Hudson and his girlfriend Olivia

I am working on a blog with pictures from Hudson's birthday, but in the meantime I thought I would post a few pictures of Hudson's "girlfriend".  They are 5 weeks apart and it is so much fun to see them grow together.  Olivia is the daughter of an amazing couple from our church who have been great mentors for us.  

This first picture doesn't even look like Hudson... even when I took it I thought he looked weird in this picture...haha

They actually have the same amazing blue eye color.

At church in the nursery a few weeks ago:

The both of them at Hudson's party.  They were a little distracted by everything, so we didn't get a good one of them looking at the camera.

Hudson's 1st year of life!

Today is Hudson's first Birthday!  He has been such a blessing in our lives and our families' lives.  We cannot say enough how thankful we are to the Lord for such a sweet blessing.  Here is a slide show we shared during his big party yesterday.  It is crazy to see how much he has changed in this last year. 

The birthday festivities are continuing today, so when we are back home we will be sure to post pictures from his party and birthday.  

Lake Arrowhead and a long story...

Last weekend, we had the had the blessing of being treated to a weekend in Lake Arrowhead with a Christian music label.  It really was such a refreshing time especially for Travis.  It is a rare thing to be surrounded by a big group worship leaders, so needless to say, it was great for Trav to share with them the joys, struggles and just some of their funny stories about leading worship.  Plus, they had a time to go around to share new worship songs they have written and get some feed back.  The families were invited to come along too, so it was so much fun. 

Unfortunately, the morning we were suppose to leave Hudson burned his hand on our heater.  Our little beach cottage was built in the 50s and thus, we have appliances from the 50s.  Our heater is a wall heater and it gets really hot when it is on.  Since I was pregnant, I remember being afraid that one day our little baby would touch the heater.  Well, that day was last Friday. 

I was changing loads of laundry and I had a close eye on him.  As soon as I turned to put more clothes in the dryer, he must have made a mad dash for the heater.  The next thing I knew he was screaming from the hallway where I found him.  He instantly grabbed his hand and I knew it wasn't going to be good.  I instantly ran his hand under water and we called the doctor. 

Within about an hour Hudson had a blister on the end of his thumb and on the palm of his hand.  All this to say, I sent Travis up the mountain without us.  We weren't sure if I was going to have to take Hudson into the doctor or if they were just going to prescribe some ointment.  I didn't want to take him up to Lake Arrowhead if we needed to take him in and I didn't want him to be miserable.  

So, Travis headed up the mountain and we waited to hear from the doctor.  By that afternoon, we had the prescription the doctor wanted us to put on his hand and Hudson was a happy camper.  So, I decided to pack up and drive the 2 hours.

Notice in the picture below Hudson with his bandage:

(it looks worse with the bandage, but the only way to keep it clean and covered in ointment was to create what we called "the mitt".)

After I arrived we spent some time with the group and then headed up to our room.  We ordered room service and Hudson was in one of the best moods even though it was about 10:30 at night.  He was laughing at everything and anything.  Once the food arrived we all 3 sat on the bed and ate our food... even Hudson shared in the feast.  It was such a sweet moment and I remember thinking that I would remember that night forever. 

It was dark when I got to our room so the next morning I was surprised to see this outside our window.  Our God is so creative and His beauty never ceases to amaze me. 

The whole incident with Hudson burning his hand just reminded me how I cannot protect or save him from everything.  God is in control of his life and Hudson is His.  And I am sure this is just the beginning of little accidents we will have along the way.  I am glad to report that a week later his hand is almost completely healed.  Praise God!

Other big news, Hudson is turning one on Monday!!! woo hoo!!! I think he looks like a little boy in this picture.  We are so excited to see what life holds for our sweet little Hudson.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Easter

This was Hudson's first Easter and he was as cute as can be.  The day was filled with church, family and egg hunts.  It was a very busy weekend for Travis as he lead worship for a few different events and services.  He started at 3:45am on Saturday and 3:00am on Sunday, so today has been a day of rest for our family.

The whole weekend my thoughts were focused on the sacrifice our Savior made and the victory He won.  I couldn't help but to feel so humbled and grateful to receive the gift of forgiveness.  It just makes me look to the cross and to our Lord and be amazed.  Amazed that The Creator sent his Son to pay the penalty of death which we alone deserve in order that His creation might have relationship with Him.  Glory to God.  It just leaves me speechless.

We hope one day Hudson will choose to put his trust and hope in the Lord.  We often pray for his salvation and hope that Hudson will be able to celebrate with us on Easter for the victory God has won in his life as well.

In light of our Easter celebrations, I leave you with this verse:

I Corinthians 15:55
"'Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?'
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Our church met this year at the Angel's stadium on both Saturday night and Sunday morning.  This is a picture of Pastor Rick Warren during the service on Saturday night.

Travis and Hudson singing during one of the worship songs:

We kept Hudson entertained and quiet thanks to Yogurt melts :)

One of my favorite parts of the service on Saturday night was when some pastors from other churches went down on the field and we prayed for them and their churches for the following day's services.  

Get ready... I posted way too many pictures from Easter Sunday:

Oh my... I just loved dressing our little boy.  Who ever said boys aren't fun to dress?

I ordered this adorable yellow gingham bow tie off of Etsy to go with his seersucker suit:

And of course, these navy blue boat shoes were just perfect with his ensemble:

On an egg hunt:

I left his egg bucket at home so we improvised and found this cute wooden basket in Brooke's garage.  Hudson loved it because he could hit the eggs on it and make a noise.

Hudson loves our golden retriever, Gunner and now he loves all dogs.  He was totally laughing at our friend's dog, Augie.  It was so cute watching him just giggle and try to hug Augie.

My mom and sisters:

The entire family:

A Brown visit...

One of my best friends from college, Shannon and her daughter Brooke came from Northern California to visit us for a few days while her husband was in Mexico on a mission trip.  It was so much fun to get some girl time and to see our two little ones together.  Now that Hudson is a little bit older it was fun to see him and Brooke actually interacting and playing together.  

We had such wonderful conversations about life in ministry, motherhood including methods of disciplining children and just fun girl talk.  I cherish her friendship and I am so thankful for the example she sets as an authentic follower of Christ. 

Such a cute little beach babe...

And Michelle came from San Diego to spend the afternoon with us and to have a picnic on the beach.