I am grateful to have a wonderful father on this earth who has always been there for me and sacrificed for me. He is a very loving father and a great role model.
I am also grateful to have a wonderful father-in-law. FYI, I hate the term in-law, I just prefer the term family, and I call him Dad as well. He is also a wonderful man who is a great role model.
Both Dad's have done something that I truly appreciate, they have helped me understand the best Dad of all better, My Heavenly Father. Through the love of these two men I have come to better understand God as a Father who loves his children, even better. For that I am eternally grateful!
I am also grateful to be a Dad to two beautiful children! I only hope that I will be as good of a Dad and role model as my Dad and Sarah's Dad have been to us!
Now that the sappy stuff is out of the way, back to my day...
It started by Sarah allowing me to sleep in. I haven't sleep past sunrise in way too long. It was nice. When I got up Sarah made me breakfast as I watched TV and played on facebook, all while Carmen and Uriah were jumping on me saying, "Happy Father's Day!"
After breakfast we debated going to church, but we have all been battling sickness and with all the coughing we decided to stay home.
I had an outdoor soccer game at noon today, and wouldn't you know it, about five minutes into the game, I scored the games first goal! It would turn out to be the winning goal, as my team won 3-0!
After soccer, I took a shower and then watched some US Open Golf, well for a few minutes anyway, before I fell asleep.
I got to sleep in and take a nap in the same day, how glorious!!!
After our nap we gave our Dad's a call to chat with them, and tell them, "Happy Father's Day!"
Then we ate dinner. After dinner we stopped by my Dad's house to give him his Father's Day Gift.
Then came the highlight of my day.
We decided to go cheer on the Fire Fighters/ First Responders who have been fighting the Black Forest Fire.
If you didn't know (which must mean you live in a sad world with no access to any kind of media. That also begs the question, how are you reading this?), last Tuesday, June 11 a fire started in Black Forest, CO that has become the most destructive fire in the history of the State.The fire is/ was about 5 miles north of our home and our neighborhood. The fire fighters did such a great job of holding the southern boundary containment line of the fire, that it never got closer than 5 miles from our neighborhood.
So we wanted to go say thank you to these heroes, personally.
It was awesome to be part of a large crowd (I would say at least 500 people) cheering for the fire fighters as they went to and came from fighting the fire. I teared up a couple of time as I watched the fire fighters smile and wave to the people in the crowd.
Many of them had their cell phones out and were taking videos of the people clapping, screaming, and cheering them on. The fire fighters were waving back and yelling, and honking the horns, turning on the sirens, and flashing the lights of the vehicles.
It was easily, the best parade I have ever been too!
Besides the parade of fire fighters, a couple of highlights:
There was this young boy near us cheering, "Black Forest Strong," over and over as the fire fighters vehicles passed by.
Then there were the fire fighters that came into the crowd and were thanking the people there for their support. It was cool! Uriah got to fist bump a couple of them, after I shook their hands and said, Thank You!" Here is a picture:
But, by far the most heart wrenching and beautiful thing I saw was an older lady holding a sign, that said, "Thank you for saving my home!"Being at the shift change tonight was one of the best things we have ever done as a family.
You can view some pictures I took here: PICTURES
You can view a video I took here: VIDEO
I couldn't think of a better way to end my Father's Day, then cheering on fire fighters, who have been working tirelessly to get this Black Forest Fire contained and out.
I would guess that many of them are Father's themselves and would have loved to be with their families. I pray that God will bless them for all their selfless, tireless, and hard work.
This truly was my best Father's Day yet!
PS: If you live in the area and have a chance to make it to a shift change, go do it! They are at 8AM & 8PM at Pine Creek High School
PSS: As always, thanks for reading my blog, may God bless you and your family!
