Happy Birthday Daddy

Today is a very special day! 56 years ago today my sweet, sweet daddy was born. Every year, regardless of the occasion, my dad's present request remains the same - just a picture. So Dad, in honor of your birthday, today's blog is dedicated to pictures especially for you.

Dear Dad,

Thanks for taking me sky diving even though mom was against it...

Thanks for being my backpacking buddy
and for agreeing to travel with four "strong-willed" women...

Thanks for not being too proud to cry at my high school graduation.
Turns out, I searched until I found an equally sensitive husband
because I want my daughter to have a daddy that will cry over her graduation too. 

Thanks for making the call the day before our wedding when I was an absolute hot mess
because it was raining cats and dogs and flooding to the point that I was positive an Ark (aka tent) would be necessary.
I had been adamantly opposed to a tent all along and I would have been disappointed that I'd caved.
Plus, you reminded me, as you had done many, many times - rain or shine, as long as I was married to Brandon at the end of the day our wedding would be a success. You have never been more correct...

Thanks for teaching me to take time to enjoy God's amazing creation,
some of our best talks happened while sitting on that porch waiting to watch the sunset...

Thanks for pulling the car over in the middle of nowhere so we could have a snowball fight.
That was a vacation from H-E-double hockey sticks,
but Zac and I will always laugh when we look at this picture because
our huge grins are due to the fact that in the hands that you can't see are snowballs,
and the minute this picture was over mom got smoked...

Thanks for always doing an extreme home makeover on what ever little doll house I decided to rent,
I love the fact that you can fix anything and that you took the time to teach me how to properly hold a hammer...

Thanks for always driving the boat...

Thanks for insisting we go to Bass Pro after my law school graduation.
I took this picture because mom and I were sitting on a bench while you three shot targets,
 and even though it was the first time you guys had met Brandon,
she leaned over and whispered, "They sure look like they'd have fun together."
Watching you three made me certain he was the one...

 Thanks for always acting like every award I ever won was the biggest deal on Earth.

It feels really good to know you made your Daddy proud...

Thanks for making me push mow the hill when I quit scuba diving lessons and then insisting I go back and finish.
I thought you were crazy when you said, "Someday you might marry a boy that wants to take you to exotic places and you won't want to sit on the shore while he goes on underwater adventures."
You were right, I married that boy... 

Thanks for letting me stay up late and watch M*A*S*H with you.
I was too little to get it, but it instilled in me a curiosity about war, which led to my love for history.
Just like you...

Thanks for always letting me sit on your lap, regardless of how old I am or how boney my butt is...

Thanks for literally building me the wedding of my dreams.

This picture doesn't really show any of your amazing work except that the ground is level 

(which was quite a feat I might add), but this was the day we put up the arch you built by hand

and attached it to the stage you built, underneath the lights that you hung, 

that were powered by the electric lines you ran and then buried, from the cabin that you designed.

You truly did it all...

Thanks for trying dumb stuff with us at the lake.
I hope I'm half as fun of a parent as you are... 

Thanks for proudly wearing a "Pi Phi Dad" shirt and
never acting like Dad's Day was just about a football game...

Thanks for being a man of your word.
You taught me from the very beginning the importance of integrity.
To surround myself with good people because I would always be guilty by association whether good or bad.
You always stood for what you believed, even when it causes you personal pain.
You gave us ground rules to live by and we always followed them without argument because you followed them too.
You showed me what a husband should act like - it made it easy not to settle.
You explained that there was nothing more important than maintaining a good name.
Zac and I have always been proud to say we were the son/daughter of Randy Rogers.

Thanks for showing us where the rope swing was
and helping me scrape moss until we found Papa's initials in the rock
and for proposing to Mom in a place that I can always go back to.
The creek is one of my favorite places because you not only told me the stories, but also took the time to show me...

Thanks for always keeping two horses just in case I want to go ride...

Thanks for sitting in the hot tub with me during Oklahoma's worst ice storm.
Sorry about the severe headache that resulted...

Thanks for always being friendly and talking to strangers.
Turns out the drunk guy on the train really did know where there
was still a part of the Berlin Wall that was standing. I always give you a hard time because you talk to EVERYONE, but when I'm not with you, I do it too! You taught me that everyone has a story to tell...

And thanks for bloodying your knuckles while beating the concrete wall with a tire tool so that I could have a piece.
I put it in a shadow box with this picture and if our house is on fire, I'm going to make sure to get it.
That was a good day...

Thanks for teaching me not to let anything get in the way of having fun...

Thanks for talking to me on the phone that morning that I called you crying.
You didn't say a word, although I'm sure it was so difficult just to listen.
When I had said every thing I needed to say, you simply told me that you loved me and were proud of me
and that you had full faith in the fact that I knew what I needed to do.
That day was some of your best parenting...

Five years later, I climbed out of a carriage wearing a white dress and you asked me if there was anywhere in the world I would rather be, because if so we could get back in and just ride away. 

I told you I was exactly where I wanted to be. My very best friend was at the end of that aisle.

You gave me a kiss and I knew you had never been more happy for me...

Thanks for still being a little sad that you had to give me away...

Thanks for always letting me tag along.
Riding in the truck with you, holding your hand has always been so special...

Thanks for treading water for a day attempting to teach us to surf.
You were exhausted but we ended up successful, even if the success only lasted about 3 seconds...

Thanks for sometimes acting your shoe size, not your age...

Thanks for always encouraging me to travel.
"It's in my blood" you said...

Thanks for letting me go sit in the turkey blind with you so that I could watch the world wake up.
You were right, it was pretty awesome - almost as awesome as the breakfast we had at the diner afterwards...

Thanks for being willing to take as many pictures as I want.
I love that I have a thousand pictures with you...

Thanks for showing me what a good dad is supposed to act like.
For always giving me hugs and kisses, for constantly telling me how proud you are of me,
for never being too busy to talk, for calling me just because, for calling my husband just because,
for disciplining me when I needed it, for teaching me to only laugh "with someone" not "at someone,"
for always holding my hand the special way, for listening to all my random stories,
for being a dad to my friends, for loving God first and Mom second,
for cutting up my credit card and teaching me the importance of keeping a budget,
for teaching Zac and his buddies that little league was more than just about winning - it was about sportsmanship and having fun and having good attitudes and being hard workers and even if it meant forfeiting the championship game, no baseball on Sundays because that's family time,
for reminding me that there are a lot of things about college that are more important than good grades,
for making me write "To do less than my best is to fail,"
for making me quit gymnastics so we could eat dinner as a family more than one night a week,
for taking me to the nursing home once a week when I was little and showing me that the most important thing you can give someone (even strangers) is your time,
for always asking what happened to the boy with the yellow truck, for teaching me how to throw NOT like a girl,
for always checking my tires before I drove back to school, for always kissing my forehead before you left for work,
for saying "that'd be stupid not to buy" even though I didn't need it and the sale wasn't that good,
for never making me get a job because "I had the rest of my life to work,"
for sending flowers on my birthday, for giving me pointers on how to be a good wife,
for buying me a gun and my first full set of Haviland china all in one Christmas,
for always, always, always, telling me "The moon means Daddy loves Raegan..."

Happy Birthday Dad. I love you.

Be Blessed,
Your Raegan