Taking Shape

By the end of last week the framers had finished installing the trusses and started working on the attic decking.

Christmas Collage

I wanted to try out an idea I saw on Ali Edwards' website.

Chuck E. Cheese's

For Erik's last night in Eugene he suggested that we all go to one of his favorite places...Chuck E. Cheese's! The one in the Gateway Mall just opened, so we decided to brave the crowds and go there for dinner. We should have gotten in the food line right away, because it took FOREVER to order our food and an equally long time to get our food. It was crazy, but the kids got to play games while we waited, so it wasn't too bad. Erik had told us ahead of time about these super coupons from their website, so we ended up with plenty of tokens for everyone to play as much as they wanted. Tyler, Sadie, and Ronan got really into the excitement and the "big boys" did too (: We were there for three hours...crazy, but lots of fun!

For some reason, this roller coaster ride was going without any tokens, so Ronan and Griffin got to ride it over and over again!

Trusses Delivered...

...the day after Christmas! We woke up to the sound of a big truck delivering the trusses for our house! Josh had the day off work, so he was able to help Nick and James throughout the day when they needed a hand .The truck had a crane that would lift the trusses to the roof. It was pretty cool to watch!

Christmas with Family

From our house we went to my parent's house to celebrate with the Chases, Henrys, and Erik....15 of us in all! We all got there around 11:00 for presents and lunch.

Tyler and Aaron waiting for everything to get started (: The kids were all sooo excited!

Here's Finn and Griffin doing what they often do at Memaw and Papa's house...walk up and down the hallway (: Anytime I couldn't find Griffin he was usually right there in the hallway.

Aunt Katie and Uncle Kenton gave this truck to Ronan, and he played with it for such a long time! You can take it apart and turn it into a bunch of different construction vehicles. He really loves it!

Papa surprised Mom with this new camera!

And here's just a glance at some of the fun. The kids all tried their best to be patient and wait for their turn to come around. Finley and Griffin both took naps, and we all enjoyed yummy treats and delicious lunch.

Around 3:30 we headed to the Ruddick's house where we celebrated with Josh's parents, the Creager and Green families, and Grammie & Grandpa Lermo (17 people!). We ate a really nice dinner (turkey and ham) with all the fixins. Then we had all of the kids take turns opening their gifts, followed by the adults. We had a lot of fun and the kids all did pretty well...considering (:

Ronan got a cool new Beaver outfit from the Creagers! For the rest of the evening he was asking if he could go outside to play football. Eventually Josh and I took turns being outside with him in the dark, cold, rain...of course Ronan didn't mind the icky weather!

We attempted to get a picture of all the cousins by the stockings. This was the best one I got (: Top Row: Ethan (1), Lydia (5), Audrey (8.5), Dylan (2.5), Griffin (1), and Ronan (3.5)
Bottom: Macey (1)

The Creager Family (Josh's older sister)

The Green Family (Josh's younger sister)

Our Family

Amy, Erin, and Gretchen

Brad, Jon, and Josh

Christmas Morning

We had such a nice time on Christmas morning celebrating with our little family. It was mellow and relaxing...and just so much fun seeing the excitement on Ronan and Griffin's faces. Ronan woke up around 7:30 and I was able to catch his first reaction to seeing the presents under the tree. He was so cute!

Griffin slept in until almost 9:00, which was great because he ended up only getting a short nap later that day. He was a little trooper.

Here they are together sitting in front of the tree. Last year Griffin was just 1 month old on Christmas, so this really felt like his first real, interactive Christmas.

Ronan was so excited about all of his presents!

Griffin liked his new musical activity cube. It was fun for him even without the batteries (:

Ronan got into character right away with his new cash register and play food.

It's so much fun watching our boys develop into playmates. I had to capture some of those sweet moments when they were playing together nicely. Griffin already tries to keep up with Ronan and play with "big kid" toys, so we tried to shop for toys that they would both enjoy.

