Daddy Day

Father's Day was the day after our big Tolman Reunion. After church, we had a barbecue out in the shop and Josh and Edward opened gifts when lunch was over. I like to have the boys each give a gift to Josh, so he received 4 gifts from them. They helped me by picking out which gift they would give him, they picked a card for him and signed it, and they carried the gifts to him.

Gift 1: A sleeping gnome in a hammock

Gift 2: 3 mini-gnomes showing the actions of 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil'.

(We began collecting gnomes for Josh to put in his beautiful yard several years ago. Now for every Father's Day and his birthday, we give him different & unique ones to add to his collection. There are currently 11 gnomes in our backyard.)

Gift 3: The candy-bar gram poster

(It said: "RIESENs why we love our SUGAR DADDY and think our POP ROCKS: Your BUTTERFINGERs take care of OUR PATCH. You're a JOLLY RANCHER that grows our IDAHO SPUDs. You're MR. GOODBAR on the school board. You earn big PAYDAYs for your hard work at the golf course. We think you're SMARTIES as well as a BIG HUNK and there's lots of WAYs that you give us EXTRA SNICKERS! We think you SKOR 100GRAND for being the best dad ever! You bring us MOUNDS of JOY. Even though it's been a ROCKY ROAD and we've doen some real WHOPPERS (you know, those times when you ROL your eyes and say WHATCHAMACALIT), you've stuck with IT and we love you to PIECES. From your SWEETARTS and LIL RUNTS.)

Gift 4: the Barbecue Popcorn Popper

(Last fall when we were camping, I tried popping microwave popcorn over the fire in a pan, but ended up starting it on fire. I thought this was worth adding to our camping supplies when I saw it.)

And my gift to Josh was a hammock swing.

I bought one for myself for Mother's Day, and he loved it so much that I bought him one, too. Now they're both hanging on a tree in the backyard next to each other. We enjoy sitting together in the swings in the evening when it's cooler outside. Sometimes, when I'm not sitting in mine, he puts his feet up in mine and uses the two swings combined to lay in just like a regular hammock.

Happy Father's Day, Josh! I love raising our boys together with you by my side. I'm glad that I chose you as the father of my children. You are a good example for our sons, and the perfect partner for me. I love you!!!