as we head off to europe today, a part of my heart is sad that i am not spending the day with my dad. don’t get me wrong i am OVER THE MOON excited to be flying into Paris in the next 24hours, but there are few things i love more than spending time with my dad, (and of course you too, mom ;)) – no matter what we are doing. whether we are sitting at the kitchen table talking about our latest and planned adventures over a beer or glass of wine, going for an evening walk on the farm, laughing about something funny either of us said, driving in the car, or water-skiing and spending time at the lake – my dad has a gift of making everything in life fun. he has a gift of always bringing laughter to wherever he is, and making the most simple moments memorable through his love for life and adventure. i feel so blessed to have the relationship that i do with my dad, we can talk about anything and everything and it’s been that way for as long as i can remember. he always encouraged me and my sister growing up that “we can do anything”. he never let the stereotype of a girl hold us back from anything ~ we have both been riding dirtbikes since we were 5, water-skiing since we were 3, and driving boats for as long as we could reach the steering wheel. he has a way of empowering both of us, trusting us to make good choices and believing in us to be the absolute best versions of ourselves that we can be. i always love it when people (especially scott, on a daily basis hah) tell me that i am just like my father, to me it is the greatest compliment to be compared with either of my parents. i really feel so blessed, and words can’t describe how much i love them both.

dad ~ i hope you have an awesome day today, and i hope you know how much i love and appreciate you and everything you have done for me, steph and for scott. i love the way you love us, how you still hold our hand when we are at disney world on a roller costar scared out of our mind, how you get so animated when we watch scary movies (haha, i love this when i am not sitting next to you hahaha.. ;)) i love how you constantly encourage us, take interest in what is happening in our lives, how you teach us, believe in us, and laugh with us. you have instilled in us that when we do something, we need to do it right. to trust that “it will turn out okay”, and to be a true optimist in every sense of the world. You remind us to not to worry about things that are out of our control. to keep our car clean and never run it too low on gas (although both steph and i are still working on this lesson, hahaha ;)). you have taught us to do things in life that we are passionate about, to be adventurous, spontaneous, and to believe in life’s magic. i really consider myself and steph to be the 2 luckiest girls in the world to have such an amazing dad, and i am so excited to get to come out to the lake when we get back to spend time with you and mom, laughing and skiing and to just spend time together. thank you for all you do and have done for me. i love you and happy fathers day! <3