Pumpkin Patch

October 16th~Ronan, Griffin, and I went to Lone Pine Farm with my friend, Melissa, and her two boys. She also brought along another friend's little boy, so between the two of us we had 5 boys to keep track of! It was a lot of fun and the kids all cooperated nicely. Everything at the farm was so exciting and reinforcing for them. We fed the goats, went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch, and went through the corn maze in search of a pirate ship. It was a perfect day to go...not too cold, muddy, or busy!
All 5 waiting for the hay ride to start:
Griffin, Kaiser, Ronan, Christian, and Marcus

Ronan was SO excited to search for a big pumpkin.

Griffin found one just his size.

Such a strong boy!

It was cute how the little boys would follow the big boys around and do whatever they were doing.

Checking out the pond.

A quick picture of the boys and me with our wheelbarrow full of pumpkins!

This was the easiest way to get to the kids & pumpkins to our cars. (: We loaded up the tired kids and headed home for naps!

Nature Walk

October 23, 2008
These pictures were taken along the nature trails surrounding Bond Park. I jogged there with the boys in the double stroller and then let them explore in the "forest" on foot. It was such a nice, sunny fall day--I'm so glad we were able to get out and enjoy it! The boys love being outside no matter what the weather is like, but we all last longer when it's not raining. (:
Right away Ronan started pretending that he was building a tree house, and he asked Griffin to find sticks and rocks for it. I love how Griffin plays along with whatever Ronan is doing. He really wants to keep up with his big brother!

Somehow the boys cooperated nicely for the camera, and I was able to capture some super sweet moments. I later used these pictures to make a photo book for Josh for Christmas.

Ronan- 4 1/4 yrs old
Griffin- a month away from turning 2

Sweet Brothers

Griffin likes walking around with his hands in his pockets.
Such a cool dude. (:

Firestation Field Trip

On October 8th, Ronan's preschool class went on a field trip to the Coburg Fire Station. Fireman Benton, who happens to be Ronan's teacher's husband, gave us a special tour of the firehouse and let all of the kids try out the fire hose. Ronan was so excited! The kids also got to try on some of the equipment and play with the flashlights and radios. It was a great little field trip!

The whole class with Fireman Benton
Here's Ronan waiting patiently for his turn at the hose.
Spraying the water!

Such a happy little firefighter!

Back to October...

We found a few fun ways to celebrate Josh's Birthday while we were still in the midst of finishing our house and waiting for occupancy.

Lunch Date at PF Changs~ Just the two of us.

Dinner, cake, and presents with our little family at Papa's Pizza.

Daddy and Griffin

A few days later we had a party at our new house even though we still couldn't live there. We had running water and carpet, but no heat yet as I recall. It was fun seeing how the house felt with lots of people in it. We unpacked some toys so that the kids could play in Ronan's room, and we all enjoyed just getting to hang out together.

Here's a look at the kitchen~ fully functioning, but not completely finished at this point. (:

Me with the 31 year-old Birthday Boy!

View from the balcony looking down at Tyler, Aaron, and Becca

From left to right:

Kenton, Papa, Jon, Josh, Ronan, Aaron, Cohen, Sadie, Becca, Amy, Grammie with Emma, Memaw, Katrina, and Great Grammie.

Playing in Ronan's new room with Memaw and Great Grandpa.

Gathering in the living room...

Josh's sister, Amy, with her sweet baby Emma (just 2 weeks old!)

Happy Birthday, Josh!

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