Happy 30th Birthday to Michael!!!

 Happy 30th Birthday to Michael Lyons!!!  He is such an amazing husband and daddy and leader of our home!  The Lord has truly blessed me with such an amazing hubby!  Among the many things, I am thankful for how he leads our family, his thoughtfulness, his patience and caring nature.  He does such a great job at balancing many responsibilities to give me the amazing privilege of staying home with Jeremiah and I do not take that for granted!  I praise God for giving me such amazing husband and friend, a true gift and something I do not deserve.  And Jeremiah says, he loves to teach me many things...

Like how to put bowls on my head :)

He cooks eggs for me every morning and I try to help with the cooking.

So maybe he does not teach me how to play with the remote- we don't even have a remote, that is Grandmas.

He pushes me in the rocker, reads to me and above all wrestles me and makes me giggle and laugh with glee.  :)  I sure love my daddy!

Cousin Love & Children's Museum

We are enjoying having Ben & Laura living so close to us and of course, Cousin Jonathan.  Here are some pics from a few weeks ago when we had the two boys together.  So fun that they have matching outfits. 

We also enjoyed going to the Children's Museum last Tuesday with Mary and her 3 boys.  This was our first time at the Museum and we are definitely going back.  Jeremiah LOVED the ball pit and the water works station.  And he loved the Tiny Tots section where he could push lots of things.

Camping

On Friday night, we went on our first camping trip.  I had grown up going camping with my family in a pop-up camper but this was our first time as a married couple.  We left the little man behind at Grandma's for the night and headed out on our adventure.  At our wedding, we received and registered for a tent and camping gear- we had high hopes of camping all around the country.  Well, almost 6 years later and we had still not been camping.  So we decided we have to go.  We packed our things which took a long time and headed to Miami Whitewater, not too far from our house for the first time.  We had such a great and refreshing time and enjoyed grilling and making a fire and roasting s'mores.  I even found gluten free graham crackers.  Though I missed the little man, it was nice not to have to run after him and actually enjoy sitting and reading for an hour with my hubby.  I think next time though we will take the little guy.  I hope that we will enjoy many memories camping together with our children.  I did find that the key to camping in a tent is using an air mattress which I know some of you might be really laughing about. 

Also, a week ago, I enjoyed meeting up with a sweet college friend Erin Taylor (ET).  It was fun to meet up with her at the Creation Museum. 

The Garden

 Last night, Michael and Jeremiah put the finishing touches on the garden.  We are trying to put poles and a fence up to keep rodents out.  We will see how it goes.  Jeremiah loves being out in the back and playing with sticks and anything he can find- even these poles.  It has been great having an expert gardener, Laura L, around to ask questions.  She has given me lots of helpful tips. 

 These are some of my flowers around the house- my Dad gave me this cute little garden bee. :) 

15 Month Old Boy!

 We can't believe this boy is 15 months old today!  Where has our little baby gone?  He is now a toddler!  Jeremiah has been such a blessing and joy to us.  He keeps me busy- lately he has enjoyed being outside and playing with water and putting stones in cups.  He loves to throw rocks and push anything he can- even his cousin in a big stroller.  He loves to be with other children- especially his cousin Jonathan and other big kids too.  His favorite word, kinda, is "Uh-Oh."  He definitely is preferring saying Dadda at this point as well.  He loves to run and dance and shuffle his feet when any kind of music comes on.  He loves to spin in circles until he falls down dizzy.  What a funny little boy.  We are so thankful for the blessing he is to our family! 

 Last week when we went to Storytime for the kids, I let Jeremiah pick out 3 books- so what did he pick out- a Hunukkah Book and a Farm book.  Hmmm. :) 

 Last week, Jeremiah and I went with some friends to a park.  As we walked with Stephanie L. and her 4 kids- Jeremiah was dragging a little behind but he loved picking up sticks and pointing to any bushes he could find. 

A Few Things...

Here are a few things we did this week...

 Went to Chick-fil-A with the Doughman girls and with Aunt Laura and Cousin Jonathan. Yum!

 It was cleaning week in our house, so even Jeremiah helped me to wash the car and tried to eat the sponge but he had fun.

 Since it was hot this week, we played with lots of water outside, and learned how to use the hose.  He tried to drink the water from the hose.

 We used my new grill Michael got me for my birthday Thursday night to celebrate Michael being done with his 2nd year of course work!!!  We are very excited!

I even got a new fire pit for my birthday- we can't wait to try this one out!!!  Thanks Dad & Mom Lyons!

Turning 30!

Yesterday, I turned 30.  It is hard to believe that I have now left the 20s.  To honor my last day of being in my 20s, my husband threw me a 30th "Surprise" Birthday party on Sunday.  He truly did surprise me.  You have to know that my husband worked tirelessly organizing this party in the midst of school and exams this week- poor boy.  We went to our church office picnic grove where I assumed we would be having a quiet picnic and was surprised to see many sweet friends from church and family there.  Papa Growl was our great griller and we had a fabulous cake and everyone brought side items.  It was a lot of fun.  He even made up a quiz.  It was so special.  I think Jeremiah had fun too.  In fact, I think he ate too much cake.  Thank you to all who made my birthday special!  I received yesterday an envelope filled with letters and sweet cards from some dear people in my life.  I will truly treasure those words of encouragement from sweet friends.  Thank you all for making me feel so loved and special.  On my birthday, I went to a singing group with Jeremiah, ate some Penn Station subs (yum), planted some flowers and then went out to Olive Garden with my sweet husband.  The Lord is good and has been good to me!  Looking forward to what He will do in this new decade of life and trusting He knows what is good and best! 

Some sweet cards and gifts from friends:  Emily D. made me this beautiful bouquet.  I also received some yummy pretzel rolls and the book Enough- a sweet reminder on contentment and God being enough for us.