Happy Birthday Old Man!!!

I am so amazingly lucky to have the parents I do. Two people who have supported us all the way and today one of them turns 60!!! Dad is officially the big 6-0! He is an amazing man that has been far more than a father to me. He has been my friend, teacher, dance partner, camping buddy, bully (yes, he teases! relentlessly!), sounding board and so much more. I'm so lucky to have him and so excited to celebrate this milestone with him!!

Through the years he has given me and taught me so many valuable lessons. School was always very important to him. He made sure to support us all the way through our college graduations. He also taught me to have fun and enjoy the outdoors any chance I can (I'm the closest to a little boy he got, and I will forever share our love of dirt!). The importance of laughing and laughing at yourself! He showed us the importance of family and love. And one of his lessons for family came in the most meaningful ways I have ever experienced. We were down in T or C, New Mexico visiting my Grandma Carol as she was battling brain cancer. For as long as I could remember my dad always had a mustache and Grandma always wanted to see him without it. That night, dad went into the bathroom and slowly shaved the entire thing. I remembered how funny he looked for so long. I alway used to think he looked like a goose as I couldn't remember a time with my dad's "naked" lip and that lip looked so HUGE! But more important than that was how happy he made my Grandma. To this day, he still has his "naked" lip.

Sometimes his lessons weren't so obvious or moving, but they were always there. I am so very lucky to have my dad, and I will always be my daddy's little girl! Happy Birthday Dad! Here's to the next 60!!