I know you've been dying to hear.....

How the "Amish" family reunion went. I've been dying to tell you but I have been busy as usual. This morning isn't any different - Jude has his little summer neighborhood group at 9:30, so I am cramped for time. I am just waiting for the washer to be done so I can hang the towels on the line (yes, I have a clothes line) before we go.

The family reunion was soooo INTERESTING. It was set to start at 11 A.M. Jake didn't want to get there before his parents so we showed up fashionably late. I guess that was the "englishmen" thing to do because when we first got there Paul's family was the only NON-amish who were there yet. When we walked in, Roy (Jake's uncle) was speaking to the family in Dutch. I, obviously, had no idea what he was saying. Then the women sang a song in Dutch - that is when I started to feel a little excitement. It was so strange. Not freakishly weird but just foreign to me. I looked at Jake - he still wasn't thrilled. After the talking and singing it was time to eat. Someone rang the dinner bell and the lined formed by siblings (the oldest and their families first). Anyone who has been "excommunicated" is supposed to go last but I noticed they didn't follow that rule so much. I assume that is why many of the non-amish came late. I am only guessing at that since I didn't conduct any formal interviews. ha ha. The food was good. It wasn't your typical pot luck. Instead of having 150 different dishes they served fried boneless chicken, cheesy potatoes and corn. The corn was fabulous. It was home canned corn and what a difference. I am definitely going to can corn this year (well, that is the plan). So, there were three main foods and there was A LOT of it. I saw kettles and kettles full of that corn. Then other people brought salads and desserts. I took a pasta salad that went over okay. There was some left. I don't think the Amish ate any....I didn't really pay attention. The desserts were good. I ate too much.

After all the eating people just sat around and talked. Pretty much the Amish stuck with the Amish and the outsiders with the outsiders. I did get to meet some people I had never met before - like Jake's Aunt & Uncle. It was funny because his Aunt knew all about us because she reads our blogs!!!! We talked with them for a while. I later found out that they were both Amish at one time and left the Amish way after they had there children! Only if I had known earlier.....I have so many questions. Be prepared next time!!!!

After a while I needed to use the bathroom so I went into the house. There were several people who recognized me and spoke to me. Some of the children (there were a zillion kids there) stared at me. And someone came up and accused me of being Paul Miller's daughter!!!!! Ha ha. I explained I was not his offspring but his favorite daughter in law! Later, Emma (a cousin) said people kept asking who the girl in the rose (I was wearing a pinkish colored sweater) was. The bathroom line was a painfully long wait. These little Amish kids kept cutting in line in front of me and I couldn't tell them to stop because they don't speak english!!!! On my way out of the house a little Amish boy came up and rubbed my belly! I gave him a weird look and he stopped.
When the place started clearing out we ate again and had a chance to talk with Roy & Lavina & their daughter Emma. She and I always talk when we go down there. She is probably close to my age or a little younger. She had FIVE kids!!!! They are all very cute. Linda said something about Jake's tattoo and Emma said she had noticed but wasn't planning to say anything...she just said, "Well, he is Paul's son!!!" How funny.

It was a fun time. I think even Jake enjoyed himself. He posted on his blog about it too so check it out!

BTW....the laundry was done a LONG time ago. Now I am going to be running around like crazy!