To her the name of father was another name for love.

The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.
Having been raised by her father, William Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.
In 1926, a National Father's Day Committee was formed in New York City. Father's Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday of June. So Father's Day was born in memory and gratitude by a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers should be honored with a special day just like we honor our mothers on Mother's Day. And so today, I honor some dads who have made a difference in my life.

1. First and foremost...My Dad. I can't even begin to express how much I love and look up to this man. He has always been everything a father should be. Kind, compassionate, thoughtful, big and strong, firm, fun, funny. Perfect.






2. Ryan. He may not be my father, but I have to say, I did a good job at finding the father for my kids. He has such an amazing relationship with our girls. They look up to him and have more fun with him. He is firm in his rules, but funny and loving when enforcing them. He gets "Nervous" about everything new they try. When the girls were learning to ride bikes without training wheels, it was I that had to teach them. He can't stand the thought of seeing them get hurt. Even a scratch. So he sat inside away from windows until they were good and comfortable on their bikes. Even now it makes him nervous to watch them ride. When Brooklyn was at camp last week he kept on asking, "Isn't she going to call?" Finally I asked, "Did you call your mom when you were at boyscout camp?" He said, "No, but this is my baby girl we're talking about."





3. Randy. Ryan's dad has always been so kind patient with us. Always letting us make our own decisions (even mistakes) and just supporting us in our lives. He loves to be silly (and passed that trait on to his son) and loves to spend time with his granddaughters. I couldn't have a better father-in-law.




4. Brick. I was nearly grown by the time Brick became my step-dad, and yet he still treats me like one of his own. He has supported me in many ways, through many hard times in my life. He is an amazing grandpa to my kids and my mom couldn't have found a better match.



5. Andrew. He took on the roll of dad when we all thought he shouldn't. Not because we didn't love Izzy and Debo, but because we were afraid Andrew wasn't ready to commit to the full responsibility. Boy were we wrong. He's an awesome dad. And really, we should have known, he did learn from the best.


6. Greg. Been a dad for exactly 1 week, and I'm willing to bet he's loving it! Greg, this parenting stuff gets better every day. Enjoy!

Happy Fathers Day!