Reasons why my dad is the BEST:

1. He is Goofy!
Have you ever thought your dad was weird or goofy? Well, my dad can top your dad. For example, my dad has a gift for coming up with the most bizarre nick-names for his kids and grandkids. Your dad probably called you "munchkin", sweetheart", or "sport" growing up. My dad called me "Pitch-a-Stick" (which is now shortened to "Pitch), "June Bug", "Hollis Stacy", "Jumping-Jack-Juniper-June", and "Pitcheth Paltrow" growing up. I still get called "Pitch" quite frequently, by the way, which has gotten some weird looks from my friends and past roommates when they've heard him say, "Hello, Pitch! How are you today?"
Luckily, I've inherited this wacky gene from my dad and have created some pretty odd nick-names for my younger sisters over the years. Annie's nick-name is "The Grease" or "Greasy", and we frequently call Sadie "Rubix". Behind each nick-name there is a unique story, but I've never heard of any other nick-names quite bizarre in my life, all thanks to my dad's goofy quirk!

2. My dad is one of my best friends:
There are a lot of "daddy's girls" out there, but I think it gets taken to the next level in our family, for some reason. My dad is, and always has been, very involved in our lives. Even during the teenage years and during college, I talked to my dad all the time about everything. I remember one of my roommates thinking it was very odd that my dad was very much in the know about what midterms I had coming up, who I had gone out with last week, and which guy I was going out with next week. I remember her saying, "I'm close to my dad and I'm a daddy's girl, but I don't tell him the ins and outs of my dating life!" Maybe it seems a little weird, but my dad has always been one of my best friends and he really always had the best advice, best words of comfort when a guy broke up with me, and the best encouragement when school, work, and life in general got overwhelming. I still talk to my dad on the phone at least twice a week and if he hasn't heard from me in three or four days, he usually calls. I feel lucky that I can be such good friends with my dad.

3. My dad is just like Nephi:
Besides being a worthy priesthood holder and a great Christ like example to myself and others, my dad really is like Nephi in another way, and this has a little story to go behind it.
My dad was raised in the LDS church, but his father became inactive shortly after my dad entered his teenage years and never returned to full church activity. My grandpa was a wonderful man and father, but because of his lack of spiritual leadership in the home, my dad had to find it in himself to gain an honest testimony of the church and put his collegiate golf career on hold for two years in order to serve a full-time mission for the church. My dad also had to gain his own testimony of the importance of temple work and of sealing families together for time and all eternity in the temple. I'm glad that my dad had the strength to make the important decisions to serve a mission and marry my mother in the temple because they have impacted my life, my siblings lives, and the lives of many future generations of my family.
Last year, while living in Houston, TX, Garrett and I visited my Grandma Margaret, who lives outside of Houston, and picked up a bunch of my granpda's old keepsakes and pictures that he had left behind for us. One of the few papers that he had kept in his files over the years was a letter that my dad had written to him shortly before my dad married my mother. My dad started out the letter thanking my grandpa for all that he taught him over the years as a father. He told my grandpa what a great man he was and how grateful he was to have him as his father. He then told his dad how excited he was to be getting married to my mother in the temple and how much he wished that his father could be in attendance (my grandpa had never been through the temple) at their sealing. He said that he didn't think himself better than or above anyone else, especially his own father, but encouraged his father to come back to church and to prepare himself to enter the temple so that he could enjoy the blessings of the temple and be able to witness my dad's sealing to my mother.
My dad wrote this to my grandpa with the greatest humility and not a hint of self-righteousness. It reminded me of in the Book of Mormon when Nephi broke his bow in the wilderness. Though his father, Lehi, murmured and complained along with everyone else over the loss of his bow, Nephi remained righteous and humble. He made a new bow to go hunting with and then went to his father to ask where he should go to find meat. Nephi remained righteous and faithful while never elevating himself above his murmuring father. He still showed his father the proper humility and respect that prompted Lehi to repent of his murmuring.
I'm sure that my dad's humble example to his father written in that letter had a profound effect on my grandpa because that letter is one of the few things he had kept filed away for so many years. Though my grandpa did not react immediately to my father's example like Lehi did to Nephi's, a few days before my grandpa died, he did request to have my dad do his temple work once he had passed away. A year to the date of my grandpa's death, on June 17, 2004, my dad went into the temple and did my grandpa's temple work.

I'm so grateful for a father who has been so strong in his faith and been an example not only to his children, but to his parents as well. The day I found that letter, I think my love for my dad grew a hundred times. It's great that my dad is goofy, and even better that he's my best friend, but it's the best to have a father who has spent his life serving his family, serving the Lord, and setting the example for others (especially myself) to do the same. I'm glad to have a dad who, in my eyes, is just like Nephi.

I love you, Dad!