It's that time again, the time when we get to celebrate our favorite guy and gush about all the wonderful things that he does for us and how we love him so much.
Happy Fathers Day to David (aka best dad EVER)
Of course, the morning started with breakfast in bed and messages about how much we love him.
The rest of the day was focused on his favorite foods, special surprises for him, and spending as much time with him as we each possibly could. The kids were particularly attentive to him and it's sweet to see how much they wanted to show him their love. He means so much to all of us.
Truly, David is such a wonderful dad. Some of my favorite things that he does right now that are particularly great are:
-The Peaden Restaurant. David hosts this occasionally. He writes/types up a menu with loads of different food/side/dessert options (not anything fancy, just mac and cheese vs a hotdog or whatever leftovers we have in the fridge- but there are a lot of options), then he pretends to be a fancy waiter coming to take the order of each of the kids. They love it so much and it makes me smile every time. He's so fun.
-Talking through the kids when I get stuck in a hard place with them. When I'm having a hard time reasoning with one of the kids, I can just say "Lets go talk to Dad about it". We pop in to the room he's using as a work-from-home office and he will stop what he's doing and talk to us about whatever is going on. 99.9% of the time he's able to work out a solution when I'm just not able to. He's patient and a good listener and helps the kids feel validated on the path to a solution.
-He plays games with Austin all the time, even when I know he's exhausted. But Austin loves games and it makes him feel loved to have Daddy play with him.
-He brushes Lydia's hair when it's particularly tangly, or even when she's just gotten out of the bath. Even though Lydia usually does it herself, you can just feel the love radiating from them when he sits cross-legged on the floor to spend that time brushing her hair.
-He plays "Chase the Monster" with Caleb and Lucy and diligently swings Caleb into his bed whenever asked to during the bedtime routine. (Chase the Monster is a run around the house while Dad chases you game. Lydia called it that when she was little and it stuck.) The kids never get tired of playing this with him and beg for it often.
-He teaches the Come Follow Me lesson most Sundays (I usually teach it during the week) and his lessons are always on-point and engaging. When the kids hear dad is doing the lesson, they cheer. I love David's testimony and his humble determination to teach his children of the things that are important.
-I have a pretty time-consuming calling and David takes a lot of the load while I'm in meetings on Sunday or at Saturday baptisms (plus other meetings during the week). We are such a great team together and knowing that he's there taking care of our children without complaint makes it so much easier for me to focus on fulfilling my calling. I often call him the Assistant to the President because I couldn't do what I do without him.
And I would be remiss if I didn't include a shout-out to our dads, too. The best dads we could have asked for and two of the greatest Grandpa's around. We are so grateful for their love and care throughout our childhoods and well into our adulthood. We depend on them for so much and are blessed to have them in our lives.
