Father's Day Weekend 2014

What an awesome weekend! Do I say that a lot!? It sure seems like it!

Friday -  A beautiful wedding reception in Lehi for my cousin B. Sterling and his darling new wife Quincey. We had a blast! And they served Italian Ice.. ohhhh myyy, delicious! We had a quick dinner with the Giles family at Chili's before and then got to hang out in a beautiful backyard on a windy Summer's evening. It was a fun night and Kailee had so much fun running around with all of my cousins. Plus, its always nice to spend a little extra time  with this handsome man I call my Grandpa. And he sure loves Jake! It seems about every time we are together and Jake steps away, Grandpa reminds me how lucky I am to have him and what an incredible guy he is. Makes my heart happy to have his approval!



 


Don't mind our wind blown hair! Love this sweet man!





Grandpa with my cute cousin Melanie who we don't get to see often enough!

 

 
Side note- It's really, I mean REALLY weird to have your mom in on the bouquet toss! Lol! She's so cute and she'll make one very lucky man extremely happy some day! (NO rush!)

My favorite albeit blurry, photo of my favorite people!

Saturday - It was up to help the Black's move into their new residence! Joey and Lindsay bought a beautiful home in Syracuse so we went up to help paint for the day before they moved all of their stuff in. We didn't get to help as much as we would have liked to before it was off on our next venture! It was JoLene's birthday so we had a surprise dinner for her at La Cantina at Jordan Commons. The whole Andrus clan was there for the first time in what felt like forever! We are so glad to have Aaron and Aubrey and their boys back home! We enjoyed yummy food and even better company. I highly recommend that place if you're in the mood for Mexican! They have an awesome Salsa Bar!

Sunday - We started the morning off with a family work out! I have loved doing that this Summer. We get up, eat breakfast and head outside. We do sprints to the end of the street, jump rope, box jump on the big rock, whatever we can think of! Kailee keeps track of our reps with chalk and also gets to run and play with us! We try to make it fun and not stress too much about 'going hard'. She loves it and I hope we're setting a good example! After we all took our showers it was prepping time for dinner. I made calzones, cheese bread and salad to take over to Roger and JoLene's. We don't get a whole lot of one on one time with them so I really enjoyed our day! We played outside and helped pick strawberries and raspberries, and ate more than we saved! :) Kailee loved being the center of attention and I loved being outside with family and playing volleyball with Jake.



My workout buddy! The cutest one too!
 

She is the best at 'box jumps'!

LOVE her!

What an awesome evening!

Jake - Happiest Father's Day! You are the best daddy and Kailee is beyond blessed to have you. You may not realize this right now, but your place in her life is much more than just a father. You are her first love. You are the type of man she will seek when it's her turn. Its a huge responsibility on you to make sure she knows her self worth. Because I know you, I know she will. You are showing her the way! She may not listen to all you say, but she will watch all that you do. She absolutely adores you and I hope she will always see and know the love you have for her. I know its not easy on you to have her gone from you, but she knows she is your #1! I love you, thanks for being such a great daddy and for working so hard to give Kailee such a great life!!

Dad - So many of my favorite memories involve our shared passion of sports and traveling. I am so thankful for you pushing me my entire life to always work hard. Those were two words you said probably more than any other, 'work hard', and they've really stuck with me. Life isn't easy and we have to fight for the things we want. Because of you, I will never give up on my goals and dreams. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to try everything. From dance to sports and everything in between. I will forever cherish our  weekends and evenings at the high school with you. I was always so proud of you as a coach. Thanks for all you do for us and for being a good grandpa to Kailee. We love you!

Roger - I don't know many non-blind men who spend afternoons every Summer having water fights with their granddaughter! At least they can see it coming and close their eyes! Instead, you take it straight to the face in stride! ;) Kailee will always remember the time you spend with her. Thanks for never letting your disability stop you from playing with her. From tea parties to water fights, nothing means more to her than having your attention. She loves you! Thank you for raising the man of my dreams, and for raising him to be a MAN. I couldn't ask for more! You accepted and loved me from day one and your support of our marriage and family mean a lot to me. And by the way, I forgive you for asking me to go first to do my 'thankful for' on Thanksgiving a few years ago. You didn't care that I had just met you less than an hour before, or that it was the first time for me in your home and I was so nervous I had to remind myself to breathe. You made me feel like I was a part of it from the get go. It meant and still means the world to me to have your support. We love you!

Happy Father's Day to all of the other wonderful men in our lives! We have such great guys around us! Our grandpas, uncles, brothers, cousins and friends. What upstanding men you are. Your charm, character and selfless love stand out among the best. Your jobs as Father's truly don't get enough credit! And also to another very important father.. Jason, who is Kailee's step dad. We truly couldn't ask for a better other dad for her. Jake and I have so much love and respect for him and all he does for Kailee. From teaching her to ride her bike, to throwing her the ball and all the countless things he does for her daily. But most importantly, for always making her feel safe, comfortable and loved and giving her the beautiful life she deserves. She is SO blessed! Happy Father's Day to you!



Another wonderful weekend full of memories and family! What more could we possibly ask for?!