Hello readers! This is Verena writing. It’s been such a hot week and I hope you are all staying cool. We are finally getting back into our normal routine again after Daniel Ray having off for 2 weeks over July 4th. Although we enjoyed our 2 weeks of no work and just enjoying our vacation, it is always nice to have our routine back. 

 Daniel Ray and I celebrated our 1st anniversary on June 20th. It was such a lovely weekend, and we enjoyed our time spent together. Our first year married was full of joy, heartbreaks, and love. We experienced a lot together through our first year married and it’s brought us closer than ever. Marriage is a beautiful thing if two hearts work together as one. Not a single marriage is perfect. Find the one who will love you at your worst. May we always be able to keep God first in our marriage. 

June 27th, Daniel Ray and I left with his parents (Alvin and Elsie) and five of his siblings for Colorado. His siblings who went along were Mary Kay, age 24, Anna Marie, age 14, Kenneth Lee, age 13, William James, age 9, and Alvin Dewayne, age 7. We left with the Amtrak train. We were on the train a little over 24 hours. In Colorado, they are 2 hours behind us. We arrived in Colorado on June 28th. We were ready to stretch out after the long train ride. We stayed at Daniel Ray’s Uncle Vernon and Aunt Katie. They have 6 children, the oldest being 16 and the youngest being 4. Katie is a sister to Daniel Ray’s Mom. It was nice getting to spend time with them and getting to know them better. We were 7,000 feet higher than where we live in Michigan.

 On June 29th, Daniel Ray turned another year older. His birthday was celebrated in Colorado. His parents bought pizza and we had cupcakes for his birthday. Colorado is much more dry than Michigan. The area we stayed in was mostly brown. It was not very much green grass to see. The mountains were a little hard to see with all the smoke from nearby fires. My heart goes to all those who lost their homes and to the firefighters working to stop these fires. May God keep his protecting hands over all these involved. 

June 30th, we had planned to go up to the mountains, but my left eye had a cornea erosion keeping me in bed most of the day. I ended up going to see an eye Dr and the Dr was able to put a contact lens over my eye and prescribe some antibiotic drops. It was a pretty bad erosion, and I had very bad pain with it. I kept a patch over the eye for the rest of the trip. We then went camping up in the mountains. We weren’t allowed to have a campfire or anything due to it being so dry. It was different to be camping without a campfire. We all slept in either an RV or tents. July 1st, we headed back to Vernon and Katie from the campsite.

July 2nd, we headed to New Mexico with a bus. We got on an old-fashioned train and had a 5-hour trip of the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad. The train only went 13 miles an hour and we went 64 miles. The railroad went in and out of New Mexico and Colorado. It was a very fun experience. Halfway on our trip, we stopped at Osier Colorado and had a delicious meal served to us. We had an hour lunch break and then got back on the train. The train had an open car that we were able to go in to see the scenery better. It was a very interesting ride and my favorite part of the trip. 

July 3rd we went driving around to see the beautiful scenery. We went up a mountain that was 11,000 feet above sea level. It made me get altitude sickness taking the fun away from watching the scenery. We didn’t stay up high long, thankfully. 

July 4th, we headed for the train station again to start our journey back home. The different people you meet on the train are very interesting. Sadly, we even got to meet some people who weren’t very well mannered. It is interesting to meet different people and it makes me happy for my slow-paced life here at home. It also reminds me to always be kind. There isn’t enough of that. We enjoyed our train ride and our time in Colorado. We got home late on June 5th. Home sweet home. 

Tomorrow night I will be hosting my family here for our family night. We all take turns hosting family night once a month. 

God’s blessing to you all.

Green Beans

1 pound fresh or frozen green beans 
|3 Tablespoons butter 
1/2 cup cashews, chopped 
1/2 cup bacon bits
2 Tablespoons honey 

Steam green beans until tender; drain and set aside. In a small skillet, sauté cashews in butter over low heat about 5 minutes. Add honey and cook one minute longer. Pour sauce over beans, add bacon and toss until coated. 

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by LovinaEicher, 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, PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email questionsforlovina@gmail.comand your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.