Caldwell Family

The Pianist

2010-12-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

Sadie had her first opportunity to play the piano...all by herself! She did an amazing job! She didn't make a single mistake and I don't think she even needed the music! Way to go!

My Elves!

2010-12-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

My sneaky elves are showing off! I hope they get all of their work done soon! We must very elfish this year because we are lucky enough to have Christopher and Freddie at our home during this Christmas season as well! They are getting creative at hiding around our house!

Sam is 5!!

2010-12-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that our little guy is 5! Time flies when you are having fun! Sam had school on his birthday. These are the boys in his class and they are all the best of buds! Thanks Tommy, Lance and Titan for being good friends! This group is going to be tons of fun in Kindergarten. Sam had to take in his new favorite treat of M&M Chocolate Chip cookies.....Gammie's specialty item!

He had to take care of his favorite thing.....the garden! Sam loves to water the garden. I had a nursery owner tell me that one of the best things for a garden is eggshells. So, I was adding my eggshells to the garden and Sam asked why I was doing this unusual task. I explained why and then his response was, "Thanks mom for telling me this important information. When I am older and a Dad I will know how to take care of my garden and I can teach my kids! Thanks for helping me be a better Dad." What 5 year old is thinking of this stuff already! Sam you are wise beyond your years!

Sam wanted to have an ice cream cone on his birthday and that is what he got! Chocolate.....of course!

On Sunday we had family over to celebrate. Of course there were presents with cousins!

More of "Gammie's Cookies" and ice cream. Yes, I did have to make more of the same cookie!

Sam's self-portrait on his birthday! Taking pictures of EVERYTHING is Sam's new hobby. Just like his father in that sense. I had to delete about 30 pictures to get to the couple that we took! Love ya little guy!

5 things that we love about Sam!
1. You make us laugh ALL the time!
2. Your booty shakin, especially cute in underwear.
3. Your deep thoughts at times that make me wonder what is going on in that head of yours.
4. You are the biggest cuddle bug ever! We love your hugs and kisses!
5. You love to learn...anything about everything!

Happy 5th Birthday Sam!

Yeehah!

2010-11-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great looking cowboy and one fancy cowgirl roaming around our house during the week of Halloween!

Another Photography Exhibit

2010-06-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Another exhibition of work by Joshua will be up in downtown Salt Lake City from June 18th until August 13th at Tanner Frame and Gallery. The address is 230 S. 500 W. #105. The artist reception is June 18th from 6-9pm. Hope to see you there and spread the word!

Photography Exhibit

2010-05-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Josh had the first night of his photography exhibit on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. This is the building that he had his exhibit. His work is still there and it will be open for 3rd Friday which is May 21st from 6-9pm.

A view of the work from the inside. To view more of his work please visit www.joshuacaldwell.com

Josh's Art Work

2010-05-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Josh had a great show last weekend in Phoenix! I am so proud of him! Several of you have asked where to go to see more of his work. Well, head on over to his website, www.joshuacaldwell.com, and check it out! He has another show coming up mid-June for a month in Salt Lake City, UT in the Tanner Gallery and then he has a show in October again here in AZ. Let us know what you think!

Sadie's Painting, 1st Prize

2010-05-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sadie won first prize at her schools art show. This painting was made by layering strips of paper towels that she had first colorfully painted and then mounted to a panel with some acrylic medium. She loves to paint.

Photography Exhibit

2010-05-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce the first exhibit of "fragments." Josh has spent several years in putting this body of work together and is finally glad to see all of his hard coming together! It is going to be a great night. If you don't live in Arizona....no worries, you can see "fragments" in Utah beginning mid-June. Don't miss out!

Happy Birthday MOM!

2010-04-19T10:34:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to the BEST MOM in the world! You inspire me to serve others, to love more and to laugh often! Thank you for your wonderful example to me! I am grateful to call you my mom and my friend! I hope you have a spectacular day! Hugs and Kisses!

Easter in St George

2010-04-19T09:55:00.001-07:00

We were fortunate to head to St George for Easter/General Conference weekend! We had a great time! Kim and Sadie made these adorable bunny ears for everyone. Kim was kind to include Sadie. Sadie even said that it was the most excitement that she has had in a while. I guess I need to step up the fun level at home! Thanks Kim for creating some fun for Sadie!
You would have thought that it was Christmas with how much the kids got from the Easter Bunny! They loved everything and spent the day playing with all their trinkets! Benton even loved his toys!
The whole gang after our egg hunt! Thanks Mom and Dad for filling the eggs! Sam was kind enough to help me find all of my eggs! I don't think that I could have done it without him! It was fun hanging out with my family and watching conference.
The cousins! I have to say that Sadie and Sam are enamored with Benton! Sam even cried when Benton was heading home. They love Benton and are excited for Lulu to come!

