Happy Father's Day!

WE LOVE OUR DADDY!!!!

As I write this, it's 7:00 here in FL and Cam is still at work. It will probably be a few more hours until I get to make him his special Father's Day dinner. Haha. I guess that just shows his dedication to his family. He is so hardworking and gives 110% to all that he does, including being a father. He comes home obviously tired and rundown from the day, but you wouldn't know it by the way he plays and interacts with the kids. Hudson is his daddy's shadow whenever he is around, so Cam never really gets a break. He is so helpful and I appreciate him so much. Happy Father's Day Cam! Our kids adore you, and so do I!

I also want to say Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad and to Cam's dad. They are both great men and wonderful grandpas! I am one lucky lady to have such wonderful men in my life!

Just Hangin Out

There's not much going on here lately. It seems really boring after having so many visitors in the month of May! Cam has been super busy at work, so there are some weeks where he doesn't get a single day off. Because of the hot weather, this means me and the kids basically hibernate inside until we all feel like we're going crazy! Fortunately, there were a few slow days during this past week that allowed us some much needed time together. We feel so much better after these days! I'm so extremely grateful to have a husband who works so hard to provide for our family. His days off are more like days off for me, because he helps out so much without being asked. We are still praying and hoping for something better to come our way that will allow Cam to have more family time and attend church, but until then we are enjoying this lovely place where we live and are trying to make good memories with our kids.

Watching Elmo together.

Hudson riding the Merry-Go-Round at Pier Park.

I totally forgot to post Kennady's 2 month stats. She's now closer to 3, but she was 13 pounds!!! We love our little chunk! She is so smiley and an all around great baby. She is still an awesome sleeper, now sleeping around 9 hours at night. Can you say happy mommy?!

Kennady is happy about that, too!

"Princess"

Many Memories

My parents left yesterday. It's always hard for me to get back into a routine after visitors leave, and I feel an especially big void this time. I can't seem to do anything without seeing something that reminds me of them. I decided to just bag putting make-up on at all today, knowing that there will be several moments with tears. Even though I feel super lonely, I am so glad that they came! We had so much fun, as you will be able to tell by all of the pictures below. I just wish they could've stayed all summer to keep me company while Cam is busy at work! (You'll notice he isn't in many of the pics, but we're so grateful that he works so hard for us!) Here is an overview of what we did while my parents were here.....

Hudson helped me make a welcome sign. We didn't end up standing there waiting for them like I wanted, but we were just so excited that they were here!

The next day, we drove up to Alabama to go to the temple. It was such a treat for Cam and I to go through a session together. We live 4 hours away from the nearest temple, so it is not something we get to do often with two small children. (We also got to go to dinner alone one night. Yay for great babysitters!)

This was us before we left in the morning.

Kennady giving Papa smiles.

Well, about 6 hours later we arrived at the Birmingham temple! Funny story now, but man was it a long day for all of us! It was totally my fault it took us so long to get there. I thought we would pass through this cute little town where they filmed part of Sweet Home Alabama, but I was wrong! We just ended up on all of these little back roads and didn't even get to see it. When I looked it up yesterday, I found that we were about 2 hours west of where we needed to be. Oops! Luckily it was still a beautiful drive and we laughed about it all week!

So grateful we are an eternal family!

My parents took Hudson to play at a park while they were waiting for us.

As you can see, Kennady didn't mind all the attention she received! Both kids got so spoiled!

I thought this was such a cute picture of my mom. She is decorating Hudson's cake that I already posted about.

Most of our time was spent at the beach. There were only a few days where we weren't out playing in the sun. The weather was beautiful and we had a blast, as you can see!

Hudson and Papa had a lot of fun playing together.

Kennady was such a good sport as we carted her around. We put the pack 'n play up under the umbrella to try and keep her cool.

On Memorial Day we met up with some families in our branch. Hudson had so much fun playing with the other kids. I was just excited not to have to spend another holiday by myself!

Playing on the Yolo board.

The water felt great!

