Hudson Turned 3

 This big boy was very excited to be turning 3! We decided to have a dinosaur themed birthday, since every time I asked him, "What about a crocodile birthday?" or "What about a rocket birthday?" or "What about (fill in the blank with anything) birthday?" he was equally excited and enthusiastic about it. Dinosaurs just seemed right. And I don't know how, with 4 boys, I had never thrown a dinosaur birthday!

 So, I usually don't do much in the way of decorating, but I found this idea for dinosaur balloons on Pinterest, which unfortunately didn't have a tutorial or pattern, so I just made it up as I went. The boys loved the hanging dinos and we kept them up for a week.

 This little bad boy was really what inspired us to have a dinosaur party. I love making cupcake cakes, so when I saw the idea here, we decided to go with it. Hudson had such a huge grin on his cute face when I held him up to see his dinosaur cake in all it's glory!

 I like to keep birthday parties low key, so we just invited over a couple of friends and their families. That always works out really well for us. His friends brought him some very fun dinosaur gifts.

It was a fun party and he has loved being 3. As crazy as it sounds, three is really one of my favorite ages. 3 year olds can communicate pretty well, which is hilarious, because life from a 3 year old's perspective is NOT the same as life from any other age. Their bodies are getting bigger, so that they can actually coordinate themselves and do things that they could never do before (which is also hilarious, because they have these "kid-like" movements mingled with "baby-like" movements). And 3 year olds are still small enough to be snuggled like a baby, their cheeks are still soft and kissable like a baby, and they still (sometimes) let you treat them like they are babies. Because from here on out, they start to loose all that "baby-ness" and they will only grow older and older.

But believe me- Hudson has WAY too many "terrible 3" moments these days, but he usually makes up for it in the "adorable 3" moments. Here's to our last year of Baby Hudson!

Spring Break Fun

We had spring break in the middle of March. The first couple of days we entertained the boys by inviting some friends over to play. They didn't have to work to hard to find something to do...

 During the middle of the week we made a day trip into San Antonio. Our first stop there was the Do-Seum. The boys had fun running around all over the place, playing with science and having a good time.

After the museum we went to Big Lou's and ordered a 37"pepperoni and cheese pizza. The slices were so long! It literally took us 3 days to eat this pizza. Not only was the pizza huge (and we didn't even order the biggest pizza they make) it was really quite good. 

 The next day we got up before the sunrise and started driving out past Fredericksburg to the Enchanted Rock State Park. We were worried it would rain on us there, but the clouds simply provided us with coverage from the sun and made for a delightful morning of hiking, exploring and picnicking. 

 Here we are at the top. Dustin refused to be in the picture, so he just took this one instead. 

 After reaching the summit, we let the boys explore in some of the rocks. It was a little tricky with Hudson in tow, but they had fun finding "caves" everywhere.

 After our summit hike and exploration we decided to hike around the Enchanted Rock. Other than Hudson getting tired and having a hard time at the end (and falling and scraping up his knee really good) it was a really fun hike. We capped it off with lunch, which lifted everyone's spirits and headed home, where nearly everyone fell asleep in the car.

We had a great time with our little stay-cation. It was fun to do some day trips, eat fun food and still enjoy sleeping in our own beds every night!

A Very Short Visit

We were so happy that my parents were able to come in to town for Jensen's baptism. We haven't seen them in over a year (which is a really long for us!) But they were only able to stay for a week during this trip.

 So since they were here for such a short amount of time, we had to cram a lot of fun into 7 days. The first night they were here we took them to a nice Italian restaurant near our house. We had attempted to take my parents there the last time they came to visit us (2 years ago) but they were closed the only night that we could go there. Dad liked it, but it wasn't as good as the place they went to in Italy that had the most amazing risotto. :) Dad also tried calamari for the first time!

Dustin took my dad golfing one day, and on Saturday morning they went out with Carson to a short par 3 course. We drove them to New Braunfels to see Buccees- which is the coolest, biggest gas station and convenience store, like… ever. We stocked up on tasty treats and had fun looking at all the unique things they have there. We also took my parents with us to the Alamo Drafthouse (which is a movie theater that serves dinner during the show) to see Zootopia with the kids. My dad also mowed our lawn for us and trimmed a bunch of trees. (And for anyone who knows my dad, this might have been the best part of his trip!) :)

But their last night in town we decided to head to north Austin and go to Top Golf. Dustin and I have been here a bunch of times, but this was the first time we had ever come with our kids. To say they liked it would be a total understatement. (All the boys keep talking about going again and how they're all going to have their birthday parties there!)

 Hudson was the best. He would hit the ball and regardless of where it went, he would get all excited and yell, "I WON!!!!"