Crazy Hair Day!

2010-04-19T09:49:00.001-07:00

Sadie had "Crazy Hair Day" and this is as crazy as we could get! We just did lots of pony tails and braids with BIG bows! She loved it and thought it was cool and that is all that matters!

Spring Break

2010-04-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break we headed over to St. George or as Sadie calls it "St. Georgia." On our way we stopped at the Ethel M Chocolate factory in Vegas. Kim, Tyler and Benton came to the factory with us. Sadie loved to hold Benton all on her own! We sampled the toffee which is delicious! It was a fun break in the drive!
We went to Zion's National Park and hiked some easy trails! On one of our hikes this mountain goat was right next to the trail and was not phased by us walking up close to her. The kids thought it was pretty cool, so did I!

We hiked to this overlook spot and enjoyed the view! It was the perfect weather and we were lucky enough to share it with mom and dad and the Blonde family!

We hiked the "Weeping Rock" trail. Although you can't really tell Sadie loved getting wet from the small waterfall. It was very refreshing! St George... WE LOVE YOU! We have had many great weekends with you and look forward to many more! Thanks to mom and dad for letting us stay at the condos!

Sock Hop

2010-04-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

The school had a "Sock Hop" and I will admit I was a skeptic! It ended up being a fun night filled with dancing, laughter and rock 'n roll! Sam even won best costume! Kudos to Josh for the costume because I was down setting up and Josh took care of it!

Sadie's Field Trip (from a long time ago!)

2010-04-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sadie had a field trip....a while ago....oops! There were so many parents that were willing to go on the field trip that the parents names had to be drawn out of a hat as to who could go on the bus. Sadie came home from school one day before the field trip and said, "Mom, I have some sad news and some good news. You were not one of the "Chosen Ones"....but you can still go on the field trip!" Actually, I was ok with that! That meant that I could bring Sam and ride with Nikkii and not be worried about what 30 kids are doing on the bus! Anyway, I think the thing that Sadie was most excited for was to ride on the bus! Why is it that kids are most excited to do something that really isn't very exciting? With the regulator on the bus a 30 minute drive became 50 minutes that I was fine missing out on!The most thrilling part of the day was going to the Sting Ray Bay! We were able to feed the sting rays some shrimp and fish! The kids weren't so sure about it, but they enjoyed feeling the sting rays when I could get them up close with the food! Sam just sat in amazement the entire time not even thinking about getting close to the water! Sadie loved it and was close to falling in due to excitement!

Sam wanted to play with my camera on the drive home and I ended up with about 40 random pictures of shoes, self portraits, cars driving by, clouds, the back of the seat, and many more! We had a great time with Sadie and her cute friends!

Let's Play Music!

2010-03-08T19:44:00.001-08:00

Check out this great video!

Let's Play Music!

2010-03-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

I love Let's Play Music! Sadie is in the second year and is doing very well! It is amazing how much this program teaches in such a fun and interactive way! I love Let's Play Music so much that I have become a teacher! Starting this fall I will be teaching 1st year students! It is an amazing program and you will be hooked once you begin! Let's Play Music was on "The Valley Dish" today so check out the video!

Adorable (at least I think so!!)

2010-02-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

Today I am extremely grateful for my two wonderful kids! I love that they enjoy each other. They are kind to each other. Sadie is the big mother bear of her younger brother and Sam loves every minute of her attention. Not to say that they are perfect as everyone who was at the park tonight can attest to!! At least they love each other and I love them!

Ok...Maybe??

2010-02-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

I have been told that I am going to regret not posting on my blog. Well, here I go! One quick post...nothing too exciting and you probably already know but I thought maybe I could attempt to get SOMETHING out there! We went to Cabo for Thanksgiving! We had such a great time! Thanks to mom and pop for another amazing trip! I promise mom and dad that there will be more to come!

2009-12-11T15:45:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thought

2009-03-06T21:57:00.001-08:00

Snow!

2009-03-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

We went to Utah and Josh took these great pictures of the kids while they were waiting to go sledding. I can not tell you how excited they were to play in the snow!

Riding Bikes

2009-03-05T21:49:00.001-08:00

We have spent a lot of time riding bikes lately. Sam loves his red Tricyle and Sadie has mastered the art of riding a bike with

NO TRAINING WHEELS!

