Happy 65th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

We made it to Goshen last Thursday afternoon, the 23rd. We were anxious to get here because my parents were celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary on the 23rd and we were having a big party for them on the 25th. So we drove into the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds at Warsaw and went down to visit Mom and Dad. When we left there, we went to the condo in Goshen to see Jocelyn and Ronan who had arrived the day before. They were waiting on their luggage because the last leg of their flight had been cancelled and they rented a car in Detroit to come to Goshen. Their luggage had made the planned trip, however, so they had to wait on their luggage before they could go anywhere.

Dinner to celebrate Mom and Dad's anniversary was held Saturday at Mose and Etta Miller's house in Nappanee. They are an Amish couple who fix and serve an Amish dinner for donations. We had a delicious meal with ham, "poor man's steak," dressing, mashed potatoes, homemade noodles, gravy, salad, jello dishes, rolls, spreads, and pie for dessert. It was a wonderful meal and set up in their building where they hold their church services. Mose and Etta did a great job and if you ever have occasion to go to a dinner at their house, you will enjoy it. In addition to Mom and Dad, my sister and I were there with our spouses, all the grandchildren were there with their spouses and all the great grandchildren. Jocelyn and Ronan did not attend the dinner because of their complicated food allergies, but they did come to the "after party" at Nita's house.

So after dinner, we all drove down to Nita's and continued the celebration over cake and a champagne toast. We had some snacks for later. Since the dinner was at 4 p.m., we all enjoyed munching on stuff later on. Hahaha. A group played euchre, the great grandkids played games and music downstairs. We had a really great time. We presented Mom and Dad with a bound book of photographs we had pilfered from their albums and some from our own collections. All of the kids and grandkids signed the book with momentos for Mom and Dad. It was a real treasure and I think they will enjoy reading and looking at it for years to come. We also gave them a new cooler. The one they use to take food/snacks back and forth to Texas is about 40 years old and held together by duct tape. We decided it was time to retire the old cooler in favor of a new one which has rollers! I'm sure they will use it well.

We have been busy trying to get an apartment rented and we were to sign a lease yesterday. The gal called and rescheduled for today, but called as we were on our way to the signing to say she had decided to pass on the apartment. I am glad she felt comfortable enough to make that decision rather than go ahead and sign and then have difficulty making the rent. So we are once again taking applications. We found out another couple who rent from us are moving. They are going into seminary and then to the mission field. But thankfully, one of their friends wants to rent and she will be moving in when they move out.

We are back over at the Elkhart Campground for a month. We will be going to the Brickyard Nascar Race the end of the month and maybe go to the fair for the first time in 40 years. It just depends now on how quickly we get the apartment rented.

Till next time. . .

Dale