7/31/07 Four Month Doctor Visit Cade had another checkup today and came in at 14 pounds and 24 ½ inches. That puts him in the 25th percentile for weight and height! We are so thankful for a healthy baby!!!!

7/30/07 Baby Birds A few weeks ago a robin built a nest outside by our patio. Just recently her eggs hatched, and it has been so fun to watch her feed her babies!! Their little heads poke up out of the nest as if to say, “Where is my food?” They reminds me of another little hungry baby I know!

7/30/07 Cade’s 1st Pig Show I ran into Trish at a doctor’s appointment, and she mentioned Shon and Peg’s boys were showing their pigs at a local county fair. After a lunch break in the park with Tim, I decided to head to the fair. We used to show pigs, so it was fun for me to watch the boys! It brought back a lot of memories!!! I even ran into a father and son who used to show pigs with us at the state fair. Cade didn’t really like the loud announcer, but his eyes got wide when I took him next to the pig pens! More Photos

7/30/07 Official 3 Month Pictures We recently headed to Sears to get Cade’s first professional photos. He did pretty well, but he kept giving the photographer funny looks. There must be something strange about a big lady with poofy hair, high voice, and fake smile shaking her head in your face!?! More Photos

7/28/07 Freedom!! When we left the river camp Friday night, Cade went with Jay and Jackie to Dad and Mom’s cabin . . . and Tim and I went HOME to enjoy our anniversary weekend! We did not see Cade again until Sunday morning at church, and I must say we had a GREAT time. We slept in Saturday morning, had lunch at our favorite restaurant, and spent the day in town window-shopping. I know it sounds kind of strange, but it is one of our favorite things to do together!!! We spent a couple hours in Best Buy checking out the latest technology, headed to Walmart to see if we could find things cheaper, and topped off the afternoon by visiting the hunting store. Although we did miss Cade, we really enjoyed our full 36 hours of freedom! It was a blessing for our marriage, and we are so thankful Jay and Jackie offered to give us a vacation!!!!!!!!!

7/27/07 On the Banks of the Mississippi Dave and Lori invited a group of people to the “river camps” for an evening of hamburgers, fellowship, singing, and gorgeous scenery. I had heard a lot about these camps in high school, but it was neat to see them in person. Basically, there is a couple mile stretch of the riverbank that is filled will cabins up on stilts (so the homes are protected in flood season). Lori’s boss was out of town, so we were able to enjoy his cabin. It was a beautiful evening, and Tim and I even got to take a romantic, anniversary kayak ride across the river. It’s a lot wider than it looks from the shore!! More Photos

7/27/07 When Mom Goes to Work . . . the Boys Play! When I arrived home from work Thursday night, my son looked quite a bit different!! We had been throwing around the idea of cutting Cade’s hair . . . so Daddy decided to get out the clippers and surprise Mom! He buzzed the sides and left the “important” top of Cade’s head for me. When Jay and Jackie arrived in town Friday night, the guys finished it off (of course, not before taking a Mohawk shot!). It took me a few days to get used to the new do, but now I like his all-American buzz! More Photos

7/27/07 Four Years Ago . . . My lover. My baby. My darling. You are the love of my life, and there is no one else in this world with whom I would rather spend the rest of my life!!!!!!!! Happy Anniversary! More Photos

7/26/07 Great Babysitters!!! Mom was gone this week . . . so I needed to find a babysitter for Cade. Katie was here from Lafayette visiting the neighbor girls, so Cade got to spend the day with 5 wonderful women!!!! What a lucky guy!

7/24/07 Happy Birthday Mommy! I officially turned the grand old age of 26 and got to celebrate with our Bible Study group. Mom had been babysitting some of the kids and brought a cake by so we could celebrate!! More Photos

7/20/07 - 7/22/07 Guests at the Farm John and Beth, cousins, were on a work team with Dad and Mom in Biloxi, Mississippi and came to visit. We had a wonderful weekend together at the farm! Two interesting facts: 1) John and Beth have 71 first cousins on that side of the family!!!!! 2) Beth works at a turkey farm where they hatch 70,000 turkeys each day!!!!! More Photos

7/17/07 Thankful for Cade!!! My sister-in-law, Kristen, sent me the link to this video on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0 It’s about a Christian couple who lost their son after only 99 days of life. Kristen said to grab some Kleenexes, and she was right. I thank God that I am able to enjoy time with my precious, healthy son today!!!!!!!!!

