The Beach...

 In June... we enjoyed a trip to the beach, Chincoteague Island, VA with my family!  I love this picture of us as I think this just shows Jeremiah's reaction to the waves and water.  We tried to stick his little feet in and he hated it.  :)    Michael, of course, spent his time at the beach in the shade with a book with Jeremiah of course.  He was very careful not to let the rays of sun touch his little guy.  Though Jeremiah was not sure what to think of the beach- at least he liked all the attention! :)  In fact, I think he is still going through withdrawal and wanting to be held all the time!  :)

My sister Rachel and Me...

I love vacation!  Can I come back again?

Highlights of June...

 Jeremiah had many firsts this June...  He flew on an airplane with mommy for the first time and did great though I did not fare so well as I found out I had an ear infection and had a bad cold.  Jeremiah also got to meet another Great- Grandmother all the way in PA near Philly.  We took a day and visited my cousins and their children- little Harrison is about a month older than Jeremiah.

 Jeremiah also attended his first baseball game with my mom and dad and he loved it.  Aunt Rachel and Uncle Mike came too as Mike got us free tickets as York Revolution was playing the team he used to play on.  Michael was sad he was not with us for this big event, but he got over it. :)  More beaches pictures to come.  I flew in a week before to spend extra time with my family and then we went to the beach together for a week.

2 Years Ago...

This morning I woke up remembering two years ago...  On Friday, July 3 two years ago, I was supposed to be enjoying a day off from work for the 4th of July holiday- instead I was lying in Baptist East hospital at 5:30am preparing for a D & C.  On this day, as I am reminded of the sadness of that day two years ago as we lost our first child, yet I am also reminded of God's mercy and grace.  Little did I know that that miscarriage would result in a year of waiting to start trying to have children and how the Lord used that time to help me to wait on Him, trust Him, be still and wait!  One of the Scripture passages the Lord has used over and over again during seasons of waiting... 

Lamentations 3:21-26

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.  The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

One of the greatest chapters that sustained me during this season was John Piper's book- Battling Unbelief- I love his chapter on the Unbelief of Impatience.  Oh how I battled that during this season and how I continue to battle impatience.  I want what I want when I want it.  :)  Pretty selfish of me. 

"Patience is the capacity to wait and endure without murmuring and disillusionment- to wait in the unplanned place and endure the unplanned pace."    May we wait on the Lord, knowing that to wait is to trust HIM and His purpose and plan and to walk truly by faith and not by sight!!!

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope."  (Psalm 130:5)

I had this little bear in my office at work all year- how neat that a sweet friend from college thought to give it to me during a difficult time when I had given it to her during college during her difficult time!  I still have that little bear in Jeremiah's room that reminds me constantly of the Lord's goodness and grace and the season of waiting and trusting in the Lord and His purposeful and good timing of all things!

June is for Traveling...

Well, we were home for 2 days and then we took a trip to Louisville so that Michael could go back into the world of Vending- his old boss asked him to come down for a few days to train the new owner of the company--so needless to say we got to see just a few friends in Louisville (we wish we had more time to see all!).  Jeremiah and I got to hang out with some friends and to hang out at the Hampton hotel.  It was like a mini vacation except for the fact that Jeremiah has been waking up a lot with his little cold that he has had for almost 2 weeks- we sure are ready for his little cough to be over. :)  Thanks to Dewane and Lori for putting us up in the Hampton for 2 nights while Michael worked so we could enjoy some rest time as a family!  I always love being back in Louisville!  Apparently the night before we arrived, Louisville was hit with a few tornadoes that damaged part of Churchill Downs and several other places.

More to come in the days ahead on my 2 week trip to PA and to the beach and some of Jeremiah's firsts that he experienced in the last month.  He has had a busy month and we are ready to get back into a normal flow of life- though next week we have VBS in our church each morning and I am helping with the 1st and 2nd grade class. I am excited about this opportunity to serve! 

Fun on the Farm

Mark Tedford- a friend from ECC (our church) and friend from Cedarville days invited us last Saturday along with Mark & Meredith Irving (our mentors in college) and their 3 girls and Don & Justine Carlson (our friends from church who are also at Hebrew Union- except almost done- yeah for them!) and their 4 girls went to the farm.  Mark's family owns a beautiful cabin on lots of acres of forest and farm land- Mark keeps their lakes and ponds lake stocked with fish.  I'm sure someday Jeremiah will love to fish like the guys did on Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed sun, paddle boating and fellowship!  It was great to be in the good outdoors- and as my husband always says- Erin always LOVES a good cookout!!!  The rest of the weekend we did another cookout with Michael's parents- which I didn't mind.  And Monday we relaxed and were able to spend time together and go to a few shops.  

