Marisha's Post

• "Ready? Lets go to Taco Smell, remember to put on your smeetsmelts in the car! (Seatbelt)
• "Sorry Charlie"
• Lee ya sater! (instead of See ya later)
• "See you later Crocodile"
• When I was little, every day that Dad would come home from work I would race to the top of the stairs and barricade it so he wouldn't be able to get through. At times he had a hard day at work he seemed a little annoyed but I fondly think back and hope that it cheered him up on those days. He would crawl through my legs and then I would let go of the walls so that I was hanging on his back backwards and upside down. Then he would go to the living room and spin me around and I would lift out my arms and I was parallel to the ground, like I was flying. Then he would plop me down on the bed, and I was always laughing, and it was so much fun! He did this until I think the very last time was when I was 12.... which means he was 52. Haha!
• At our old house he and I would go bike riding together in the evenings after work. 
• "Dad's home, be polite and have your good manners now!"
• When we went skiing with the Gifford's, I was 9 and I had never been snow skiing, April taught me how. I just wasn't getting it, I was hurting, and very frustrated, I was having quite the miserable time. So Dad took me up to the bunny hill and I was in front of him, my skiis were in the inside of his skiis and he was holding me and I was holding his arms. We went down the bunny hill a few times and I loved it. It was a fun time and I remember that it meant a lot to me that he took time to do that with me to make sure I had a good time.
• I was Dad's little helper when I was little. Every time he decided to make a garden I would always garden with him, I even had a miniature shovel so he taught me how to shovel piles of dirt. Or when he cut down branches I would help him put them in garbage cans. I always felt like he believed in me, he didn't make me feel inadequate like I was "too little" to do something. I loved spending time with Daddio.
• When we went to that Family Reunion in AZ (6 years ago I think? When April got Sasssy) we went to some Petrified Forest park and went on a hike and took pictures. On the way back to the homestead we saw a dead porcupine. So we pulled off the side of the road, took pictures and then Dad stole some of its quills. A couple of years later he made sure that he gave me the envelope of quills - I still have them! 
• When Mom and Dad came to Hawaii to visit, after a long day at the beach they totally snuck in to Turtle Bay Resort with me to go hot tubbing! =)
• I would read to Dad a lot of the time when I was old enough. Every time I read he would always fall asleep, but it was fun to do, and I got better at reading. He encouraged us to read.
• One of my most recent and biggest highlights of Dad was when he and Mom came to Hawaii in the middle of April 2009. We went to Waimea Bay and I jumped off the rock. The rock is this huge lava rock partly on the beach partly in the water. So you can walk onto the rock from the beach and climb up, and "cliff jump" off of it into the ocean. I was a wimp so I jumped off the small ledge (15 ft up) about 7 times before I mustered the courage to jump off the top (20 or so ft). Dad was encouraging me to jump, and he didn't have any problems. He went right off of the top cliff and jumped off! He was 58 right about to turn 59. While I was mustering up the courage he continued jumping. He even jumped off the small ledge with me a few times. Keep in mind there were a ton of college aged kids all around us, and Dad didn't even care. He didn't feel awkward at all, he jumped off the cliff as many times as he wanted because he wanted to do it, and what anybody thought of him, didn't matter - he's always been that way. I was taking forever, so periodically he would go on the beach and visit with Mom. When I finally jumped off the top cliff, he was so proud of me and encouraged me to do it again. I love my Dad! I must get my adventurous spirit from him. (Mom has pictures of this event)
• Dad's cute, witty, silly sense of humor. 
• When I played basketball in Elementary school he would always practice with me at night. At all my games he would crazily wave his hands and get this excited/surprised look on his face and wave at my ridiculously until I saw him and waved sheepishly back. He did this at every one of my games even a few years later, and also at my softball games. It was cute, and funny even though I would be a little embarrassed, I loved it. Again he never cares what people think of him.
• In Sacrament Meeting when I would get to sit by him we would be singing the Hymns and I would start to chuckle at his singing because he wouldn't always hit the right notes. Then to humor me, he would purposely sing very off key and then we would both be cracking up looking around, trying to suppress our laughter both singing horribly.