After taking a short break for the holidays, Josh got back to work in February to finish up some of the details in our house. The fireplace was definitely a priority since it is the focal point in the living room. He framed the opening of the fireplace with black granite, then used slate tiles to cover the "chimney".
We are slowly getting window coverings and other small pieces of decoration in each room. We had some incentive to get things done because I was planning to host a baby shower for Katrina in the middle of April. The Den
Josh recently put the granite tops on the desk in the upstairs hallway.
Master Bathroom
Still a little more tile to finish up around the tub, but it's getting closer. (:
The Greens hosted Easter dinner at their house this year. They did a great job of preparing a great meal and accommodating a large group of people!
The November cousins (Ronan was there, too, but I didn't get any pictures of him for some reason.)
Macey and Griffin were playing so well together. (:
The dinner table: Amy, Mom, Grandpa & Grammie Lermo, Charlotte (Jon's mom), Josh & Griffin, Brian (friend from church), and Dad. I was taking the picture and I think Jon was helping with the kiddos.
Since we had everyone together we also celebrated my birthday--and sang to Amy, too. Our birthdays are just three days apart, but her big 30th birthday party was coming up the following weekend so we were waiting until then to give her gifts.
We celebrated Easter with my side of the family on Saturday, the 11th, so that the Murphy-Hecht family could join us. My cousin Dan and his wife Brooke had twin daughters in August and this was their first time visiting in Eugene since they were born. My brother also drove down from Seattle for a surprise visit, so we had the whole family together! We filled up my parent's house, but thankfully the weather was nice enough to have an easter egg hunt outside. We all enjoyed getting to know Summer and Kara--it's so much fun having more girl cousins around! Dan holding Summer and Papa holding Kara
Me with Kara
Brooke and Kara
Egg Decorating!
Mom and Becca
Brooke, Kara, Sadie, and Ronan
We ate a delicious dinner together and then it was time for Easter baskets and an egg hunt!
The Henry Family~soon to be a family of 4!
My mom came up with the idea of having each kid look for a certain color of plastic eggs, and they were hidden with their ages in mind. (: It was a great idea! Even Griffin and Finn understood and had fun searching for their color. Griffin found lots of yellow eggs! Somehow his little monkey ended up in his bag, too. (: It goes everywhere with him.
Ronan's color was green!
Uncle Erik sitting with the kids as they discovered what was inside the eggs...treats, stickers, money...!!
On Saturday, April 11th, the boys and I met up with the Greens, the Creager kids, and Grammie at Camp Harlow's annual egg hunt. It was our first time going and it ended up being lots of fun. We managed to get all 8 of the cousins in this picture--even Emma who was in the Moby Wrap. (: Grammie, Ronan, Audrey, Dylan, Lydia, Griffin, Ethan, Macey, and Emma
The eggs were hidden in sections for different age groups, and the four of us adults split up with the kids. I took Ronan and Dylan to their area and we waited for the "go". I didn't realize how tough it would be to keep track of the two boys. Dylan took off searching for eggs and Ronan froze and wanted me to stay with him. There were a lot of kids and I think it was overwhelming for him. So while I was helping Ronan get comfortable I was also trying to scan the sea of kids to find Dylan. After several minutes went by, and still no luck finding him, I heard my name being called over the loud speaker. Someone had found him and asked if we was looking for his mom, and he replied, "no, I'm looking for my Gretchen." (: I felt awful, but so relieved, too! He was happy to be found and happy because he found a whole bunch of eggs!
Jon & Amy were with Ethan, Macey, and Griffin (and they kept track of them nicely). (:
Griffin discovered the yummy treats inside the eggs! Amy took these pictures for me. I had to post them both because only one boy is looking up in each picture. (: They were too excited about their eggs.
It was a fun little adventure and I'm glad we went--next time I'll be a little more prepared for the craziness of it all. (:
This year our church did a drama for the Easter services which were held on Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday morning. We decided to go Friday night so that we could have a more mellow morning with our kids on Easter Sunday. The Chase family also went on Friday night.
All dressed up and ready to go. It takes a lot for Ronan to be willing to wear nice clothes, so I had to be sure to capture him wearing his Easter outfit--bowtie and all. (:
Me, Ronan (4 1/2), Josh, and Griffin (almost 2 1/2)
Sweet Cousins
Becca, Cohen, Aaron, Sadie, and Tyler (My older sister's family)
The day before my birthday was a free childcare day for our moms group at church, so a group of my friends all got together for coffee at the mall. We always look forward to "free day" because many of us don't get regular breaks from our kids to run errands or hang out with friends. I was honored that they chose to spend their kid-free two hours with me that day. (: It was so nice to sit & chat & relax!
Becca, Me, Hillary, Kelly, Beth, Lindsey, Sydney & baby Jumi
By the time my actual birthday came around I felt like I had already done a lot of celebrating! (: But, I still had a big day ahead. In the morning Griffin and I got to help in Ronan's classroom with egg decorating. Ronan was very excited to have us there and made sure to tell his teacher and all his friends that it was my birthday. (:
Miss Julie is teaching the kids how to tell the difference between a raw egg and a hard boiled one. I'm not sure how the dinosaurs were related to that. (: Griffin wanted to right in the center of the egg dying action. When Griffin and I left the classroom we had about an hour before we needed to pick up Ronan, so we met my friend Kelly and her son Eli at Perk n Play (cute little coffee shop with toys for kids to play with). Later that evening Josh's mom watched the boys so we could go out to dinner with our friends Jill & Eric. We went to Sushiya because of their amazing birthday deal ($20 off of your bill on your B-day!)...and I enjoyed every bit of it!
Josh is good at encouraging me to eat new things, and I'm so glad that I was brave enough to try sushi with him a few years ago. It has definitely become one of our favorite types of food!
I always love the presentation!
After dinner we drove around and decided to go to some stores to look at home decor and idea books since we didn't have the kiddos with us. We went to Pottery Barn, Borders, Pier One, and Bed Bath & Beyond--and actually got to take our time shopping around and discussing our plans & ideas. We forget how nice it is to have that time for just the two of us!
A few pictures with my boys before they went to bed.
After taking a short break for the holidays, Josh got back to work in February to finish up some of the details in our house. The fireplace was definitely a priority since it is the focal point in the living room. He framed the opening of the fireplace with black granite, then used slate tiles to cover the "chimney". 
We are slowly getting window coverings and other small pieces of decoration in each room. We had some incentive to get things done because I was planning to host a baby shower for Katrina in the middle of April.
Josh recently put the granite tops on the desk in the upstairs hallway. 
Master Bathroom
Still a little more tile to finish up around the tub, but it's getting closer. (:
Master Shower
Shelves up in the playroom
Shelves up in the hallway
