This dad

This dad is awesome and usually has a smile on his face whenever someone mentions his children. He has thought at times that he was an ordinary dad- a guy too busy to spend lots of time with his children. But I have the photos to prove that he had time for beach trips, Seattle trips, Nutcracker performances, lego building, game playing, school field trips, gingerbread construction, model building, camera excursions, basketball playing, music performances, Broadway traveling shows,
pasta making, computer fixing, driving instruction, car repairs, plus much more.

And that smile was there...when his family was young...even though he had just lost his job while I was still in the hospital with Nick.

Although a little crooked-his smile was there on his birthday with some older children in 2007.

And though the family has gotten bigger and you can't see it from this view-it was a smile on his face last Christmas as we shared another tradition of longstanding.
Today he will smile as Amy treats him to lunch at "Miss Delta's" and then a stroll among the shops on Mississippi, as he eats lasagna with the rest of the family and while he plays yet another round of "imagine if" or "Apples to Apples".

and he will continue to smile at every remembrance of how rich his children (all of them) make him....