Happy 2nd Birthday --Late Post

~Hudson ~

Happy 2nd Birthday!  We love you so much and can't believe you're 2 -your favorite number.  This past year flew by so fast.  Your little personality has really exploded.  You're full of life and energy.  You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Curious George!  You love being outside, playing with your blocks (Legos), choo choos, eating, preschool, baths, "helping", babies, Mickey Mouse, praying, and reading (we can't read you enough books).  

We had a Curious George Birthday for you and you were so excited!

Cute cake!

I was so thankful for the help before the party

Love this picture of the guys and kids!

Hudson loves his swing set!

Thanks, Amanda for taking this family picture!

I took this picture before school, we took a treat for Hudson's birthday and he was so excited.   

We love you!  We know God has big plans for your life.  We're so thankful for you!  Happy Birthday!

Prayer Request

Last night a tornado ripped through my old neighborhood in Kokomo, IN.   We still have several friends who live in that neighborhood and had severe storm damage.  This is a picture of our friend's, Kara and Shane's house.  The roof and garage door were ripped off.  The closet they would have taken cover in is where their garage door ended up.  Thankful for God's little mercies -they weren't home!!

We have another set of friends in that neighborhood that also had significant storm damage.   Please take a moment a pray for them.  They're all still in shock and have just started looking important items.

My sister-in-law texted me this picture.  A tornado touched down a mile from their house.

Going Away

Two of our dearest friends are packing up and moving to Michigan in just a couple of weeks.  (I'm sad and in denial at the same time.)  It's a good move for them, but sad for all of us.  

We put all of the kids in the basement to play.  Here are a few of the kids playing King of the Hill with poor Chris.

Visitors

Two of our best friends (Josh and Julie) came down for the weekend and we had the best time!  I just didn't get enough pictures.  Hudson and Kaitlyn were so cute and sweet together.  We took them to the park for a while and they loved the slide.  They held hands several times going down.

So...sweet!

Love them both so much!

Crazy picture - but I kind of wish Josh had crammed on there, too

Conspiring on how to get out of the house

Both little ones love being read to

Brian's turn

We're so thankful that we've maintained such strong friendships even after being gone for nearly 7 years.

Happy Halloween

Halloween was delayed a day here because of the threat of severe weather and wind gusts up to 50 mph.  We were so glad it was delayed because tonight was beautiful -65 and perfect!!  I tried going with a family theme this year - but it didn't really work out.  Hudson was a kangaroo, Brian was an Aussie Safari guy, and I started out as a ladybug, but everyone thought I was a fairy, so I dropped the headband and went along with fairy. 

Love my little Kangaroo!

My two favorite guys

I think it might be peek fall weekend here - it's so beautiful!

Not sure what I am doing here - probably encouraging Hudson to keep moving.

Hudson had an awesome time!!!  He totally got into it and was nearly racing to every door.  We'd whisper, "Say Trick or Treat" and he'd say, "Tweet or Tweet".   He didn't have a very big bucket so we kept trying to take some it and put it in Brian's pockets but he wasn't crazy about us taking it.  We had to keep reassuring him that we'd give it back.

We ran into Chris, Amanda, and Alex and spent the next hour with them.  They boys were too cute and sweet!  They're such cute little buds.  We're so glad we live in this neighborhood.  Everyone was so nice and friendly.

I could not ask for a better memory!  Hudson is such a little joy and his personality is just exploding.
Amanda and Me

Amanda got a really nice new camera and volunteered to take a family picture for us

Reverse Trick or Treating

Tuesday afternoon my Mom's Group took our kids reverse trick or treating at one of the nursing homes in town.  The kids did great and the residents loved seeing them.  On the drive over, I told Hudson we were giving away candy, not keeping or eating it and told him, we wanted to serve people like Jesus, and he said, "Grandpa!" and I said, "Jesus" "Grandpa" "Jesus" "Grandpa" "Jesus" and finally "Jesus".  I don't know why he had Grandpa stuck in his head.  He wasn't very excited to give away the candy at first, but when he saw the other kids doing it, he really got into it and was handing it out to the other kids.

My little Kangaroo

Hudson loved his "Baby Joey" and was very excited to show it off.

One of the sweet residents gave Hudson goldfish and he was super excited.

Group Shot.  I wish the picture wasn't blurry.

Day in Indiana

We were in Indiana about 26 hours this past weekend- a quick, fun, little trip.  We had our annual Christmas in October Party with Brian's Grandparent's.  

I let Hudson watch some Curious George before we left so we could get everything packed up without a little helper.  We walked into our living room and found Hudson had moved one of the ottomans and was sitting in it.  

One of Hudson's presents was a toothbrush and he immediately wanted to use it.

Love his little facial expression in this picture!  He was very enthusiastic and excited about every present and kept saying, "Wow! Ahh...!"

Brian was really excited that Hudson got an Iron Man action figure.

I didn't get very many pictures, but we had a great time.

Weekend in Indiana -part 2

Saturday morning we went over to my parent's house and then later that day, my brother and his family and my Grandpa came over.

Hudson, My Sweet Grandpa, Jasmine, and Gabe

Hudson and Jasmine loved being able to sit at the big kid table

Sunday we went to Guffey Acres.  It was so fun.

My Dad had to show Hudson how to pose- just an odd looking picture

I took Hudson on a ride and he LOVED it--he couldn't smile big enough

We went on a hayride.

Then, Hudson saw other kids riding alone and he wanted to do it, also.  I sat him down, buckled him in and said, "Leave the seat belt on, and stay seated or you can't ride."  And he did great!  He was so proud of himself and loved being a big boy.

Hudson is second in line

So proud and happy! --He loved it so much, we had to do it 3 more times.  

Such a fun, fun weekend!!!