My dad's the greatest guy...

"and my dad's the nicest guy,

and my dad's the neatest guy of any guy in town.

maybe I'll introduce ya,

then you'll know that it's the truth...

that my dad, my dad's the greatest guy around!"

Yes. I did just bring up a childhood favorite on the blog.

When I was just a little kiddo, I used to LOVE cassette tapes! Definitely the best and hippest thing ever. Anyway, I can STILL remember these hilarious songs, which is probably because I used to sit in my room and sing them at the top of my lungs.

The song above was definitely in my top 5 of favorites.

I was TOTALLY a daddy's girl growing up, so I pretty much believed this song was written about MY dad. Geez, I always thought how considerate those tape singing writing people were.

The padre's birthday was this weekend and it just

so happened that he was in town so we could celebrate it together!

I love my dad for many reasons,

1. Seriously. The song says it all. He really is the greatest guy around. He loves his family more than anything. Even with his busy work and church schedule, he has always kept family his #1. When I was in elementary school, my dad wanted to make sure he was involved. Every week for seriously 5 years, my dad would come to read to whichever class I was in, for library. The kids in my grade were obsessed with him because of all the funny voices he did while he was reading to us.

My dad's innocent. This has two meanings: First, he would never do anything to hurt anyone (unless you're a teenager smashing pumpkins in our neighborhood...then he might lift you up by the neck of your shirt and give you a piece of his mind). Second, he wore this shirt (see below) in Jamaica and was confused why people were asking if he wanted drugs (the shirt was from Quiznos).

Even though he's innocent... he's also hilarious, even when he's not trying to be (example that only family members will understand...the little event on the cruise with the picture swap). He also likes to make up songs all the time. They've always been ridiculous and funny.

My dad has always been supportive of J and me. Ever since JD was leaving on a mission, he has given me advice (my mom and dad were a similar story). He never questioned the fact that I knew I wanted to marry J. He loves him and is so excited to call him his son.

Dad loves taking family trips...even if they're simple. He is always the one coordinating things. I was just telling JD that for years, my dad wanted our family to go see Cirque de Soleil but us kids never wanted to go. We're mean.

Really though, dad always invites me on the trips (except for this year... stupid elementary school duties) even when I've been in college.

Dad's all about education. Seriously. He has always been like that. When we were younger and we had a book fair at school, he would let us buy as many books as we wanted. I used to take advantage of this slightly... I would pick out all the books that came with necklaces and charms. All throughout my education, he would stay up with me through all hours of the night helping me get math problems down. I can still remember one night where he laid out a million lollipops to help me with a word problem (yeah... I've always been a little slow mathematically). Once it was time to start filling out college applications, he was right there next to me checking all of my essays and helping me out.

My dad cares about me...always has, always will. He's not afraid to show his emotions and what he's thinking when he's proud of you. Example 1: In Junior High my dad was dropping me off at school one evening so I could go to the basketball game (woot, woot!). I still remember as he was dropping me off, he told me how proud of me he was and that as long as I kept being good, he would let me do things I wanted.

Example 2: When I was elected as Student Body President, I called my dad. I didn't tell my family I was running, mostly because I didn't want to have to tell them if I didn't win. Welp, I did and when I called him he was in a meeting. He picked up anyway and the second I told him, he told me that he was getting teared up and he was so proud of me.

Example 3: I have at least three letters that my dad has written to me (mostly while I was a teenager). I still read them every once in a while and cry every single time I do because he's so great.

He's a trooper. He sat through EVERY single one of the games I cheered at in high school...which was a lot. For the first two out of four years, he even recorded every single game. It got a little repetitive after a while, so we both agreed he could stop.

He also put up with all my girl drama. There were some really fabulous girls in high school who pretty much loved me (I hope you're catching onto the sarcasm). Once they poured flour all over my car and let it freeze in the snow. AWESOME.

The first person I called was my dad, who immediately came and picked me and the car up. He stood at a carwash in the snow and cleaned off my entire car. Girls ROCK, huh?

Lastly, I know my dad has a testimony. That is one of the greatest things about him. Because he knows, he acts. He loves to serve the people around him... no matter how tired he is, he does it because he knows how important it is.

I love my dad and I hope he knows it!

Happy birthday pops!