5/23/2008 - 5/26/2008 TN with the Heimers We were able to spend a wonderful, long Memorial Day weekend with our Heimer family in Nashville, TN!! We stayed at the Opryland hotel and were able to enjoy the music of many different southern gospel groups. It was so fun to hang out as a family, order pizza late at night, and enjoy the beautiful gardens at the hotel!! Memorial Day often passes so quickly, and I was thankful for all the references to our troops during the weekend. It helped to remember the true reason for our day off!! Another highlight of the weekend was getting to hear a speech from Oliver North. It was awesome to see a godly man in such a position of power within our country! More Photos

5/18/2008 Congratulations Jackie!!! Sunday, my sister Jackie graduated with her bachelor's degree in nursing! I cannot begin to explain how proud I was!!!!! She has worked very hard during her years at college, and it was so fun to be able to share the excitement of a completed degree. She has already accepted a job as a nurse on a floor that takes care of people who have recently undergone open-heart surgery. Jackie has just the right amount of compassion and firmness for this type of work! She plans to spend some time studying for her boards, and will work as a nanny until the test results come out in August. The family she works for has an indoor pool, so she is sure to have a "rough" summer!!! Jackie, we love you and are excited to see how God uses you for His Kingdom work in the hospital! More Photos

5/17/2008 Heather's Wedding Our whirlwind weekend started off with my cousin, Heather's, wedding. She is a daughter of my mom's brother, Herb. My mom has 9 brothers and sisters, so the wedding was a great chance to catch up with a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins!!! Heather was a beautiful bride, and we wish her and Bill a wonderful marriage. More Photos

5/11/2008 Making our Reservation!! With our family's history of spending holidays in the hospital, we thought we'd go ahead and make a reservation for Thanksgiving!!!! Tim and I are so excited to announce that we are expecting our second child December 1st!!!!!! We PRAISE GOD for this miracle of life, and I look forward to, once again, feel life inside my body!

5/11/2008 Happy Mother's Day!!! Well, this weekend starts a 3 weekend-in-a-row gathering of our Heimer family!!!!!! Yeah!!! We were able so spend Saturday and Sunday evenings together, and celebrate Mother's Day weekend with Mom. God has blessed Tim and I with an INCREDIBLE heritage of godly parents and grandparents, and I hope we can always honor the legacy they are leaving!!!!!! My mom is definitely one of my closest earthly friends, and I pray our children have the opportunity to know this godly woman! More Photos

5/2/2008 - 5/10/2008 Canada Bear Hunt Dad, Darin and Jay recently returned from a week long, black bear bow hunt in Canada (yes, I did say bow . . . not gun!!). Due to an unseasonable two foot snow, the bears went back into semi-hibernation. Thus, the guys were only able to see and harvest a few bears. In spite of this, the Saturday evening supper table was full of humerous stories from "bear camp"!!! Darin even had a bear climb up his tree to investigate the contents of his backpack!!!!! Not very many people could have sat motionless and watched the scene unfold! We are glad to have you all home safe and sound. More Photos

5/10/2008 Magdalena Fund Raiser The high school students from our church are planning to work at an orphanage in Magdalena, Mexico this summer. In order to raise funds, they prepared and served a wonderful breakfast for our church family! I have so many wonderful memories of high school and college mission trips, and pray this trip will leave a similar impression on these students!!!! More Photos

5/6/2008 A Sign of Things to Come?!? I found Cade playing with my cell phone, and it looked a little too real!!!! It's amazing how much kids pick up without us even noticing! More Photos

5/5/2008 - 5/8/2008 A visit from Mom! Mom, thanks for coming for an extended 3 day stay!! It was fun to catch up, and we enjoyed some beautiful evenings together. It was fun to take a walk with the grandkids and play with them at the park! Jason said you are supposed to repeat this schedule every month, so we look forward to your June visit!!!!!! More Photos

5/6/2008 Get the Garden Hose!! The messy fun begins!

