My daddy..

As you know, father's day was this past Sunday.
Saturday was our one year anniversary and along with all the chose from packing and buying the house, I let the importance of this day slip though my fingertips.
We are doing something for our dads... it will just be a few days late. This is good... its like a belated birthday gift... it is extra special that way... right? This is horrible! Andrew and I feel horrible about this. I can't believe that we can't even remember to keep up with the one day that "Good 'ol Dad" gets! UGH! We are failures as children. Luckily one of the things that our dads have both always shown us is grace... so yet once again... on Father's Day, they had to pull out the Grace Card and remind us that they love us with or with out a gift on Father's day. As a slight make up gift, in addition to the gift I'm getting my dad, I decided to write a list of a few attributes that my dad has:

1. He keeps his cool -I have seen the man loose his temper maybe 4 times my whole life, the only two I can remember are when I wrecked car #2 and when I caught my bedroom on fire the day after Christmas. Both totally justified. And trust me... I gave him PLENTY more opportunities to blow his top.
2. He doesn't judge others. I remember sitting at a wedding, my mom and I were saying this "I can't believe she did ______" "I would NEVER do _____" "That's the song I wanted to use!!!" "This is not what I would do..." My dad looked at me and said, "Do you want someone saying that about your wedding?" I am not going to lie... my first thought was, they wouldn't say that about my wedding... my wedding will be perfect!! Nonetheless I quit judging and actually ended up enjoying myself. It was a beautiful wedding! Now that I have lived through my wedding, and looked back many times, I have relalized that there were ample opportunities for people to say "I can't believe she did ______" "I would NEVER do _____" "That's the song I wanted to use!!!" "This is not what I would do..." But yet, my wedding was perfect! 
3. He rolls with the punches! My dad does NOT need a plan. The man can wake up and just take the day as it comes. I. Can. Not. Do. This. I need a plan, a schedule, a back up plan most days. Daddy has a way of just dealing with whatever life throws at him be it a wedding, a daughter  moving 50000 miles away, a son moving back home, car wrecks, friends coming over spontaneously... whatever it is, dad just rolls with it. And finds a way to enjoy the ride! 
4. Dad laughs every day. I don't think I can remember a day that went by where my daddy didn't chuckle at something. One of my favorite sounds is his laughter. Its really great when he is giggling and he doesn't mean to be ... like when he is watching the same episode of Seinfeld  that he has watched at least 6 times... and laughing... oh thats a great one!!
5. My dad shows grace. I can remember (a little too well) when my parent's found out some stuff about me in college. Some was because I was bold and strait up told them ... for instance I remember one conversation going something like this: We are sitting in Chili's, they have come to Angelo (Go Rams) to visit their oldest daughter who has been gone a little over a year when this conversation transpired.
   Dad: "Have you ever had any alcohol?"
   Me: "Yeah...." (I've always had an issue with the lying thing... you always get caught... so why even try!)
   Dad: "What all have you tried...?" (he had a hesitant look on his face as he asked.. like it almost hurt him to do so.)
   Me: "The list would be shorter if I told you what I hadn't tried." (STUPID STUPID STUPID... there were so many other thing I could have said here and STILL been telling the truth!!)
   Dad: (After a moment of letting it sink in) "Well you turn 21 in a few months. You know it is illegal to drink until you are 21. So, I'll just ask that you wait until then to drink anymore."
   Me: "Yes sir."
   After that the meal went on wonderfully but I'll never forget the look of disappointment that he had on his face. Not only had I broken the law but I was not as innocent as he thought I was.
   Around the same time in college, after a difficult weekend back home where I had opened up to my mom about some other stuff I had done, my dad called me when I made it back to town. The thing I remember most about that conversation is my dad saying something like this:
   "Heather, I love you, you will always be my daughter and I will always love you! No matter what!"
   That line was the first time I remember feeling grace. My daddy's ability to show grace when grace is hard has always been my one of my dad's most outstanding characteristics. 
6. My dad can't sing... but he does. I get my musical abilities from my dad. All of them. Neither one of us can sing... but we still love it. If a song is on and we know it... we are singing it. Its what we do. Deal with it. :) 
7. Daddy can fix ANYTHING!! Its true. Just ask him. He will fix it or try really hard to do so. I love this. 
8. He balances his check book. Every month. To the penny. It is what Mr. Hunt does. It is what I have seen him do every month for the past 27 years. Thats 424 months. Thats alot of check book balancing. UGH... I wish I would have stuck with this. 
9. My dad talks. He acts like he doesn't like to talk. But he does. And it is great. When we go to church, he is never standing around looking around. Nope, he is chatting with someone. And he is having good conversations with them. They don't just talk about the weather or the coffee. He knows about their kids, their grandkids or whatever... he is just that way. I love that. I like to do this too. :) 
10. My dad reads his Bible. Every morning. For as long as I can remember, I have seen my dad sitting at the kitchen table, with his coffee and a bowl of oat meal, reading his Bible. It is amazing. It is inspiring. 

Daddy, these are only a few of the traits that I know you hold but, we can't let the world know all the good stuff about you. They might want you, and even though I'm 50000 miles away... I still need you.
Love you so much!!

Our First Year!

We made it to one year.
I can't think of anything special or witty to write.
We had a good year. It was full of ups and downs.
It was FULL of growing pains.
It was full of learning experiences.
It was full of temper tantrums... thrown by me.
It was full of compassion given by the hubs.
It has been full of new puppies.
It has been full of big plans.

I look forward to another 50 plus years with this amazing man!! I am truly blessed.
Here are a few pictures to recap our fun year.

We started our first year off by ... getting married. We thought it would be a fun way to kick things off! :)

Our first home!

This is moments before beginning the worst camping trip of my life. And that even includes the time it was so cold we couldn't keep a fire going to cook our food. (I wish I had a picture to commemorate the end of that trip, it as the best part of the whole thing... but it would not be pretty!) The trip was full of spiders in the car, freezing nights and one particular boxer puking all over our bed in the tent.

Cami Joe and Buster Boy! Our first two babies... they love each other!

Dudley Doodles... our newest addition!

We made a trip home in August to pick up a few things that were left in Midland... most importantly my baby girl!! On the way we stopped by Pampa to see my family. This is the first picture with nearly all the grand kids in it. The only one missing is Brandon. We have GOT to make it happen one of these days...

Farmers market... this is a fun steam engine train!!

May 1st. My sweeties 30th birthday... he ran the 1/2 marathon and I walk/run/joggished the 5K!

We have bought our first house... well almost. In a little over a week it will all be final! 

We did so many more fun things like, finding new friends, starting a small group, getting involved in our church, a couple trips, a few random fun dates, a trip to a zoo close to town, I started a new job, we had family come visit, I had a friend come visit, we set up the 'envelope' system... we did so many fun things and I can't hardly wait to see what the next year holds.

My mom and dad sent us a card that summed up our year...

What is Marriage? 

Its vacuuming carpets and hammering nails. 

Its saving a dollar by shopping at sales... 

It's balancing checkbooks and paying off bills. 

Its cleaning the windows and mopping up spills. 

It's doing the laundry and matching up socks. 

It's a washer that dies when the car needs new shocks ...

It's two busy schedules, but one happy life,

With each moment you share as husband and wife!

The card also included a couple gift cards for dinner out. :)
Andrew's parents sent us Flowers that were amazing... I have pictures but not loaded yet.

Thank you to all who have supported and loved us through this year of growing pains. You are all special to us. We are blessed to call you family and friends!


Happy Anniversary My love! I look forward to sharing many more with you!