Happy Birthday Ed...

Monday would have been my father-in-law's 67th birthday.

I know I always say this, but it still doesn't seem real.

We miss him so much.

Every single day.

Ryan and I decided to take the boys to visit him on his birthday for the

first time since he passed away a little over a year ago.

It was the first time my boys have lost someone they were so close to,

and the whole concept has been a hard one for them.

They all asked a lot of questions at the cemetery,

and Ryan and I used the teachable moments to further bond as a family.

They were moments we needed.

It certainly put some things in perspective for our little crew.

As I've said before, blending families can be tough.
The kids are stuck between 2 families that don't always agree with each other
or agree with things that go on in the other parent's home.

The kids' feelings get hurt and sometimes go unheard
because they don't always know how to express them,

but at the end of the day, with the strong foundation
Ryan and I have worked hard to build...we'll be just fine.
Leave it to a visit with Pop to help put things into perspective.
I apologize for the sappiness, friends, but I wanted to document where we are right now,
so that one day, when the boys are grown, we can look back and see how far we've come.

After singing happy birthday to Ed,
we took the boys to Joe's Crab Shack for some seafood and fun!
The little guys loved hanging on the playground while we waited for our food

My Lord, my husband is handsome. =)

While the boys played,

Ryan and "The Teenager" got in some much needed male bonding time.

It's nice to see a smile on that kid's face.

There was some serious eatin' goin' on.

We told the kids that everyone had to wear the bibs.

They complied, although Preston wasn't very happy about it.

He's approaching the preteen years waaaaay to quickly.

I have to include this pic of Trysten because

he took cracking the crab legs to a whole other level.

It was intense.

He left no meat uneaten.
The kid can eat more than a lot of grown men can.
No joke.

And last but certainly not least,
the obligatory kissing shot taken by Austin.

Good times.
Here's to you, Ed.
Happy birthday.
We love you.