This Daddy is a Sugar

I know some people discount the idea of Father's Day, Mother's Day, Pet Rat's Day, etc. as simply elaborate greeting card business corporate schemes, but I really do like having a day that we acknowledge how much we love and appreciate certain people in our lives. Sometimes we go too long without saying the things that we may be thinking all along.

Father's Day does seem to often get the short end of the stick. At church, the moms always get a flower or a CD on their special day; while the dads typically get..well, nothing. Missionaries (in the LDS church) get to call home on Mother's Day and Christmas..not so on Father's Day. One time when my dad was bishop of our church congregation, he decided during the first hour of church on Mother's Day that he would cancel the rest of the church meetings in honor of our mothers, with the stipulation that we all go home and spend time with our moms (for those who don't know, we Mormons go to church for a whopping 3 hours every Sunday). That was one of the best days ever, and though he got into a little trouble over it, we've never forgotten the consideration he had for the mothers in the congregation that day (heehee.. we all know he was as happy as anyone to get out of church early!). I love my dad--not just because he let us skip out on church, but because he is a wonderful, supportive person and father.

So, we decided to give Derek a special day today. He enjoyed a steak dinner with roasted vegetables, salad, and mango lassi:

Ava styled his hair for him:

And we let him take a nap, totally undisturbed (well... that would have been unrealistic now, don't you think?):

Ava even let him nap with her beloved dolls, Hon-Ton and JoJoSap:

And as a bonus, at church today, all the men got bags of cookies (!).

When I married Derek, there were many reasons I loved him. And one of the fascinating things about marriage is that, over the years, you look back and start to realize how many other things you have discovered about your spouse that you love--and that you had no idea about when you first fell in love. Since Derek and I have had children, I have learned that my soulmate happens to be a phenomenal father. I suspected that he would be, but I have now had it confirmed. He is so loving, gentle, and devoted. In order to make his daughters happy and entertained, he will spend hours singing, dancing, story-telling, and playing. He creates elaborate games for Ava (such as her current favorite, "Knee," which involves stuffed animals climbing up and then sliding off of his knee), and then repeats them for incredible lengths of time. He thinks about his girls constantly, plans for them, worries about them, takes pride in them, and loves them endlessly. They probably don't realize how lucky they are to have him as their dad, but I do.

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.