Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Delta Ponds

On July 20th the boys and I joined my parents (who were watching the Chase kids) at the nature area around the Delta Ponds. The kids loved exploring and looking for tadpoles, fish, and insects! I saw a huge tadpole, but was never able to catch it. He had too many good hiding spots. (: We caught lots of little fish, though, and Tyler took them home and has kept some alive in his backyard.
Griffin found a dragonfly!


Monday, August 24, 2009

Leslie's Visit

  • Later in the day on July 19th we enjoyed a quick visit with my good friend, Leslie, at her parent's house in Eugene. Leslie and her boyfriend, Nick, are both new doctors and they are completing their residencies in Ventura County and L.A. They have very busy schedules, but it worked out that they were able to plan their vacation time to come to Oregon when Leslie's sister was due to have a baby (in Portland). I wasn't expecting to see them since they were only around for a few days, so I was extra excited when I heard that they were going to make it down to Eugene!! We loved getting to visit with them--and meet Nick for the first time!
Griffin and Ronan got to help hammer the razor clams for dinner. (:
Nick cooked an amazing, gourmet meal for everyone! It was SO very delicious!
The salad had marionberries, blackberries, goat cheese, and roasted almonds in it.
Roasted beets, carrots, potatoes, and yams
The whole spread
Berry cobbler and ice cream for dessert. (:
Josh helped keep the kids entertained, including Leslie's niece, Brooklyn.
After dinner the boys played a little soccer with Nick.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Happy Birthday, Erin!

On Sunday, July 19th, we celebrated Erin's birthday (which was on the 18th) with all the family at Josh's parent's house. It was a sunny day, and we all enjoyed relaxing in the backyard and watching the cousins play together. Erin's lunch request was enchiladas and taco salad--so very yummy! Aunt Diane also came to Eugene that weekend and was able to come to the party. It was fun to see her!

Macey and Griffin swinging together (:

Whenever we are all together at Grammie & Grandpa's house the kids insist on walking down to the park before the day is over. It's tradition. (:

Happy Birthday, Sadie!

Sadie turned six years old on July 17th and she celebrated with an adorable Hello Kitty party in her new backyard. It was a fun party with all of the cousins and a few of Sadie's friends from kindergarten! There was a table set up for crafts, a pinata, and a super cute Hello Kitty cake for dessert.
Sadie looked so beautiful in her new summer dress!
Josh and Papa showed up to the party wearing almost the exact same clothes! It was so funny!
You can always find Ronan and Tyler climbing the cherry tree.
Cedar smiling at Memaw (:
Present time!
Posing with her Hello Kitty purses-she got two of the same, one from us and one from her Aunt Amy. (:
Uncle Josh and Griffin holding Cedar
Happy Birthday, Sadie Renee!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Next Day

July 17~ The boys and I slept in the next morning after being up so late at Urgent Care. Griffin had some special visitors and got lots of special attention that day!
Memaw and Finley came over with balloons and treats. (:

Ronan, Griffin, and Finn wearing their souvenir shirts from Memaw and Papa's trip to Maui.
Grammie also came over and brought a special get well present for Griffin.

We had planned to go swimming that afternoon, but since Griffin couldn't get his stitches wet I stayed home with him and we both napped. Grammie took Ronan to the pool at G&G Lermo's apartment complex and they had a really fun time together. I think it was good for Ronan to get a little one-on-one attention. He even brought it up today (a month later) and said how much he enjoyed going swimming with Grammie...just the two of them. He liked getting to ride in Grandpa's green truck and eat cheetos. (: Fun memories for a little boy. (:

Friday, August 14, 2009

1st Stitches

July 16th~ The Greens came over to watch an episode of So You Think You Can Dance and as the show was ending Griffin bumped into the fireplace hearth and got a gash in his eyebrow. ): Earlier in the evening all the kids had been dancing around in the living room, so was sitting on the hearth to help prevent anyone from running into it. Then, later on when Griffin was spinning and lost his balance, I was in the kitchen and no longer sitting on the hearth to protect him. ): I felt so bad! I picked him up right away and he put his head on my shoulder. After a few seconds he started to calm down and I looked at the owie...thinking he would just have a big goose egg, but instead saw blood! Thankfully Amy and Jon were there, because they helped us figure out if he needed stitches and where we should take him. Ronan overhead us talking about stitches and he started getting really concerned, so Jon helped calm him down. We figured it would be tough having Ronan there, too, so we took him to the Chases to play with his cousins (Thank you, Aaron & Becca!), and then Josh and I took Griffin to Urgent Care at Riverbend. We had no idea how long it would take, but for some reason we didn't imagine it would be too long.

We were wrong!! We were there for a total of four hours! It didn't seem to be very busy when we first got there, but as we were waiting several critical cases came in that took priority over us. I understand that it has to be that way, but it was still really frustrating to wait with a two year old for that long...knowing that it would be a quick procedure! We got there at 7:45pm and didn't get called in to a doctor until 11:45 pm, and then it really only took 15 minutes to clean, prep, and stitch up the wound.

Griffin was amazing throughout the whole procedure. He never cried or wiggled or made any kind of fuss. We were SO proud of him! It could've been so much worse, especially because he was getting really tired, but he was such a brave boy! Looking back, Griffin really did a great job with having to sit in the waiting room for that long . He colored and we read books and walked around. I think he loved having the undivided attention of both of his parents for four whole hours. (:
Before heading to Urgent Care...such a tough boy!
The beginning of the big wait...

Finally in the exam room!
Not sure how he still had energy at midnight...Josh and I were getting really tired! (:
Getting sleepy now... glad we thought to bring monkey & blankie (:
Almost Done...
seven stitches!
Griffin was asleep before we even left the parking lot. What a night!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

10 years on the 10th

July 10th, 2009
Our 10th Wedding Anniversary has been so much fun to celebrate! Early in the summer we went on an amazing trip to St. Thomas--just the two of us. It was so refreshing for us to have that time together! I really feel that it was a good reminder for us of how important it is to have time away from our kids & the distractions at home so that we can be a stronger team. It doesn't have to be a big vacation (although that was wonderful!), but even planning regular date nights is so beneficial for our marriage.
On July 10th, Katrina and Kenton watched our kids for us and Josh took me to dinner at Beppe and Gianni's . After dinner we walked around Hendrick's Park (where we got engaged 11 years ago) and finished off the night by sharing a dessert at Sweet Life. (: It was such a nice date!
Me and My Love!

Griffin loves sushi!

On July 8th we went to Sushi Domo with the Fuller family to celebrate Jill's birthday! We had our kids with us because afterwards we were all heading to a pool party for the HS group. Ronan was scared that he would have to eat sushi, so he insisted that I make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich for him to bring to the restaurant. (: We were expecting it to be a quick dinner--we have lots of favorite rolls there, so we were ready to order right away.
Me with the Birthday Girl
We ordered a chicken yakisoba meal for our boys that
we figured just Griffin would eat. We didn't know it, but it came with a few little kid-sized sushi rolls...and Griffin gobbled them up right away! Then he grabbed some rolls off of Josh's plate! It was so funny. Ronan ended up eating most of the chicken and noodles. We were pleasantly surprised at how well they both ate (and behaved)--they're getting to be such big boys!
Griffin with a mouthful of sushi!
Happy Birthday, Jill!