Monday, March 23, 2009

Happy Birthday Dad!

With lack of something interesting to write about, I thought I'd write about my Dad's bday 5 days early.

Here are some memories I have of my Dad:

When I was 14 or 15, my father was put in as the Young Men's quorum president and he was in charge of our High Adventure trips. We went up to Durango and went hiking, white water rafting, and mountain biking. The mountain biking turned out to be the highlight of the trip for me. It was 25 miles through a beautiful mountain pass. There was probably 20 of us and once we got out on the trail, we all went our own pace. To this day, it is still one of my favorite memories. There were a lot of times where I was completely by myself, where I couldn't see the person in front of me and I couldn't see the person behind me. I was enjoying the scenery and the sounds of the mountain. The other nice thing is that the trail was mostly in the shade so it wasn't too hot. To keep people from getting lost, my father was riding behind everyone else. And he followed REALLY behind. He got to the end of the trail a whole hour and a half after the person before him. He denies that it was because he was slow though. He just says that "he was enjoying the sights".

My dad and I would go to the climbing gym quite a bit when I was younger. I actually preferred it over real climbing because it didn't take long to get to the gym and you didn't have to set anything up. And it was fun. He never climbed that much and always preferred to belay (is that how you spell it?). I always enjoyed these times because we were constantly communicating with each other. I would tell him when I needed to rest and sometimes, I would ask him for suggestions about where to go. One time in particular, I wanted to attempt an overhang, which is pretty difficult because it requires a lot of upper body strength. I had never been able to do it before and my Dad had me watch some of the other more experienced climbers in the gym before I tried it. When it was finally my turn, I was able to emulate what they had done and I did it. However, I was not able to finish the climb. I got past the overhang and then couldn't figure out how to reach the top. Still, it was always fun going with him.

My dad and I always watched the Dallas Cowboys together. My mom hated it a lot of the time because if they were losing, we would get so mad about it. However, if they won, we would be really happy. My dad would always say, "See, life is good when the Cowboys win." I couldn't agree more.

I always have enjoyed talking to my Dad. He knows so much about so many things that it makes him a good conversationalist. If he doesn't know about something, he always asks questions about it. I think I got that same quality from him because I'm the same way.

Instead of getting all mushy like I've done before, I'll just say the thing that sums it up. My Dad is the best man I've ever known. I feel bad for people who don't feel this same way about their own fathers. That's always how it should be. For me, I'm glad that it was. Happy birthday, Dad.

3 comments:

Delirious said...

One thing I always remember about your Dad is that when he goes to any museum or historical site, he stops to read every plaque. He really has an interest in learning.

Nene said...

Thanks for your memories Babs! Even though I knew you did those things with your dad, it's interesting to read about them.

Amber said...

that was REALLY good, i liked reading all your memories :)