July 4, 2009

The summer flocks are at their peak. Sunday morning Bro. Wendell preached on "What New Life in Christ Is".  Savannah was a bear during church though.  Teeth issues we think.  We were invited to Dale & RuthAnn Bange's for a delicious dinner.  We adults had a really nice time visiting with some out of town company and the children had a blast in the swimming pool.  We got home around 4:30 and the others took naps while I typed up a couple of these journal pages.  The service in the evening at Barnwell was a song service with Round-Robin song leading.  Home for a snack of ice cream, chips & salsa.
Landon with his birthday tree (3 years old) Monday was the normal day with laundry and me at work.  Betty & Carolyn Heatwole picked up the children in the morning and took them to Denmark with them for ice cream at McDonalds.  It was to celebrate Landon's birthday tomorrow.  After I got home from work we had egg salad and tomatoe sandwiches for supper then I spent an hour or two spraying Round-up.  Ina Sue finished the clothes and tied up the tomatoes.
Opening his presents. Tuesday was Landon's 3'rd birthday.  Please!  Slow down the clock....  I'm convinced that children make time fly by twice as fast.  Grandmother and Grandpapa sent down a box of Grandpapa's misc. tools out of his shop for him.  Landon was thrilled and has already had a big time playing with them.  I had a busy day at work but came home mid afternoon to carve a watermelon pig for Landon's party.  We met Mark Hochstetlers over at Enos Yoder's swimming pool for a pool party in celebration of Landon and their boy Logan's birthday.  We had a nice picnic supper and the men and children had a nice time swimming.  The ladies were the life guards..    A very nice evening.

Ina Sue's old friends Chad & Becky McMurray were ordained at Mt. Pleasant today to be minister.

Carolina fits his new tool belt. I got up Wednesday morning and picked over the green beans then headed off to work.  Ina Sue froze the few quarts of beans and made up a big batch of sauteed squash, onions, and carrots to put in the freezer for casseroles.  Savannah got in her first tooth today.  She does not seem to be one to suffer pain in silence.  What a grouch!  For supper Ina Sue fixed us BLT's and squash casserole.  Then to church for prayer meeting.  After the prayer period, Bro. Gary had a talk on the experience of the Mennonites and Amish during the Revolutionary War and applied it to our attitudes about patriotism and country today.  Good talk! 
Birthday supper with Mark Hochstetlers. Notice the watermelon pig... :) I left for work at 7:15 on Thursday.  Ina Sue got up at 6:15 though and took Prince to the groomers for his much needed hair cut.  After a service call in Denmark I stopped by Delmar Diems and picked up 2 bushels of beautiful tomatoes.  They grow a whole field of tomatoes in partnership with another man.  Ina Sue had asked if there would be any tomatoes left over after they were done harvesting that we could buy.  These tomatoes were hardly rejects though.  Huge and beautiful tomatoes that make canning so easy.  Many, many thanks!  After a full day at work came home then took the truck to pick up Prince.  We looks rather skunt...  We went to Leon Dueck's for supper along with Roger Eby and his family who were visiting.  They served us a fantastic meal and we had a lot of fun visiting.
Logan Hochstetler turned 4 the same day. Ina Sue fixed us sausage gravy over grits for breakfast on Friday.  Then I went to work while Ina Sue tried to clean the house.  The oldest two children play and play together but the youngest has been a bit of a hairball... :)  For supper Ina Sue fixed us a delicious new recipe of Japanese sweet & sour chicken, herbed rice, cucumber salad, and stuffed peppers.  After supper the children and Ina Sue took a walk while I mowed the front yard and the square.  They stopped in to visit Naomi and also got to stop in and see Marcia Heatwole and their newest addition, Jake. 
We visited with Roger Martins at Leon D's on Thursday. I was home for a wonderful day on Saturday.  I started picking the beans while Ina Sue made us breakfast pizza for breakfast.  Ina Sue spent most of the day canning pickles and salsa.  I helped cut up the tomatoes, peppers and onions for the salsa then worked on mowing.  After I finished the mowing I came in and did a major scrub job on our upholstered dining room chairs.  (Don't ever let some one talk you into buying those)  I wasn't too impressed with the result of my hard work but by the next morning they dried off and were looking very nice.  Ina Sue washed the floors then we all went to Bamberg. 
Landon toppled over on his stool & cut his eye... We dropped Ina Sue off at Family Dollar while we went to Piggly Wiggly for a few groceries.  Then we drove on out to the blueberry patch and picked two buckets of blueberries before it got dark on us.  On the way back through Bamberg we stopped along the road to watch the fireworks going off.  The children loved them.  Even Savannah seemed impressed.