Being a Daddy

I know it is a day late, but hey I am a busy guy. I thought I would make a quick post on why I love being a Dad for Fathers Day. I guess I will start with a quote that has always stuck in my mind that my own Father said at my Mission Farewell. "When you are young boy you dream of being as big and strong as your dad. He knows everything and is the greatest help to you. Then you become a teenager and suddenly your Father is a pain, making life a hassle and not letting you do anything. On top of that in a matter of years you notice that he went from knowing everything to being Dumb and not knowing how anything works. Finally at some point you realize that you want to become your Dad and just hope that you can fill his shoes and be as great of a Man as he is. This is usually the point where you become and Adult and realize your Father is not only a good man but the Greatest Man." he then said He hoped that he had made his father proud, and I echo that sentiment in that I hope to make my Father and now my Father in Law proud of me. I Love that as a Dad you get to raise kids and struggle with the Hard Headed and lazy (you can figure out which of my kids fall into which). I love that I have three girls each different from the other. Reagan will always be held to a higher standard but that is what the oldest gets. She is the greatest blessing in the way she has forced me to become even more patient and understanding. Kairi, will always have a smile to make my day and is always able to show me the happy part of life. I love her as she never seems to be mad, ever! Even if you are mad at her, she will just cry and make you feel horrible or smile that smile that you have to love. Tahlia our baby is a blessing in that she will always be the Baby (look at her she is tiny). She seems more like Reagan temperment wise, but hey she has three great examples of how to get into stuff and what to do. I love that she is willing to do anything and show courage already in all that she does. That brings me to my Boy Camden, I can only hope that he can be proud of me as a Dad and that I can forge a Relationship like I have with my dad. The boy is a Freight Train but has the heart and compassion of a Teddy Bear. I love that if you do not see him for like an hour and then come back to see him you would think it had been months. I love all my kids and am so Happy to have had a great Fathers Day with them. I love you kids.

Dad.

Random

Tahlia and Camden have been doing some random cute things lately. Tahlia loves shoes! She will put on any shoe she can. We were waiting for the girls to dance at an arts festival and Tahlia was trying on their tap shoes. She is also starting to grow hair. One morning her hair was totally crazy... so we had to take a picture! We just laughed. Camden is loving to set the table. I didn't even know he could. About a week ago I set the plates and silverware on the table and kept fixing dinner. Next thing I new Camden had set the table and he did a great job! Now he does it all the time. Cute kids.

More Memorial Day Pictures

I was just looking through pictures and found these. We were outside playing with new and old toys.

Alan's Work Party

Last Saturday, Alan had his work party. This was also Camden's birthday and the day after I finished school for the year. Alan wanted Camden to have a soccer jersey, so we gave that to him Saturday morning. The game didn't start until 8 o'clock. We were a little worried about the kids, but they did great. It was a little chilly, but not bad. The kids enjoyed the game for the most part. They loved getting snacks! Alan got food vouchers for all of us from work. We told the kids if they ate their dinner then they could get treats at the game. Reagan was so excited to get cotton candy. The food vouchers didn't end up working on the cotton candy, weird I know. She was heart broken. We didn't bring cash because we didn't know we would need it. So we owe her cotton candy. Other than that it was great. David Archuleta sang a few songs after the game as part of a charity thing. The kids had fun jumping and dancing. Then we went home. We got home around 11 and went to be immediately. Church came too quickly Sunday morning!














He had his back to us most of the time, so I had to take a picture of the screen to see his face.

Duncan's & Doty's

Bryce and Mary came the Thursday before Memorial Day to spend some extra time before the birthday party. Friday, after work, we went swimming and had a picnic. Camden wasn't feeling to well so he and I didn't swim. I brought Camden's swimming suit just in case he felt good enough. After we had been swimming for about 45 minutes Camden started feeling better. He started throwing a ball into the pool to Alan and then Alan would throw it back. Before we knew it, Camded was soaked! So we changed him into his swimming suit when it was time to go. Bryce and Alan had gone golfing that morning and Alan had taken the day off. So I asked him to pack the dinner so we could go when I got home. We had decided to have sandwiches, chips, etc. He did a great job packing expect for one things... plates! He forgot plates! We were all hungry after swimming so this presented a little bit of an challenge. Everyone was a good sport and we had a great time. The kids played on the toys after we ate... we had a great evening. Thanks for coming guys!

