Pappy!

This month is such a special one; it's birthday time for you.

We'd really like to celebrate your happy day with you.

Zipadeeay and heighdeeho, here's something we can do.

We'll sing a song that we all know, Happy Birthday to you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPPY!!!

I have many fond memories of going to Bear Lake for our family vacations while I was growing up.  Dad's boss owned a condo up there, so we went there most every year.  Dad used to stress a lot  trying to get all 9 kids ready and up there, but we always had a nice time when we got there.  I don't remember him having dark hair like he has in the picture above.  I guess having 9 kids must have stressed the color right out of his hair.

There was one time that Dad and Jon found a trail for us to hike.  It went to a lake, so we packed a lunch and planned to hike to the lake and enjoy the beauty as we ate our lunch and then hike back.  They picked a lake that was named "Red Lake."  Unfortunately there were no pictures of this lake, so they didn't know how "beautiful" it would be.  When we finally got up to the lake it was hideous.  I think there were cow pies all over the place and it smelled awful.  The lake was not kept up at all.  It had a bunch of algae or moss or something and looked disgusting.  We ended up going a ways away from the lake to eat our lunch.  Despite the disgusting lake, we actually had a very fun time.  As we hiked down we made up this song sung to the "Sound Off" army tune where one person leads and the rest repeat each line:

Dad and Jon they picked a trail

(Dad and Jon they picked a trail)

They led us straight down to ...

(They led us straight down to ...)

Red lake was a hiker's trap

(Red lake was a hiker's trap)

It looked and smelled like a pile of Crap!

(It looked and smelled like a pile of Crap!)

Sound Off 1, 2, 3, 4

Wow, I was a little crass back then!  :)

Dad was always very supportive of all of the missionaries from our family.  You could always tell just how much he loved his children when missionaries would come home because the moment he hugged them, he would start crying.

Dad was a good sport about things.  He often did family activities that he did not want to do because Mom wanted to do them.  The 4 girls went with mom and dad to the Oregon coast on a vacation one year.  I remember one afternoon we were just sitting on the balcony of our hotel room talking and laughing.  There were 2 different conversations going on.  I said something about boys being scared of me and then I heard dad say, "Well yeah, if all you look at are the hips."  He wasn't talking to me, but I didn't know that and it sounded like he was saying that boys were scared of me because of my enormous hips!  We laughed about that for a long time.

Pappy is a great big teddy bear.  He talks like he's all tough, but deep down, he's a softy.  I remember he asked me to teach him the basic step to a slow dance for my wedding.  When we actually started dancing, he broke down crying and didn't even try to do the dance.  I felt so special knowing that he loved me so much that it moved him to tears.

Pappy has a great sense of humor.  He's very handy and was always fixing or improving things around the house while we were growing up.  He is also a very good teacher.  He taught my Sunday School class when I was about 12 or 13 and I remember being impressed with how much he knew.  He also taught by example.  I remember him taking us to the stake peach farm several times to thin peaches while we were growing up.  He is a great man and a wonderful father.  He is one of the best examples I know of someone who has come unto Christ and allowed himself to be changed.

Thank you Daddy!  I love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!