Monday, March 12, 2007

Otousan: The bestest daddy

Ta-da-da-da-da! Today's spotlight is my daddy. Be warned! This will be a long post!

He was born as Brock Matthew Stout on December 17, 1965, at Cottonwood Hospital in Utah, to Richard and Renee Stout. He was the oldest child and son - Brock, Natalie, Jordan, Emily, and Gina. So 2 boys and 3 girls. He was the cutest baby!

The photo below was taken close to his 2nd birthday, in December 1967.
In Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades he lived in Illinois and attended Field Stevensen Elementary School.
In 3rd grade, he lived in Ohio and attended Thomas Edison Elementary School.
In 4th and 5th grades my daddy lived in Murray, Utah and attended Twin Peaks Elementary.
In 6th grade, he moved to Bluffdale, Utah and attended Riverton Elementary.

In 7th grade, he attended Bingham Middle School.

(above: 7th grade - 12 years old)

He went to Bingham High - home of the Miners!
He loved to run, and was on the cross country track team in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. He made the varsity team at the end of his junior year.

He graduated as the class of '84.
Daddy attended 2 quarters at the College of Eastern Utah before his mission '84-'85. He received a full-tuition scholarship to attend CEU for journalism. He received the bronze award at the National Junior College Forensics Championship For After Dinner Speaking in April 1985 - 19 years old.

(above:) Daddy posing like the prophet Mormon in the picture on his lap. He was in his second-to-last area in his mission. Spring 1987 - 21 years old.

My dad was called to the Japan, Kobe mission. He spent most of his mission off of the mainland in Okinawa and little islands like Ishigaki.

Meanwhile, my mom was in Osaka Japan during the last 2 months of my dad's mission - July & August of 1987. They came home only one week apart. Dad started BYU, and mom started her senior year of high school. They would meet over a year and a half later at BYU.

They met in May 1989 at the "Elms" apartments at BYU. They got engaged on July 4th, 1989 while they were watching fireworks. It became "official" on July 8th when my dad called my mom's parents in Fillmore, and then gave her the ring in Spanish Fork Canyon at sunset.

(above:) my mom and dad's engagement picture. My mom was in her 3rd semester at BYU, and dad was in his 6th.

They got married on Tuesday, August 29th, 1989, in the Manti Temple.

Both of them graduated in April 1991 - my mom was 4 1/2 months pregnant with me! My dad majored in Public Relations and minored in Japanese. He only needed a few more credits to get a double major!

He went on in internship to Japan in Spring of 1991, while my mom was pregnant. My mom couldn't go with him because they were too poor. I was born on September 21, 1991. And Tashi was born only 16 months later - on January 27, 1993.

Weren't we so cute? We adopted Mia in April 2001, and Noah in April 2004. And we're expecting baby #3 or #5 (depending on how you look at it) at the end of May.

I really have the bestest dads in the world. He ponders about things deeply before he says them, keeps his promises (seriously) and puts his family before work or hobbies. He works really hard for us. I've had friends who's dads buy their affection, or boasting about them in front of people. I used to be jealous of that, but now I'm glad that he just told us to do our best and that he believed in us, and he spent time with us to show his love instead of buying us things. Those friends didn't turn out too good either - I'm not saying that I'm perfect either - but I'm just glad that I have a very family-dad.

I found this recently, and it's so true!

Why A Daughter Needs A Dad...

#1
To learn that when he says it will be okay soon, it will.

# 2
To make sacrifices so she will not have to sacrifice.

# 3
To teach her that her value as a person is more than the way she looks.

# 4
To laugh at her at the right times.

# 5
To have some whowill always have timeto give her hugs and kisses.

#6
To have someone who does not mind when she steps on his shoes while dancing.

#7
To always make sure she has a place to come home to.

# 8
To have someone who will never think she is too old to need him.

# 9
To make the family whole and complete.

# 10
To have someone who will not punish her for her mistakes, but help her learn from them.

# 11
To teach her to believe that she deserves to be treated well.

# 12
To teach her to accept the differences in others.

# 13
To teach her to weigh the consequences of her actions and make decisions accordingly.

# 14
To know what its like to be somebody's favorite.

# 15
To tell her truthfully that she is the most beautiful of all.

# 16
To protect her from scary nighttime creatures.

# 17
To answer the questions that keeps her awake at night.

# 18
To make the complex simple and the painful bearable.

# 19
To protect her from the thunder and lightning.

# 20
To teach her that family is more important than work.

# 21
To be the safe spot she can always turn to.

# 22
To show her how it feelsto be loved unselfishly.

# 23
To be the standard against which she will judge all men.

#24
To have someone to influence her life, even when he isn't with her.

# 25
To tell her that all is not hopeless, even when she feels it is.

8 comments:

Em said...

Something else about your dad, everyone remembers him. He is very memorable. I had the same track coach as him 10 years later and when he heard my last name, his jaw dropped, "Stout!? As in BROCK STOUT?!!!" Also, if I see someone that knew our family, they always ask about him. He must have impressed a lot of people and I know it was just from being Brock. He would never brag or show off, except when exhibiting his air-drum skills while listening to RUSH. Good Brock!

My name is Lexi said...

I haven't seen "his air-drum skills while listening to RUSH", but you haven't seen his interpretive dance making fun of interpretive dance.

maika said...

I think Brother Stout feel so happy because he have daughters like you!!

My name is Lexi said...

I hope so...haha

Anonymous said...

Looking at the pictures, it is obvious that I had an awkward stage from age 3 until about...now.

Anonymous said...

This posting made me very, very happy.

My name is Lexi said...

GOOD! GOOD!

Greg said...

Hi Lexi:

Please visit my blog. I wrote Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, and am working on a new father-daughter book. Maybe you would consider contributing a story. Thanks!

Gregory E Lang