Women's Retreat

I spent all day Saturday at a women's retreat at Grove Christian Camp in Cottage Grove. It was a gorgeous day! In the five years we've been going to that camp I don't think we've ever had a sunny weekend...it has always been chilly and rainy. So, it was especially nice to focus on God and spend time with good friends, while enjoying the great scenery--all in the sunshiny, warm weather! It was so relaxing and FUN.

My mom and I at lunch.

Sydney and Becca

During our free time Becca, Mom, Robin, and I went on a walk down to the covered bridge.

Me with my sister, Becca, and Robin, who is like a sister to us (:

Also during free time a group from Hosanna Dance Studio performed for us. Several of them go to our church, including three high school girls who are in my small group. I was so proud of them & impressed with their dancing ability!

I have to say a special THANK YOU to my mother-in-law who helped take care of my boys so that Josh could get some work done on our house. I really appreciated her willingness to do that so I could go on the retreat! Also, thank you so much to my dad and father-in-law for working on the house with Josh!

Sunny Friday

We are finally getting a dose of long-awaited warm spring weather! I don't know how long it will last, but we have been enjoying every minute of it!

On Friday I decided to let Ronan ride his bike while Griffin rode in the stroller. They usually ride in our double jogger, but lately Ronan has been more excited about riding his bike. I knew that my friend was going to be at Oakway Park, but I figure it would be too far for Ronan to ride, so I planned to go to a closer park. We started on our way and I soon realized that Ronan was doing great on his bike and he would be fine going all the way to Oakway. I was really impressed! I had to walk pretty fast and jog at times to keep up with him, and he never complained about getting tired. We made it in 20 minutes and had a great time playing with our friends. Afterwards we met Josh at Hawaiian Time for lunch, then he drove us home (: Ronan probably could've made it home on his bike, but I'm pretty sure it would have been a little too much for him. He went down for his nap without a fuss...they both slept great that afternoon! I forgot my camera, but I took a few pictures with my phone that I will try to upload later. Here are some pictures from the rest of our day:

Our cherry tree full of blossoms.

Griffin discovered his pockets while we were walking to our mailbox (all the way down our gravel street). I think he felt pretty cool (:

Playing on scooters

Their favorite past time...playing with diggers in the dirt and rocks.

Griffin entertaining himself in the kitchen while I cooked dinner (:

April 8th

I had a wonderful day celebrating my actual Birthday. I started the morning by going to Moms of Grace, where there were special decorations & a cake in my honor (thanks to my mom and Becca!). From there mom took my kids home for their naps and I got to have a few hours of free time. (: Josh took me to lunch at Cafe Lucky Noodle and then I went to Footloose for an hour-long massage! It was so incredibly relaxing! I came home to a clean kitchen and both kids still napping. (: Thanks so much, Mom!!

Getting ready to open my gifts.

Josh was trying to take pictures of me, and Ronan kept dancing in front of the camera. I thought I would post this picture so I would always remember what it was like to turn 30 while having a very active and silly 3 year old. He makes me laugh & keeps me young (:

Poor Griffin was sick with a cold, but he still had fun playing with trucks.

Next we went on a family date to Red Robin. It can be kinda crazy having little kids at a restaurant, and we knew that going in to it, but it turned out better than we expected. Ronan played with some toys that he brought and I kept Griffin entertained with strawberries from my lemonade while we waited for our food.

We all shared my yummy hot fudge sundae!

After we got the kids to bed we watched the movie Dan in Real Life. It was a very full, fun day! I can't believe I'm really 30!?!?

The Big 3-0!

I cannot believe that I'm turning 3o! I definitely don't feel like what I thought 30 would feel like, so I guess that's a good sign (: I think I can handle it (:
Josh did a great job of planning my party and getting everything together for it. I had so much fun and felt honored to be surrounded by my family and so many of my closest friends! I think the final count was 27 adults and 11 kids!

Beth, Lindsey, Jill, and I
(I thought Kelly was in this picture, but she managed to escape it.)

Me with my sisters: Katrina, Becca, Erin, and Amy

Becca decorated my cake...it turned out so cute!
We got these fun, tall sparkler candles that were very difficult to blow out! I blame it on the candles, not me. (:

The Hecht Home Brewpub was a popular spot... for the guys mainly (: Papa had two fresh brews on tap named especially for my party: Little Pearl Porter and Hoppy Birthday IPA.
Me with my parents.

Thank you all for such a great party!
For more pictures check out Katrina's blog (:

Ellie's Party

Ronan's friend, Ellie, turned 4 years old on Sunday! We went to her "Little Mermaid" party along with Becca and Sadie, and we all had a lot of fun. Ellie's mommy, Beth, has been a good friend of mine since we worked together almost seven years ago, and now we get to watch our kids grow up together. It's so cool!

Here's Ellie playing pin the tail on the donkey (:

Ellie's little sister Rhyan...in their matching dresses (:

All of the kids were admiring her cute cake!
Sadie watching intently and getting ready to sing Happy Birthday!

Ronan only eats the frosting, so I ate the cake part. It works well that way (:

Happy Birthday, Ellie!!

Happy Birthday, Dylan!

We celebrated our nephew Dylan's 3rd Birthday in Albany on Saturday. It was a fun gathering, especially for all of the cousins (7 + one on the way for the Greens)!
The younger kids had a lot of fun on the stairs.
Ethan actually spent most of the evening going up & down the stairs over and over again. (:

Here's Dylan blowing out his candles! The cake was really yummy!!

Present Time!
He got lots of new clothes and some fun toys, too. He was definitely more interested in the toys, but he needed new clothes because he is growing so much and getting so tall (:

Here is Lydia showing us some moves that she learned in her cheer leading class.

And Ronan showing his moves....a handstand!

Uncle Brad playing with Griffin.

My guys petting Kira (:

We all had a lot of fun celebrating Dylan's special day! Ronan was so very sad when it was time to leave, but we managed to say our goodbyes without too much trauma (:

Fun with Cousins

Here are some final pictures from this week:

Playtime with the Greens is always fun! Ethan and Macey have a lot of cool toys, so my kids were very entertained and enjoyed a change of scenery.

Ronan is singing in the Elmo microphone...just making up songs (:

Ronan and Ethan
And these pictures were from when we got back to the Henry's house after going to the Wildlife Safari. The kids were all taking turns playing in Finn's toy car. Griffin and Finley were enjoying some "diaper time" after being cooped up in a car all day.