7/15/07 Sunday School Picnic I have so many memories of this picnic, and it was fun to see that not much has changed in 26 years!! They still bring in a huge trough filled with ice, water, and soda . . . and it’s still the main attraction with the kids. It’s still “cool” to help fetch the soda out at meal-time, and it’s still fun to get everyone wet with the ice-cold water at the end of the night. They still had fried chicken complete with a never-ending table of potluck dishes. The kids still sang songs, although some kids still try to entertain the crowd by giggling or lifting up their shirts. The grand finale is still the sundae bar with chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream, strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, fudge, and caramel! And there is still a desert table with way too many choices! It’s nice some things never change.

7/7/07 - 7/14/07 Girls Trip to Nashville Well . . . it’s a tradition that when the boys head to Canada . . . the girls skip town!!!!! Mom, Jackie, Cade, and I headed for TN Saturday afternoon and got to spend Sunday with the Nashville church. Our week was filled with shopping, tours, concerts, meals out . . . and of course . . . many laughs. There’s something special about being with my mom and sister! We have many inside jokes from over the years, and we added more with this trip. J Mom missed her calling as a travel agent!!!! She did a wonderful job researching Nashville and took us to a lot of famous places around town. We got to eat at some fabulous restaurants where our cuisine included BBQ, All-American (chicken strips, fries, and a big pop), southern cooking, Mexican, and interesting meats (ostrich, shark, and octopus!). We also enjoyed our time with Cade! He got more kisses than he’ll care to remember, and his awake time was filled with us three girls trying to entertain him with toys. He slept awesome at night, and was probably just trying to catch up on his peace and quiet! We tried to brainwash him by telling him he was having more fun with the girls that he would with the boys, but the men are already talking about when they can take Cade fishing! More Photos

7/6/07 - 7/14/07 Canada Fishing trip Tim joined 54 other men on a father/son fishing trip to Red Lake, Canada. A group of men go every two years and enjoy of week of fellowship, devotions, fried food, singing, and many laughs!!!! My uncle Stan organizes the trip, and he did a fabulous job once again. In order to cut down on vehicles and drivers, he got a charter bus so the men could spend the trip talking/sleeping instead of driving. There were fewer practical jokes this year, but two men did get caught with a lure (one in the ear and one in the finger). OUCH!!!! The die-hard fishermen are out before 6:00 a.m. and stay out until 10:00 p.m., but others choose to sleep in and enjoy time around camp. The men ate fried fish, potatoes, and onions every day for lunch and each cabin took turns making the supper. My brother-in-law Jay said they fried up around 550 pieces of fish for each lunch and went through 100 pounds of potatoes and 80 pounds of onions during the week!!!!! I’m sure their heart doctors were not happy! Tim also had a wonderful week, spiritually. Different times of the week there was an “open microphone” where the guys could share their anything they wanted. There were many tears shed as the men were able to be vulnerable in front of each other. Overall the men had a WONDERFUL week and now have to figure out how to accommodate all the men that want to come in two more years! More Photos

7/11/07 Scary News While we were on vacation we received news that my uncle Curt, dad’s brother, had had a massive heart attack. He had been experiencing pain/numbness down his arm, and his wife finally took him to the hospital at 4 a.m. I don’t know how, but his EKG was normal when he showed up at the hospital, and the doctors were going to send him home. Sue, Curt’s wife, is a nurse and insisted they do a more thorough work-up. In the end they found blockages of 80%, 90%, and 100% in the 3 arteries feeding the heart, and he was taken in for a 5 bypass surgery!!!! Thankfully Curt is now home, but our prayers continue to be with his family. My dad’s family has a horrible history of heart attacks: brother #1- a couple heart attacks, brother #2- a heart attack that claimed his life, brother #3- a heart attack, brother #4- chest pains that took him into the hospital, uncle #1- heart attack, uncle #2- heart attack that took his life. My dad is the only boy in his family without a heart incident, and thankfully he gets a yearly heart work-up!

