Daughter Susan had her 22nd birthday on January 24. We had cake and ice cream for Susan after supper.

I will never forget how glad I was when my midwife (Joe’s aunt Sylvia) arrived the day Susan was born. It was blowing snow, and the roads were drifting shut. Susan was born at 2:37 pm, and she was 6 pounds and 19 inches long. After Susan was born the storm continued, but we were finally able to find a ride to get Aunt Sylvia home.

Aunt Sylvia was a very good midwife and always by our side when I had my first six babies. She had a lot of patience. I think having quite a few children of her own made her an understanding midwife. One of the hardest things when we made the move to Michigan was not having her for my midwife and her good advice.

Baby Jennifer is ten days old today. Her checkup with the doctor shows that everything looks good. She is a few ounces below her birth weight, but that’s normal. She grew an inch and is 21 inches, 8 pounds, 6 ounces now. We are still having so much fun having her at our house! They are staying here while Susan recovers from toxemia. Susan is doing better every day and gaining her strength back. She needs to go get a blood test in a few weeks and another checkup at the doctor to make sure everything is healing okay. Jennifer is nursing well, and is very demanding when feeding time comes. Mose is finding out how babies keep you awake at night. He is a good daddy, and enjoys spending time with their firstborn.

The church ladies have a birthday basket that is passed from one lady to the next when a birthday comes. On your birthday, you take out what is in it and fill it up with whatever you want to give to the person who has the next birthday after you. Edna brought the basket to Susan yesterday and took a peek at little Jennifer. Susan needs to have it filled by tomorrow for Karen’s birthday. A covered cake pan is also passed with the birthday basket. Susan received chocolate bars and now needs to bake something for Karen. The girls will probably do it for her, since she has her hands full with the baby.

Sister Liz’s 49th birthday was yesterday also. So Susan was born on her 27th birthday. We wish her a happy birthday also and good health and God’s blessings in the year ahead and always!

Meanwhile sister Emma, Jacob and family are preparing to host church services Sunday. They all had the flu after they were home from Jacob’s father’s funeral.

Daughter Verena and I went to help Emma on Tuesday. Emma has brand-new oak cabinets now and is having fun finally getting her dishes back into cabinets since they started remodeling their house.

On Saturday Joe wants to help son-in-law Timothy get some work done that he needs to do before they host the next church services. I will go along and help Elizabeth with her work. The next two weeks will go fast for them.

Son-in-law Mose went to their own place last night to check up on everything, and discovered a broken water pipe in their laundry room. It brought the ceiling down and made a huge mess. Now they will need to get that repaired before they can move back home. It seems when it rains it pours, but it could be lots worse.

Loretta is waiting on me to go help wash laundry. We hang the clothes on the lines in the basement during these cold winter months. We let it hang until the next morning before we bring it up, fold, and put away.

I was hoping to go help sister Emma again tomorrow. Time will tell if I get that far.

Stay healthy everyone! The flu is making its rounds, and I wish everyone the best of health through this flu season. God bless!

Scrambled Egg Muffins
1/2 pound pork sausage
12 eggs
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/4 cup green peppers, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the sausage; drain. Beat eggs in a bowl. Add onions, green peppers and seasonings. Stir in sausage and cheese. Spoon by 1/3 cupfuls into muffin tins that are either greased or hold cupcake liners. Bake at 350 degrees for 20–25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Yields one dozen.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. She is the co-author of three cookbooks; her newest cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook, is available from 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at [email protected].