Michael's Birthday & Louisville Trip

Well... though it was a week or two ago, Michael had a great birthday.  The Friday before- I took him on a Mystery Date and found 2 bookstores selling used books that he had not been to before.  We then picked up Gluten Free pizza at a place called "A Forkable Feast" and I packed a picnic and we headed to Ault Park.  We had not been in this area before- the East Side of Cincy.  The funny part of the evening was running into our friends the Carlsons- we had even mentioned to each other that we thought this was their favorite park and we turned around & there they were.  So they and their 4 girls showed us around the park!  Quite a great tour I might add!  We then came back for dessert at the Lyons.  I got Michael a gluten free Buckeye cake especially made for him and his mom made him his favorite- Butterfinger Ice Cream cake!  Jeremiah did great for his babysitters that night too!  

 We then headed to Louisville on Saturday for a short trip.  The Reigels were so gracious to let us stay in their apartment Sat. night.  They live out in a beautiful place in Kentucky near Louisville.  We then went to church at Faith on Sunday and enjoyed so much seeing so many sweet friends as well as connecting with our small group again!  They even bought us Hebrew National hot dogs.  :)  We also had a wonderful dinner and sweet visit with the Wojnicki family- our pastor and his family in Louisville.  Little Kate was so good with Jeremiah!  Sunday night, we stayed at another sweet hotel- our most hospitable hosts- Michael & Anne Marrs.  Michael surprised us with his presence as he was supposed to be away!  They were such sweet hosts!  And Monday I got to visit some people at work and had lunch with my co-worker Erin Joiner!  Jeremiah did great on the trip- we were a little nervous about his sleeping in the pack n play- but he did great- even slept through a pretty rough storm.  If we did not visit you- we are sorry- we only had limited time.  It was funny that my college friend Melissa Wagner also happened to be in Louisville so we met for a walk together.


Our trip ended in a unique way- as we arrived in Florence, KY- close to Cincy, and as we were about to eat our Chick fil A and I was nursing Jeremiah in the car- we saw some very severe clouds rolling in and the tornado warning sounded off.  We figured we should not be in the car, so we headed to the nearest store- Meijer.  Later- we were informed by Michael's mom that Mejer is the worse type of place to be if a tornado did come- oh well, we'll know better next time.  :)  We were very thankful to make it home.  :)

Mulch Madness

What do I do when Jeremiah falls asleep during the day for his naps...  Well, while he is busy upstairs snoozing...  I run outside and try to use the next hour or so to garden and start my flower beds.  Before I could make it look like this though, I had to dig up a lot of dirt by hand with a shovel!  I sure was sore after that!  Then Jeremiah and I headed to Walmart and Home Depot and planted the flowers and then one rainy Saturday we mulched it all!  I love spring and I love working outside and I love doing hard physical work!  I really do!  Next... on to planting a little garden in the back...

A Note To Michael/Daddy...

A Note to Michael/Daddy for his birthday on Sunday!  Instead of Sunday, we are planning a Mystery Outing for you today!  You will have one of several clues leading you to the next location of your mystery date...  Jeremiah decided he wants to read you the first clue of your first destination....He may even read it in Hebrew.  :)  Though he will not be along for this first place- Jeremiah wants to thank in advance Aunt Sarah Brown for watching him for a little while today as well as Grandma Lyons when she gets home from work!!  I will try to be really a happy baby for you guys as you watch me today!!  :)  I may even give you a few smiles- if you are nice! 

Daddy- the first clue is... (drumroll please)
Clue #1:  We will journey to a place that you will want to see, To a place in
Greater Cincinnati.  Rare treasures to behold it could get a little dusty, in fact you may like it so much- you may not want to leave. 


Happy Birthday to my Daddy!!!

Random Pictures

Jeremiah is 3 months old- we are very thankful for this milestone.  In the past few weeks, Jeremiah has become a MUCH happier baby than he was a few weeks ago.  Call it colic or whatever you want to call it,  he is definitely adjusting so much better to life in general- maybe it is the added bonus that now he can lay on his back on the floor and kick!  And he can actually put himself to sleep for a nap- wow!  He was not able to do that even a few weeks ago!  We praise the Lord for allowing us to persevere through his unhappy crying stage!!!  And I def. like the smiles and coos too.

Mother's Day lunch at the White House with both Grandmas and Mom Lyons.  Aunt Janet so graciously treated us there!

A baby taking a bath- he actually doesn't cry for this anymore either- just stares at me as if to say- why are you doing this to me.  And I love this little farmer outfit someone had given me- it is one of my new favorites!  :)  Well, gotta go- the babe has wakened from his nap!  :)