I Heart February

I love love February for a few reasons!  First, because my baby was born in February (he is almost one!).  Enough said there.  Second, because I love Valentines!  I always have.  My mom is fantastic and always made Valentines fun by getting us a few little presents.  It always seemed like a mini Christmas-except the color pink was more involved so it made Valentines its own kind of special.  I'm going to do the same thing for my kids.  Even this year!  So, to start out the celebrations of my favorite month I made my own Valentine topiary and printed off the cutest V-Day subway art I found on pinterest.

  I hung up my heart wreath outside and we made italian sodas-cherry to be exact.  Yes, I'm a nerd.  But I don't care!

Hudson loves italian soda!

Happy February!

Mr. Piano Man

I am lucky enough to have a piano.  Hudson loves to play it and thinks he is pretty cool when he does!

Trust in the Lord

This is just something I have been thinking about and thought I would share.  Trust in the Lord....a simple phrase and sometimes easier said then done.  I am a very impatient person that wants what I want now.  However, I have found throughout the last year, and I know I will continue to find out throughout my life, that trusting in the Lord and His plan/timing is key to being happy.  I have lived in Logan now for a year and two months.  To most of you this may be nothing, but to me this is huge!  :Let me tell you why.  I grew up near Park City.  I always knew I would live there forever.  ""Knew"....I know right?!  Like you ever know anything for sure.  Anyway, it is my home and I love it there.  After I got married I was able to continue living there and was so pleased that my plan was falling into place.  This was MY plan though.  The Lord had a different plan for me.  My husband came home one day and said "We are going to have to move our farm and it has to be somewhere where land is reasonably priced, so not here."  At first my answer was a definite, "No way."  However, as time went on I could see that moving was our only option so I said, "Ok, I'll move anywhere but Cache Valley, I just don't like it there."  Ha!  Next thing I know, here I am.  So, this is why I think it is huge that I have lived here for over a year and I am still living!  I know, silly right?  It's not like I had to move thousands of miles away to a horrible place!  Anyway, this whole story brings me back to trusting in the Lord and His plan for me. This is not where I would be if I had to choose but for some reason this is where I'm supposed to be right now.  Will I be here forever?  I have no clue.  But for now it is great.  And for some reason after going through this I realize so much more that Heavenly Father will never forget about me or my life.  He has a plan just for me and that makes me feel important!

Hello 2012!

2011 was such a good year for me!  I recieved the biggest blessing of my life, baby Hudson!  I don't know how 2012 can top it but I'm ready to see!  I guess I had better highlight some important ending moments of 2011 though:

-Lights in Ogden:  When I was younger my family would go every year to see the Christmas lights in the Ogden Park.  We have not been for quite awhile so I'm glad we could go this year!

-First hair cut:  Hudson got his first haircut this month.  He sat on my lap for most of it but did so well!

-Clapping and crawling:  I posted a few days ago about how Hudson started clapping. Now, that is all that he does!  He claps when he is happy, crying, excited, scared, or whatever!  It is so darn cute.  I'm also proud to announce that he now can crawl. I'm so proud of my little bug!  He is a late bloomer but he is making up for it by following me around everywhere.  He kept getting into the Christmas Tree...

-Stembridge Family Christmas Party:  We started off the Christmas holiday with the Stembridge family Christmas party in Peoa.  This is held every year and I always look forward to it.  We exchange white elephant gifts, see Santa, eat, and talk.  This year I got in on the kid's gift exchange since I now have a kid!  We gave a doll to cousin Presley and Hudson received a cute little toy train from cousin Gracee.  What a great way to start the festivities of Christmas!

-Christmas Eve:  We spent Christmas Eve in Oakley at Kolby's parent's house.  Grandma and Grandpa Larson and Uncle Mike came up as well.  We had a delicious meal, talked to Uncle Brayden in Peru, and then opened a few presents.  Hudson got his first annual Christmas jammies and slippers and we went to bed.  I have to admit I still get so excited for Christmas morning, even more so now that Hudson is here!

-Christmas Day:  Christmas morning we got up bright and early to see what Santa brought.  Hudson got a dog that claps (which is perfect since clapping is his new favorite activity these days) and a bean bag chair from Santa.  He got toys, a blanket, books, and clothes from us and his grandparents.  He got so spoiled!  Once we were ready we headed to Coalville to see what Santa had left for us there.  We got so much and Hudson got even more.  By the time the day was over, we could have opened our own toy store!  We ate another great meal with my family, grandparents and aunt included.  After all of the party was over, we had a little party of our own- in the emergency room.  Hudson had not been feeling very well for a few days and by Christmas night he was miserable.  So, Kolby and I packed him up and took him to the Park City hospital.  Turns out it was a throat infection-poor little guy!  Once we were home we put him safe to bed and then finished off the night by watching The Help, a present I recieved from Kolby.  Our Christmas was fantastic and eventful!  We are so blessed!

