Eichers Spend The Holidays With Family, Friends

A brand new year lies ahead. What does it have in store for us? Only God knows, so let us put our trust in him. I hope everyone had a great, safe holiday. We had a very nice holiday after the flu bug finally left our house.

Christmas Day was spent here at home. Elizabeth’s friend Timothy and Susan’s friend Mose joined us for the day. It was a memorable time for playing games and just being together as a family. Our thoughts and prayers went out to those missing family members this holiday season.

They are missed even more during the holidays.

I put a breakfast casserole in the oven to heat while everyone opened their gifts. These types of days go by way too fast.

On Sunday, we had the annual Christmas potluck dinner after church. As always, there was more than enough food. Daughter Loretta made cupcakes and frosted and decorated them to take along. On Monday evening, Jacob, Emma and family visited in honor of Joe’s birthday, which was Dec. 22. Joe grilled chicken and hot wings while I made scalloped potatoes. We also froze homemade ice cream for our dessert and Emma brought donuts.

Jacob, Emma and family, as well as Timothy and Mose, also spent New Year’s Day here. We had a brunch, which was a “breakfast haystack.”

Our menu was biscuits cut into bite-sized pieces, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, chopped bacon, diced ham, shredded cheese, green peppers, diced tomatoes, diced onion, cheese sauce, salsa, hot peppers and sausage gravy.

After dishes were washed, we exchanged gifts with Emma and Jacob’s family. We had a name exchange, which was interesting. Then everyone went sledding in our hayfield (except for Jacob, Joe, Emma and I). We stayed in the warm house and played board games.

Timothy had a sled tied behind his pony and gave some pretty fast rides around the hay field. It looked as though it was a challenge to stay on the sled around some of the curves.

They also had fun sliding down the hill. When they were all tired from sledding, they came back in to warm up. We set snacks out for everyone.

Emma brought a lot of snacks, too.

I heated up the leftover chicken and wings from the evening before. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games.

Susan has two more ponies here to train. One is a miniature pony and the other is a bigger sized pony, like our pony Stormy. Her friend Mose’s Dad gave her the pony to keep. She is excited to  train her.

Benjamin and Susan have the pony, which is named Roxy, hitched to the cart for the first time. It always makes me a little nervous until she has the ponies accustomed to pulling. Benjamin, 13, enjoys helping her train.

Jacob, Emma and family went to Berne, Ind., to have Christmas with Jacobs’ family. While there, they stopped in to say hello to brother Amos, Nancy and family. Amos sent along a roll of his homemade summer sausage. It was very good and disappeared quite fast. We appreciated it very much.

Looking for an easy cupcake recipe? Try this one.
 

Never Fail Cupcakes
 

1 egg

½ cup sour milk

½ cup shortening

1 teaspoon soda

½ cup hot water

½ cup cocoa

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar
 

In a large mixing bowl, add ingredients in the order listed. Do not mix until the last ingredient has been added. Beat until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Add frosting when cool. Makes 19 cupcakes.
 

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