7/7/07 Massner Reunion The boys took off for Canada Friday morning, so Tim’s mom and I represented the family at the reunion. We had supper and a singing Friday evening and then a full day of activities Saturday. It was nice to catch up with so many people, and fun to introduce them to Cade!! More Photos

7/4/07 July 4th Tim’s sister Kristen came back to the Midwest for a wedding (she lives in Phoenix), so the family decided to get together for July 4th. We had a busy 2 days! There have been 4 babies added to the Lehman family in the last year . . . so needless to say we spent a lot of time taking care of the kids!!!!! The guys went fishing in the morning while the girls hung out with the kids. Dad Lehman cut his hand climbing over a fence, so we had another holiday with an ER visit! Thankfully he only required stitches. We hope it won’t interfere too much with his upcoming Canada fishing trip! Jason’s parents, Mike and Cheryl, were kind enough to invite our whole gang over for an evening of BBQ, baseball, and fireworks. Thursday morning the girls took the kids to the pool for one last hurrah. More Photos

7/3/07 Poison Ivy!!!!! Ever since Boy’s Camp Tim has been battling poison ivy! He must have been exposed while running up and down the hill at Chad’s lake. Anyway . . . his feet are covered and he’s been keeping them covered with anti-itch medicine. He’s been going bare foot or wearing sandals as much as possible (even at work!) and hopes it will be clearing up soon! I’ve been trying to keep my feet far from his in bed, and so far I’m still clear!

7/1/07 Potluck #3 Well, my suspicion turned out to be a reality! Joe and Lindsey announced their engagement on Sunday!!!!!!! It was an exciting day for our church, and I don’t think they even got to eat lunch. They spent all lunch hour being congratulated by one person after another! God is good!!! That evening the church family gathered to say goodbye to Joel and Amber. They had been attending church with us while Joel was at medical school. They are now heading to Phoenix where Joel will complete his rotations, the last 2 years of medical school. We enjoyed another HUGE meal, lots of fellowship, and finished the night with Joel’s presentation of A Physicians Look at Creation and the Crucifixion.

6/30/07 Potluck #2 Tim and I enjoyed a relaxing Saturday! We ran errands and spent some time with Jason and Natalie . . . then I got to read and take a nap while Tim decided to spring clean the garage. To him, that sounded like fun! That evening we got to enjoy another potluck at Joe’s. He bought a huge old house in town and has been working to fix it up, so it was fun to see his progress! Joe grilled for our large group (~25) and did a great job as a first-time-host! We spent the evening chatting, trying to play Trivial Pursuit, and finally ended the night playing with the cameo cards from the Cranium game. Dave and Jan and Kenton and Heidi were our out of town guests, and it was nice to catch up. Note: At one point in the evening I glanced across the room and saw Joe and Lindsey sitting next to each other on the couch. Hmmm, they would make a pretty cute couple . . . similar glasses, similar build, similar personality . . . but I’m sure they each have their eye on someone else.

6/29/07 Potluck #1 Scott and Dawn hosted potluck in their home, and we had a nice evening to continue building relationships. I slipped out for an hour to go to Brad and Kate’s wedding shower, but came back to enjoy more conversation!

6/27/07 Visit from Trent and Kary Dad and Mom bought a vehicle from Trent, so he brought his family down on the delivery run. Growing up I spent a lot of time with Trent and Kary, so it was fun to catch up and see their growing family! For those of you who don’t know Trent – he’s a talker!! So . . . he’s perfectly suited to be a car salesman. My mom is easy to spot in town. Just look for the “Big Green” van, extended top, and PVB 3-5 license plate. We tease her that she could never stop at the liquor store on Broadway or the whole town would know within an hour! The van has driven over 250,000 miles!!!!! My parents were considering getting a new vehicle, but they decided to just drive Big Green until she died . . . until . . . I heard from a friend that dad and mom had purchased a new vehicle. “I think you’re mistaken,” I said. “They decided to just drive Big Green.” “No,” came the response. “They bought a new vehicle yesterday.” A conversation a few hours later- “Mom, someone said you bought a new vehicle.” “We did.” “What????  I’m so confused!” “Well, we were traveling near Trent’s dealership and decided to invite him out for lunch.” I shook my head and laughed. That was all she had to say! More Photos

6/26/07 Ant Invasion!!! We’ve been having a problem with ants since spring hit, so my mom suggested using an ant poison called Terro. We eliminated the ants in the living room, but the other day I began seeing a lot in our kitchen. I put out one card with a drop of poison . . . and you wouldn’t believe how many ants came!!! The ants eat the poison, tell their friends, and carry it back to the nest where they all die. In the end I had ~10 cards with poison on my counter and there were a few hours where each drop was surrounded with ants. GROSS!!!!!! I’ve only seen a few ants today, so I’m going to leave the poison out and then disinfect my counters tomorrow!!!

