.
And gifted me 13 Elvis records.
Basically - he gets me.
He would reply and pay us a dollar for each letter we wrote him when we were kids.
He also has a tattoo of road runner.
You know, the one from that Coyote cartoon?
It's pretty awesome.
He's one cool cat.


Grandpa Dale.
(Mum's step-dad.)




He taught me how to make (freaking delicious) homemade bread.
He took me fishing when I was little.
He loves all of us step-grandkids like we're his own.
And we love him like he's ours too.
He sasses my mom all the time - something I totally approve of. It's hilarious.
He fed me my entire first week and a half of college with his homemade bread and homegrown vegetables.
He added some pretty awesome additions to my childhood rock collection, and told me amazing stories about the legends behind them.

yes i was one of those children to collect rocks.
what?? they were fascinating to me.

Grandpa Norton.
(Dad's dad.)


Grandpa and dad.


Grandpa and dad.



I honestly don't know too much about him.
Come on, family! Share more with me!
From what I do know, it sounds like we would have been best friends.
He made sandwiches with rolls out of basically every meal he was given.
He was actually pretty amazing at taking pictures. And he took a TON of them.
He also took pictures of the exact things that I would have in his situation.
(He took the picture that is currently my blog title. I love it.)
He liked peanut butter and cheese sandwiches.
He met my grandma during the summer in the middle of their high school career when he was working at the movie theater and she was working at a drive in restaurant named Fred & Kelly's.
Once he ACCIDENTALLY shot one of the windows in his high school.
And was never caught.
(Long and super funny story. But I swear he wasn't some juvenile delinquent.)
He served in both the Vietnam and Korea wars.
He loved his family.
He died from a heart attack when he was 48.



These fathers have shaped my life in so many different ways.
I love those men more than I can describe.
And I'm grateful every single day that they're a part of my life.
Happy Father's Day!
(Belated. I didn't want the post to get lost in all the Father's Day craziness.)



Happy Father's Day to all of the other fathers in my life as well!
Uncles, cousins, friends' dads, etc.
You're all amazing men as well and I'm grateful for you too!