Thankful

(clicky for biggerness)

I realize this year has been very lean blog-wise. It's not that good, blogworthy stuff hasn't happened to me it's just that I've been busy. And anybody that blogs will tell you that lots of times you have to just be motivated to blog. Over the past year...

• I watched my sons step onto the field at Dodger stadium, their image projected on the jumbotron, and heard the crowd go wild as they said, "It's time for Dodger baseball!"
• I went snowmobiling in Mammoth with my family, Mema and Mike & Melissa.
  
• I went with Donna and the boys to visit Nana & Papa in Georgia where we were absolutely spoiled.
• I watched, teary-eyed as my son was wheeled into a surgical room and then I sat for what seemed like an eternity and forced myself to not think what life would be like without him.
  
• I spent 5 days in Mammoth with Donna, Jack & Joe fishing, napping, hiking, laughing.
• I walked with my sons to within 20 feet of a beautiful 5x5 buck.
• I did a major overhaul of the bedrooms to give Joe his own Dodger room and Jack his own hunting room.
• I took both boys with me to Arizona to shoot dove and we had the time of our lives.
• I celebrated 12 years of being married to the only one I could ever love and the only one that could ever love me.
  
• I took a fishing trip with my old best buddy that I hadn't seen in 6 years.
  
• I went on my first ever duck hunting trip and actually enjoyed it, in spite of nearly drowning.
  
• I watched Joe take the field and strike out 3 straight batters on 11 pitches, come back the next inning and strike out 2 more on 7 straight pitches and then proceed to bean the next 3 batters loading the bases. And when his teammates gagged an easy force out to end the inning on the next batter I watched as he kept his cool and got his team out of the inning by striking out his next victim with 3 pitches.

All that stuff happened and a whole bunch more. But what I had to share was this precious note from my son. It was totally unsolicited, I just happened to find it on my bed next to my pillow. And now here I sit feeling totally unworthy of the gift of being Daddy to two very special little boys and husband to an amazing wife and I find myself saying, "Lord, I am thankful for You are my Father."