Father's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day this year. It started out bright and early in the morning, about 6:30 a.m. when one of our fire alarms decided that it's battery was too low and started to chirp at us. I got up to try to figure out which alarm it was coming from but by the time I figured out which one it was, David had gotten up, too. So much for sleeping in on Father's Day. Instead, he was a hero and changed the battery before it woke up any of the kids (and so I wouldn't have to stand precariously on a chair at 9 months pregnant). 

 It was a special Father's day for me (Shantel) because my Dad came down and stayed for the weekend. (Mom has been here for several days and Dad came to join us.) It was such a wonderful day to celebrate these two wonderful Fathers in my life. My own Father who is funny, kind, giving, faithful, and supportive. He's a fabulous Grandfather and the only thing I love more than having him as my dad is seeing him as a Grandpa. There's not much better than a dingbump from Grandpa Walker. And David, who is the best dad to our kids. He makes them laugh, he gets down on their level to teach them things, he helps them work through their emotions, and he takes 100% ownership of his role as parent, father, and leader.

I was blessed with an incredible father as I grew up and I am grateful every day for the blessing that David is to our family. I feel that Lydia, Austin, Caleb, and soon-to-be Lucy are among the luckiest kids in the entire world.

I would be remiss if I didn't add David's Dad who makes a trio of wonderful Fathers for our little family. Cal is gracious, hard-working, generous, and full of kind words. He happily gives the kids fruit snacks every time they come to his house (even when they aren't particularly patient about asking him the very second that they arrive). He reads to them, chases them around the house, and takes them out to play on the treehouse in the backyard. He raised David to be an incredible man and he continues to teach and support and love. We are so grateful for him. 

We went to church then came home for a nice relaxing afternoon, including some family study time, card games, and a little Father's Day Party.  I asked my dad to give me a blessing, and he gave me a beautiful blessing for my upcoming labor that was full of peace and love. I was grateful to receive that blessing from my Dad on Father's Day

I bought David a super-awesome jacket that turns into a backpack. It was a Shark-Tank special. We saw it on an episode and thought it was so neat and so I decided to get one for him. The day that it arrived in the mail I just couldn't get out to the mailbox, but David had had a busy day at work so I thought that he wouldn't get the mail on the way home. But he did!  I was so disappointed because David really likes surprises and I'm surprisingly bad at keeping things a surprise. Ugh. The package was marked with a big "QuickFlip" logo and there was no way he could have missed it. I was lamenting this to my mom and then decided that I would get him a second Father's Day present and really surprise him. I bought a long shelf and set up all of our Logan paraphernalia underneath a picture and our USU diplomas. We used to have the Logan stuff out on a little shelf, but it's been in storage since... well.. since we moved to this house over six years ago. I hung the pictures up a couple of months ago, but I love the way this turned out. David was surprised when he saw it on Friday (as an early FD gift) and really liked it - and then when I gave him his QuickFlip jacket on Sunday he was still surprised and so happy! He said that he didn't see the package - which I honestly think he's lying about because he doesn't want me to feel bad - but either way I feel good about getting a few small things that show David how much I love him. Because I love him, and he deserves all the things, way more than my tiny budget can afford.  

We love this David-Dad of ours. He's the best of the best - and particularly the very best for us. I pray every single day my heartfelt gratitude that he is in my life and that I'm the one that gets to travel this journey with him. 

To make this Father's day extra-special, I'd been having fairly consistent contractions all day, after all of the partying, dinner-eating/clean-up, and bedtime routine my contractions started getting closer and intense enough that we decided to head to the hospital in anticipation of the arrival of our new little Lucy-love. Although she wasn't born until the following morning, becoming a father, for the fourth time, is quite a special way to spend your Father's Day. 

Happy Father's Day, David. We all love and adore you.