We will be extra busy cleaning and preparing to host communion services here in three weeks, so I decided to write an extra column. It’s always nice to be a week ahead when my schedule looks full. I decided, since it’s been 22 years since Joe and I, along with our six children, made the move to Michigan to make it our home, that I would share some special memories from that time.

March 2004

Wednesday: We headed to Michigan early this morning with another load of hay. My sister Emma, Jacob, and son Jacob Jr., along with Joe, son Benjamin, and I started at 6:30 a.m., and we’re back home by 6:30 p.m. Sisters Verena and Susan kept the other eight children at their house. Nineteen-month-old Joseph was a lot more content to stay with Verena and Susan. He doesn’t like sitting in a car seat all the way there and back.

In Michigan, Joe and Jacob unloaded the hay, which was a long, hard job. Then, a load of lumber we had ordered arrived, so they helped unload that. While the men were hard at work, Emma and I made a chili soup for our lunch, and we ate our first meal at our new place. The realtor stopped by, so we made him sit down and eat with us. He sure has been a good help to us already. Benjamin and Jacob Jr. were quite tired by the time we were ready to go. Four-year-old boys can really get around, looking for adventure. They enjoyed being in the haymow with their dads.

Joe quit his job at the furniture factory after being there 7-1/2 years. With him not working during the day, we hope to have the rest of our belongings loaded up by Thursday afternoon. We want to attend our daughter Susan’s first-grade musical at school on Thursday afternoon. This will be the last day at this school for our daughters, Elizabeth and Susan.

We will start with our family of eight, along with sisters Verena and Susan, early Friday morning with the horses and chickens. Sister Emma, Jacob and family, and sister Liz, Levi and family will also bring a trailer of our belongings later in the day.

Later in March:

We have been living at our new place for almost two weeks now. So far, we have enjoyed it here. Joe started his construction job. He really enjoyed his first day. They changed out a barn roof, so the work was a lot different than factory work. Seems different to have him leave later, and he comes home later too. We have to get used to a different place and a different schedule.

Our daughters Elizabeth, 9, Susan, 7, and Verena, 6, started school here in Michigan this week. They really seem to like it. Verena only goes for half a day, but she likes it so well that she would go all day. Benjamin, 4, and Loretta, 3, miss Verena being home during the day. They seem lost these last few days since the girls are in school and Joe leaves for work. They had been used to their dad being home from work the past week. While Joe was home, he worked on building box stalls for the horses. He got them done just in time. Our horse, Itty Bit, had a foal on March 25. She has a nice filly, and it’s active and running around the field. It was born only six days after our move from Indiana.

The chickens are getting settled into their new place in the barn. Joe had to find a way to keep Benjamin out of the chicken coop. He would keep checking for eggs, bringing one in as soon as it was laid. This was disturbing the hens. Our “little chicks” are now big and starting to lay eggs.

We helped sisters Verena and Susan move here last week. They walked over and helped me do a big load of laundry. It’s nice having them this close. And now we are even more excited as sister Emma and Jacob bought a 7-acre farm up here on Monday. It will be so nice to have them in the area. The children miss each other as they were always together in Indiana.

Last Monday afternoon, a few men from this area stopped in to say hi and welcomed us to the community. Joe and Jacob were talking with them. Jacob’s were here for a few days helping us get unpacked. Joe was burning trash behind the barn before the men arrived. My sister Verena happened to look outside and see the fire spreading. We all ran to help put it out. The men carried buckets of water while we kept them filled. The fire came very close to our barn, and luckily, the wind was in our favor. We are so thankful there wasn’t any damage. A good part of the field behind the field was burnt, and it had started in the cornfield on the dry corn stalks. If we had been by ourselves, we would probably have lost the barn. So it was a rocky start to our move to Michigan!

God Bless!

• Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, an 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. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, P.O. Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply), or email questionsforlovina@gmail.com and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.