Christmas Eve

My parents and Erik came over for dinner on Christmas Eve. We've done this the past few years for those who don't have a formal gathering to go to. I think it's also nice for my mom to have something fun to do in memory of her mom's Christmas Eve birthday. We usually eat some kind of seafood, so Josh made sushi and Mom made mandarin chicken-yummy!

Erik and Josh always have a lot to talk about, so they enjoyed getting to catch up and have detailed conversations about camera equipment, computers, and snowboarding. Papa and Ronan played with lots of toys and had a little jam session.

Ronan and Griffin got to open a present from Memaw and Papa, and one present from us- matching Christmas jammies (:

When everyone left Josh finished wrapping presents and I prepared food for the next day. Amazingly enough, I think we got to bed by midnight!

After church on Sunday we all drove up to Portland to celebrate Christmas with the Neals and Grandma Janet and Grandpa. We planned it for that day so Erik could be there since he was driving down from Seattle.

Every year we draw names for a gift exchange with my Stoerman aunts and cousins. This year I gave to Aunt Nancy and Hannah gave to me. She gave me two really cute shirts and three pairs of patterned socks! Everyone got such nice gifts and there was lots of yummy food! We all brought appetizers and goodies to share.

Above: Becca, Grandpa, Katrina, Grandma Janet, Erik and me
Below: Aunt Robin, Grandpa, Eleanor, Grandma Janet, Hannah, and Uncle Truls

Uncle Truls had been joking with Katrina and me saying that he wanted his picture to make it in our blogs....so here you go, Uncle Truls (: I would've included you even if you hadn't asked!

Grandpa finally got to hold Griffin, who tends to stay close to Mommy and especially Daddy these days (:

We all had such a fun time visiting, playing the Wii, and just catching up. Thanks Neal family for hosting!

Christmas Service at Grace

Sunday, December 23rd
Our church had a very nice Christmas service on Sunday, with neat music and a great message. My family was able to be there together since we didn't have youth group, and the Bensons drove from Sisters to come! Here's our family in the newly added atrium.

And Ronan & Sadie in front of the angel tree.

They were being so sweet to each other...I had to get pictures (: Here they are watching the children's choir practicing between services. I asked Ronan if he wanted to be in the choir someday and he smiled and said, "I would like that".

Mom, Robin, and baby Luke (almost 3 months!). Mom was getting him to smile (:

Tyler got to hold Luke for a long time! He is so good with babies!

Cousins Audrey, Lydia, and Dylan came to church with Grammie because they were staying here for the weekend. They looked so adorable in their coordinating outfits! Cousins Ethan and Macey were matching also, and Amy has some cute pictures on her blog (:

2nd Floor Progress

It was a very productive week on the job site! The stairs were built on Monday and by Friday all of the interior and exterior walls on the 2nd floor were framed in. We had some of my family over on Thursday, so Josh came home on his lunch break and we all took a tour of the house.

Grandpa (a "retired" builder) stepped in to help steady a wall.

Becca, Sadie, and Cohen walking down the stairs.

Josh discussing some details with Nick.

Sadie and Ronan discovering some fun hiding places.

Papa, Griffin, Mom, Josh, Katrina, and Finley

The next day Josh's mom came by to walk through the house. Ronan was happy to be the tour guide.

Grandpa Stoerman's Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Janet drove up from southern California to visit all the family in Oregon. We had a nice visit and hopefully didn't overwhelm them too much with all the commotion that happens when we get all the cousins together (: We took a lot of pictures and got some fun group shots.

Four Generations

Grandma Janet and Grandpa with all of the "Stoerman" Great Grandkids!
(Tyler-7, Cohen-2, Sadie-4, Finn-1, Ronan-3, Griffin-1)

All the women with Grandpa.

All the men with Grandma Janet (nice wig, Josh!)

The kids got into Memaw's dress-up clothes (that's where Josh found the wig). For more of those pictures see Katrina's blog (: