This week is Father’s Day, and as I did for Mother’s Day, I plan on having a post each day leading up until Father’s Day, celebrating dads. I have some good resources for dads and some great articles about dads and adoption.

Personally, I know two of the greatest dads on Earth. My own Dad pretty much raised three kids on his own. He ran his own company and still found the time to drive us to our horse back riding lessons and be at our chorus concerts and any where else we needed him or wanted him to be.

He taught me to stand up for what I believe in, and fight for it when necessary. He taught me that it doesn’t matter what the rest of the world thinks. He taught me not to sweat the small stuff. He taught me that if you have someone to love and someone to love you back, that you are doing pretty dang good in life. He taught me to love a good book. He taught me to never give up on my dreams and goals. He taught me about unconditional love.

Yes, my Dad is huge part of who I am today.

And then there is Josh…the father of my kids. Beyond being the best husband on earth, he is an amazing and wonderful dad. His heart is bigger than anyone else’s I know. I have watched him spend countless hours rocking babies, leading older kids on a bike ride, being the “horsie” for the toddlers, taking kids up the mountain on a hike, playing catch, jumping on the trampoline, playing all sorts of games and often ending up at the bottom of a dog pile full of kids.

And as good as he is at playing, he is also a master chef and is more than capable at laundry and all aspects of child care. When Marcus was in the hospital repeatedly two years ago, Josh was often home alone with seven kids, and I always came home to happy kids and a clean house.

He goes to Tae Kwon Do belt ceremonies, Boy Scout activities, Girl Scout activities, preschool parties, Kindergarten productions, school concerts, spelling bees and eight million other activities for our kids, not because he has to, but because he wants to. Like my Dad, no matter how busy he is at work, he always has time for his family. He is happy to spend his free time with is family, whether it be at the zoo, at the lake, on the sledding hill or out in the yard.

When we first got married, if someone had told us that we would have such a large family, we probably would have laughed. But our kids have come to us one or two at a time, and each time Josh has been more than willing to open his heart to “just one more”. When it has come to our adoptions, he has been brave going into all situations, whether it was the delivery room in a hospital, an airport terminal or an orphanage in Africa. He has instantly loved our children with his whole heart, no matter what age, gender or color they happened to be or what situation they came from.

He is their Dad, and he is my hero.