Our thermometer shows 28 degrees this morning. We were spoiled by the sunny, gorgeous days of the 70s. This weather is challenging for anyone with sensitive plants. We still haven’t planted our sweet onions. We are waiting for it to dry, and the temperature becomes warmer. We’ve had a lot of rain lately. April showers bring May flowers!
Son Benjamin mowed the lawn for the first time this year. It looks very lush and green. I love spring and new growth all around.
On Saturday, many of us helped Dustin and Loretta with their cleaning work. There was Joe and I. The sons of Benjamin, Joseph and Kevin. Luvina’s daughter Daniel and Grace (Dustin’s siblings and also special friends of Joseph and Luvina); and his daughter, Elizabeth, and Tim and his children. The men cleaned and power washed outside the barn where church services would be hosted. They also mowed and trimmed and tilled and did whatever Dustin needed to do there. Women wash windows and stoves, do laundry, prepare lunch, and more.
The lunch menu included ranch fries and a grilled hamburger with all the trimmings like lettuce, tomato, cheese, and bread. Also, we had the cheer cake and pumpkin cookies for dessert.
Friday night was family night for our family at Tim and Elizabeth’s house. We do this once a month, taking turns at each other’s house. Susan and Ervin brought casserole, daughter Verena brought salad, Loretta and Dustin brought candy, and I brought snacks, and Tim and Elizabeth had ice cream. It’s always fun. We play games after we eat and catch up with each other. Next month he will be at Ervin and Susan’s house.
Monday morning, Dustin and Loretta stopped by to leave Denzel here while they went to Kalamazoo for Loretta’s date. Tim and Elizabeth dropped Allison, 3, and Andrea, 1, around the same time. They were also headed to Kalamazoo with Timothy (TJ), 4 years old. He was undergoing surgery again on his finger. Doctors were afraid they would have to remove more of the finger. How thankful we were when they said the healing was fine and actually better than they expected. They said he would actually have part of a nail. After seven and a half weeks of having a cast the entire length of his arm, he was a very happy boy because he only had to wrap a finger and hand. He had four different colors during all those weeks.
Daughter Verena came here Sunday afternoon and has been here ever since. It was great having her in the house. Me and Lovina helped out with the three little ones on Monday. Abigail came off the bus here from school.
While Verena and Lovina were rocking the babies and putting them to naps, I was doing our laundry. It was cool while I was pinning them on the lines, but the gentle breeze made them dry really well.
Yesterday, Verena, Lovina and I went to Dustin and Loretta’s house. Dustin didn’t have a job because it was raining, and they couldn’t work on construction. He and Loretta go into town and to the bulk food store to get groceries for the church. Denzel stayed home with us. It was the first time Dustin and Loretta had shopped for groceries at church since their marriage in October 2021. I remember very well how that was a big deal, but after wedding shopping it seems like nothing. God’s blessings to all!
