This is my dad :) My grandma reminds me every visit how much Aeden reminds her of him when he was a baby. My dad sucked his two middle fingers as a baby just like Belen, and LOVED dinosaurs like all of my boys. He was in a rock band...he could play the guitar, keyboard, and drums, and was a huge Led Zeppelin fan...but later in life also loved his Enya.
As I was watching some of my uncles with their grandkids at our family reunion last night, I couldn't help but think how much Dad would have loved being a grandpa. I think he would have especially loved seeing Zerin trying to show up his two great uncles in kickball last night. Zerin was on fire---making outs, stealing bases, stealing home...there was a lot of stealing going on :) My uncle Kim even commented what a little athlete Zerin was...coming from him that was pretty big :) There's no question, at least in my mind, that the Hugie competitive bone is alive and well in that little boy :)
When I read my Dad's old mission letters, I am given a sense of the kind of joy he is once again able to experience in teaching the gospel. He loved missionary work, which surprised me a bit considering his shy nature, but he loved it. His testimony was always something I knew he had and never doubted. I feel so blessed to have been raised by such goodly parents who always did everything they could to help prepare me for this crazy life.
As I was watching some of my uncles with their grandkids at our family reunion last night, I couldn't help but think how much Dad would have loved being a grandpa. I think he would have especially loved seeing Zerin trying to show up his two great uncles in kickball last night. Zerin was on fire---making outs, stealing bases, stealing home...there was a lot of stealing going on :) My uncle Kim even commented what a little athlete Zerin was...coming from him that was pretty big :) There's no question, at least in my mind, that the Hugie competitive bone is alive and well in that little boy :)
When I read my Dad's old mission letters, I am given a sense of the kind of joy he is once again able to experience in teaching the gospel. He loved missionary work, which surprised me a bit considering his shy nature, but he loved it. His testimony was always something I knew he had and never doubted. I feel so blessed to have been raised by such goodly parents who always did everything they could to help prepare me for this crazy life.
This is Bryan's Dad. Even though I don't think of her as looking like him very often, Belen gets this exact same look on her face when she is thinking hard about something. She has something of a fire in her, just like her grandpa (even though her red hair that could have been blamed for this disposition has at least for the time being, been replaced with wavy golden locks).
I learned to deeply love and appreciate this man not only for the wonderful son he helped raise, but as someone I looked to who knew how to dig deep. Our first meeting was memorable...I can honestly say my first experience with ultrasound gel came from my father in law, and NOT my obgyn :) He was ALWAYS busy, always creating, always preserving something that the rest of the world had written off, but he wanted to bring new life to. After 11 years of marriage, I am still hearing new stories of fun adventures he took his kids on. He loved his family, and it showed in how he spent his time.
Aeden, even though he was not even 4 when Grandpa died, still brags to his friends about how he had the best Grandpa in the world because he would build him anything he wanted :) Zerin loves to brag to his friends about how his grandpa was an inventor and the hardest worker he ever met. He is very much his grandpa's grandson...in many, many ways: he is a HUGE BYU fan; to him, possessions aren't just things, they represent people, events, and emotions, and should therefore be guarded and protected, and preserved at all costs...oh and NEVER thrown away! :) Grandpa loved all of his grandkids, and even though his time with them was cut short, he left quite a legacy for them to live up to.
I learned to deeply love and appreciate this man not only for the wonderful son he helped raise, but as someone I looked to who knew how to dig deep. Our first meeting was memorable...I can honestly say my first experience with ultrasound gel came from my father in law, and NOT my obgyn :) He was ALWAYS busy, always creating, always preserving something that the rest of the world had written off, but he wanted to bring new life to. After 11 years of marriage, I am still hearing new stories of fun adventures he took his kids on. He loved his family, and it showed in how he spent his time.
Aeden, even though he was not even 4 when Grandpa died, still brags to his friends about how he had the best Grandpa in the world because he would build him anything he wanted :) Zerin loves to brag to his friends about how his grandpa was an inventor and the hardest worker he ever met. He is very much his grandpa's grandson...in many, many ways: he is a HUGE BYU fan; to him, possessions aren't just things, they represent people, events, and emotions, and should therefore be guarded and protected, and preserved at all costs...oh and NEVER thrown away! :) Grandpa loved all of his grandkids, and even though his time with them was cut short, he left quite a legacy for them to live up to.
And this is my Bryan. I have gushed over him many, many times. I think Asher is closest in personality to Bryan. Very quiet and sensitive, but an ENORMOUS tease once you get him going. Asher is one of the few 3 year olds I have met that gets adult sarchasm...and you can guess who we can thank for that! :)
Bryan is the kind of dad every kid hopes to have. His every spare moment is spent playing and working with his kids. Just yesterday, he took on one of my many abandoned projects and started helping the kids to build a tire swing. It is such a gift to me to know that my kids will never be able to doubt how much their father loved them, because he shows it every.single.day.
He has instilled in his kids a love of books, reading, and learning. One of Liah's favorite things to do is to read to her Daddy. She'll go grab a book off the shelf to sit down and read...usually in front of him so she can hear his praises. She has mimicked his reading for years...even as a little toddler, there is a spanish-english dictionary that would frequently disappear from our bookshelf...always to resurface in her room under her pillow or some other secret hiding spot. It's funny, because it was always that book...the book she still to this day refers to as her favorite book :)
He is extremely patient. He has been working with Aeden to learn to ride a bike for a few years now, and even though Aeden can do it with ease, his is very fearful and will literally scream the entire time he is on the bike, with Bryan running along side him with his hand near his shoulder to catch him should anything go wrong. I really need it on video...it's pretty hilarious to watch...from a distance (Aeden's voice reallly carries). Another example of that patience is when I am ready to pull my hair out because all I can get Zerin to converse about is baseball, or basketball, or his beloved Jimmer, Bryan embraces it and listens and appreciates that part of Zerin. I suppose that is one of the biggest reasons Zerin tells everyone his dad is his biggest hero.
I feel so blessed that my kids have the greatest daddy in the world :)
2 comments:
They really are lucky, I am trying to be a dad like him myself!
Tears....
Proud
Reflective
Thankful
Hopeful
Blessed...
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