This past weekend we finally were able to get our family together to celebrate my dad’s 75th birthday.

Just wanted to post a few pics of  our fun family and brag on my amazing dad.

We gathered in beautiful Sedona for the entire day and had such a great time just being together with our children and thier spouses as well as mom and dad.

Dad turning 75 has kind of crept up on us. He is such a gift to Gary and I and the entire family. In a world of so many absent fathers I am amazingly blessed to have a dad who has always given us his best.

Max Lucado writes: “Today’s my first [Father’s Day] without a father. For 31 years I had one of the best, but now he’s…buried under an oak tree in a west Texas cemetery. Strange he isn’t here…because he was always available. His words were nothing novel; his achievements, though admirable, were nothing extraordinary. But his presence was. Because he was there, life went smoothly…the future was secure…and my growing up was what God intended. He taught me how to shave and how to pray. Helped me memorize verses for Sunday school, taught me that wrong should be punished…and that rightness has its own reward. He modeled…the elusive balance between ambition and self-acceptance. I knew if I ever needed him he’d be there. Like a warm fireplace. Maybe that’s why this Father’s Day’s a bit chilly. The fire’s gone out. The winds of age swallowed his splendid flame leaving only golden embers. But there’s a strange thing about those embers, stir them…and the flame will dance…and knock just enough chill out of the air to remind me that he’s still…present.”

Compare that to an interview with actor Gene Hackman who recalls: “I was just 13, but that Saturday morning is still vivid. I was playing down the street…when I saw my father drive by and give me a light wave. Somehow I knew that gesture meant he was going away forever. To this day the memory’s a ghost that never seems to fade.” Solomon said, “The righteous man walks in integrity…blessed are his children after him.” Proverbs 20:7 (amp)

What a great day of making family memories …can’t wait for the next gathering .

Thanks dad for always being there and thanks for getting us together in Sedona for a great day.