5/4/2008 Sunday Evening Dinner Quinton and Heather, the new family in church, invited us over for an evening dinner with Trent and Rosie who were passing through town. They arrived later than expected, but we were able to have a fun afternoon with Quinton, Heather and Emma. Supper was cooked throughout the afternoon, the kids played contentedly in the living room, and I was able to browse through some of Heather's cookbooks. I am really excited to have them in town, as we are at the exact same stage of life. Emma is only 3 months older than Cade, and Heather and I hope to be able to swap babysitting for errand days. It's great to have more couples moving to town!!

5/3/2008 Spring Festival Each spring our town hosts a festival that includes a long (3 hour!!!) parade, block parties, and a carnival. The parade was "canceled" at the Lehman and Stratton homes because the adults did not want to stand outside on a rainy, windy day and watch men ride around on little motorcycles! The "cancelation" made Jackson's tummy hurt, but he was excited to attend the carnival later in the afternoon when the sun came out. The kids (and adults) had fun riding rides, and we were even able to resist buying greasy carnival food. I'm still craving a funnel cake, but we're sure to attend more fairs this summer! More Photos

5/1/2008 - 5/3/2008 Garage Sale Time! Four families from church host an annual garage sale, and they invited us to join the fun. In total, 10 families contributed items, so there was a lot of "treasures" for people to purchase!! I had never put items on a garage sale, but I had a great first experience. I enjoyed socializing with the other ladies while Cade enjoyed playing with the flock of running kids and animals! Near the house Cade was able to play with a dog, cat, ducks, rabbits, and horses. How much fun can a little boy have?!? Tim and I were hoping to "recoup" enough money to buy a bike trailer, and it looks like the family bike rides are going to be a reality! Scott and Dawn, thanks for inviting us to be a part of your fun weekend!! More Photos

4/30/2008 WOW! What a Beautiful Day!! It's sunny, about 70 degrees, with a slight breeze. How beautiful can a day get??? Cade and I spent a majority of his awake-time outdoors soaking in the beautiful weather. We have had one rainy day after another and were so excited to see a sunny, cloudless sky!!! Our neighbor invited us over for a "party" on her deck so Cade could have a better view of the young man mowing. He is facinated by anything that moves! More Photos

4/26/2008 - 4/27/2008 Aunt Janice and Uncle Kenneth This past weekend we were blessed with a visit from Tim's Aunt Janice and Uncle Kenneth! We were able to enjoy an afternoon at the park and supper with Jason, Natalie and their kids. Then on Sunday Lewis and Ruthie had us in for a wonderful meal!! Kenneth brought Cade a tractor wagon, and Janice made Cade this beautiful, hand-stitched quilt. Kenneth and Janice, thank you for your gifts and for spending the weekend with us! We enjoyed your visit! More Photos

4/23/2008 - 4/26/2008 The "Fun" Begins! Well, we have quickly launched into the mobile toddler phase of life!!! It hit faster than I was expecting, and I was ill-prepared for the challenge. The dishwasher, trash can, toilet, stairs, kleenex box,and cosmetics drawer were hit without warning!!! Combine this with moments of toddler defiance, the feeling of not getting anything done, and a looming to-do-list and what do you get . . . a teary mom at the end of the week. Tim graciously listened to my fountain of words and reassured me that my top daily priority is CADE. The list can wait! A wise woman recently gave me some great advice: "If you are a detail/list-oriented person, that is not going to change. Instead, purpose to set aside 15-30 minute periods throughout the day to play with Cade and then go back to your list."  That was so comforting!!!  I confess, I am very task-driven, and I find it hard to sit down and enjoy playing with Cade.  As she said, my personality is not going to change . . . but I can adapt my daily schedule to make being a mom a top priority!  If any mom's have advice on this subject, please send it my way!!! More Photos

4/21/2008 Turkey Season Begins! Well, it's official! Another hunting season has begun! It's only the first week of turkey season, but we have already had a lot of visitors at the cabin. Opening morning five out of six hunters brought in birds (Darin, Danni, Dad, Mark R.-IL, and Jerry-TN)! Jacob's left arm is still recovering from a work accident, but he did a great job calling in turkeys for other hunters. My uncle Curt and cousin Brock came down Tuesday to hunt, but I haven't heard how they did. Cade loves being out at the farm, and he's starting to throw little temper tantrums when we take him inside! I think we've officially hit the "Independent Stage"!!! More Photos

