Happy Father's Day!

I can't let Father's Day pass without paying tribute to my own dad. Much to his delight, I'm sure, I don't have as many pictures of him as of my mom, but I still have things to say. These are some of the things that make my dad my dad (and why I love him):

My dad is the hardest working person I know.

He sacrificed his own happiness more days than I'm sure I know about to provide for our family.

He instilled in me the importance of going to church.

He insisted I get a college education.

When he laughs, you can't help but laugh along with him. (Ask Jaimi, who once got to see him react to a column of Dave Berry's, probably his favorite columnist.)

He's the best "papa" Hannah could ask for.

He's self-sacrificing in mowing my sister's lawn, my grandma's lawn, his own lawn, in putting together beds and bikes and end tables and hooking up electronics and cutting down trees and installing mailboxes and checking the breaker box and carrying heavy things up the stairs and then back down the stairs and in helping one of his kids move and in helping his daughters figure out the best type of wood to use for a deck or a play set and in making sure a house is a good one before one of his girls buys it and in building a swing set for Hannah out of old sawhorses and rope and in taking care of stray cats and bearing the burden of burying beloved family pets when they die... and lots more.

He can talk like Donald Duck (I think this is why Donald is my favorite Disney character).

He always watched the halftime show at high school football games while I performed in the flag corps.

He teaches me valuable lessons, like no job is perfect and sometimes, you have to keep your mouth shut (these are both lessons I've needed through the years).

He's the hardest person I know to buy gifts for, but he always appreciates what you get him and thinks it was "too much."

He played catch with me when I was in softball growing up. He patiently hit ball after ball to me so I could practice catching the fly balls (which I was never good at, but he kept helping anyways).

He leaves my mom little love notes on scrap pieces of paper around the house.

He's a devoted son to his own mom. He walks over to her house and visits with her every day, often before he even walks in his own front door.

He likes old country songs like "I Stopped Loving Her Today", "Big Bad John", and "It's Me Again, Margaret."

When I was little, he would round us up for a ride in the truck down country roads. We'd roll down the windows, and he would whistle, and we'd just drive around. It was always relaxing.

He's got a permanent tan from decades of working on the farm on hot summer days. It looks good on him, too!

Sometimes, when he's in a really good mood, he'll dance.

He loves his wife unconditionally, and the same goes for his daughters.

Happy Father's Day, Dad - you're wonderful in a million ways!

This is one of my favorite pictures - Hannah was "helping" her papa build an end table. I love how it looks like she's giving him pointers!