Happy Father's Day!

"The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God, and I call him Dad!"
~~Author Unknown.

Father's Day is such a special day for me to celebrate!  First, because I'm still lucky to have my Dad around and to have such a wonderful Dad.  My Dad rocks!  He has always loved, encouraged and supported me, he always makes me laugh, he has put me in line when I needed it, and he has shown me how to grow and love as a Christian! 

When I was younger my Dad would show up to school on Valentines Day and bring me flowers...at the time I was mortified because the office would call me down, and being very shy I hated any attention on me.  Secretly, I loved that he did that and it's something I will never forget.  I know that my Dad loved me and just wanted to show it!  Also, every Christmas Eve he would take me out shopping and I was able to pick out something just for me that he would buy...I looked forward to that time with him every year, it was so much fun shopping together!

"I'm as lucky as can be, for the

world's best dad belongs to me!"

My Dad is not just an awesome Dad...but an awesome Peepaw as well!  All of his grandkids just can't get enough of him!  When Dad shows up, their faces light up and they all run to Peepaw sometimes ignoring and outright passing others just to get to him! When Natalie sees him, she starts yelling Pa Pa and once she is in his arms...she won't let him put her down.  Natalie saw Peepaw at church, during a service and just had to scream his name until we finally let her be with him!  She also screams his name everytime she sees a red truck!  Peepaw lets them crawl all over him, he tickles them and plays with their piggies(toes). He explores nature with them and is usually laughing non stop when he's around them!  Peepaw loves his grandkids and they love Peepaw! 

"A father is neither an anchor to hold us back,

nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way."

Derek's had two great examples of how to be an awesome Dad...and it shows, he is a wonderful Dad!!  Derek's Dad is unfortunately no longer with us but taught Derek how to love with everything he has.  His Dad loved his family so much and always showed it!  He was fun, sweet, caring, loving, hard working and put his family first always.  He would have loved to meet Natalie but we know how he would have loved her just by seeing how he was with his other granddaughter Emma!  His face would just light up when he was with her! 

Even before we found out I was pregnant, I knew Derek would be a great Dad, he has always been great with kids!  The love he has for Natalie just melts my heart!  As most of you know, Natalie has had difficulty with feeding since she was born and has been ill many times.  I'm so blessed to have a husband that stuck by my side, and did just as much as I did to make those tough sometimes huge situations seem like small nothings!  We still feed Natalie a bottle every night around midnight and when Dada does the feed, I go in the room to kiss her and she is usually done eating and laying on Derek's chest just as comfy as can be.  He is usually rubbing her head gently and playing with her hair a little and kissing the top of her head. He is just the sweetest Dad ever!  Natalie is one blessed little girl to have such a wonderful Dada!

"My finger may be small but I can still wrap my Dada around it."