Father's Day

Devri wanted me to write the Father's day post, but let's be honest, this is really about the shots of the kids mostly.  To prove my point, see the pictures below.  I made it into a grand total of 1 out of 11 pictures.  To be clear, I had a fantastic Father's day and loved every minute of it.  Devri teased me a few days before and suggested that I was getting an outdoor tool like an edger or something.  I wasn't too excited about an outdoor thing since all I really wanted was a table saw.  But on Saturday morning, she gave me a table saw.  I spent the rest of the day cutting floors for our castle playhouse like a giddy schoolgirl if giddy schoolgirls used table saws.

On Sunday, Devri made me breakfast before church.  Keep in mind, Devri loves cereal and really never makes breakfast (except when we do it for dinner), so it was awesome for me.  She also made one of my favorite meals for dinner that night.  Just to warn you, I'm about to give a public shout-out to Devri here, in case you want to skip it and say "get a room" or something similar.  Thanks honey!

That night we went to see my dad at a concert in the park in Provo that he was directing with the Utah Premier Brass.  Here's some shots of the kids and dad at the concert:

Rachel loves her little camping chair, she just kept sitting in it and standing up and sitting in it just about all night.  It's hard to resist those pig tails and cheeks, so we had to get pictures as proof that she can, indeed, sit in a chair.

I really miss playing in my dad's bands.  This made me want to play again and try out for the UPB.  Maybe someday.

Michael actually really enjoyed the concert I think.  Only on the last song of an hour long concert did he ask about doing something else.  He especially liked the mission impossible theme if I remember right.

Rachel again.  She's our daughter.  We like her.

Partway through the concert, they do a "children's march" through all the people in the park.  All the kids come up while dad gets a volunteer director (usually a kid) to wave the baton while he leads the kids through the concert crowd.  Rachel was lucky and got to walk with him this time at the front.  This is my favorite part of these concerts since I spent most of my childhood in similar concerts in the park every week for Marshall's band in Topeka.  They had little flags that they gave to all the kids and did a children's march.  Apparently dad bought flags for the kids for the last concert that they did this year in June, but we missed it due to vacations (stay tuned for more vacation info).

Those children's marches are some of my strongest and best loved memories from my childhood, so it's great to see my kids getting the same thing.  I also remember catching fireflies, but that's not really possible here in Utah.  I'm considering lobbying the local government to import them.  Not really, but it's a cool idea.

Say hello to the random lady eating some food.

Papa and Rachel.  

It's me! The one on the right.  In the blue.  I'm a guy.

After the concert, we stayed and talked for awhile, and before we knew it, Michael had done this to himself.  I think he might have been a little bored by that point, but we'll never know for sure.  We call it "Michael wearing a chair".

Ethan taught Rachel knuckles just before this, so dad was doing it with her over and over, and she just laughed every time.  Here's the action shot.

I don't think I tell this to enough people, but my dad has always been my hero and the person I want to be most like.  I've tried in so many ways to copy what he did for me growing up (some on purpose, some not on purpose).  I love my dad and just love every chance I get to see him and my mom.

Devri and my dad made my Father's day awesome, and that's all I have to say about that.