Happy Birthday Dad!

I realize I'm a day early on wishing my dad a happy birthday, but we will be traveling on his actual birthday. I wish I had a picture of my dad to post too, but that will have to come later.

I seriously have THE BEST DAD in the world,I know that everyone says that about their own dad, but seriously, mine's the best. Other people, non-family members, even tell me how lucky I am to have such a great dad. I am so grateful to have been raised in a home where I knew my dad loved me, my siblings, and my mom, unconditionally. I always knew I could talk to my dad about anything and that he would always, listen, be patient, be empathetic,and understanding.

Growing up in a house with my dad was a lot of fun. I remember Sai-Soo (however you would spell that), Doggie-Doggie Find That Bone, The Tiger on the Stairs,"Help,Friends,Cousins,come quickwee!", Bow-Wow-Ski-Whatindoddle, and Knee Football. My dad had nicknames and still keeps coming up with nicknames for everyone.
His nicknames never really make any sense but I think everyone gets excited when they get one. :)He's very creative and I've always loved hearing stories,songs he's changed the words to, new nicknames, slogans he's come up with, jingles he's made up, and the different voices he uses. I think he's pretty funny too.

Through my dad's example, I've learned that it's important to always listen to both sides of the story and to not be quick to judge. While my dad was bishop of our ward I would notice him at youth activities always talking to the kids who didn't have many friends in the ward. He's a friend to everyone. It seems like everyone is instantly attracted to my dad and likes him right off the bat.

When I was in high school, I got grounded, A LOT! It was my own dumb fault of course, but at the time I thought it was totally and completely unfair. I remember I would cry and feel way sorry for myself, and my dad would be in the same room as me and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. I hated it at the time, but he would make me laugh too because I would realize how ridiculous I sounded. Now, I really like that quality about my dad though, he never makes things more dramatic than they need to be, and doesn't take life too seriously. He doesn't sweat the small stuff.

My dad is super generous with his time,services,and money. He's mentioned to our family before how he wishes he could give us more. I always feel bad when he says that, because he has no idea how much he has truly given us.

My dad set a great example of how a husband and father should treat their family. In dating I always looked for someone with qualities like my dad.(Good news, I found a winner.)

This tribute doesn't even come close to describing how much my dad means to me. Dad, I think you're the best, funniest, nicest, most generous, loving, creative, patient, understanding, BESTEST man. Happy Birthday! I love you!

Paris

Anita's birthday present to Seth was an all expense paid trip to Paris! We had such a great time. We started off seeing Notre Dame, then headed over to the Eiffel Tower. Of course, we got panda picture there. After the Eiffel Tower we saw a place that was renting bicycles for only 2 euros an hour! We all got bikes and rode up Champsd' Elysees, past the Arc de Triumphe (the roundabout was pretty scary), and up to Montmarte. We saw all the artists, got a crepe (yum!), saw the Sacre-Coeur,and then headed back to return our bikes. After all of that we still had 2 hours to spend it the Louvre. It was such a great day! Thanks so much for taking us Anita!

WICKED!

Seth, Nicole, and I spend the last two days in London. We saw all the major things like, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament,and the London Bridge. The biggest high point of all was seeing Wicked! I loved it so much I almost cried and Nicole loved it so much she did cry! It was a surprise from Seth, I knew we were going to London but I didn't know we were seeing a play. He told me the week before we came out to Europe. I was so excited!

We saw Stonehenge and that was pretty awesome too. We went mainly for, you guessed it, a panda picture. I'm way glad we went though, it was cool.

Greece Photos

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The Panda

When Seth was living in Houston, his friend's mom made him a panda bear suit. Since then, Seth has taken the suit on all major vacations to get postcard shots in front of famous buildings, bridges, monuments, etc. So far he has Mount Rushmore, The Golden Gate Bridge, The Parthenon, The Colosseum, and a few others that I can't remember. By the end of the summer he will also have the Eifel Tower and Stonehenge. I was first introduced to the Panda when Seth and I were dating last summer and went to San Francisco for his Ironman Triathalon. At first I thought it was really weird but I think the pictures are hilarious. I think this is the best one so far...look how much air he got!

Ewwww!!!!

One of the first things I noticed at the beach in Greece was how many gross people were walking around half naked, boobs exposed, back hair all nappy, and people popping each other zits. Nice. I decided to start a photo collection entitled: The Grossest Things I Saw in Europe. Here's a sneak peak...