Jeff Blogs

I learned very quickly when I became a parent that it didn’t come with any kind of owner’s manual. It’s just as well, like most other guys I rarely read the instructions anyway so I probably would have just thrown the manual in the parent’s glove box and then complain because I didn’t know what I was doing. There are times though that I wish I did have a manual, it would make things a whole lot easier.

My wife Trina and I have five children; four daughters and a son. We hadn’t planned on having a large family but powers much higher than our own felt we needed to be blessed raising these kids. Throughout their lives Trina and I have attempted to teach them right from wrong and prepare them for the inevitable time when they would go out on their own.

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Growing up in Idaho one of the things we kids always looked forward to was going to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. She lived in a small house with my grandpa. Small was the operative word since the entire house was the size of a garage.

Somehow my grandmother was able to comfortably fit all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins in this house on Thanksgiving. As a small child it seemed comfortable. When I visit now I have to wonder if it was just my imagination that there were really that many people in this small house.

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Father’s Day is always an interesting day at our house. It has evolved a lot over the years of our marriage. It began as a simple day where things just kind of flowed. When the kids were really young we usually celebrated with a handmade card and perhaps breakfast together. As we collected more kids and they got older the celebration got a little bit larger and more involved. Trina would work with the kids to make sure to take each of them shopping and allow them to pick out something for their dad. This usually meant that I received a very eclectic series of presents ranging from stuffed animals to art supplies to colorful shirts. As the kids are now starting to get old enough to start leaving the house for school the holiday continues to evolve. Now I usually get an e-card along with a note saying that they are poor college students and if I could please send money they would be happy to send me something (assuming I send enough money since they had things to buy too). It’s not just about the gifts though.

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