And she's daddy's little girl

The topic in church today was father's! Obviously...

Cary walked away from the meeting a little annoyed because he feels like mom's get praised and told how amazing they are; whereas our speakers today talked about how dad's need to show their love to their spouse and children, spend time with their family, and follow the commandments.

Although, there weren't very many stories shared about father's, the speakers highlighted important things for father's to do with their children. In particular, father's should spend one on one time with their kids, go on vacations, and talk to their children.

All of this just got me thinking about my favorite times with my dad...

So I'm going to share :)

As a kid, I remember going shopping with my dad. He's not a big shopper at all, but I remember him taking me shoe shopping and always understanding my need for whatever shoe was popular at the time. He let me get $50 timberland's in 3rd grade! He'd also take me shopping for his clothes and ask my opinion on his ties (which made me feel so grown up and trusted.) My absolute favorite though was when we'd go shopping for mom. He'd take me to pick out my mom's christmas present, birthday present, and mother's day gifts. I loved it. It made me feel great when mom loved what we had picked out.

(Now, my dad very well may have done this with all the kids at different times, but it seemed like it was our thing--which is all that really matters).

I also remember late nights swimming in the pool in our backyard. He'd never rush me off to bed. We'd just float there and let the helicopter leaves fall from the trees and listen to the rhythmic slaughtering of the bug zapper. Oh, summer nights...

As a teenager, some of my best memories are learning to drive. Dad isn't always the most chatty. But he'd talk to me about cars. I had lofty dreams of buying a car which dad would attempt to talk me out of, while humoring me and explaining all the different cars for sale in the paper. He'd also take me on drives to get experience while I had my learner's permit. The cold dark mornings on the way to seminary are forever burned in my mind as we listened to talk radio, and dad would freak out everytime I ran over an animal--there are a lot of little critters in NC that are hard to see in the dark!

Anyhow, I could go on, but the point is that I'm a lucky girl. My dad always put us kids first and I have so many great memories thanks to him.