Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Father's who may read this, but especially to my dad. I didn't realize it until I was older, but Dad didn't have a lot of free time with seven kids and all of us in sports and other activities. But he was always there, coaching us along (whether he was the official team coach or not).


It meant a lot to me to have my dad supporting me in everything I did. I'm grateful for all he taught me, even when I took a while to learn or didn't want to. Often Dad would come in while I was watching TV, on the computer, or reading, and would say something like "You know, Seth, it might be good if you checked to see if your mom needs help with something," or "I'm going to go work on the deck in the garage if anyone wants to help me," or "It might be good for you to mow the lawn." Too often I would think "yeah, that might be good" and continue with what I was doing. Then occasionally Dad would scold me for not helping. One time I told him that if he wanted me to do something, he should just ask, then I would do it. His response taught me something important. He quoted the Doctrine and Covenants section 58:26-27, how we should not be commanded in all things but should do many things of our own free will. His suggestions were prompts to get us to do things of our own free will.



Dad loves the outdoors, and loves to take us with him hunting, fishing, backpacking, rafting, etc. I'm grateful that Dad doesn't just love those things, but he loves doing it with family.



These pictures show a lot of fun things Dad has done with us, but the most important things cannot be captured in a photograph. Dad raised us kids in the gospel and taught us to love the Lord. We all knew how Dad felt about the gospel and living the commandments. Thank you Dad.