-Wisconsin and New Years:  A few days later, Kolby and I boarded a plane to Wisconsin to work for a few days.  It was nice to get away but I missed my baby every second.  I was so glad when I got home to him on New Years Eve!  Because we had been flying all day, we didn't even stay up to welcome in 2012.  Oh well, it was gonna come whether I was up or not right?!  On New Years day we went to our cousin Ashlee's missionary farewell.  She did such a wonderful job and the people of New York are lucky to be getting her for 18 months!

-Our 4 year anniversary, January 3:  Yes, we made it 4 years!  Yay!  And, in keeping with the party that is our life, we did nothing.  But we didn't need to!  Just hanging out together is fun enough.  We just ate dinner at home, I got flowers and he got a Utah State hat, and we watched TV.  I'm so glad I married my best friend four years ago and that we can be together forever!

Here's to hoping that 2012 is as good to us as 2011 has been!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

On Monday we had to go to Salt Lake so we took Hudson to see Santa Claus at the mall.  Hudson didn't cry, laugh, or show any emotion (I think he was busy dirtying his diaper!).  I'm sure the Santa there just loved us for putting a pooping baby on his lap!  Oh well, perks of the job right?!  In our defense we didn't know until after.  Anyway, here is the picture...

Also, here is our Christmas card for this year (sorry it's a little fuzzy but you get the idea)...

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family! We love you!

My Talented Baby Boy!

Ok, so it may not be a talent to you but Kolby and I are absolutely thrilled.  Hudson can clap!  On command!  We ask him to clap like every five seconds cause it is so cute!  Take a look for yourself:

Another talent of his is the way he sleeps.  Take a look:

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Ok so I realize it has been a month since I last posted.  I'm sure you all were dying that I have not posted for so long ha ha.  Anyway, we have had a busy month at our house.  Since the last post was so long ago I'll just list the high points of our life the past month!

-Rest and Relaxation in C-Ville:  Well, Kolby went out of town on business, so I spent the first week of November in Coalville at my parents house.  Hudson loves to visit his grandparents, aunts, and uncle!

Hudson likes the fish tank at grandmas!

-Boise!  We went to Boise to see our good friends Ty, Steph, Bristol, and Tytan.  It was a blast!  We shopped, visited, went to dinner, saw Twilight, and just hung out.  It was so nice to get away and even nicer to see our friends!

-Thanksgiving!  We had two Thanksgivings this year.  Our first one was the Sunday before Thanksgiving at Kolby's grandma's house in Peoa.  Everyone on Kolby's side was there and it was nice to see them all!  Our actual Thanksgiving took place at Kolby's parents house in Oakley.  His grandparents and uncle came up from Ephraim so the only one missing was Brayden.  It was such a good holiday.  We ate lots of food and then went Black Friday shopping in Park City.  My favorite!  Got lots of good stuff.  So much stuff in fact that Kolby's mom and sister had to ride home with Kolby's aunt!  Oh well, it was lots of stuff for a good deal right?!

-Our new dog Molly!:  So we added another member to our family.  A weineramer (sp?) named Molly.   She was flown in from Tennessee.  Why you may ask?  Well, Kolby's ranch dog passed away last month so we got Molly to be at the ranch and also to hunt.  When Kolby will hunt I don't know (he loves to work too much!)  As of right now, Molly spends most of her time at home with me since she is just a puppy.  She is a sweet dog and Hudson loves her!  Milo on the other hand?  Not so much!

Milo is warming up to Molly....a little bit....

-Temple Square:  This past weekend we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake to see the lights with Kolby's family.  Even though it was freezing, we still had a great time.  I am inspired everytime I go there and am reminded how fortunate I am to be able to be with my family forever!

-Also this past weekend Kolby and I made some crafts and picture frames for the boutique in Oakley.  While I was there, I saw my friend Heather with her little guy Axel.  Axel and Hudson are only two weeks apart!  Here they are with Aunt Shalese:

-Other news:  Hudson got a tooth!  Yay!  He is also very close to crawling.  Hopefully when I post next, he will be!

Putting up the tree, listening to Christmas music, and eating gingerbread!

Hudson styling his new Jordan hat