I like hearing the wind blowing when I am laying in my cozy bed at night and it is snowing outside. But my brothers and sisters can’t wait for it to warm up again. They were playing basketball outside a lot when the snow was gone. I will be glad when I can go outside and play with them.

Dad had someone come today to re-shoe our three horses and Stormy the pony. Susan cleaned the back porch today. It was really muddy because that is where everyone puts their dirty boots. We also cleaned out the little storage room upstairs. Dad and Elizabeth’s special friend, Timothy, sanded the drywall in one room upstairs. It will be Elizabeth’s bedroom when it is done. Mom is going to get paint now to paint the room. Mom told the boys to clean their bedroom because it was messy again. Benjamin and Joseph always say their room is messy because Kevin messes it up. Kevin says it isn’t his fault. It looked a lot better when they were done. I think they are doing a better job of cleaning it up.

We had sandwiches for lunch and Mom made campfire stew on the stove for supper. During the summer we make it outside on the fire. I like the stew, it was really delicious. I usually don’t care for green beans but I like them in the soup.

After we ate supper Elizabeth and Timothy went to the community building where the youth gather on Saturday nights. They play games such as vollyball, basketball, and some just watch and visit.

Dad got us a border collie puppy. We named him Buddy. He is a lot of fun. We are teaching him to fetch our ball when we throw it. We are trying to teach him to stay on our property. When my brothers were cleaning out the chicken pen Buddy chased the chickens back in for them. On Friday Buddy grabbed Kevin’s cup from him and ran around a tree three times. Kevin was right behind him but could not keep up with him. We are having a lot of fun with Buddy. He is almost 3 months old and was born on Dec. 14, 4 days after my birthday.

Now it is Sunday and I want to write more. We don’t have church today. Elizabeth has some friends here that came home with her from the community building. Mom and we girls made breakfast for them. We all had biscuits, sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, hot peppers, cheese, milk, apple juice and grape juice. It was fun having Elizabeth’s friends eat breakfast with us. Susan, Benjamin, Joseph, and Kevin are outside. It was cold outside this morning but it is getting warmer. I am ready for spring. I like to help Mom and Dad plant the garden, but I don’t like weeding and hoeing it. My favorite vegetables out of the garden are sweet corn, tomatoes, and peas. I like the peas raw but when mom heats them up I do not like them because they are too squishy. I really like mom’s potato soup so I am going to give you the recipe how to make it. I like mine with a slice of Colby cheese in it and some crackers. It tastes really good when the cheese melts in the soup. We make this soup a lot.

I hope you readers will like it too. God bless you.

Potato Soup

3 cups of peeled & diced potatoes

3/4 cup chopped onion

2 quarts milk

1/4 cup butter

salt and pepper to taste

Put potatoes and onions in a pan and cover with water. Cook until tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Mash potatoes and onions with a potato masher in the water you cook them in. then add the milk, butter, pepper, and salt. Heat until hot but do not boil.

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