Camden is 2

I can't believe that Camden is 2! Time is going by fast. It seems like he as been with us longer than 2 years. He is such a good boy. He loves playing with his sisters, especially Tahlia. He takes such good care of her. He loves any activity that involves a ball. He loves to throw them and kick them. If he is feeling shy, mad or sad and we want to distract him all we have to say is, "Were is the ball?" and he totally switches gears. One skill he has been working on mastering for the past few weeks in drop kicking a ball. No one showed him this, but he loves doing it! I love hearing him laugh as he plays... his laugh is very infectious. Tahlia is trying to learn to kick the ball and Camden is very patient as she kicks a ball back to him. There are great friends. A few weeks ago we had a family birthday to celebrate Camden, Dane and Reagan's birthdays. Reagan had already had a friend party so this was more about the boys. Mary got this idea rolling. My family all came from Idaho over Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, the girls got up and went shopping, and then we did the party in the late afternoon. We went to Riverton Park and let the kids play while Alan and Bryce went and got some chicken. We had brought salads, fruit, chips, etc to eat with the chicken. After we ate we had a football pinata, which was the toughest pinata I have ever seen. It was hard to break open! Thank Mary for the pinata. After the pinata we sang happy birthday and had cake. Mary also found a great football cake mold. She made a football cake with the boys names on it... Poor Camden had been getting some teeth for the past few days so when it came time for cake the medicine and worn off so he wasn't really into eating the cake... Dane made up for it though. Reagan had requested cup cakes, so we had cup cakes for the rest of us to eat. After we cleaned up the kids got to open gifts. They all got spoiled. We started off trying to open them slowly but it soon become a free for all! I was trying to take pictures but there was too much going on... so much that I forgot to take a picture of Camden's big present a basketball hoop. The party was a huge success but everyone was tired and ready to leave around 8. Parties are fun but wow... I'm glad I'm done for another year! Thank you everyone for coming! Thanks Mary for doing so much work for this. Happy birthday everyone but especially Camden. We are so glad you are in our family!






Fabulous cake... thanks Mary!










Reagan was so excited when she opened her present from Jannuzzi's!


Camden loved his golf set for Leslie and Tyson!


I love this picture. The bat is blurry but look at Dane's face... he new what he was doing!




Poor Camden... he had no color in his face.


How many Grandpa's does it take to put together a big wheel?


Camden and Dane playing with Camden's new big wheel... Dane was pushing Camden.

Dance Recital

The girls have finished their first year of dance. They had their recital at West Jordan Middle on May 29. They did such a good job. I'm so proud of them. Reagan got make-up from Jannuzzi's for her birthday and just had to wear it to the recital. She did a pretty good job of putting on the eye shadow (I helped with the rest). She keeps asking if she can wear make up to school, church, etc. So far she is just taking no for the answer and not pushing the issue... some day I know that will change! Kairi wanted Reagan to do her makeup too. It was so cute watching Reagan put it on her. She said a lot of the things I have said to them... hold still, shut your eyes, open her eyes and let me see... things sound so funny coming out of their mouths. The girls have loved dancing and "being on stage" as they call it. They are ready for a break, but are already talking about next year. Here are a few snap shots of the recital. Good job girls!

Hair

Tahlia just keeps doing things that make her more grown up! The past few weeks she has been climbing up on the stool in the kids bathroom and trying to comb her hair! She usually does this in the morning while we are quickly getting ready so I just barely took pictures. She loves climbing up... even if someone is already standing on it. We love Tahlia!