6/21/07- 6/24/07 Senior High Boys' Camp Tim and I spent this past weekend at Senior High Boys’ Camp- he as a counselor and me as a cook. Tim had previously been a counselor at Junior High Camp, but found a much better fit with the high school boys. He was able to spend a lot of quality time with his cabin and enjoyed the more subdued nature of camp!!! He turned 30 on Saturday and is getting a bit old to run around for three days with junior high boys. This year camp was held at a high school the Meisters bought and renovated. It was an awesome facility and is going to be a great place to hold future reunions, camps, etc. It has bunk rooms, suites, full kitchen, meeting room, game room, theater room, gymnasium and track!!! If you are looking for a place to host an event, you might give this some serious consideration. The guys spent Saturday at Herman’s lake where activities included beach and water volleyball, water basketball, fishing, hitting 1000 golf balls in the lake, launching water balloons, sliding down a huge water slide, jet skiing and Tim’s favorite- jumping off scaffolding holding a rope attached to the boom of a piece of equipment and swinging into the lake! I enjoyed being a cook for the weekend! Boys are very appreciative of almost any food, and I got to spend a lot of time with my sister-in-law, Lori, and the “head cook” Darlene. We spent a lot of time laughing and did manage to get the boys three meals a day. Who knew the most stressful time would be getting enough coffee made each morning to satisfy all the guys?!? Spiritually, camp was a much needed event for me!!! I left the weekend with a refreshed spirit (but exhausted body) and renewed look at my priorities. More Photos

6/17/07 Father's Day On our way home from Atlanta I dropped Tim off at the annual Father/Son Campout. He got to enjoy 24 hours of food (grease, grease, and more grease), fellowship, softball, sleeping under the stars (on a hot night with gnats), and no women!! He had a wonderful time and looks forward to the day he can take Cade. On Father’s day we ate out with Dad and Mom (if you can guess the location, you’re a faithful website reader!) and enjoyed ice cream back at our home. At church Shannon asked me to pick the best father between Dad and Tim . . . but I honestly can’t answer that! I have been BLESSED with awesome men in my life!!!! It has been fun to see Tim take on the role of father, and he has been doing a GREAT job. He doesn’t mind tackling a messy diaper, giving a bath, entertaining Cade, or helping me with my undone household chores. Have I said I am blessed?? More Photos

6/10/07 - 6/15/07 Trip to Atlanta Tim had some training in Atlanta, so Cade and I decided to join him. Cade did great on the plane! I was nervous – picturing a screaming baby and a plane full of angry people – but everything went just fine. Tim had meetings from 8 to 5 every day, so Cade and I got to enjoy swimming, napping, reading, etc. Needless to say, it was very relaxing! In the evenings we would head out to explore Atlanta. I honestly had the best meat in my life at Fire of Brazil!!!!!!! They had men that carried around 15 different types of grilled meat on skewers and you could have as much as you wanted. In one word – AWESOME!!!! We tried southern cuisine at the Flying Biscuit and shakes at Varsity, did some window shopping at Lenox mall, and enjoyed a beautiful evening at Centennial Park. We enjoyed being away, but we were also glad to crawl into our own bed when we got home!!! More Photos

6/9/07 Visitors from the North Aaron and Bekah stopped through on their way to the Ozarks. We got to enjoy a nice evening together, and we did not lack for conversation!!!! Aaron starts his psychology residency at Rush in July, so they will be moving to Chicago at the end of this month. I am excited to have them closer!!! I’m envisioning a train ride to Chicago, some shopping, lunch out . . . what else Bekah? Too bad our men have to work so hard and won’t be able to join us! J

6/8/07 Family Night I have commandeered the computer today to make a post for my lovely wife so she can keep holding Cade on the swing. Last night was a beautiful night to spend in the park playing, eating pizza & pie, and drinking “Fiji” water. Once the kids were completely worn down, we headed back to Nat & Jason’s for some photo ops. (Tim took the pictures and made this post all by himself!!!) More Photos

6/8/07 Cade's 1st Smile on Camera! Cade is starting to smile and coo more often!!! It is so fun!!!!!!!

