And the Winner Is:

Ta-Dah! N. R. Williams!  Congratulations, Nancy! Please send me your address, and I will send this out as soon as the book arrives (hopefully tomorrow).  You can visit Nancy’s blog by clicking here. Thank you, everyone, for participating in the drawing. I enjoyed hearing about your favorite Christmas traditions, and I thank you kindly for…

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My Favorite Tradition

At Christmastime when I was a little girl, I used to gaze across the yard and admire our “English” neighbor’s colorful and sparkling Christmas tree. I used to ask my mother, “Why can’t we have a Christmas tree?” She would normally sigh and give me the usual Amish answer, “It’s just the way it is.”…

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My Experience with Brauching

Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. ~ Luke 4:40 Mary Ann aptly described the many differences among Amish church groups in her guest post here. When I read her…

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Guest Post on “Brauching”

Many of you already know Mary Ann from A Joyful Chaos. I have long enjoyed her blog, with her riveting stories of her childhood/girlhood. It is through her (and other former Amish people’s posts) that I have discovered just how diverse the Amish traditions, rules, and attitudes are. Mary Ann shares with you her experience…

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New Front Door… and More

David and I spent untold hours with all the details… David had to build out all the trim because of the extra insulation and he stripped the lead paint from the frame. The little panels on both sides of the door are now filled with insulation, the door has a double pane, and David installed…

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Thanksgiving

‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving… I hope you all had an enjoyable and happy Thanksgiving. I sure did… it was one of my best ever. I had prepared as many dishes as I could ahead of time, so on Thanksgiving morning I only had to prepare five things: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and a…

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Thanksgiving with Mem’s Family – Part III

We had just passed all the food and were getting our first tastes when my uncles sauntered into the room. “Are you still eating?” they teased as they stood over my aunts’ shoulders with their full bellies. I wondered how my aunts could just blush and try so meekly to defend themselves, when I had…

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Thanksgiving with Mem’s Family – Part II

As usual, on this Thanksgiving Day, Momme’s living room was as spotless as her kitchen. A clock ticked pleasantly on the shelf above the bureau. The three hickory-bent rocking chairs sat on the hand woven rugs on the hardwood floors. There was a white sewing rooster sitting on her treadle-run sewing machine by the window.…

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