We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

The Ruddick Family
Josh, Gretchen, Ronan (4), and Griffin (2)

Baby Emma

On September 26th Amy and Jon welcomed their new daughter, Emma Leann, into the world. She is very sweet and such a precious addition to their family.

Josh and I went to visit Emma a few hours after she was born. I forget so quickly how it feels to hold a newborn!

Uncle Josh holding Emma

The Green Family

Amy, Jon, Ethan, Macey, and Emma

Sweet Baby Girl

Goodbye Party

Wow, this was a long time ago~ September 18th! I'm going to try to get back into blogging after taking a few months off. We'll see how quickly I can get "caught up" or if I will even try. I might skip ahead to December and fill in the missing pieces later on. We'll see (:

This night was a lot of fun. We met together to say goodbye to our friend, Missi, which was sad, but hanging out together (without all of our kiddos) was great. Aunie hosted the event and we all brought appetizers and desserts to share.

Becca and I arrived separately and when we saw each other we realized that we were wearing the exact same shirt! How embarrassing (: Everyone had a good laugh about it.

Aunie, Amy, Lindsey, Hillary, Becca, Kelly, me, Missi, and Beth

Here's the same group shot, except I took the picture so that Mom could be in it (:

Mom and Beth posing together (:

Kelly and I

Parade Fun

September 13, 2008
Here are some pictures from the Eugene Celebration parade. We try to go every year...it's not your typical parade, but it's always fun and entertaining. Ronan, Griffin, and I went with my parents and met up with my sisters & their kiddos and some friends, too. We all enjoyed the sunshine and nice company!

Finley, Ronan, Sadie, Griffin, Becca, and Cohen

With my Boys

A fairy blowing bubbles for Ronan and Sadie (:

Katrina, Kenton, and Finn (who was very serious and curious about the parade)

Griffin waving as the floats went by

Papa surrounded by grandsons & wearing a hat he made out of a newspaper to shade his face from the sun.

1st Day of School

September 7, 2008

Ronan seemed like such a big boy as he headed to the car for the first day of school! He had been looking forward to going back to school, and he was sure to let everyone know that he was going to be in the 4 year old class at preschool. He is still going two mornings a week (like last year), but in a new classroom with a new teacher. He was excited and a little nervous at the same time, so I went in with him knowing he would need a little time to warm up. It didn't take long for him to find some kids to talk to and get interested in the fun activities.

Who knew that cutting straws & watching the pieces fly would be so fun!
Ronan tracing his name
His teacher, Miss Julie, is great! She really helped Ronan feel comfortable when it was time for me to leave...Ronan was starting to get sad and he was worried that Miss Julie didn't have a phone to call me if he needed me. He didn't want me to leave until I wrote down my phone number for her and asked her if she had a phone. (: When I picked him up after school and asked him how it went, he said, "It was great! I loved it! I was only a little sad for you".

Special Visitors

On August 27, 2008, my mom's Aunt Norrine and Uncle Frank came to visit us all the way from Shreveport, Louisiana! We were one of many stops they made on this trip, and we felt very honored that they were able to come so far to see us! This was Uncle Frank's very first time to Oregon~so that was pretty cool! They are so special to all of us...I was fortunate to get to live near them during my time at NSU in Louisiana. They came to my volleyball games and I got to spend some weekends and holidays at their house. It was so nice having them here in the pacific northwest! We had a lot of fun reminiscing and catching up with one another.

Mom and Aunt Norrine

Most of our family was able to gather for dinner at my parent's house--this was the best picture I found where everyone was looking at the camera--except me with my eyes closed! :)

fence building + work party

We decided sometime in August to try to get our house on the market at the beginning of September, so by the time Labor Day weekend rolled around we were scrambling to finish up all the last-minute projects. One major thing that needed to be done was finish the fence between the two houses. Josh had most of the materials cut and ready to assemble from almost a year ago when he build the fence on the side of the house where we had trees cut down.

Getting the posts set for the fence dividing our two lots.

Assembling the fence panels

Josh spraying/staining the fence

Here's the finished product!

We felt blessed to have so much help from my family and Josh's family~ so many people pitched in and helped when the tasks seemed impossible to accomplish.

Papa and Ronan digging holes for new plants in the backyard.

Memaw and Griffin watering the new plants.

(Great) Grandpa Lermo helped with the landscaping, too, and took some time to play with the kids.

Mom painting the trim & door on the front of the house.

Thank You SO MUCH!

Happy Birthday, Lydia!

On Saturday, August 23rd, we went up to Albany to celebrate Lydia's 6th Birthday! She had a cosmic bowling party with friends & family, and then afterwards we went to their house for a family BBQ.
It was fun being at a girly party since we are so used to boys in our family. Ronan continues to have a little crush on one of Audrey's friends...so he was so excited to see that she was there that day. (: Ronan (and Griffin) love their cousins, and it is cool to see how they can interact more as they are getting older. Audrey and Lydia helped Ronan a lot with bowling and playing games in the arcade. It was really sweet.
Ronan jumping & cheering as his ball rolled down the lane.

Even Griffin got to bowl! He liked trying to carry the ball all by himself (:

Lydia blowing out her candles

Erin, Josh, and Ronan hanging out.

Griffin and Macey playing in the Creager's backyard

Griffin, Dylan, and Ronan playing on the slide together.

Lydia opening her gifts...

Griffin and Dylan lounging together...I'm pretty sure it was past bedtime, but the kids were playing so well together it made it hard to leave!