This is Loretta, I’m Lovina’s daughter. I haven’t written Mom’s column for a while. I thought that since I have some free time to write, this would be the time. Right now, my husband is out with the children doing chores. They love being outdoors. Denzel is 3, Byron is 2, and Kylie is 10 months old. Denzel and Byron are my helpers throughout the day when Dustin goes to work. Denzel is potty-trained; I’m still working on potty training Byron. He’s a different cookie. Every time he needs to go, he says, “it’s coming,” hahaha. Byron will tell me when he needs to go, but it’s too late. Dustin has his own business doing excavating work and lots of different construction work, so he’s staying busy doing that. Throughout the winter, it slows down a bit.

Seeing sister Verena practice with her bow with a screen brought back memories of when I used to go deer hunting. That was before I was married and before our children were born. My husband Dustin had taught me how to use a bow, which didn’t have a screen like Verena’s, which would have been a lot nicer. My first shot was a small buck (button buck). Next, I shot a nice-sized spike, and you could see his antlers. Dustin told me that if I shot my first bigger buck, he would mount it for me, so he did. It wasn’t a big buck, but to me it felt nice to have meat in the freezer. It was also something in the future I could show my kids that I did. Nothing is impossible, which is what I love to tell myself. I also shot two does after that. I missed once, but that’s because I got pretty excited. I never really had a chance at getting a bigger buck, but maybe I can go again after the children grow older. Right now, Dustin and I do not really have a good hunting spot. If you don’t have your own hunting land, it’s hard to find someone else’s to hunt on.

Recently, we spent two weeks in Alabama. A cousin of ours had asked if Dustin would want to come out and help with the construction of a big office building that he needed help with. It was nice to also be able to go see where my Uncle Pete and Aunt Carol live, and their children. It was a very beautiful scenery. After the two weeks were up, we left that Friday afternoon and headed towards the Smoky Mountains. We drove up some mountains and saw a black bear! Very awesome!! Son Byron said, “Oh, there is a moo-moo cow!!!” Hahaha, we had a good laugh at that. We also went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and looked around. There is so much to see, so we didn’t get to see everything, but just that one day we got was worth it. If you go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, you’ll have to go more than one day to see everything.

We headed home Sunday morning, home sweet home. How you miss home when you leave for that long. While at the motel, Dustin would leave for work at 6:30 in the morning, and I would stay with the children. We stayed in a handicap accessible motel for two weeks. It was a challenge to keep the children happy in a motel room. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I felt worse for the children than I did for myself. But they did very well. It was at least a trip we could do that we could afford. Other than that, we wouldn’t have been able to go down there if it weren’t for that job. I had never been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in my life, so it was a nice experience.

I’m going to share the recipe for this coffee cake that my sister Susan and Ervin brought to our house recently when they came for supper. We really liked it and it’s easy to make. Susan’s mother-in-law gave her the recipe.

I’m going to sign off now. You all have a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

God’s blessings from our family to yours.

COFFEE CAKE

4 eggs

1 cup water

1 cup vegetable oil

1 yellow cake mix

1 box instant butterscotch pudding mix

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix

TOPPING

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Mix eggs, oil, and water together. Add both dry pudding mixes and cake mix and beat well. Pour into a greased 10x15 cookie sheet and then sprinkle on the topping and bake at 325 degrees for about thirty minutes. Optional- Two vanilla puddings can be used instead of butterscotch.

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