Happy third anniversary to daughter Loretta and Dustin on Oct.1! I wish them many more happy, healthy years together.

It is still so hard for me to believe that five out of our eight children are married and have homes of their own.

In the back of my mind, I always pictured life slowing down when our children started moving out. I was quite wrong as we are busier than ever it seems.

All the children now have work that needs to be done on their properties.

My husband Joe, son Benjamin and Daniel Ray (Verena’s special friend) put in three horse stalls in our new barn Saturday. We need to have three more put in.

The tack room and feed room need to be built. It all takes time and money, so we work on it as we can.

Daughter Elizabeth and Tim are having some struggles right now. They had several inspections and received the bad news that their house has four or five different molds.

They have been extra sick and have lots of allergies, which they discovered were coming from living in this house. They were advised to not keep a lot of their belongings, especially mattresses, upholstered furniture, or anything that could carry mold into another house.

They are in the process of making their detached garage into living quarters while they tear into the house to see what can be done.

The inspectors advised to tear down the house and start new. This is very disappointing since they remodeled and were very satisfied with the house they had.

If anyone has been through this and has good advice, they would appreciate hearing from you.

Their children were very disappointed that some of their belongings they treasured need to go.

Although it’s hard to part with your belongings, there is a brighter side, and that is no lives were lost.

Recently Joe and I took supper to nephew Ben and Crystal as they enjoy their new little one, Wesley Benjamin. He is welcomed by a brother Isaiah.

Daughter Loretta and Dustin and sons, daughter Lovina and Daniel, son Joseph and Grace, daughter Verena and Daniel Ray, and son Kevin also joined us and helped bring food. Sister Verena also was at sister Emma’s at that time.

Ben and Crystal live on the same place as sister Emma and sons Jacob and Steven, so we all ate over in Emma’s garage area.

On the menu was mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables and grilled hamburgers with all the trimmings. Dessert was cherry delight.

Of course, baby Wesley was passed around for everyone to admire.

Sister Verena came here Saturday night and went to church with us Sunday, which was communion services.

She went with us Sunday evening to Dustin and Loretta’s house for a delicious supper of mashed potatoes, gravy, cheese and rare beef.

Today is now Tuesday morning and Verena stayed here again for the night. She wasn’t feeling good yesterday. Hopefully she will feel better today.

Carrot cake

Ingredients

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups carrots, peeled and grated

1/2 cup nuts, chopped

Directions

With an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar and oil at medium speed until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add egg mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold carrots and nuts into batter and stir until well blended.

Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool.

Frosting

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and butter until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread over cooled cake.