Our dad is one of a kind. He was born in Malad and raised in Stone, ID, where he grew up learning the value of hard work and service to his community. He was born the 13th of 15 children to Ruth and Merlin Robbins. Dad spent his mornings milking cows and his days bucking hay, moving water, and playing outdoors with his siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews. 

Dad has always had a deep love for his family and pride in his roots in the Curlew Valley. This interest in his heritage has motivated him to research the stories of his ancestors and instilled in him a love for history, specifically the history of the surrounding area. His love for history and gaining knowledge is something that has rubbed off on all of us kids. Dad has taught us that learning could be fun and that there is a lesson to be learned in nearly everything. 

Growing up, dad witnessed his mother’s deep love for the Savior, and it got him curious in gaining his own relationship with God.  After graduating high school dad felt a pull to serve a mission. He saw how the mission positively impacted the lives of other young men he knew, and he knew that if he dedicated himself, he could also experience that same positive impact. Dad really strengthened his testimony while on his mission and has spent his life post mission centered and built upon Jesus Christ and His gospel. In our own ways, each of us kids have gained our own love for the example Jesus set for us on how to live and love others because we watched our dad do it first. 

A few months after returning home dad become reacquainted with Sarah Carter at the Gold and Green Ball. Dad says the Ball changed everything, not only had Sarah caught his attention, she’d begun to capture his heart. Mom and Dad were married November 3, 1977 in the Idaho Falls Temple. Dad has always put the needs of his sweetheart first and shown us how to truly love our partners. 

Mom and dad started their family quickly and within the first few years of marriage they brought their three oldest kids into the world. Jared, Bryce, and Stacey, who sure kept them on their toes. They were glad when they moved to Holbrook because grandma, May Carter, helped with tending the kids and dad helped grandma with work on her house and garden. He loved spending time with her and often tells us “She was an amazing woman and always made me feel like I was one of her own.” Dad consistently taught us by example how to honor the elderly and to cherish the lessons we can learn from them. 

Mom and dad went on to later add Brady, Devin, and Paige to their growing family. Dad feels his crowning glory has always been his kids and grandkids, because of this dad always has made family time his highest priority. He’s shown us how much he loves us in all the family road trips, camping trips, hikes, game nights, and the projects he’s involved us with. Dad’s love knows no bounds and we each have experienced from him just what unconditional love truly means. Dad has always been a very loyal friend and confidant and has exemplified to us how to look out for others and put their needs before our own. Dad’s happy demeanor and positive outlook has helped him cultivate a love for everyone he meets and has him always ready to make a new friend.

Our dad is quite the storyteller and jokester, these being two endearing traits that helped him connect with the youth he mentored while serving as an LDS Bishop and Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America. Some of his favorite stories involve trips on the Salmon River, Camp Little Lemhi, and 75-mile hikes into the Wind Rivers. Growing up we spent many hours around a family campfire listening to his stories and jokes. We developed a love for the out-of-doors, hiking, camping, fishing, and learned at a young age our responsibility to care for our environment.

Dad has always had a knack for mentorship. In 2004, he was awarded the Silver Beaver award which is designated for those who provide years of dedicated service to their community, self-sacrifice, and have made a positive impact on the youth they lead. At the ceremony the announcer said this about dad, "Young men respect him as their leader, consider him their friend and recognize his genuine love and concern for them…Rex always labors to include all boys, focusing on those who are less active in the unit and going the extra mile by making personal phone calls and offering to pick them up.” 

While we were growing up dad did his best to show up for us and support us in our interests. He wanted us to be involved in any of the activities we found interest in, so he worked full time and ran a contracting business on the side. Dad sacrificed time and money so that we could each pursue our curiosities and have experiences to learn important life lessons. One way dad supported our interests was by volunteering to coach our little league teams. Whether it was basketball, soccer, or baseball he wanted to be involved in our lives. Dad has always loved the sport wrestling. For a time, he helped coach the high school wrestling team and later spent years running the Malad Jr Dragon wrestling team. Dad has continuously shown us through his actions just how much he loves us and wants us to succeed, and we saw first-hand how he extended those same wishes for the kids he coached.  

 If you know our dad, you know he always has a song in his heart and a skip in his step. He is continually happy; it's not very often that he isn’t whistling a tune or singing the words to his version of a song. The best part of bedtime as kids was dad singing us to sleep, his love for music spread to each of us and so did his positive outlook on life. 

Dad would say his greatest accomplishment in life is his family. He LOVES being a grandpa more than anything. When Stacey’s triplets were born, dad could often be heard telling them “I am the luckiest grandpa in the world!” He’s the proud grandpa of 10 boys and 6 girls. We love our dad so much and have learned innumerable life lessons from him. It feels impossible to put in words just how special he is. He taught us the value of hard work and the mindset of “if it’s worth doing, its worth doing right”. He also taught us to persevere especially when times get tough. Another one of his famous lines is “your word is your bond”. Dad lives by these principals and has been a shining example to all of us. There's so much more we want to say about how wonderful our dad is, but we will end by saying, we love you more than we could ever express. You’ve taught us how to serve others, and how to have a sense of humor. You’ve instilled strong morals in each of us, and most of all you’ve taught us how to love others by showing us how. You will forever be our hero and favorite friend. Happy Father’s Day, dad! You’re the best dad ever.