6/8/07 VBS Tim and his brother-in-law, Jason, are teaching the 7th and 8th grade VBS class the year. They have a great class, and it’s been fun to see the excitement VBS brings! More Photos

6/7/07 Visitors!!! While I was in college I had the privilege of spending a lot of time at Darren and Sue’s home! I grew to love their family, and we have been able to see each other randomly over the past few years. Darren had been asked to give a Bible study here in Taylor, so over the past few days their family spent time at Dad and Mom’s cabin. The week’s events included 4-wheeling, swimming, shooting, fishing, and relaxing! Here are a few funny lines from the week: Zach- Where is my bobber? (A fish had taken it under, and everyone proceeded to shout for him to reel!) Courtney- You mean we’re eating pregnant fish!!! (Dad was cleaning fish and showed her some fish eggs) Haley- This head is still alive!!!! (Said in horror after peering into the fish gut bucket) More Photos

6/4/07 God Provides Once Again!!! Today was the first official day at my new job!!! After a few weeks of job searching, I felt a huge peace about signing on with a local grocery store. I’ll try to make a long story short! When we moved home in the middle of November, I expected to be working by January 1st. You need a different pharmacist license for each state, so I had to reapply and retest. God used every roadblock imaginable . . . and I finally received my license two weeks before Cade was born. By that point, it was a little too late to get a job! A few weeks ago I dropped my resume off at every pharmacy in town and let them know I was looking for a part-time job for one day a week. After many interviews, I was pretty positive I was going to accept a job with Wal-Mart. As I drove to my final interview I felt peaceful and asked God to allow me to have that same peace when I left if I was to take the job. Basically . . . I felt everything BUT peace when I left. I drove right to my 2nd choice pharmacy and found out the position had just been filled. The pharmacist mentioned a job opening at their second store in town, but I was too disappointed to converse with him for very long. It’s hard to explain how low I felt on my drive home. I didn’t understand what God was doing, but I KNEW how faithful He has been at EVERY step of my pharmacy path!!!!!!!! When I got home I called about the other job opening and had a wonderful conversation with the pharmacist. A few days later I interviewed with the grocery store director and felt such an INCREDIBLE peace when we were finished!!! I accepted the job without even setting foot in the pharmacy or meeting any of the personnel. God had made it that obvious! So, today was my first day of work! Mom is excited to watch Cade a day a week, and I am SO thankful to have her as my “babysitter”! After a little bit of training I joined the prescription line, and had a wonderful day! After all the times God has provided in my life, I am amazed my spirit still has times of doubt. Maybe someday I’ll learn!

6/4/07 2nd BBQ this Weekend Tim’s boss, Scott, and his wife, Jill, had four couples from work over for a BBQ Sunday evening. Jill is a GREAT cook! She had so many dishes I didn’t even get to try them all! We had already met all of the couples, so it was a nice evening to get to know them better. More Photos

6/4/07 Air Show My brother-in-law, Jay, is a huge fan of air shows!!! He and Jackie have been trying to get our family together for a show . . . and we finally went this past weekend. Darin, Dani, Tim, Cade & I left our house at 5 AM Saturday and met the rest of the crew part way there. Jay’s parents, Jim and Marge, also joined our family for the big event! After waiting in a LONG line of cars to get into the air show parking lot, the guys decided to have a little fun with the ticket girl. In exasperation, Tim asked, “Do you know where to find the big air show?” She muttered, “You’re here” and gave us a really strange look as we drove away. We all got a good laugh out of it!!  After a day of loud engines, patriotic music, expensive aircraft, awesome stunts, and the Top Gun theme song our men were ready to sign up for the military!!!!!!!!! It really was a moving day, and I left feeling very proud to be an American! The day was also a good reminder that so many, including my cousin Joel, are fighting right now to defend our freedom.  We spent the night at Jay and Jackie’s and were treated to omelets-in-a-Ziplock for breakfast. It was a great idea! They beat two eggs, put them in a Ziplock, let us add our mix-ins, and then put them in boiling water. In a couple of minutes . . . viola . . . an awesome omelet! Our family then headed to support Dad as he spoke at the big ACYF. He had a wonderful message about Proverbs 3:5-6! More Photos