Daddy Daughter Date?!

2009-03-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

Josh took Sadie on a Daddy-Daughter Date. I love that they enjoy similar things and have so much fun together. She is very much a daddy's girl! First of all, they got in the car to head out on their adventure and Josh mentioned that he was excited for their date, but Sadie was not so sure about that. She responds to Josh,

"We can't go on a date dad. I am your daughter!"

He convinced her that it was ok that they went out on a date! They started their evening by heading to the airport to see AirForce One, which was here because President Obama was in town. Sadie thought it was pretty cool to see the President's plane.

They then headed over to the Phoenix Art Museum. Sadie is an artist at heart and enjoyed every minute of it. Together they would be in heaven if they could just create art all day long.

Sadie in front of images at the Museum.

The art museum has several large installations that are interactive. This is Sadie dancing in front of a large video that is displayed on the wall. I love to watch her dance. Thanks Josh for being a great dad and taking Sadie on a Daddy-Daughter Date.

Our Weekend in Utah

2009-03-05T18:24:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun weekend in Utah recently.
(I copied Kim's list-with some small additions! Love ya sis!)
1. Josh was able to go to the opening night of his art show for his polaroids. Hopefully the first of many gallery shows!
Saans Gallery in Salt Lake City

2.We were able to watch our incredibly talented brother-in-law Ryan Toolson "Tool Time" play some exciting Basketball.

4. Real Sledding in the backyard! Once again thanks Josh for the fun video!

5.Lots of shopping. I love my discount from work and being able to share it with family!

6. Dad went crazy and bought everything imaginable to go along with the Wii. The most rousing Rock Band ever. My dad does an amazing rendition of "American Woman." Tyler is awesome at snowboarding on the Wii fit. Also, who knew that Jess could sing scary heavy metal music so well?

7. Lots of tasty home cooked food.

Thanks mom and dad, along with everyone else for a fabulous weekend! Love you all!

Arizona Sledding!

2009-03-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

It is about time!! I know that this is way past due but I promised my family in Utah that I would post this so that they could see how much fun we had at Sadie's birthday party! Thanks hubby for putting this together!

2009-03-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas break we were able to head to Santa Barbara for Josh's Graduation from Brooks Institute of Photography. He officially has his Master's Degree. Yeah!! It was a fantastic day and I was so proud of Josh and his great accomplishment. Leonard Nimoy, Spock from Star Trek, was the speaker and he did a great job. Here is a video of Josh receiving his diploma!Josh and Tyler after graduation.

1st Dance Recital!

2008-06-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 7th was Sadie's first dance recital! It was so much fun. She loved being able to dress up in her costume put make-up on and have sparkles all over her. If you don't know, Sadie hates having anything on her feet. So you can only imagine how she hated having tights, socks and her jazz shoes on. Her class did a great job and they were even able to perform twice! Ashley from her class had a little bit of stage fright and ran off the stage crying and decided to come back right as they were finishing up. I thought that it was great that they allowed their class to go again so that Ashley could do the dance all the way through. It was also great because we got to see Sadie and her class dance twice!! It was a great night. Josh and Sadie put together this video so that the rest of you could enjoy her fun night.

Video!

2008-05-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

I think that I have finally figured out how to put video on our blog!! It has taken me quite sometime... I am sure that this is an easy thing for many people, but I am a little bit slower than most and I have a mac which sometimes makes things harder! This video of from Jessica's wedding. She had a DJ and of course Sadie loved every minute of it! The beginning is the best part and we have better video footage but it is soooo long that it would have taken years to download. She loves to dance!!

Easter!!

2008-03-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter Sunday! We missed all of our family in Utah! Know that we were thinking of you. I only have these two pictures that Josh took of the kids this afternoon right now although I am hoping to get some video up soon! I hope that everyone has had a fun day filled with lots of candy and family.

Memory Lane

2008-02-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a picture for a project I am working on and happened upon these two pictures. I had to post them because it really made me realize how quickly time flies. I am truly grateful for both of my adorable children. I love you both!

This is my awesome dad holding Sadie when she was just born. My family all came to the hospital right as Sadie was being born. It was so fun to have them right outside the room waiting to share in the great joy of Sadie. Sadie and "Bumpa" (his 1st grandchild) still have a special bond!

This is Sadie holding Sam on Christmas Eve 2005. Sam was just a couple of weeks old and Sadie was already the playing the protector role. She loved to cuddle with him, and she was extremely gentle. It is always fun to look back on fond memories.

Sadie's First Soccer Game!

