When I think of my childhood I think of practicing basketball and softball with you. I loved playing 'PIG' out in the driveway. Behind the corner of the roof were my favorite shots. I don't think you ever went easy on me, but I do think you probably missed a shot or two once in a while just so I could win. We would throw the softball back and forth, back and forth, practice my stepping into it, pointing, and following through, throwing back and forth, back and forth (come to think of it, that's probably why boys are scared of me....I've been told I have a pretty fierce look on my face anytime I'm about to throw any sort of ball at them. haha).I loved beanie baby fights while running through the house. I followed (quite literally) your footsteps and/or achilles tendon with my plastic lawn-mower while you had the real one going. I don't know why you let us have pets, but we sure did love our kittens. I remember every month when mom would go to DUP, Cammy and I would get so excited because we'd always go up to our room, shut the door, turn out the lights, put the CATS cassette tape, turn it up as high as we could without you "hearing it" and then we would jump on our bed as high and long as we could. The mattress would slide off onto the floor and with all of our little might we would push it back up and continue jumping. This processes was repeated several times for about an hour and a half. I don't know if you actually ever knew about that, or if you just let it happen. I guess it's better late than never to tell you of our mischievous acts.
I remember times that we were all around the kitchen table after dinner and you'd be telling some sort of hysterical story from your childhood about falling off a horse on Cedar Mountain, usually containing a good amount of hyperbole. We'd be laughing so hard we'd be crying and in the mean time you'd be getting more and more animated until...yeah. good times.
Sometimes you'd make us sing at the dinner table BEFORE we could eat. "There is beauty all around, when's there love at....") We'd purposefully sing half steps off from each other and you'd look at us in a serious face and tell us, "wow, you're all really improving your voices." or something to that effect. Love it. It makes me always want to sing out of tune...ok, not really.
"Hey, have you ever heard the joke about the deaf guy and the idiot?" "huh?" "what?" "huh?"-your favorite joke oh, except for the gravity one..which I can't remember. The first joke is pretty much the only joke I can ever remember and say right the first time. Oh, and any joke about Obama or the Clinton's sitting in hell with the devil gets ya every time. haha
The first song you taught me on the guitar-"jail-break." Classic. I'll never forget it. :) I remember singing John Denver when I was a kid while you would play the guitar. I think that's what inspired me to start playing the guitar (as poorly as I play, I still love a good John Denver song in my life). We would/we still laugh so hard every time you would say "It's my sinuses," when you weren't singing in tune, although I think your sinuses are clearing up because last time I heard you sing you sounded pretty good! Thank you for teaching me about the Mama's and the Papa's and Simon and Garfunkel and all their buddies from your youth-ly days. Good stuff. In fact, I listened to the Mama's and Papa's today. They've become a regular in my youtube browsing.
I brag that my dad can make a half-court basketball shot sitting down-that IS pretty cool and impressive. Also, your vertical jumping ability and your calves...hahaha I don't even know if I can go on about the calves. It's been a while since I've seen you've shown them to anyone...I'm laughing so hard right now just thinking about them. Disgusting.
Did I mention BYU football and basketball? You are very passionate, yes, passionate.
Oh my, this hysterical story just came to mind-One time I was in Orem with some friends, but ended up meeting up with mom at Jenny's soccer game or something. You didn't know I was with mom, but you called her phone and I answered. I convinced you that you had called my phone. You hung up. Dialed mom's number again. I answered. "I swore I called your mother's number," you said. This happened several times. You started freaking out that "the system is having problems, the system is having problems." You called my phone. Mom answered. (mind you, Mother and I are dying laughing. It was seriously hysterical.) When we got home I snuck out of the car so that I could go in at a different time as mom, so you wouldn't know that we were together. For weeks you talked about how "the system was having problems." (Though, I don't know if that's as funny as when I came home from choir tour one year with a blue chunk of hair and mom cried for 2 days asking herself, "where did I got wrong?" I then pulled the clip-on out of my hair in front of her, while lying on her bed and laughing. Yes, I waited two days. Yes, I laughed. And yes, I was that big of a brat.)
Remember that one time at Thanksgiving dinner you went through the whole alphabet and then started on AA, BB, on things that you knew about Mitt Romney? yeah,....pretty sure I don't know anyone else that can do that. I think being really into politics is a talent-I received several talents from you (my ability to talk to strangers, being loud, youtubing for longer than necessary...) but I don't think I received the "being into politics" talent. But I do think I got my ability to be dramatic from you. I remember one time Jenny got stuck in a cupboard in the kitchen heard first and you were freaking out and hyperventilating saying, "We need to call the fire department!" haha Yeah, it's ok, I'm a little over-dramatic sometimes too. haha I think my ability to make people feel awkward in an incredibly fast about of time came from you as well-although most of the time I do it on purpose.
I remember one time (ha one of many times I tried) I ran away-you followed me. I was so mad. It was all planned. I was going to run after softball practice. I had my bike, my softball mitt, no money, no jacket and it was raining. I started biking to the back roads towards Provo. I did everything I could to ditch you and your car...but no, you kept following me. What kind of dad were you? Trying to keep your stupid 14 year old daughter safe... geesh. The audacity. I remember this family pulling over in a van (right after I went under an overpass and I'm pretty sure there was a homeless man and that scared me enough-now homeless people are my friends, I like them.) and they were all worried and asked if I needed help or if I wanted them to call the police because they saw a man following me. It was you. I was so convinced to tell them to call the cops, but something told me that would be a bad and very stupid idea, so I grudgingly told them that you were my dad. It continued to rain harder.I finally got in the car. Thanks for following me. Only a true dad does that.
Even though you can now get the 10% senior discount at Wendy's, I'll still claim you as my father. Your scriptural knowledge and everything you know about the prophets and church history has always impressed me and given me a greater desire to study. I am grateful for the blessings you have given us when we've been sick and as we've started the school year. I am grateful that because of you and mom we have the gospel in our lives and we grew up going to church every week.
I am grateful for your dedicated service to attending pretty much every concert and performance I've had (and that's been a lot) with the exception of a few in college. Thanks for being a proud dad-you never miss an opportunity to tell others what your kids are doing and I know it's because you love us and are proud of us. Thank you for your support in everything that I have done and am doing now.
so, I'm like having a moral dilemma as to whether I should post these pictures or not, but I don't think I can pass them up. They're SO good. And I think that that's why you're such a great dad-because once in a while things like that happen. You let us do your hair (like curling iron, hair ties, hair spray etc, the whole sha-bang). And what's even greater? I think you'll probably still talk to me after this-You might ask me to take the pictures off, but if I don't, you'll still talk to me. (at least I think so...) Thanks for the advice you've given me and for the chats we had before and after the mission-I've appreciated them.
Happy Father's Day?
Very Sincerely and with Love,
Your oldest eldest daughter Kjersti
p.s. Thank you for staying for staying up all hours of the night many many times to edit my papers that were due the next day because I never started any of them earlier than that. :) Don't worry, you don't have to stay up and edit my blog. It's merely for my own enjoyment. :)
p.p.s. Thank you for teaching me to not do things by purpose and on accident. haha just kidding, I know it's on purpose and by accident.
p.p.p.s. What would you do if I failed Mexican history next semester? Or when Nathan fails Canadian history at BYU this semester?
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