Family Time!

One of the great things we're finding about life here is that at weekends we're able to have some quality family time! When we lived in our little cottage we often had visitors or were away most weekends and so didn't have time to do the little bits and pieces around the house or go out and explore the area. Since we've been here it has been the complete opposite and we've been really enjoying it ... especially as Abigail is at the age where she's beginning to appreciate all we're doing!

Last weekend we were able to take a trip up into Charm in Holmes County (these first few photos were taken while we were there!) ... which has the largest Amish population in the USA. Millers bakery is known by all the MMS families as a little piece of heaven ... with freshly baked bread, pastries, home made pasta, spices and lots more ... it looks like a little wooden shed on the side of a hill but inside it's full of delights! It would have been rude not to stop in there and pick ourselves up some goodies!

We also visited Keim Lumber (www.keimlumber.com) ... a huge hardware store 'to die for' ... if you're into that kind of thing!! The Amish are known for their woodwork and there is a wood shed with some gorgeous looking exotic woods there. I think it's most DIY fanatic's dream store ... with everything you need, including a few things you might not ... like every version of Monopoly you never knew existed ... Pony-opoly, Christmas-opoly, Ice-Cream-opoly, Bible-opoly, DIY-opoly ... to name just a few that we can remember!!

While we were there we found the perfect school to enrol Abigail in when she's older ... Charm School!!! ... although some would say she started classes there a long time ago! ;o)!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing at home ... raking the leaves (which you can see below, Abigail loved!) and mowing the lawn. We also visited another church here in our quest to find one in a small town of 37 churches! We went to Coshocton Christian Tabernacle and were given the most amazing welcome that we've ever received in any church anywhere we've been in the world ... and really felt at home there! So it's official ... the search is over!

Although not even the end of November ... (and most here would say ... not even Thanksgiving!), last night was the Christmas parade in the town ... 'Miracle on Main Street'! It was a real eye-opener because there were loads of people there lining Main Street ... many more than we anticipated there would be in this small town!! We were treated to the delights of different marching bands, fire trucks, princesses ... the gingerbread man and Father Christmas (he isn't known as that here ... only Santa!).

Abigail really enjoyed waving as all the different things went past and we had fun with the Gettle family watching the parade and catching all the 'candy' that got thrown our way! Paul and Kristin Gettle and their 3 boys, Grant, Cole and Evan are another new MMS family who arrived from Alabama shortly after us ... so we're all getting used to Coshocton and MMS life together!