February 17, 2007

All ready for church.	The children seemed border-line sick Sunday morning when we got up.  We went ahead and went to church though and they seemed to do OK.  Bro. Carl preached on "Training our Children to be of Service to Others".  We ate a quick dinner of leftovers then took a short nap until Landon decided it was time for us to get up...  When Carolina Sue got up she felt really feverish and did not act like herself.  Ina Sue stayed home with the children while I went to church.  Jane Brubaker had a flannel gram for children's meeting and James Bange had a quiz on the disciples.
Waiting for Daddy on Valentine's Day.	Monday was fairly normal with washing and work.  It was a beautiful sunny "Spring" day.  Ina Sue took the children on a walk over to Duane Bange's to pick out candles for Valentine's Day.  He makes some very nice candles that are beautiful and long-burning.  I worked late in at the shop then came home for a late supper of continental chicken, rice, and zipper peas.  After putting the children to bed we made a quick run to drop the mini-van off at Byers Tire.I went in to work at 6:00 on Tuesday.  Ina Sue said that the children were especially trying today.  She made up a batch of orange crescents rolls for the weekend and finished up the ironing from yesterday.  In the late afternooon and early evening we had a very heavy rain storm.  It really poured it down!  I stopped at Dominos on the way home from work and picked up pizzas to give my wife a break from making supper.  Hendrick dropped by for a little in the evening to eat pizza with us and have a mocha shake.
Mary puts the finishing touches on the dessert bar for our banquet.	Wednesday was Valentine's Day.  Ina Sue and I drove up to Byer's Tire and picked up the minivan before the children woke up.  Ina Sue stopped in at Nelson's Wee-bake and picked us up some doughnuts and cheese danishes for breakfast.   I headed off to work and Ina Sue worked on cleaning up the back screen porch and doing some scrap booking.  For supper she fixed us a really special supper of beef stroganoff over noodles, brocolli and cheese, and pistachio pudding for dessert.  What a feast!  In the evening I washed up the dishes while Ina Sue made a cake for Friday evening.  Then we sat down and watched our wedding video with Carolina Sue.  She says that she wants to get married. :)  We hope she waits for a while...
Our "older" "young marrieds" Valentine banquet.	I took Carolina Sue along with me on my first call Thursday up to Bamberg First Baptist church.  The nice ladies there all spoiled her rotten with candy.  The rest of the day was very ordinary.  Ina Sue's sister Jeanne, her husband Keith and children Andrew & Sara Lynn got here around 9:00.  There middle son Benjamin has a very hard time traveling more than two or three hours so they left him with Grandmother in VA.   We all sat down for a snack and talked for a while before settling in for the night.
The wife and I do a skit about "Differences"	I had Friday off because of our company.  We slept in for a little then had a brunch around 10:00.  Ina Sue tried a new recipe of breakfast lasagna with broccoli that we all thought was delicious.  She also served us fresh fruit and orange crescents.  We had a relaxed day with most of the work done getting ready for the social in the evening.  RuthAnn Bange, Gwen Amstutz, Mary Korver, and my wife were in charge of the food and festivities, so they got together at the school around 5:30 to get everything ready.
Keith entertains the girls while Landon & I look on.	We thought it turned out to be a really special evening.  Unfortunately, two of the involved couples, Duane Banges and Nelson Hochstetlers were not able to be there because of sickness in their families.  It worked out nicely that Keith & Jeanne were able to be there to fill in.  Betty Heatwole very kindly agreed to keep Keith & our children for the evening.  For supper Andy Korver grilled chicken breasts for the main dish and Mary fixed glazed carrots.  We took rosemary bread and Caesar salad.  Gwen provided a delicious rice pilaf.  Ruth Ann brought green beans and the iced tea.  For dessert each of the ladies brought dishes for a dessert bar.  Wow!  Candy bar cake, caramel custard, cheese cakes, pecan pie etc.
Carolina & Sara Lynn have a tea party	After the delicious meal Andys and Gordons sang a song together then Ina Sue and I did a skit.  Then we all filled in a fun paper where we imagined what our spouse would do in specific circumstances.  After the activities we finished up with the dessert bar.   It was a wonderful evening together with our friends and each other.  We look forward to doing it again next year.  We dropped by Don Heatwole's on the way home to pick up our children and stayed for a little to visit.  It was after 10:45 before we got home.
Keith tries to figure out how to shuffle cards.	Ina Sue and Jeanne had talked about going to the flea market Saturday morning but when we got up it was very cold.  They decided to call it off and stay home for the day.  Keith & I went up to Nelson's bakery to pick up some doughnuts for our breakfast.  We had a wonderfully relaxed day.  Played Phase 10, talked, and rested.  For dinner we fixed Philly Cheese steak pizza and for supper we baked up one of our dishes of Romanian sarmales.  After supper we all watched "Fiddler on the Roof" together.