Hudson's Resilience

You wouldn't know it from these pictures but Hudson has been sick for the past few days. On Tuesday night he woke with a fever of almost 102.... he was coughing terribly and his nose was completely filled..... Chrissy took him to the doctor on Wednesday and they have him on an antibiotic.... he has some sort of throat infection and a sinus infection.

Chrissy and I have been amazed at Hudson's resilience.... he has not cried once and doesn't seem to be the least bit irritable. Please pray for the complete recovery of our little boy.

Kid Krusade @ Bay-Community

Chrissy and I took the kid's on a little road trip last week. Metro sent us to Daphne, Alabama for a Kid Krusade @ Bay-Community Church. Our primary reason for going was to observe how they did a community event of this nature. Our hotel was great... Ella loved running around the hotel. We only had one issue @ the hotel... they went overboard with the halloween decorations....also, upon our arrival there was a "electronic witch" standing @ the door. The witch was stirring a pot... fog was coming off of the pot. Ella was not the least bit scared of the witch.... she kept asking what it was. Finally she started calling it a scarecrow.... Chrissy and I were so glad b/c we really didn't want to teach Ella the word "witch". The reason being, Ella being only 2 loves new words and would say the word 500 times a day. For 3 days, Ella wanted to go to the lobby to see the "scarecrow" as she calls it....

The Kid Krusade was great... Ella loved the live and very loud music... She danced and was intrigued by all the action that was taking place on the stage. One of the highlights of the krusade was Ella winning the prize during a drawing. Ella won an art desk with painting supplies. The desk is awesome... me being an artist was thrilled that our little girl won such a creative gift! After winning the desk, my only thought was "How are we going to get this thing home?" .... Thankful we packed light and there was room. I will post pictures of the desk later on..... Ella has been putting it to good use.
Ella with her arm band that had the winning number on it! Ella loved wearing her name badge....
Ella and I getting ready for the big event.

Chrissy spent much of her time at the Krusade tending to Hudson's needs.




Toward the end of the nightly service, this is how Ella and I coped with her tired state of not being in bed.....

A visit from Brayden

Ella and Hudson only have one cousin, his name is Brayden. Brayden lives in South Carolina. During Ella's birthday weekend, Brayden came to visit with Nana and Papa Eric. Ella and Hudson loved having Brayden in town. These photos were taken after bathtime.... Nana bought all three grandkids new pajamas.... which they loved!

Ella's new Volkswagen Beetle

Ella loves her new Volkswagen Beetle.... Every day she looks forward to her opportunity to drive down the street... the only issue we are having is that she doesn't understand that she must use the steering wheel! She thinks she can just drive it with no hands...... Needless to say, we are constantly trying to get her out of the ditch..... She could also doesn't care about using the reverse button.... We have some teaching to do..... Driving School seems to be inevitable.

Ella's Circus

For Ella's 2nd birthday we had a circus party. The day was a true circus. We had a circus tent, games, clowns, a full body character and tons of food. With over 56 guest, Ella enjoyed every minute of the party. Ella loved her mini hamburger and homemade mac and cheese. Chrissy and I could not of been more happy in seeing our family and friends come together, celebrating the life of Ella.

Our Circus Tent

Ella opening her gifts.
Ella's favorite gift... her new car! She loves her little beetle car. Chrissy and I had been searching for the right car for Ella.... boy, did we find it!
Ella thinks that her car is the most wonderful thing.

Ella loves cake.... one of our friends from church made Ella the cake for her birthday.... Thanks Becky!
Ella's friend Caden

Some of Ella's other favorite people....Olivia, Ella and Rachel.
Ella's cousin visting from South Carolina, Brayden


Ella's Circus Clown, Lil' Darlin
Ella's favorite character from church, Joey
Ella loves to kiss Joey!

A visit from Aunt Alisha

A few weeks ago my sister, who lives in South Carolina, came to stay with us for 4 days. This visit was a true treat for Ella and Hudson. Chrissy and I had a "mission's conference" @ the church throughout the week. Alisha was such an asset in helping with the kid's during the day... and especially @ night. Ella call's Alisha..."Isha". These photos were taken during one of Alisha's afternoon fun times with the kids. We love you "Isha"!
Because of Aunt Alisha... Ella now wants to lay in the grass to look @ the clouds.
Ella loves her "baby Hudson"!

Church Staff Photos

As many of you know Chrissy and I have been through many changes @ the church where I am currently serving as Children's Pastor. We have seen numerous staff come and go over the past 14 months. Actually 7 of the 11 pastors have transitioned from the church. With that said I have 7 new pastors that have joined our staff over the past few months. We just had new staff photos made.... these photos are the ones that will be used for our family.

(As you can see in the photo below, Ella was not in the mood for taking a photo. We are thankful that we at least got something that was somewhat presentable.)