Hudson stood and jumped over the waves while grandma sunbathed.

He also kept pulling on our hands, wanting to go in the water. He loves it!

The last night before my parents left, we took some dinner down to eat at the beach. It was a beautiful sunset and the perfect way to end their trip. Cam met us down there and went for a swim before we left. He loves doing that after a long, hot day at work.

The Floridians

I think this backdrop almost looks fake!

Me and my wonderful parents.

Hudson saw my parents getting their picture taken and ran up to them. So cute!

Aren't my parents a great looking couple?!

WE LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!! Thanks for an amazing week! We will remember it forever!

Hudson's 2nd Birthday

It's getting late and I'm really tired, but I wanted to take a quick minute to wish Hudson a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. We simply adore Hudson! He is so full of life and attracts people like crazy. He has definitely hit the "terrible twos" these past few weeks, but he is still such a good boy. His 2 year stats are: 28.5 pounds, 35.5 inches tall. He is Daddy's shadow and still loves his baby sister. He isn't talking a whole lot, but learns new words every day and is good at mimicking what we say. His most common words are: thank you, car, truck, baby, bye, Elmo, airplane, and see. He makes friends with everyone at the store, making sure he says hi and bye several times! He loves being outside, playing at the beach, cars, and wrestling with Daddy.

We had a few friends over on Sunday night for cake and ice cream. Grandma worked the whole day before decorating Elmo. He turned out so cute!

Today started off with a special birthday breakfast, which he devoured!

After lunch we went to the Gulfarium where we saw some dolphins, sea lions, and other marine life. We had a lot of fun!

"See"

"Yay!"

Hudson enjoying his new train set...

and the last of the cupcakes. (We've sung happy birthday three times to him over the past two days!)

We love you Hudson and hope you've had a great day! Thank you for all the joy you bring to our lives!

Kennady's Blessing

Today has been a wonderful day! Cam gave Kennady a beautiful, heartfelt blessing. I'm so grateful for him and that we could all attend church together. Later on we had a great dinner thanks to my mom and then had some friends over for cake and ice cream for Hudson's birthday. Here are my favorite pictures of the day:

I liked most of these best in black and white......

I'm so glad that my parents were here for this special day!

All Smiles

One of my dearest friends Ashley came to visit us this last weekend. She is one of the sweetest people I know and always makes me smile! (Seriously, I can hear her cute laugh in my head, and just that makes me smile!) We had a lot of fun hanging out, shopping, and relaxing at the beach. When we moved here, one of the few "pros" on my list was that we would be closer to Ashley, so I'm glad we've gotten to take advantage of that!

We were so busy having fun that I didn't get my camera out until right before we left for church. I'm glad I finally got to use my timer! :)

Speaking of smiles, Kennady is giving us lots of them lately, and we LOVE it! Nothing makes me smile like my kids do, especially those first smiles when they are babies. So sweet!

Grandma and Papa coming tomorrow is also making us smile! We are so excited to have them here! I'm glad my dad will be able to see Kennady before she is even bigger than she already is! We are blessing her on Sunday, and will also be celebrating Hudson's 2nd birthday. Bring on the fun!

There is Beauty All Around

Cam had a hard day at work the other day, so when he got home I suggested we go over to Eden Gardens for a bit. I have really come to appreciate the beauty of the Earth and where we are living right now. This peaceful place is exactly what we needed.

Best Buds

Gosh, my two boys are so handsome!

It was so pretty!

Cam took this of the clouds.

They were having another wedding and had this cool old car for the bride and groom. Hopefully they didn't mind us taking a quick picture! :)

Hudson enjoying bath time when we got home.

These last pictures were taken on different days this week. This first is for my cousin Ashley, who sent this adorable outfit for Kennady. I love the little leggings!

And this was yesterday. I had just gotten Hudson up and went to check on him when I realized he was being too quiet. This is what I found. He had taken his cars in by the baby and was playing by her. Ah, I live for moments like this! It really is true that there is beauty all around when there's love at home.