happy birthday DAD

i lucked out with michael dunn as my dad.

he is: an emmy-award winner, a bear

attack survivor, a director, producer,

writer, joke-teller, grandkid spoiler,

chocolate lover, green-tie wearer,

friend, husband, dad, + papa bear,

and future mission president.

i love him so much and am always 

proud to call him my dad! we really 

wish we could be at home celebrating 

this year, because my parents are

moving to johannesburg, south africa

 for the next 3 years starting in july...

luckily we will see him next week

and celebrate more then, but we

sent him a package to have today

and the greatest card from our 

favorite site, treat. seriously this card

i made on treat.com was so perfect

because growing up my dad was

always the creative one who

would design magazine covers

with our face on it...like sports

illustrated with my brother on the 

cover--way ahead of his time!

so when i saw this design i had to 

customize it because i knew he'd love

it. cards can be the best part of a gift, 

& it's hard to find good ones--

but this website is my favorite!

^^ my card for him...haha "WORLDNEWS" 

cover! this guy completely spoils all of us...

{just sent us both brand new pairs of

running shoes last month for no reason}

so we love to spoil him back! here are

some parts of his birthday package..

^^ the man loves dark chocolate, and 

he loves peanut butter. how could i 

not pick this up for him? mmm!

^^ he is a big-time photographer and

also loves his iphone so i had to get him

this set of lenses for the iphone camera!

we also sent him a new youtube t-shirt

he wanted from the google store, and

some cinnamon chocolates from portugal.

hope you liked your gifts + card, dad!

///

when i was going through old photos for his birthday

card, i had so much fun picking out a million pictures

of him from my phone, old camera, etc. i have to share some!

so now, for a few reasons why 

i lucked out in the dad department.

 he's the sweetest dad.

his high school yearbook photo.

no explanation needed.

he taught me how to be cool early on.

he's good at everything.

(i'm serious. golf, tennis, waterskiing,

running, ironmans, writing, 

you name it. he's a pro.)

he got us a horse when we 

were little..every kid's dream!

he's a classic.

seriously i wish i had 

known him in high school!

he's a stud!

he's hilarious.

you never know what face 

he'll pull in pictures.

he randomly loves the giants. like a lot.

he wears this giants jersey roughly 75%

of the time. he also bought the above

crab sandwich for $19 because "you have

to get a crab sandwich at the giants game!"

he's all about the experience.

in high school he took me to nashville to see

the country music hall of fame...and spent 

all day with me there even though he is

not the biggest country fan (what a dad!)

he's taken me all over the world.

he survived a grizzly bear attack

(and can laugh about it..and still loves bears)

he is always photo-bombing us :)

^^ see what i mean?

he went to jamba juice so often that 

they asked him and my mom to be in 

their commercial.........i'm serious.

he's always prepared (wears this 

crazy ralph lauren coat all winter)

he picked the best woman as his wife.

(and had some nice hair)

he loves new york and has always

taken us there. he knows that city well!

he taught me how to kneeboard at lake powell.

this is how he and my mom paid for my study 

abroad...a suitcase full of cash. he's a clever one! 

he spoiled us but always in ways 

that made us appreciate it.

he's such a good photographer on 

the side and has captured so many 

moments of my life...from volleyball

games to tennis matches to high

school prom to our proposal,

you name it, he's been there for it all.

^^ he has a book on tape. 

and it's amazing.

^^ he loves chocolate. 

^^ he loves sailing his little laser.

^^ he's an IRONMAN. and boston marathoner.

and 100-mile ultramarathoner. i am 

exhausted just from typing all that.

he loves java chip ice cream and eats 

it with a giant spoon if necessary.

he loves "the promise of so-cal."

^^ he taught me to be a ute fan..

and a kettle corn fan.

^^ he is basically lord grantham.

(downton abbey fans--

hope you appreciate this)

^^ he wears ridiculous hats

^^ see above.

(we all thought he was joking trying

on this fedora at nordstrom in chicago, 

but i caught him wearing it all around 

the store dead seriously! HAHA been a 

family joke ever since...maybe that

should be his birthday present next year!)

^^ seriously what is it with the strange hats?

he even gets chase in on it sometimes :)

he's young at heart.

^^ he LOVES a good meal at roy's.

he has always taken care of us.

he is up for anything. (except roller coasters.)

^^ he bought me my dream car...and

patiently taught me how to drive it (stick shift!)

again with the photo-bombing! :)

he loves dogs and trained all of ours perfectly.

he wears his ironman jacket everywhere...

when he's not wearing the giants jersey.

he deserves to wear it though, and he is

proof that "anything is possible."

^^ he is one cute grandpa

^^ kids LOVE him and he will never say no to playing 

with grandkids or any kids! also he got

tagg that hat that says his name...the cutest.

^^ he helped chase pull off the perfect proposal.

he's taken me on countless daddy-daughter

trips..and bought me those tory burch shoes,

which he called "tory amos"...who is a singer...

not a designer. haha gotta love him!

he is an animal and will train you

so well...AKA force you to run up

the hills and stairs of san francisco

he literally took me to "breakfast at tiffany's"

..and he also helped find my diamond ring when i lost it.

he's such a good husband to my mom.

he doesn't take himself too seriously.

he LOVES lance armstrong and even met him!

(took this pic alongside him...before 

lance's doping downfall.)

he has always pushed me to be my best.

he is the best father and father-in-law.

he treats my mom like gold and lives by

his mantra: "underpromise, overdeliver."

i love you, dad! thanks for being such

a fun, good person and making all

of our lives better. we celebrate you

today and every day! XOXO

and so glad the package made it there!!

loved facetiming in this morning as

he opened it at his birthday breakfast.

we are sad to miss the bowling party

tonight but we'll be there in spirit

(and in facetime!) XOXO

^^ ps. treat, you did make an awesome card. thank you!

wish my dad a happy birthday! 

XO