Happy Father's Day

I had constructed this great post in my head about what a wonderful father Joe is and then when Joe was changing the oil in my car I went out and saw this...and this picture exactly typifies what I love about him as a father:

Joe is VERY good at letting the kids work next to him as he does his 101 work projects. He has the patience to let them watch and he tells them what he is doing as he does it. He makes sure to keep everyone involved. I LOVE that about him, and the kids...especially Adam love to be with him as he works. Over the years the kids will learn so many valuable things through doing this with their father.

Joe's also really good at sensing when the children need some extra attention and paying attention to them:

Joe's also the fun parent...he is always buying cool toys for the boys to play with....go kart, 4-wheelers, r/c cars, rockets....

Here they are after church today....aren't they all so beautiful?
For fun I included some old pics...here is Joe and Michael in the hill country. Michael is about 4 1/2 months old.
This is Adam already enjoying time with his Daddy in the garage...he is about 2 here:

Thanks Joe, for being such a great daddy to our kids!

I wanted to add a little bit about my father. He has always been so generous and giving as a father. He had high expectations for us kids and he wasn't afraid to hold us to them, which a few times drove me crazy, but overall helped me to acheive more than I would have normally done. He had a health scare this year that resolved itself fairly quickly, and as I contemplated the possibilities, I was very saddened to think that he might not live forever. He is definitely the fun grandpa now...he loves to spend time with the grand kids...and I love that! I love you dad!
This is my dad with Nate last summer, he has been great about holding all the babies when they were tired and needed someone to sleep on.