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Show 6 ti Father's Day Section ThmxfJ.ty Juno 12, 1007 Dad already knew ups, downs of. ldds before he ever got married , , ByJANiSCARTen Swn44 L , KAYSVIl Vour Dad tolled VN1 CtuJ ,i ij I co 1 a good coach. He get on me come." he said. but he pushes me hard to be a better athlete." He also said that hit daJ make cure he in school and tu) in school, and hct alwa there when Chad need him. 1 let keeping me being a good kid," Chad said. Having to be in by midnight e help him to stay out of trouble. Lv love hi dad, Chad including him. He said people always have good thing to say about Leo. When Chad was about 10. the Leo found out they were going to have a baby. After a normal pregnancy and delivery they were blessed with a baby girl, Amy. Just minutes after the birth the doctor told Leo that they suspected she had Dow n syndrome. Leo said that it really caught him by surprise and thought surely that the doctor was wrong. The doctor was right. It broke my heart," he said, but not because I felt sorry for myself, I felt bad for all that she might not be able to do and be." But it didnt really matter, they loved her and realized they would just have to take a different road to help her be all that she could be. Leo said they felt like very special parents, entrusted with this baby. Its been the neatest thing that ever happened to us," Leo says now. We really cashed in and have done pretty well." Admitting that raising a daughter and raising a son is different, Leo said there are certain things he doesn't do well. For instance, once he was curling Amy's hair and he burned her with the curling iron. Another time he got her hair caught and had to cut it out. But he never had a problem changing diapers. When he was coaching little league he said, I would stick a binky in one pocket and a diaper in the other and put her up on my shoulders and there she would stay until her mom came to pick her up. e as a Because Vicky works deputy court clerk, and Leo has summers off from teaching school, he has had a lot of time with the kids. As a father, he's great, Vicky said, but as a housekeeper, he's horrid. He doesn't cook much, but he keeps the sa. y, rn cry-on- JVj ond sold he'd lilse a tree for Father's 0ap" Bring this ad in for 2 From 5 them out to a trout farm. It's so easy to catch fish, he says. They really liked that. We go bike riding and Hannah will ride her bike, Chloe rides with me And lately, the girls are really into visthe hermit crabs at Petsmart. Rice is iting ' thinking of getting anaquarium and hermit crabs for the girls. They are the neatest little things. Hannah, freshly covered with face paint straight from day care, says her dad has a very good sense of humor. He plays with me a lot and I get a lot of attention from him. She likes to play checkers with her dad. Usually he wins," she says. Hes very special to me and I love him a whole, whole lot, Hannah says. He's my favorite dad in the whole wide world. Hes my only dad, she says with a laugh. They go swimming, shopping, bike riding, have picnics, and they went to Disney World. Rice also spends quiet celebrations with each. Hannahs birthday was May 16 and he took her out to the Olive Garden for dinner and got her ears pierced for her birthday. He notices the different personalities and interests of each daughter and spends individual time with each in their interests. He really is one of those special kind of people, says Argyle. Ive never heard him say an unkind word. ..he accentuates the positive. Hes a good neighbor. Hes very close to his girls. K? any tree June 12 thru 15 Trees delivered and planted for 20" per tree within 10 miles of our nursery All Gift Items D0 full-tim- Rice R, , - When he wax Leo hud many he around Kids. As a math teacher at Kaviltc Junior High School, he learned the characteristics or teens. And hasing nieces and nephew gate him a chance to team the ups and down of babies and young children. lie felt pretty content with this raux fathering for a long time until 10 years ago, when he met Chad, who lived in the apartment below him in Kaysvillc. Lor a while it was just Leo and Chad who talk ed and became better acquainted. But when Leo met Chad's mother, Vicky, he started to date her. Leo felt no apprehension about dating a woman with a child. He liked Chad and they liked doing things together, especial ly playing and watching sports. Leo said many men he knew wouldn't want a but ! got a good deal," he said. "I got two for one." Having dated other men who diJn't like the idea of her having a child, Vicky had decided that her motto would be, you like us both or neither of us. Leo loved being with Chad so that was no problem. Shcs never been disappointed, she said. Leo has always been very supportive and a good role model. By the lime he and Vicky married, they had done so many activities together that they were already like a family, and he felt that Chad was as much his as hers. Father and son spent a lot of time together going to basketball games and football games. During the summers when he was single, Leo worked instructional camps all over the United States with the Los Angeles Rams. He remembers a particularly outstanding week when Chad was about 8 years old and they went to Los Angeles to watch the Rams play. Spending a week in California gave them a chance to get closer and also have a great time hanging out with the team. Chad is now 17 years old, attending Davis High School, where Leo coaches football. Coaching his son in high school ball is just an extension of the many years he coached him in little league yard looking great and spends time baseball and football. chauffeuring and playing with the kids. l-- tat :! E?E? Full Landscape & Sprinkler Service Klmbsrly Nimerles Plant $ Produce Pavilion ;f Happy Father's Day from SERVING YOU SINGE 1S07L fML 131 West 200 IJorth, Kaysvillc 547-154- 5 p |