caldwell pics

with fathers day last weekend and the anniversary of my dads passing in a week or so i find myself thinking a lot about him this time of year. since its ben ten years since he died i think a lot about the past, what things were like for me and in my family at that time. it was not a good time for us then, any of us really. so over the years its been a lot of grief and saddness which over time has healed little by little to where i think more about the happy times than the sad ones. they say time heals and i think that is true if i am open to the healing and forgiveness. now the sadness i feel is about not having my dad here to know my boys, and for them to not know him. of course i want him for me too. its interesting how the pain/grief/saddness whatever you want to call it has changed over the years. it is also interesting how sometimes it can hurt almost like it did at the beginning. so mike fixed (well he said it wasn't broken) the scanner so i uploaded some of my favorite photos i have of my dad. enjoy!

surfside beach

mason and his buddy caeden taking a break

braving the water like big boys, holding hands, too cute....

yes that is my child trying to drink saltwater

look at how blue the water is!!!!! NO this is NOT florida! wow....

We had so much fun on our trip a couple of weeks ago. i thought it was going to be ruined b/c when we got there the mosquitos were RIDICULOUS!! luckily they sprayed friday night and all was right with the world. the water and weather were insanely beautiful. mike got to do some fishing and stogie smoking and we all had fun playing on the beach. our friends the andersons came to hang out on sunday and the boys had a blast swimming and making sand castles. we were so suprised to see how clear and clean the water was. standing in waist deep water you can see your feet. unbelievable. i forget how lucky i am to live so close to the ocean.

we have had a great summer so far. we have spent a lot of time at the pool. mason is really getting more and more comfortable in the water and is learning to swim better on his own. stephen is FEARLESS and loves it - a little healthy fear would be nice :) i am adjusting to having the boys home without my normal 2 day a week break (thank you preschool & MDO) last week was a little hairy. i was tired & grumpy and really struggling with a bad attitude. MUCH better the last several days. thank god, i was really getting tired of hearing myself complain. i'm finding it increasingly difficult to consistently blog, not because there is a lack of fabulous things that the children do. i think i'm just fealing lazzzzyyyyy....