Sunday, June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day AK





My darling AK is absolutely the best dad in the world. He does the greatest and sweetest and even not so pleasant things for us because he loves us.

He bathes all three kids every night, because I ask him too, and ever since we had baby Holden, I've been bath paranoid. So he happily goes about singing bath time songs, like Big Rock Candy Mountain and Little Ducky Duddle and more that I had never heard before, and cleaning the kids.

AK takes the boys on special "dates", most recently to Macaroni Grill (we've got a couple hundred dollars worth of Chili's-chain gift certificates ala P&G), and in the past to movies, bowling, and skiing. What four and five year old boy would not love any moment alone with Dad to chat and make goals and talk about their favorite things and just life.

He is the best "night nurse" to our babies, most recently baby P. Fortunately for him, baby P is now totally straight on her night-time sleep. But when she was getting up and had already been fed and otherwise taken care of but totally content to stay wide awake, AK took on the task of staying up with her, as he had with the boys. I got some wonderful sleep on nights he certainly did not, and I am ever grateful for it. And now I see the bond that these night-time visits have created between he & P. She definitely smiled first and most for her Dad. When he comes into the room, and she can hear his voice she gets most excited. As I love having my Momma's boys, I love that P is definitely a Daddy's girl.

AK went skiing for the first time in at least 15 years (he's a snowboarder, I take turns doing both) to take H to Alta (my favorite ski hill and learning place). I wish I could have seen it, but I am sure as funny it may have been, it surpasses all expectations of being heavenly and memorable for H. Also, AK taught H how to ride a "two-wheeler" bike on this past Memorial Day. As a result, this weekend I fulfilled one of my dreams of going on a bike ride with my kid. If you know me, I LOVE riding bikes, any kind. And Saturday morning Holden and I went on a bike ride. It was a perfectly beautiful morning and sharing it with him giggling, and delighted, and pedaling his little one speed as fast as it could go, for the longest ride he'd ever been on was pure joy.

I love reading to my kids, anytime, anywhere, but I know they would always choose AK to read over me, because he does these fabulous voices for the different characters. I tried this a few days ago, and H & O were polite but I could tell they wanted to say "Mom, please stop, you are doing it all wrong."

Just our family got to swim at Kate's pool all by ourselves all day Saturday. O had been waiting all week to show Dad how he could swim by himself. Dad is the only one who O will let catch him when he jumps off the diving board without a life-vest, and Saturday was no exception, but by the end of the day, O had the confidence given to him by his awesome Dad that he was jumping off and swimming alone to the side over and over. And Dad does the greatest jumps off the diving board, even creative new ones, like the arm-less dive, the "bum-jump", the jumping backwards dive, the best screw-driver around, and of course the "cannon-board" to surpass all other "cannon-boards".

I could go on for days how he instinctively takes out the garbage, mows the lawn, re-models the basement, paints bedrooms, unloads the dishwasher, cooks dinner, makes sourdough pancakes, bakes bread, makes cookies, brings home favorite lunch leftovers for me, volunteers at school (well, at least happily goes when I have volunteered him), and many other wonderful and not always pleasant tasks that otherwise may be left unattended for who knows how long. And even though it was "Father's Day Eve", he even vacuumed today.

Finally, and most importantly, AK is an amazing Priesthood-bearing father. His testimony is solid and is reflected in his honest, loyal, and righteous daily living. My kids are so blessed to have such an honorable man as a father. He loves and honors God and his son Jesus Christ, and shows it in his love for his family and quiet and humble service to others. We are so grateful for him for making our family eternal and knowledgeable of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because I certainly would not be capable of it on my own.

Thanks Daddy AK for making our lives so great. Thanks for your hard and loyal work that allows the four of us to play each and every day. We love you and will love you infinity.

4 comments:

Rachel said...

Thanks for making me cry. AK is a wonderful man, husband, and father. We are grateful you have him (and he has you too!). What a perfect match! Love you guys!!

jody said...

Wow, you said it all in such a beautiful way. I am so lucky to be his Aunt Jody, and your wonderful family in my life. Love and Hugs to All!

MarySue said...

dear Annette: As I said to you on the phone this morning, in between crying, this is not only such a loving and deserving tribute to Andy, but a reflection on you and your love. I so appreciate and love you both!!! Words are not adequate for my feelings.

Andy said...

What a wonderful father's day. You deserve equal praise for being such a fun (and funny) madre and loving wife and friend.
p.s. Happy 10th!

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