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. 

Happy Hudson

I was going through some videos from a couple of months ago and this one is just too cute.  He is about 7 months in this video and just full of laughter.

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Collins

Travis' parents and his sister came to visit us a little over a week ago.  It is always such a blessing to get to spend time with them.  We were a little bummed because Hudson was sick and had a fever for the first time in his life.  Needless to say, all he wanted was me or Travis.  However, the week was filled with good food, good conversations, and great company.  I just wish they lived closer!

Below is a picture with all of us at Trav's Grandpa's 80th Birthday party.  Often people will ask us where Hudson got his blue eyes from and Grandpa Bill is the man.  Travis' mom also has blues eyes and my whole side has either a green, green/hazel or blue, so I guess the recessive genes won in Hudson's case.    

Trav's parents won't be able to be here for Hudson's birthday party next month, so they brought him a gift a little early.  I think opening presents is going to be fun on his birthday if it is anything like this:

The birthday man:

At Grandpa Bill's birthday party there was a bounce house for all the great grandkids.  Hudson was a little reserved at first, but then he started bouncing on his own. 

The three great grandkids that were all born last April.

All the great grandkids... oh this just makes me laugh...

The last night before they left we had them over for dinner.  Right before we started to pray Uncle Brandon started something that just made Hudson laugh.  He was laughing for at least 4 or 5 minutes before I finally decided to pull out the video camera.  We caught him on camera laughing 4 minutes and about a minute into the video he starts moving his own hand.  Oh, this boy brings so much joy into our lives!

Here is a sneak peek of a spontaneous break out of song with Travis, his brothers and his dad.  They were singing Hudson a song before he went to sleep.  I just love moments like this: 

Photography update...

I haven't blogged in a while and I have a lot to catch up.   Hudson is 11 months old as of tomorrow and I have some fun pictures of our recent life happenings that I will post later.  For now, I wanted to share a little bit of news.  Style Me Pretty featured our photo shoot with Grey Likes Weddings on their website today!!!  We couldn't be more honored or more excited about it.  You can check out the SMP post here or you can check out our website for more pictures.

Hudson's love for music

Hudson here-

So, yesterday morning before church, mommy was busy doing mommy stuff... you know like vacuuming and other fun things.  Mommy says once I start walking and speaking English that I will help with her "fun things", but for now I just provide her with entertainment during such things.

 I decided to provide mommy with some music.  I normally chase daddy around the house just to get a chance to strum that guitar of his or well... at least mute the strings.   Since the guitar was with daddy at church, I had to weigh my options.   Then I spotted the piano.  I wasn't sure I could reach those ivory keys, but don't worry... once I stood on my tippy toes I could even reach the black ones.

And I sang her a little song...

Hey, just cause I can't say much doesn't mean I can't sing.

Then after watching daddy lead worship I had the chance of a lifetime.  You see, Dan Bailey is one of the best drummers out there.  And the man in the picture below is Dan's dad.  I figured he got Dan started on drums, so I used my baby cuteness powers and convinced him to help me out.

I think I could get used to this...

Here is a video daddy took of me on his phone.  About half way through I figured out how to get both hands going... the only problem was my feet couldn't reached the kick drum.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

CBU and Collins' home updates

Last weekend, Travis was in San Jose leading worship for a conference.  It is the second year in a row he has been out of town during CBU's homecoming weekend.  Hudson and I went together, but we definitely missed Travis.  I always love going back for homecoming, because it gives us a chance to catch up with some of our friends and it is just fun to be on campus again.

After the game, I walked around and so many memories came rushing back.  Every corner of the campus holds different memories for me.  I think sometime soon Travis and I are going to make a date of just walking around the school and remembering together.

There is really nothing like the college experience at a small Christian university.  Travis and I met there, fell in love there, and we met most of our best friends.  The depth of those friendships is something I will always cherish and as we get older I cherish them even more.  I look back on our time at school and I am reminded about how much growth happened in both us during our college years.  I am excited to share with Hudson the story of how we met and fell in love, the pranks Travis was a part of, how they got back at him for those pranks, the times we led worship together, the classes that taught us so much and gave as an even deeper hunger for God, the events we went to, the friends we made, the roommates we had, Travis' time in the band Vermeer, my trip to India and Europe, and so much more.

We started having breakfast at my friend Ally's house and then we were off to run a 5K with some of my girlfriends and our boys.  I hadn't ran in months, so it felt good to get outside and exercise.  On a side note, one of the things I have always wanted to do is run a half marathon.  My sister, Brooke and I are training to run one this summer and this run was my first day of training. I got new running shoes for Christmas from a place that takes about 20 minutes to analyze the way you run, the shape of your foot, etc. and then they fit you for shoes.  I have never worn a pair of running shoes that fit better than the ones I have now.  It definitely makes a difference.

Hudson and I at the game with our mascot, the Lancer.

Ally, Whitney and Hudson:

My best friend, Amy and our boys:

On Sunday, we went to my sister Brittany's church.  It was awesome to see what God is doing through their church.  They definitely have a community of believers who live life together as they strive to live lives honoring to the Lord.  After church we had a barbeque with family and the Hofschroer's.

*Trever... we had what you refer to as "Taylor's majesty" and it was delicious;)

Hudson was exhausted by the time we got home.  I love it when he sleeps like this... so cute.

Since Travis didn't get back until late on Valentine's Day, we decided to celebrate on Monday.  We woke up and went for a run along the beach and afterwards breakfast at one of our favorite spots across from the pier.

And lastly, yesterday was Travis' brother, Brandon's birthday so we had him over for dinner to celebrate.  We made homemade gluten free pizza and then regular pizza.  The regular pizza was very irregularly shaped.  I couldn't seem to get the dough to roll out into a nice circular shape.  It gave me a new respect for pizza makers ;)

Good Times

Travis and I went on a date last week and it was absolutely wonderful.  My mom and step dad came down to watch Hudson while we went out to dinner.  We were given a gift certificate to the Chart House in Dana Point, so we were able to dine like a king and queen.  

It was one of my favorite dates we have ever been on.  Our conversation was so good and really just spurred us on to be more Christ like.  I love dates like this.  We dreamed together, reminisced together, shared areas where we desire to grow, laughed together, cried together and just loved on each other.  I am so thankful to the Lord for a husband who loves Christ more than me.  

I told you we ate like a king and queen.  Yum!

 

 

After dinner, we walked outside to enjoy the view of the harbor and just spent time praying together.  

Other news in the Collins' home... Hudson is crawling everywhere!  We love it!  He now likes to crawl under his exersaucer instead of being in it.

Moments we cherish:

Also we had a birthday party for Bailey.  =)  Haha... well, it was just a fun excuse for friends and family to get together.  Bailey is Brittany and Taylor's dog and she is now a year old. 

This is her when she was about 2 months old:

Here is a picture of her now:

Eating her birthday cake... oh this makes me laugh.  Britt and Tay got her a cake from the dog bakery here in San Clemente.  I just have to say only in California can you buy a cake for your dog.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week.