Lifestyle

Lovina enjoys the lovely fall weather

We are having lovely fall weather! The trees are getting prettier each day and are in their autumn splendor. Only our Master Artist could paint such a lovely scene. Before we know it, our yard will be flooded with leaves of every color. We have over a dozen trees in our yard, so we get to rake lots of leaves each fall. I love having trees though and they provide lots of shade on hot humid summer days. One of our trees we named “The Marilyn Tree”. It was given to us by my great friend Ruth after my sister Emma and Jacob lost their 8 ½ month old daughter Marilyn in 2010. It has grown quite huge by now. Beside it we planted a “Mose” tree in honor of our son-in-law Mose who died from an automobile accident on his way to work in December 2020. This tree was also a gift from Ruth. I love having a memory like this and have often told my husband Joe it would be nice to plant some more trees in honor of my three siblings, brother-in-law Jacob, and my parents. Maybe we will get it done sometime. Some of our trees are old and storms have damaged them so it would be good to have more started anyways. Sunday was the first time Joe and I took our 2-year-old horse Jett to church. We had to travel the highway for only a half a mile. This was the first time I drove with Jett. He does very well but is a little skittish on unfamiliar roads. The highway has enough of a lane so we could drive on the shoulder so we don’t hold up traffic. Jett stayed calm when the big semis flew past us. I felt extra nervous as we passed the scene of Moses’ accident. Dan’s (Moses driver in the accident) wife Jodi and family put two crosses there and have made a nice memorial for Dan and Mose at the scene of the accident. There is a sharp curve on the highway. I was glad once we were off the highway. It was really foggy and the sun was shining through the fog. Thank God we had safe travels there and back. I think I will be more confident on my next ride with Jett. It’s almost as if you need to gain trust in a horse to start being more comfortable. Except for Joe... he loves the challenge of driving a feisty horse. This is the first horse that he has raised that he did not train. He had a young man from our church work with him for almost three weeks but then he drove him since then. Daughter Loretta and Dustin and family are still in Alabama. We sure do miss them. I called Loretta one day and plans are for them to head home this weekend. They are thinking of spending a day out at Smoky Mountains before heading for home. Dustin had a birthday on October 8th so he spent it in Alabama. They also were able to visit with Joe’s sister Carol, Pete, and family in Tennessee. Pete would be Dustin’s Dad’s brother. He is an uncle to Dustin and Carol is an aunt to Loretta. Three of Joe’s sisters married three of Dustin’s (and Daniel and Grace) uncles, so they share a lot of the same cousins. October 18th will be son-in-law Tim’s birthday. His boss at the sawmill is taking his employees out to eat and to the Cabela’s store. Tim will take Timothy (TJ), age 6, along. He will love that. Son Benjamin’s special friend Joanna is here today helping me. She helped wash laundry, washed dishes, and is now baking Monster cookies. She is a good worker and I really appreciate her help.

