Jude's birthday party... he's TWO!

We had a little party to celebrate Jude turning two. Our cutest friend Trace Martin was born December 13 so they are only two days apart so we had to celebrate together! It was probably the windiest day of the year, but we managed to have a great time!

We had yummy fruit and vegetable trays and played fishing! My dad hid behind the sheet and the kids would fish (with the broom) and my dad would hook on a snake. It was really cute. We used to always play that at my birthday parties growing up except we'd play over the shower curtain. :)

The man behind the curtain...

THIS CAKE... What can I even say about this cake. I procrastinated on it too much but it managed to work out. :) I made an entire cake's worth and since it had such a hard time sticking together I was able to carve out about one cupcakes worth. The rest was a crumbly mess. I honestly don't remember how I made it. (I think I've tried to block these things out...) I can tell you it had no dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, barley, rice, corn, potato, nuts, mustard, peas, or lentils. This was no easy task, I tell you!! Those sneaky ingredients make their way into about EVERYTHING. For the frosting, I used this recipe for Vegan Whipped Coconut Cream. It worked out fine but don't get your hopes up for a pretty, Pinterest-able cake. The piece below was the prettiest thing I could come up with! Anywho... Jude was anxious to try his cake and before we could get a fork his way, he had his way with the cake and just went for it!

And.... he liked it! I was the. happiest. mama.

The boys of honor shared a couple glasses of Martinelli's. CUTIES.

"CHTRUCK!!!"

"TIM!!"

Mimi and Papa surprised Jude with a brand new bike!

He was pretty excited about it. :)

Jude quickly became the envy of the kids (party-goers and the random, parent-less Islamic kids that joined our party).

The birthday boys exploring together...

the mama's

my happy family :)

smothering once again...

We love our little boy sooo much!! 

zoo.

Our dear friends, Natalie and Presley, let us tag along with them at the zoo a while back. I thought Jude would be oohing and aahing and jumping up and down but he was just in a silent state of shock the whole time. After a while he would maybe throw up a finger and point. He's the quiet observer. And since our latest visit the to the zoo, he has developed an obsession with RHINOS! I wish you could hear how cute his voice is when he says it.

El Rio Guadalupe

We went camping on the Guadalupe River in late October with our wonderful friends, Tyler, Maddie, &Chloe McLemore. It was the perfect trip! It was a little chilly but warm enough to swim the next day in the river. (Actually it was still a little cold to swim. I swam across the river to get Tyler's line out of the water, Jude swam on accident, and Dan "swam" all in the name of fishing.) ;) We told stories and ate by the campfire the first night. The mamas and babies enjoyed a nice walk in the morning while the boys had gone off fishing. We met them at the river and then both Maddie & I caught fish. :) It was pretty exciting. We all caught fish, though! Jude experiences his first no-nap day that day and it was PRETTY traumatizing. WHEW!! 

It was such a fun, relaxing trip! It is an absolutely gorgeous place. There is a beautiful mural scene in the temple here right from this river. It is a little heaven on earth!

Tyler spent hours tending to his fryer!

She's probably THE CUTEST.

He for real gives us kisses like this all the time. We LOVE IT.