As I sit here this morning and try to put into words the many things that I love about my dad and the special things that we have done… I know that he has always loved me with all his heart all my life, and even if the miles have kept us apart we have had some great times together.

My dad has always loved the outdoors. I will always remember the hunting and fishing trips to Idaho. Dad always had such a keen sense in the outdoors of where he was at and what to do out in the woods. If we were hunting and started off in a certain direction, he knew where we would end up and how to get back to where we started. He has always been woods-smart. If we were fishing, he would always know what to use and what special knot to tie on the line. We had many great moments  together in the woods. 

Another thing I have always admired about my dad is the talent he has to build things. No matter what it was he started out to build or make it always came out great. I will always remember the trip we took to Canada when I was a young boy. Dad put so much into that trip to make it special for both of us. He built this camp kitchen for us to take so wherever we camped we could set up our kitchen and do all of our cooking. All these special compartments to hold everything we needed… I still use that same camp kitchen when my family and I go camping and I get a lot of compliments from other campers when they see how handy it is. I remember all the neat things he built in his shop in Elk River, Idaho: the nice storage areas, the wood stove he put in, and the really neat compost bin… such a great talent in building things useful and handy. I also look at a Spanish galleon ship on my desk that he built and put so many hours into. When I used to go to southern California for the summer to see my dad and Penny I would take my surfboard to the beach behind my bike on a special little trailer that dad built for me to pull my surfboard with. 

My dad has taught me a lot over the years on how to do things, and for that I am truly grateful. I will always love and admire him all the days of my life.