May 17—May 10 was grandson Isaiah's (Ervin and Susan) fifth birthday. It would also have been my sister Susan's 47th birthday if she was still here. We miss her! Rest in peace, dear sister.

May 11 was son-in-law Ervin's birthday. He is 29. Happy birthday to Ervin and Isaiah!

Our family night will be held at Ervin and Susan's house on Friday night, so the birthdays will be celebrated then. Also, happy 21st birthday to nephew Ben!

Church services will be held at Manuel and Elizabeth's on Sunday, Lord willing. Son Joseph, 20, and daughter Lovina (almost 19) will start classes for baptism on Sunday. What great joy it brings to parents when their children want to accept Jesus as their Savior and join the church. It takes many prayers raising children. Without God's help I would be so lost at times. I am thankful for all my children and appreciate their respect. Our family experienced losing close loved ones, and that makes us appreciate each other so much more.

Today sister Emma and I have plans to go spend the day with sister Verena. It is sister Susan's birthday, so it isn't the easiest day for Verena. It is over two years since she passed away. We will eat breakfast together. I want to write this column before I go.

Sunday, our children came home for lunch. It was such a nice day! On the menu was grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, noodles, green beans (with cheese sauce and bacon), grilled asparagus, cottage cheese, Colby cheese, pickles, hot peppers, cookies, cinnamon rolls and ice cream. The children enjoyed playing outside while we adults sat out on the front porch enjoying the day.

I thought it was funny when granddaughter Allison (Tim and Elizabeth), 3, wanted to start eating and she said, "Mom, come peel my chicken."

Daughter Loretta said that Denzel, 10 months, discovered how to go into the bathroom and unroll a whole roll of toilet tissue. The fun has begun! Haha! He crawls all over the place and can go behind the couch and recliners and hide from Loretta. I'm sure before long he will be trying to climb on everything.

Granddaughter Andrea was a year old on Feb. 14, and she loves cleaning out cabinets. When she was here one day, she discovered the cabinet with my Tupperware. When I asked for the container and said thank you, she thought she needed to go back and get more. She would come walking with a Tupperware container saying, "Thank You." So precious!

Sunday will be Mother's Day, so niece Elizabeth and Manuel will serve rhubarb and peanut butter pies with lunch. I will make six rhubarb custard pies to help out.

I will share my rhubarb custard pie recipe this week.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, diced

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup cream

2 eggs

1 (9-inch) pie shell, unbaked

Place rhubarb in the unbaked pie shell. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, cream, and eggs and beat well. Pour over the rhubarb and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until set.