Thursday was the wedding of my great-niece, Sarah, and her husband, Samuel, in Bryant, Indiana.

The van driver started picking up for the wedding at 5:30 a.m. He began at daughter Elizabeth’s house and picked up her and her four children. Then they headed to daughter Susan’s and picked up her and her seven children. Then they came here. The eight school-age children had stayed over with daughter Verena, and she put them on the bus at 6:40 a.m. I went with Elizabeth, Andrea, Susan, Ervin Jr. and Sharlene, and we picked up my sister Verena. Then we headed to pick up nieces Elizabeth and Emma and Emma’s four children. We headed to pick up sister Emma. Niece Emma left her daughter Jessica with nephew Ben’s wife Crystal so she could go to school with Crystal’s son Isaiah. Menno Ray stayed with nephews Jacob and Steven. Jazlyn and baby Michael went with us. Then we were all loaded and headed for Indiana. It took more time than we had anticipated to get car seats and seat belts fastened. We made it to the wedding about 20 minutes after the service started but at least we made it there.

Brother Albert was greatly missed at his granddaughter’s wedding. We got to see Sarah Irene and all of her family and sisters Leah and Liz (and Levi). I also got to visit with Joe’s sister Salome and some of my cousins, nieces and nephews. It was fun catching up with everyone. We headed for home around 3 p.m. I was the last one dropped off and arrived home around 6 p.m. It was an enjoyable ride together. Our whole family, as well as Emma’s, were invited to the wedding, but the men decided to go to work.

Traveling is really expensive when we hire a driver with so many of us going, but we could divide the cost of the trip. We passed through Berne and Geneva on the way to the wedding. The Berne and Geneva elementary schools where I attended all eight years of my school years are no longer there. Daughters Elizabeth and Susan also attended school at Berne Elementary before our move to Michigan 22 years ago. Elizabeth was in third grade and Susan first grade.

On Wednesday, my daughters and I spent the day at daughter Lovina’s place, helping her with preparations for church services that will be held there on Sunday. I made a pizza casserole the night before for our lunch.

Friday night our family gathered at Tim and Elizabeth’s house for our monthly “Family Night”. I had to take the snack tray. It was a nice, warm sunny day. This worked out great with them as they are living in smaller living quarters in their garage. Some of us could eat outside. The highlight of the evening was watching the little chicks hatch one by one in the incubator. They ended up with 32 chicks.

A few readers sent me books, so I took them along and let the grandchildren all pick out a few. They were so excited. Thank you to Dee from Pennsylvania and Kathleen from North Dakota. God bless you for your kindness. Also in one of the packages were four little Jesus figures. When granddaughter Abigail came here, she hid them all and told me I will find them around here over the next week. Before she left for home, she told us bye then she told Joe, “Grandpa I hope you find Jesus”. Joe didn’t know anything about this and couldn’t figure out why she said that. It was so sweet and innocent. But seeing Joe’s surprised face did make us smile.

God’s blessings to all!

Rhubarb Dream Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup flour

4 cups diced rhubarb

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Crust:

Mix together all ingredients and press in a 9×13 cage pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling:

Mix together and spread over hot crust. Bake another 40 to 45 minutes.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, “The Cherished Table,” “The Essential Amish Cookbook” and “Amish Family Recipes,” are available wherever books are sold.