A Tribute to Fathers

 As it was Father's day this week, I've been thinking about all the great fathers in my life. Particularly  this one:

Yes, this picture is a year and a half old, but that doesn't change the fact that I love it. Troy is such a good father to our children. I love that he makes sure Jackson has been wrestled and steamrollered at before he goes to bed. I love that Clara's whole face lights up when she hears her Daddy's voice. She usually lets out a sigh of relief like, "Oh good. He's finally here." I love that Troy has spent countless hours running the length of our yard with some sort of ball playing with Jackson. I love that he helps me with the dishes, with the cleaning, and with changing diapers and feeding children. I love that when he gets home late, he's sad he didn't get to spend very much time with the kids that day. In a word, I just love him. I won the lottery with Troy. Who'd have known I'd have this good of a Dad and a husband on my hands when we got married? What a man, that Mr. Bushman.

And in addition to Troy, we have quite the legacy of great Dads. I thought I'd share old photos to commemorate because let's be honest, I love vintage.

My Dad. 

{Mission to Taipei, Taiwan 1980-1982}

I've learned so much from him it can't be contained in a short list. He has taught me what it means to be patient, what it means to give people the benefit of the doubt, and what it means to be forgiving and generous. Love you Dad.

My Grandpa Charles Barneck

{Mexican Mission, abt. 1946}

My Grandpa served three missions for our church, two of them to Mexico, and all three of them using Spanish. He has always loved the Spanish language. He taught Spanish classes at my elementary school as part of an extracurricular program for while. He hasn't been himself lately, but when we visited while we were in Utah, he lit up when Troy spoke Spanish with him.

 My Grandpa Steve Mabey

{1961-1965, Steve worked at Ken Garff Automotive}

My Grandpa is the hardest worker you'll meet. He's always worked hard to provide for his family. His honest, hard work is a legacy that has been passed down to his children. All three of his girls are hard workers and know what it means to finish a job right. Grandpa Mabey is also always willing to help anyone. He helped with countless projects on our home growing up and he helped Troy and I move into our first apartment right before we got married.

And of course Troy has some great Dads in his family too.

Neil Bushman (holding Matt) Abt. 1980

Troy's Dad has always gone above and beyond to be there for his kids. Even though he consistently worked overtime, (and sometimes 2 or 3 jobs), he always went to Troy's baseball games. When Troy was in little league, he coached, and when he was in high school, he attended every game and traveled to St. George for tournaments. He does the same thing now. With Mckay's high school games and with Lexi and Ashley's city league games too.

Grandpa LaMark Wignall

Troy's Grandpa Wignall has been so sweet to Jackson. We visited his house once and he showed Jackson the horses and let him have a little ride. Jackson was in heaven. Grandpa Wignall is so supportive of Christa and her family history research. He helps her find family photos and has helped her travel to England to search for more names in their family line. Something that has meant so much to Christa and Neil and the entire family.

Grandpa Wayne Bushman

 It's no secret that I love Grandpa Bushman. He is such a sweet man, and so proud of his family. I love this picture of him in the chair. So regal, and so vintage. What a smooth looking guy! Grandpa Bushman just turned 94. He still works two days in the temple and he plants his own garden. But it's not just any garden. He grows just about every vegetable you can imagine, including corn, lettuce, and potatoes. I'm amazed at his health and stamina every time I see him.

 Great Grandpa John Bushman

And although I never met him, I had to include this picture of Great Grandpa Bushman because I love it so much. I hung it in a picture wall of family photos in our entry way. Jackson looks at it and says, "That's my Grandpa. He's a cowboy!" I love that. I also love that the Bushman genes are so strong.  Troy, Neil, Wayne, and John all look so much a like it's crazy to me. We now have photographic evidence of what Troy will look like when he is 90, or any age really.

Thank you to all our fathers. We love you so much and are grateful for all you do.

Bountiful, Part 2

{City Creek}
While we were in Bountiful we were able to visit City Creek. Oh. my. word. It was so great. I just loved it all. The moving roof, the river, the waterfall, the H&M, the Cheesecake Factory on site. It was a fabulous place. Do you know what else was fabulous? It was only a high of 65 degrees the day we visited. We wore jackets and loved.every. minute. of it. (That was a lot of periods wasn't it? Yes. It was. ;)

True to form, Jackson ran around like a crazy exploring every little nook and cranny. And Clara, fell asleep. So everybody was happy! Jackson rode the escalator a few times. He thought it was SO funny to wave from up on the balcony.

{The Zoo}
We thought it would be fun to take Jackson to the Hogle zoo, as he loves the zoo. Turns out everyone else had the same thought. The bear exhibit had just opened up which apparently draws thousands of people to the zoo. Who'd have thought? So it was busy, and the prices had gone up considerably (granted, I haven't been there since high school, and Troy hasn't been there in literally 20 years. So it was bound to happen.) and we forgot the stroller, and we had to park in Timbuktu, but it was really great!

Troy and I decided that the Hogle zoo is cooler than the Phoenix zoo. By far. You can get much closer to the animals, you can see the animals (always a plus) and it didn't hurt that you weren't melting to the pavement as you walked along. It was a successful day my friends. Very successful.

Jackson crossing his legs luxuriously on the way to the zoo. He makes a carseat look GOOD.

At some point Troy decided it would be great fun to pose like the animal who was caged behind him. Thus, several animals shots...

A Jaguar, I believe. The two claws are throwing me off... not quite sure. Ha.

The tiger. (Good thing the animal can actually be seen in the background. :)

The fox?...

More Tiger. Now involving Jackson.

The back of a peacock. Interesting right?

Classic lion drinking fountain shot. A must at the Hogle Zoo.

1987-  A very small me at the Lion drinking fountain. 

See it's been there a long time. Although, it looks like it's been changed since back in the day.

And we rode on the train, which made Jackson incredibly happy. He couldn't contain his excitement. Grandma even took him again. He was a satisfied little man. 

Hooray for the zoo. It was a good time. Clara agreed.

{The Temple}
We were able to visit the Bountiful temple twice while we were in town. We did sealings and walked past the room where we were married. It was a really great temple day. Full of tender mercies and lots of tears by me... so many in fact that they stopped in between sealings and offered me a box of tissues. Ha. But they were happy tears. I'm so grateful for this place, and for a Heavenly Father who shows me witnesses of His love time and time again.

It was a pretty wonderful trip. A whirlwind of wonderful. We've missed you Utah and we can't wait until we see you again.

Side note: Traveling up to the zoo I couldn't stop thinking about possibly doing a residency at the U. Troy and I were looking out at the streets talking about what it would be like. I could just see us living in some cute neighborhood off Foothill Drive, getting season passes to the zoo, being close to family. It felt real. We'll have to see what Troy thinks of their residency come September. But living in SLC sure sounds like fun to me.