Ruddick Family Records

A Friend Fix

March 18th~ For months we had been planning a girl's getaway at Beth's new house in Portland, and the day finally arrived! It ended up being a small group, but we had a lot of fun! Melissa & baby Lauren drove down from Seattle, and Becca, Katie, baby Tate and I rode up together from Eugene. I'm so glad we've all been able to stay in touch since Melissa and Beth moved away last summer. It felt like no time had passed!
Melissa & Lauren meeting Tate for the first time:

Beth made all the yummy fixings for a nacho bar for dinner, and we stayed up late into the night~ eating & talking & laughing! We always have so much fun laughing together, especially when hearing Beth & Katie's funny stories. (:

Love my sweet friends & sister!! (:

Melissa & I with our #3 babies. (We would have loved to get our big boys together that weekend also...another time!)

Lauren is 11 months old--look at that size difference!

4 months old!

Tate turned 4 months old on March 12th!

He is a sweet, smiley, and now giggly baby boy! He is starting to hold on to toys and "play" with them, and has now rolled over (only twice so far, which I know will change very soon!). Tate continues to be our littlest baby, weighing only 12 lbs 10 oz (9th %ile) and 25" long (53rd %ile). His hair is looking more blond as it grows in, and we've noticed that his eyes are starting to change--with little specks of green & brown. He sleeps in the big crib now, and he looks so tiny in it! (:

3/14/11~ Tate had his first taste of rice cereal with the help of his big brothers.

Hmmm. Not too sure about this stuff...

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

We got back from the retreat just in time to celebrate Tyler's 11th Birthday (a day early) at Papa's Pizza! 11 years old!?!? So crazy! What a fun, creative, imaginative, & cool kid! We love you, Tyler!

Tyler lovin' his Tate time (:

Tyler requested a frosting-less cake!? Silly kid! It was still delicious and Becca provided lots of yummy toppings to add to the cake & ice cream. (:

Aaron's mom, Lynn, got to hold Tate for the first time. (:

(She has been going through chemotherapy and radiation the past few months...)

Winter Retreat

The weekend of March 11-13th was our annual high school retreat to Sunriver. Tate came along with us and Ronan & Griffin got to stay with Grammie & Grandpa one night and Memaw & Papa one night. (: This trip was smooth and safe, which was an answer to prayer after last year's car accident. Most of my time was spent with Tate and the other leaders who had their babies along. (So, almost all of my pictures this time were of babies!) Josh had a blast snowboarding and hanging out with the guys, but he forgot the camera in the car when they were at Mt. Bachelor. (: That's OK. They had a fun time and no one got hurt!

I did get to spend some good girl time with "my girls", Megan & Taylor. We watched movies and went on a long walk in the snow. They are so sweet and funny--and just fun to hang out with!

The babies of the group:

Korbyn, Tate, and Keaton

the mamas & the babies

Tilar & Danielle

Eric and Jason taught throughout the weekend and Alexander and Brady led worship.

Whoever took this picture failed to mention the goofy guy in the background. (;

~all the lady leaders~

Cheryl, me, Danielle, Jill, Deena, & Lindsey

the whole group

a crazy bunch (:

EWEB Field Trip

On March 11th, Ronan's class went on a field trip to the Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant operated by EWEB, and Josh & I went along as drivers.

It was fun to be able to listen in on their cute conversations in the car. (:

(Keira, Sarah, Oscar, & Ronan)

They learned all about the filtration process and saw the lab where the water is tested.

(The girl wearing the pink ribbon is Ronan's special friend, Georgia) (:

One of the employees dressed up in a monkey suit and let the kids try to knock over a bucket in one of the empty reservoirs using water from a fire hose.