Read MoreLovina enjoys the lovely fall weather

Lovina enjoys the lovely fall weather

We are having lovely fall weather! The trees are getting prettier each day and are in their autumn splendor. Only our Master Artist could paint such a lovely scene. Before we know it, our yard will be flooded with leaves of every color. We have over a dozen trees in our yard, so we get to rake lots of leaves each fall. I love having trees though and they provide lots of shade on hot humid summer days. One of our trees we named “The Marilyn Tree”. It was given to us by my great friend Ruth after my sister Emma and Jacob lost their 8 ½ month old daughter Marilyn in 2010. It has grown quite huge by now. Beside it we planted a “Mose” tree in honor of our son-in-law Mose who died from an automobile accident on his way to work in December 2020. This tree was also a gift from Ruth. I love having a memory like this and have often told my husband Joe it would be nice to plant some more trees in honor of my three siblings, brother-in-law Jacob, and my parents. Maybe we will get it done sometime. Some of our trees are old and storms have damaged them so it would be good to have more started anyways. Sunday was the first time Joe and I took our 2-year-old horse Jett to church. We had to travel the highway for only a half a mile. This was the first time I drove with Jett. He does very well but is a little skittish on unfamiliar roads. The highway has enough of a lane so we could drive on the shoulder so we don’t hold up traffic. Jett stayed calm when the big semis flew past us. I felt extra nervous as we passed the scene of Moses’ accident. Dan’s (Moses driver in the accident) wife Jodi and family put two crosses there and have made a nice memorial for Dan and Mose at the scene of the accident. There is a sharp curve on the highway. I was glad once we were off the highway. It was really foggy and the sun was shining through the fog. Thank God we had safe travels there and back. I think I will be more confident on my next ride with Jett. It’s almost as if you need to gain trust in a horse to start being more comfortable. Except for Joe... he loves the challenge of driving a feisty horse. This is the first horse that he has raised that he did not train. He had a young man from our church work with him for almost three weeks but then he drove him since then. Daughter Loretta and Dustin and family are still in Alabama. We sure do miss them. I called Loretta one day and plans are for them to head home this weekend. They are thinking of spending a day out at Smoky Mountains before heading for home. Dustin had a birthday on October 8th so he spent it in Alabama. They also were able to visit with Joe’s sister Carol, Pete, and family in Tennessee. Pete would be Dustin’s Dad’s brother. He is an uncle to Dustin and Carol is an aunt to Loretta. Three of Joe’s sisters married three of Dustin’s (and Daniel and Grace) uncles, so they share a lot of the same cousins. October 18th will be son-in-law Tim’s birthday. His boss at the sawmill is taking his employees out to eat and to the Cabela’s store. Tim will take Timothy (TJ), age 6, along. He will love that. Son Benjamin’s special friend Joanna is here today helping me. She helped wash laundry, washed dishes, and is now baking Monster cookies. She is a good worker and I really appreciate her help.

Read MoreLovina enjoys the lovely fall weather

Joe and Lovina attend uncle’s funeral in Ohio

It is a rainy Tuesday morning. We sure appreciate this rain, it has been really dry here. I need to get this column written. I wish I wouldn’t always wait until the last minute to write it. Life gets too busy sometimes and we need to stop and take time to read God’s wonderful words of encouragement daily. Without “His” love what would we have? On Wednesday my sister Emma, my husband Joe and I attended the funeral of his Uncle Jonas in Hicksville, Ohio. Jonas was married to Joe and Jacob’s (Emma’s late husband) Aunt Mandy. She was a sister to both their mothers. Jonas left to mourn his wife, seven children, and fourteen grandchildren. Our sympathy goes out to the family of Jonas that are left behind. Jonas and Mandy also have three out of the seven children that have Muscular Dystrophy and are wheelchair bound. It is good to talk to others who also face life’s challenges of having handicaps in the family. As my children have often let me see that life can still be rewarding even if they have a limit to what they can do. We have so much to be thankful for. We also want to thank everyone for all the nice notes that have been sent to son Kevin. May God bless you all for your kindness. He really appreciates the help he has received towards his goal to get his handicap accessible buggy. Sister Liz and Levi were also at Uncle Jonas’s funeral. They live only a half hour drive from Hicksville. They told us to stop in and come see where they live. Emma, Joe and I asked our driver if it was okay to go through there on the way home. It was so nice to see the place they call home now. They have a lot to do yet but had their final inspection on the new house approved. They can now live there while they finish it. It will be nice when they have it all done. They live on twenty-two acres with eight acres of woods. We also got to visit with Levi and Liz’s daughter Suzanne, their daughter Elizabeth, Samuel and baby Jayla. Levi and Liz had four children, three girls and one boy. Their three daughters moved with them to this new community and they all live just a few miles apart. Their son Levi Jr and his family live in a nearby community. Sunday we heard the sad news that sister-in-law Sarah Irene (brother Albert’s widow) and her friend who drives her were on their way home from a viewing in Bryant, Indiana when they were in an accident. The accident took the life of her friend. Sarah Irene was very shaken up with lots of bruises. She was going to go see a doctor yesterday. We haven’t heard the results yet. Our prayers and sympathy are with her as she will miss her good friend that took her everywhere. Also our prayers for the lady’s family and to the other vehicle involved. I haven’t heard how the others are that were in the accident. Life is so uncertain.

Read MoreJoe and Lovina attend uncle’s funeral in Ohio