Happy Father's Day!

I miss my father today.  I need to scan some of our old photos so that I have digital pictures of my father.  He passed away in January of 1998 and we didn't get our digital camera until Evan was born in 2005.  Did digital cameras exist in 1998?

My dad was gentle, loving, encouraging and compassionate.  He faithfully cheered for me, Derek and Mark in all of our events - soccer, basketball, theater, Odyssey of the Mind, whatever.  My dad had a great grin and a bunch of stock sayings.  Two of his favorites were "what a team!" and "piece of cake."  I often tell the kids that their Grandpa Frank would have loved watching them play soccer or going to museums with us.  He was smart - a good teacher - and would have gotten a kick out of all of Evan's questions.  I never doubted his great love for my mom or for any of us kids.

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I'm incredibly fortunate to have my father-in-law.  He has a servant's heart and generous spirit.  He's welcomed me into his family with open arms and heart.  And he is an AMAZING grandpa.  My kids plan to grow up, move out of our house and move in with their grandparents.  (I'm sure that has nothing at all to do with the fact that the grandparents live in Hawaii.  Ha!)  He enjoys the kids so much, and has taught them many things - how to swim, climb stairs, play golf, etc.  We love Papa.  :)

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Today, the kids and I celebrated Emmett and what a great father he is.  We made some Father's Day banners for the living room and gave him a card with their picture on it.  Then we spent the morning at church.  Evan and Corrie picked on each other and whined all the way to church.  It's good to have the authentic fathering experience on Father's Day.  :)

After church, everybody was in much better spirits.  We had leftovers (and ramen) for lunch, then gave Emmett the gift of time.  He got an hour or so to play around on his computer before he and Evan took off for Barnes and Noble.  They browsed around, read some Avengers books and picked out a new Pokemon book for Evan.  Meanwhile, Corrie, Ben and I made some Father's Day cookies - chocolate chip and M&M.  Here she is, ready to start mixing:

While the cookies baked, Ben and Corrie enjoyed some Baby Signing Time.  Ben loved it!

Finally, we met up with the guys at Taco Palenque.  This may be a new Father's Day tradition.  Check out Emmett's assortment of sauces and toppings:

 

I think he tried everything on the salsa bar.
 

And here he is with the kids at dinner. 

 Emmett, I'm thankful for you every day.  You love our kids (and me!) extraordinarily well. 

Happy Father's Day!