 This place is like a high-tech driving range with a bar. We had fun eating dinner and hitting balls. It would have been perfect if the wind would have calmed down a bit, but thankfully I brought a blanket to keep us warm when it started to get chilly.

 Thanks Mom and Dad for making the trip all the way to Texas to be here for Jensen's baptism and for letting us drag you around all week! Please stay for longer next time!!!!

Jensen's Baptism

This handsome 8 year old was baptized this past Sunday. We had a little mix-up on our stake baptism day and stake conference, and a ward temple trip, and my parent's only weekend here…so, instead we did things a little differently. But different turned out to be wonderful.

We had Stake Conference in the morning (and I was really glad I had my mom take our family picture before we got started with all the preparations for the baptism). I love this new picture of our family (even Hudson's little grumpy expression- which is exactly the face he gives you when you ask him to smile!)

 Because Jensen's baptism was held after the conference, we had a lunch/reception prior to the baptism, so that everyone who wanted to stay could eat and then enjoy the service. And even though that meant a little more work for our family to prepare, it was totally worth it.

 We were also really excited to have two of his friends (who are twins) from school attend his baptism. They gave him a sweet album to put pictures in from his baptism. It was such a thoughtful gift from his cute friends.

 Jensen was also very happy that both sets of grandparents were there for his baptism. He asked Grandpa Jensen to give a talk, and loved the story of when my dad got baptized. He was also excited that his dad, grandpas and Uncle Jason got to confirm him.

 One of my favorite things was that his primary class sang a special musical number at the baptism. I had been going into their primary class every Sunday for the last month to help them practice. Almost every kid in their class was there (and they have a big class) and it was so sweet to hear them all singing together.

I also had Jensen write down his thoughts and memories in his journal that night. He told me that it was a great feeling. He tried so hard to listen to everything Dustin said in his confirmation blessing. He also recalled that it felt weird getting water in his ears. :) It really was a special day.

We Are The Champions

Carson got to play basketball with a new (to him) league this winter. He loved learning more and having a great coach, as well as a great set of teammates. 

 It was great to go and watch him play all season. (Carson was number 55.) His team played so well together and it was so fun to watch them play and progress during the season. These pictures are from their first tournament game, which they won. 

 They went on to win 2 other tournament games, giving them the title of 4th Grade Boys Champions and giving them an undefeated season. He was a little bit excited about getting his trophy from his coach.

 We were really happy that Carson got to play on the same team as one of his good school friends. (It was a great blessing to us that they were on the same team, and that they live close to us, since there were a couple of times we had to help each other out with games and practices.) Aren't these two boys adorable? I mean, aren't they cool?

 It was a fun season…now on to spring golf.

Jensen is the BIG 8!

Jensen turned 8 this February!

 We had a small, but fun family party on his actual birthday. He enjoyed his gifts of toys, books, money and a suit!

 Then, a couple of weeks later, we had a friends birthday party. Jensen was bummed last year that we couldn't go bowling, so we resurrected the idea this year. 

 It was a great time with his friends and his brothers as they bowled, ate and shared gifts and prizes.

We are very much looking forward to his upcoming baptism in March. Jensen has always been a funny guy at our house. I love his scrappy, happy, hardworking, and helpful attitude! 

Christmas 2016

We decided to give the boys Christmas PJ's again this year, because it seemed like, once again, they were all in need of long jammies. They were all pretty excited, especially Hudson!

 The boys exchanged gifts with each other this year, and they all did a great job picking things that their brothers would love. Carson got this Perplexius game from Mason and we've all been having fun with this labyrinth brain buster!

 Hudson got Jensen this really fun car designer kit. It's basically a bunch of fun building pieces, but it also came with lots of wheels. The little engineer in Jensen has been loving this!

 Carson got Mason some Walkie Talkies. Mason is still figuring out how to hold down the button while he talks, and then remembering to let go of the button so the other person can talk to him! I also learned that Santa should probably give Mom some batteries in her stocking next year so that we don't have to scrounge around the house and steal batteries from things in order to make our presents work. :)

 And Jensen gave Hudson a mini trampoline. Hudson was so funny when he pulled the paper away. He yelled, "I got a person!!!" We hope this fulfills a lot of sensory needs for some of our boys!

 The boys also got a fun Simon game from their aunt and uncle, as well as a book called "Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction" accompanied by some tools to help them build said weapons. Carson is already building.

They were also very grateful to receive books from Grandma and Grandpa Jensen (who got to watch them open presents on FaceTime this year) and a gigantic inflatable Bowling set from another aunt and uncle. Lastly they got a cool marble run from Grandma and Grandpa Brudnicki, which they are currently trying to open up as I type. I better go supervise that…

Thank you to everyone for cards, gifts, treats, and expressions of love. Merry Christmas!