I was going to post this yesterday, but held off until today for reasons that will soon become obvious....

Let me start by saying a big 'Happy Birthday' to my little brother. Ok..he isn't littler anymore..he is taller...but still younger. I have to figure out how to change THAT! :)

So having said Happy Birthday to Aaron, let me now say "Happy Fathers Day" to three really great men I happen to know and Love.

First there is Mark. He is a great Dad. Having a blended family can at times present awkward situations like how to introduce ALL the kids when you go out. Mark has always said 'These are my kids. My son Sam, My daughter Shelby' etc etc (we have five so the list gets a bit long!). He has never said 'these ones are YOUR kids and this one is MINE and these ones are OURS'. He loves them all. He parents them all. He is also the kind of Dad who will take the kids fishing and spend all day tying lures and untaggling hooks and fish and kids and come home having never put his own rod near the water and say 'THAT was the best day of fishing ever'. There is nothing sexier than a man who takes being a father seriously. Mark is the ace of fatherhood!

Secondly is Marks Dad. Mark had to learn to parent from someone didn't he? Skip as he is known to all, did a masterful job of turning a little boy into a kind and loving man. He gets points for being a good father himself...but if parenting were a gameshow, he'd get bonus points for the kind of person his son turned out to be. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree the saying goes...and in this case it's certainly true (although it may be more of a nut tree! hehehe)....

And thirdly is my aforementioned brother (birthday boy!). Our own biological father is a waste of space on this planet to say the least. We grew up with two adults who had no clue how to be parents and who knew even less about loving children. So it is a source of awe to watch how my brother parents his own son. He does it with more grace and love and understanding than alot of kids who HAD decent parents parent! His son will not grow up with the legacy that we did and THAT is the best gift any parent of a dysfunctional home can give their children...

So Happy Fathers Day...and Happy Birthday....

You guys all rock!

Hugs
Jaye