Darran Zenger

At their neighborhood park in Eagle Mountain David Zenger, 10, sits on a swing whistling along to his mp3 player as his sister, Abby, 2, giggles uncontrollably as their father pushes her on the swing.

"Swing," she smiles. "More."

Her swing begins to slow down and her feet come closer and closer to the ground.

"Daaaaaddd! Daaaaadddd! Moooooorrrree."

She tries louder, but her father, Darran, doesn't hear.

"Daaaddd! Mooooore!"

Finally, David walks over to his father and taps him on the shoulder.

"Dad. Abby wants another push," he says in sign language.

David smiles and gives Abby a big push running underneath the swing and her giggles resume.

At the age of six he was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder that is characterized by deafness and progressive blindness. He began to lose his hearing at the age of 5 and it got worse until the age of 20. Now, at 34-years-old, he can't hear anything.

"He can't hear me do this," said David, standing right next to his father, screaming his name.

For a while he used hearing aids but felt that they didn't help much.

"I had no speech discrimination," Darran said. "Everything sounds like the teacher from peanuts. Wa-wa-wa-wa-waaa."

Part of Usher Syndrome is Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), which causes night-blindness and a loss of peripheral vision through the progressive degeneration of the retina. His parents noticed the night blindness when he was still a baby. They would bring him a bottle at night and he couldn't see it, even when they put it right in front of his face. Over the years it has progressed to the point to which Darran only has 10-degrees of tunnel vision.

"It's hard because you don't know what your vision is going to do," he admits. "It changes and I adapt and then it changes and plateaus and then it changes again."

He remembers driving as a teenager and playing in a jazz band. Both things that he can't do anymore.

His wife Sharon believes that Darran's challenges are what make him a better father for their three children: David, 10, Mya, 8 and Abby 2.

He may not be able to do things that most other fathers can do like camping but he really tries to be a major part of their life.

"I love to just watch them enjoy life," smiled Darran, who took the children to the Pony Express carnival last week.

One of David's favorite things to do with his father is watch movies. Almost always Darran obliges, but Darran can't hear the movie and has a hard time seeing the screen.

"I do it because it's important for him to have a relationship with his dad," he said. "I've learned to do things for them and not what I want."

The children like to spend their summer days outside riding scooters and playing at the park and Darran is always close behind them. Many times Abby moves out of his line of sight as she runs from one side of the park to another. He'll look around in panic before he realizes she's on her way to the top of the slide.

"That's what stresses me out the most," he says. "I can't see her if she falls."

David and Mya understand that they need to help watch after Abby. They also provide a lot of support in the home where they know to pick up their toys off the ground so Darran doesn't trip and let him know when the phone or doorbell ring.

In August Darran brought a new member into the family: Archer. Archer is a seeing eye dog who was introduced to the Zengers to help guide Darran around on errands. Archer is his first guide dog and has been a godsend for the family.

"It's very helpful when we go to the grocery store," said Darran. "It allows my wife to take care of the kids and not have to worry about me."

With his eyes getting steadily worse Darran is taking other proactive measures like learning braille so that when his eyesight does go he will still be able to communicate with his friends and family.

But until that point he'll continue to take every day in stride, watching his family enjoy every moment.

"He's taught us all patience and has brought another language into our life and another culture to our family," said his wife Sharon.

For the Zenger family, this way of life is normal.

Darran may not be able to hear the children's laughter but he can see their smiles.

"He's the best dad in the world," smiled David.