2008-02-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the first soccer game of the season! The "Sharks" played a great game and ended up tying the game in the last minute! It was fun to see Sadie having a great time on the field, even if she got a little tired towards the end of the game. Sadie is determined to score a goal in their next game! Go Sadie! Go Sharks!

Of course Josh had to take a cute shot of Sadie with her favorite pink ball!

Oh Boy!

2008-01-25T12:08:00.000-08:00

So, I just received this picture from my sister and thought that it had to go up on the blog! Sorry Josh! These two always goof around with each other and usually get into trouble of some sort. It obviously makes for good laughs all the time!

She is down two!

2008-01-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sadie is already down 2 teeth! She lost the second one at church on Sunday. During sacrament meeting she handed Josh a tooth, and he handed it right over to me! She is very excited to be losing teeth. I think that it is only because the tooth fairy gets to come and visit!

Cuddle Bugs

2008-01-19T00:18:00.000-08:00

I have two kids that love to be wrapped around a body to fall asleep. This picture proves my case!

Chopsticks!

2008-01-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

We went out to lunch with Josh's parents, Morris and Dorothy, while they were here visiting. Sam decided at lunch that he was going to eat his lunch the most difficult way possible for a two year old, with chopsticks! It was interesting. He was captured giving a glance to Grandpa. The look says it all!

The Del Coronado

2008-01-09T00:34:00.000-08:00

While we were in San Diego we stayed on Coronado Island. We were lucky enough to stay at "The Del Coronado." It was beautiful! Our last day we played on the beach ate lots of food and went for a drive to the border! What a wonderful trip! Thanks mom and dad! We had a blast with you!

I promise Sam had a good time!

Sea World

2008-01-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

Day 3 took us to Sea World. It is always fun to see all of the fun shows at Sea World. It was neat to see the "Shamu" show set to Christmas carols. It was a new twist on an old favorite! We had a specatular day and the kids really enjoyed themselves!

They knew we were coming! Right when we walked in the Clydesdale horses pulled up right in front of us! It is pretty amazing to see these horses up close and all put together like they are. Sadie was in shock and Sam liked the dalmation that was perched on top of the wagon!

Sadie was tall enough to ride "The Artic Zone" ride with Josh. She then climbed into the polar bear cave. Josh said she wasn't too excited to be in there because of the recorded sounds that were being played. I can understand. She still is smiling for the camera though!

I gave in and bought the kids some cotton candy for one of the shows. I just thought that the piece that Sam grabbed was about as big as his head!

San Diego Zoo

2008-01-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of our adventure took us to the San Diego Zoo! It was a lot of fun, but very crowded. We made our way around the zoo with lots of laughter and had a good time.

Sadie and Jess gave us a good laugh in giraffe masks! Jess you are quite the animal!

Sadie has gone APES! She loved watching the apes and orangutans. So many of them walked right past where we were standing. This one sat and licked the window for a while, gross!

Josh is always the good sport! Jess always likes to live on the wild side, or just make Josh work really hard to push her up the hill. It was funny though to see her climb into that stroller!

Of course you have to take a picture on the gold hippo. Just after the kids had finished taking their picture Josh and Jess, my sister, decided that they wanted a picture on the hippo as well. Josh slid right off the back end and came very close to splitting his pants wide open. Jess-I still need a copy of that picture!

The adventure had just begun!

2008-01-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas we packed up and headed to San Diego! We had such a blast! On our way we decided to hit the Wildlife Animal Park on the way into town. We finally found it after about a 2 hour detour and a long windy road. Don't always trust your GPS! Let's just say we didn't see much at the park. We went on a train ride around to see some of the wildlife and the merry-go-round. Then it was dark! I don't think that we will be doing that again!

Mom you fit right in!

Christmas!

2008-01-05T23:14:00.000-08:00

I think we had the best Christmas possible! We were so lucky to have my parents and my sister here to share in the fun of Christmas Day with us. I have learned that Christmas is all about the kids, and that doesn't stop when your kids are grown and married. Mom and Dad-Thank you again! Sam and Sadie were more excited about the presents that Gammie and Bumpa gave them, so that is what follows.

Sam received his first ride on tractor! He is a little bit afraid of actually pushing the peddle to make it go, but he obviously really likes his John Deere.

Sadie was so happy to finally get Elizabeth. We have had an American Girl catalog laying around the house and Elizabeth is the one doll that Sadie said she wanted to have. I guess it is a good thing that Gammie picked the right one, especially since we had the catalog after the doll was ordered!

Thanks mom and dad for making this Christmas a special one!

