Thanks Dad

    Alright Dad, it's your turn. I could write you your own book of thank you's as well. And I think I'll just jump right in.

    Thank you for being silly. Thank you for coming home from work and playing with us. Thank you for taking a risk and taking a job in Indiana so you could provide for us. Thank you for working a job you didn't enjoy for a long time so that we could be comfortable. Thank you for making us laugh. Thank you for your Power Rangers impersonation. Thank you for driving us to Utah every Thanksgiving, no matter the weather. Thank you for doing your best to come to as many of my games and concerts as you possibly could. Thank you for not yelling at me when I whined about having to weed the stupid bushes. Thank you for being more worried about me than the car when I rolled it. Thank you for intimidating the boys I hung out with. They were absolutely terrified to get me home later than my curfew. Thank you for protecting me. Thank you for giving me special treatment because I am your only little girl. Thank you for not pressuring me to be in track or cross country even though you probably wanted me to. Thank you for coaching my soccer team. Thank you for supporting my dream to go to BYU even though you can't stand them. Thank you for being humble about your success as an athlete. Thank you for taking me to Put-Put Golf 'n Games. Thank you for taking me with you to pick Grandma up from the airport. I think of that day every time I hear, "I can see clearly now the rain is gone." Thank you for showing me that just because we get older doesn't mean we have to grow all the way up. Thank you for being cool about us teasing you about spiders bouncing on your tummy. Thank you for building us a beautiful house. Thank you for trying to be mad at us when we kept laughing during family prayer. Thank you for every time you said it's time for a "family council." Thank you for pulling us on a sled attached to the truck. Thank you for letting me drive your old truck. Sorry I killed it. Thank you for only yelling at me that one time. Thank you for thinking I am so brave because I jumped off that high dive when I was 5 and forgetting all the times I was paralyzed with fear because of thunderstorms and tornadoes. Or all the times I came into your bed at night because I was scared of monsters or the dark or a nightmare I'd had. Thank you for your safe safe arms. Those arms are the only place I ever felt truly safe in all my life. Until I met Tyler. Now I have two sets of arms that make me feel safe. Thank you for showing me the kind of man I should look for. Thank you for showing me how a real man treats his wife and kids. Thank you for showing me that a man shows love and kindness and helps the people around them. Thank you for playing your guitar for me when I wanted to fall asleep to it. Thank you for playing your guitar with me while I played the piano. Thank you for not making me play the piano at church. Thank you for teaching us the Waltzing With Bears song.
     Thank you for giving Tyler your blessing to marry me even though you'd only met him 3 days earlier. You know, I always knew that you understood me better than most, but the night Tyler proposed I learned that you knew me better than I ever knew. I asked him how his conversation with you had gone and he told me that you had said that he needed to make sure he was always honest with me; that trust was a big deal to me, and that if I lost that trust in him, he would lose me. I had never said that to anyone. Ever. I was amazed that you knew me so well. Thank you for knowing me. Thank you for understanding me. Thank you for understanding that I don't necessarily want to talk about things, but I like to just sit with you sometimes. Thanks for doing puzzles with me. Thanks for the Easter Bunny clues. Especially the one that made one of the boys (maybe Jake) have to go outside into the freezing cold.
     Thank you for your praise. I have confidence in myself because of it. Thank you for spoiling me. The year that Kale was born and Tyler was working football, I was talking to you on the phone and I mentioned that if BYU made a bowl game that Tyler would be leaving for the game the day after Christmas and be gone for a week. I was just telling you because you had asked about his football involvement and it was just part of the conversation. The NEXT DAY, mom called me and told me that you were going to come and spend Christmas at Grandma's house in Ogden that year, and now Kale and I could spend that week up in Ogden with you instead of alone. Thank you for coming to my rescue that Christmas and so many other times without me even kind of asking you to.
     Thank you for being excited to be a Grandpa. Thank you for accepting the nickname of Pop-Pop even though you wanted it to be Boomer. Thank you for being as silly with my kids as you were with us. Thank you for coming to see them as much as you could. Thank you for being there the day Kale was born. Thank you for putting my shoes on for me when it was time to go to the hospital. Do you remember? My feet were so swollen you couldn't get normal shoes on, so you very very very very kindly asked if I could maybe just wear flip-flops? It still makes me laugh thinking about it.
   Thank you for being the best daddy a girl could ask for. I am so grateful I didn't have a sister to compete with. I'm so glad that you were all mine. Thank you for calling me princess. Thank you for helping me get ready for that 10K. Thank you for being the hashtag king. Thank you for always being there.
    Your influence on my life is everywhere. I look a lot like mom, and she and I share a lot of interests, but you and I share a lot of personality traits. And I imagine that is why you have always understood me so well, because we think alike. I definitely would not be the person I am today without you.

I la lu, Daddy.