We're excited today to have two of mom's sisters coming to spend the week with us! Eva and Ben Esh and their family are coming from Amherst, VA and Rachel and her family come all the way from Pennsylvania. Technically, their reason for coming is to butcher hogs, which is conveniently made possible in the warm summer with Larry's butcher shop facilities; but that really only takes a day and the rest of the time will be spent catching up and enjoying each other! As well as enjoying fresh sausage and pan haus (or scrapple). YUM!
As for the Relish Barn this morning, we're busy making chow-chow. Matt is gone for a week to SCMC, a Christian music camp in the Shenandoah valley, so the rest of us are filling in for him. In this case, "the rest of us" mostly means Bert and also Paul, with a little help from our cousin, Cristopher.
And... I introduce you today to Anna Joy Graber, or, as I prefer to call her, "Lollipop". (Ooops, she wanted me to keep that a secret. Sorry for spilling it, Lollipop.) She's the oldest daughter in the Graber family, sandwiched between boys, and 4th in birth order.
Ask anyone who knows her and they'll tell you Anna Joy is both a dreamer and a thinker. These two qualities combined make her a good writer. She has her own blog, Coming Up Roses under the pen name, Christiana Rejoice, and writes for this blog about half the time as well; as well as working here at The Relish Barn some when she's not teaching. She loves mountains, wild blackberries, and adventures, and has a heart for reaching out to the hurting and lost around her. In the winter, she teaches Math, History, and Art at our private Christian school, instilling a love for knowledge and adventure in the hearts of the children and in the Summer... well, in the Summer she mostly travels. At least the percentage of travel compared to work, etc. is quite large. This morning I keep checking my messaging frequently, hoping for updates of her current adventure. She's headed to the airport on her way to Guatemala for a month of Spanish school, and more than one of us said good-bye to her with just a tinge of jealously. As for the wild blackberries, if she must be gone for month, June is the perfect time for her to do so, because that way I get more of them myself. Yay! :) She is also on the board for our local children's ministry and works with the children from there as much as time allows.
That's all 'til next time, ya'll! I hope you have a beautiful week! Make sure to take time to watch the sunsets, pick some wildflowers, and spend some time with Jesus! He loves you so much!
~Mary Graber