It is almost 6 a.m. on this Tuesday morning. It is warm weather for February with the temperature at 38 degrees.

The snow is disappearing fast. Now our yard is exposed and needs to be cleaned up a little before Sunday. As long as the snow-covered it, we couldn’t see the leaves that were never raked up.

Hopefully, we can get the outside cleanup done while its warm. I’m sure we have only a few days before the cold is back. I’m so ready for spring weather, but we need to stay patient a little while longer.

We have only five days left to get done what needs to be before we host church services here.

I am checking prices on ham to serve with lunch Sunday.

I am amazed at the price. I shouldn’t be surprised with everything else going up in price. I am going to use niece Verena’s peanut butter spread recipe this time.

I am not usually one to eat peanut butter spread but I loved the one she served when they hosted church.

I will share the recipe with you this week. It is a big amount so you might need to cut it down.

She said she would use only half of this amount for a regular-sized church.

She also said this spread freezes well for up to a year.

On Sunday, our whole family attended church in Daniel Ray’s (daughter Verena’s special friend) church district.

Daniel Ray was baptized and accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour. May God bless him as we travel into the unknown future. We appreciate all the help we get from Daniel Ray.

He’s always willing to help out around here. I sure appreciate that Daniel Ray’s mother sewed Verena a new black dress suit for Sunday. She needed one for baptismal services and I was so busy that I didn’t have time to sew it.

My husband Joe has had a very painful back for quite a while and the doctor ordered an MRI. The results are back now and they want him to see a spine neurologist now.

I am really glad if they can help him be pain free once again.

He has pain to walk but gets relief when he sits. He can’t do much after a day’s work at the truss shop.

We appreciate the help from our sons and sons-in-law to help with the outdoor work. Joe used to come home and work until dark but since battling with this pain for so long he can’t. We sure are glad to still have son Benjamin, 25, here at home to help with chores and he is also a great caregiver for son Kevin, 19.

It was so nice to have all the grandchildren in church on Sunday. Baby Kylie Clare made her first appearance in church. She is seven weeks old now. She was passed around quite often and enjoyed by many.

Loretta is still under doctor’s care for her smaller blood clot. She was in church but unable to wear her shoes due to her leg and foot still being swollen.

Daughter Elizabeth and Tim will go get their sink and toilet this afternoon. After they are installed, they should be ready to start moving into their living quarters in the garage.

They have three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living room area and a small laundry / mud room.

It is much smaller than their house is. It’s too bad that they have to tear down the house due to mold. The advice from received from several professionals was that this will be better for their family’s health so they knew they had to do it.

God’s blessings to all!

Peanut Butter Spread

Ingredients

10 pounds peanut butter

1 pound butter (room temperature)

1 gallon maple syrup or maple-flavored pancake syrup

6- 16-ounce containers whipped topping

Directions

Mix peanut butter and butter until well combined, then gradually add maple syrup and keep mixing in until well combined. Then fold in whipped topping slowly until all is combined.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight who lives in southeastern Michigan.