Christmas Pictures!

2007-12-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

We finally did it! I know that we are late in the game, but I guess better later than never! We went this afternoon and took a bunch of adorable pictures! This is the picture we ended up with! I think it is cute and shows how close these two little buggers really are! They love each other!

Sadie Turned 5!

2007-12-16T01:19:00.000-08:00

Sadie had her birthday! She took cupcakes and a bag of favors to the other kids in her preschool class. We kind of treated it like her party. I think that she enjoyed the fuss being made over her!

Then on her actual birthday, Sunday, we were eating her birthday meal of hamburgers and orange chips (also known as Doritos) when all of a sudden, to my surprise she was asleep! I guess we just wore her out!

Sadie did wake up later to open her presents and have cake and ice cream, but it did take a lot of poking and prodding. We are so happy to have Sadie to keep us entertained! Happy Birthday little girl!

Rain, rain, come again!

2007-12-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

I just found this picture of the kids in the rain. It had been raining all night and when the kids woke up they just wanted to go outside and play in the rain! We all ran around out in the rain for a minute and then the kids jumped into a warm bath. They still talk about "tasting the rain."

Cody got Married!!

2007-12-10T00:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a fast and furious one! My one and only brother got married in Portland. We had a great trip, and a fantastic weekend. Sadie was a flower girl, and Sam was in the wedding party as well. We are so happy to have Alycia in our family now. As you can see, she truly is beautiful and Cody is one lucky man. Sam is also very happy to have his first girlfriend married into the family!

These are the two men in my life! Sam knew that he was hot stuff when he arrived! He came in with his hands on his hips and then threw his foot out and basically said to everyone, "Check me out!" Josh looked pretty good himself!

I had to take the opportunity to take a cute pictures with my two little ones all dressed up! They were so adorable. Sadie was the life of the party, and of course had to be right in the middle of things all night long!

Football!

2007-11-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

In the afternoon when Sadie goes to preschool Sam usually sits and watches part of a movie before he takes his nap. This picture was today while he was getting ready to go down, however he had a large friend with him! Recently he has not let go of his daddy's football-obviously he keeps it close by at all times! If you look closely you can even see it in the Halloween pictures, he is sitting on it a couple of times. I think that it is adorable, and thought that I would share this cute moment with the rest of you!

Trick or Treat

2007-10-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

We had a spooktacular evening! Sam was a pirate, and if I can brag, the cutest one out there! Sadie was a witch but she claims that she was a good witch and would do no harm to anyone in her path! She was great with helping her brother figure out what this trick-or-treating stuff is all about! We missed Josh tonight, and the pictures show that we did not have our "real" photographer with us! We hope everyone else enjoyed their night and that no one got too scared!

Getting Ready for Halloween!

2007-10-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

We have had a great night carving pumpkins and thought that we would share our creations with you! The bat is our favorite! We were able to carve all three without major cuts. However we did have a couple melt downs because the kids were not able to do it ALL by themselves so they went a little bit crazy! Sadie and Sam are looking forward to "Trick or Treating." I don't think that we need anymore candy..... but am looking forward to having a spooky night! PS Sadie drew the face on the Jack-O-Lantern all by herself, and then I cut it out for her, but she is quite the budding artist!

Learning to Fly

2007-09-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Sam is learning so much these days.

Swimming

2007-09-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

When it's 110 all you can do outside is swim. Some recent photos of the kids swimming. Who do you think Sam got his floaters handed down from?!

Sadie's First Day of School

2007-08-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sadie is official! She has started Preschool! She has been so excited for this day for quite some time! Sadie had a new outfit and her great smile and was ready to go to LMNO school with Miss Nikkii. Sadie has a lot of friends in her class, including one of her best friends Kingston. She loved her first day and earned both of her stars! She can't wait to learn more!

Fun Pictures!

2007-08-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

Sadie had to take a picture to her "Meet the Teacher Day" and so we took some pictures of both of the kids. Nothing to spectacular but yet fun to see a current picture of both of the kids!

Santa Cruz!

2007-08-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

On our wild California Adventure we stopped in Santa Cruz and played on the boardwalk! I think we all had a great time! Sadie loved the Merry-Go-Round. All of the big kids loved the old wooden roller coaster! Sadie about broke her neck on the car ride but decided to go several times!

Fishing Fun!

2007-08-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great summer this year! One of the highlights was going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Caldwell! Sadie still talks about her "giant" fish that she caught. Unfortunately I think Sam's fish is much larger. Fish stories, why does this fish always grow?