4/18/2008 - 4/20/2008 Family Life Marriage Conference This past weekend we traveled to Oak Brook, IL with four other couples from our church to attend a marriage conference. We had a fantastic time, learned a TON, and enjoyed a little alone-time away from Cade! Our travel partners included Jason and Natalie, Adam and Katie, Joe and Lindsey, and Chad and Lisa. While at the conference, we saw at least 7 other A.C.'s from other churches in IL, so it was fun to catch up with some of them. Tim and I attended a Family Life marriage conference in our 1st year of marriage and gained a lot of practical advice, but this conference seemed to hit a lot closer to home! After five years of marriage, we have developed some ruts in communication, evaluation of priorities, etc. It was so nice to have a weekend alone where we could be reminded of these principles and commit to move our marriage back to the top of our priority list (even ahead of Cade and you)!!! I strongly believe that every couple, no matter how long you have been married, would benefit from attending a Weekend to Remember.  Please check out the link provided and see about attending one of the hundreds of conferences around America.  They even have one in Hawaii!!! http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.3204559/k.F5BB/Attend_a_conference.htm

4/17/2008 Another young couple moves to town!! We are so excited to welcome Quinton and Heather to our church family!!! They recently moved from Kansas City, and have a young daughter, Emma, who is 3 months older than Cade. Heather is also expecting another baby in October! Despite our great moving crew, I walked away thinking, "I think we'll just stay put in our home for a long time!!" I quickly forgot how long it takes to get settled into a new home. Well, Quinton and Heather . . . we welcome you to town and wish you happy unpacking! More Photos

4/14/2008 An Evening at the Farm The wheat needed to be fertilized, and there was going to be a break between rain storms . . . so Dad called us up to see if we would like to spend the evening helping him at the farm. We love the opportunity to get away, even in the middle of the week, so we packed our bags and headed to the farm. Tim, Dad, Cade and I had a wonderful evening riding around on the four-wheeler fertilizing the wheat food plots. Cade loved being outside, but by the end of the night the motion was lulling him to sleep. It was a fun time to cuddle him close and enjoy the beautiful evening! We are blessed to have a retreat so close to home!!! More Photos

4/12/2008 Ahhhh . . . a Sunny Day! There was finally a break in the cold weather, so we got to enjoy an evening outside with Jason, Natalie and their kids. Jackson introduced Cade to baseball, and we were able to enjoy a walk around the block! More Photos

4/9/2008 - 4/10/2008 Decorating on Someone Else's Budget!!!! Two couples from our church recently moved to the area to open another branch for a modular home builder. Someone approached Mom and I and asked us to be part of a team that would decorate the model home. An outlet for my decorating passion . . . someone else's money . . . I didn't even have to think twice!!! Mom and I had a blast spending two days scouring the town for great deals. We often commented that we felt like we were on one of HGTV's decorating shows!!! In the end, the model home turned out beautiful, and Tim was thankful my decorating bug had an outlet . . . for now!

4/4/2008 Bread Truck!! A few months ago I wrote about my funny bone being tickled when I saw the back of a truck full of bread. Tim said it didn't seem too funny to him (I think he didn't want me to take a picture in a public parking lot for fear of embarassment!) . . . so I passed up the opportunity to photograph the scene, and always regreted it. Well, the other day Cade and I were headed out to do some shopping and what did I park beside . . . the bread truck!!! I couldn't pass up the opportunity a second time!

4/4/2008 Cade's First Birthday! It's hard to believe it has already been a year since Cade was born!!! We have had a fun-filled year, and it has been such a joy to watch Cade grow and develop a personality. We were able to celebrate his birthday with Dad and Mom, Darin and Danni, and Jason and Natalie. Cade was actually a very slow and neat eater, and didn't get too messy until Tim pushed his forehead into the cake! That's what dads are for!!! Lord, thank you for allowing us to be a part of Cade's first year of life! More Photos

3/28/2008 - 3/30/2008 Visitors at the Cabin Mike, Sheri and Jeff made the long trip from Indiana to the cabin!! They brought along another couple, and had a fun-filled weekend of 4-wheeling, shooting, and fellowship. I lived with Mike and Sheri's daughter, Amy, in college, so they feel like another set of parents!! More Photos