It's a good thing I have a sense of humor...

Remember this man from our church?

I mentioned him briefly here when describing our church's historic ice cream social.

Well, he left something for me on our car after church:

Sadly, they barely fit...

And since I am a fairly vain person, I have to also post a more flattering pic from today (31 weeks):

It's also a good thing that my pastor husband has a sense of humor, because sometimes I say things that MAYBE shouldn't come out of the preacher's wife's mouth, and he just laughs at me. Let me preface this story by saying a couple things. First, one of the questions I hate most is whether my due date is correct. It seems like such an insult to my intelligence, as if I was 14 and didn't know how my body and the whole process works. Second, the man I am referring to below is a good friend, and prides himself on being blunt and straight to the point. Thus....

When he asked me before church whether I was sure my due date is correct, I replied, "Actually, we use naturaly family planning. I can show you the chart and exactly when it happened."

No more questions were asked. :)

... we all scream for ice cream!

I am a little late in posting this, but the ice cream social on Wednesday night was, as usual, a success. Not sure how many people came through the line or how many gallons of ice cream we went through, but it was A LOT.

The line started early, and went on and on and on:

Here are the scoopers (6 on each side of the line- one for each flavor):

What's an ice cream social without some old-timey music?

The seating inside was packed, as were all of the tables outside (but unfortunately, I neglected to get a picture of that):

Moses skipped the food and ice cream and went right to the cake:

We're all exhausted, but already looking forward to next year!

I scream, you scream...

I apologize in advance for the massive number of pictures in this post. But not only does this serve to keep friends and family up on our lives, but it is also a place where I document important happenings for Moses to read later. And so, a TON of pictures...

K got up at 4:00 this morning to go with the men for ice. Two tons of ice, to be exact. I got up at 5:30 in order to be at the church when everything else started.

Here's where everything begins-- in the church kitchen:






With a whole lot of this, and a bunch of other things:


Here's where it gets cranked:







Cranker-in-training:


It's not a real ice cream social unless it requires a forklift to carry the ice:


Here's where it gets scooped for the bulk sales:


And here is where it gets stored:


The ice cream for the scoop sales is stored in their cans under ice.

I spent most of the morning cutting cakes and pies, only a portion of which are shown below:




I don't know how much meat we make (for loose-meat sandwiches, or "Maid-rites"), but I know that each vat holds 25 pounds, and we had a few going.

And here's the orneriest "old crank" you could ever meet :):


And then the best part of the morning-- we open the last two cans and eat them ourselves!


Not bad for starting at 7, and being done by 11, eh?

And now we have down time until about 4:00!

It's that time of year again!

For over 120 years, our church has been hosting an ice cream social, the proceeds of which go to missions. This isn't just any ice cream. It is 200 gallons of fresh, homemade ice cream, hand-cranked by members of our church. Preparations start weeks in advance-- for example, we make the caramel for the caramel ice cream from scratch.

It is always the second Wednesday in July-- except during the World War (II?) when sugar was rationed, and during the 1993 flood. Just two more days! I can almost taste it.... Six flavors: vanilla, chocolate, caramel, peach, pineapple, and strawberry. AND, we also serve homemade food, pies, and cakes.

Approximately 2,000 people go through the lines. And for a town of 3,000 and a church of about 100, that's an incredible turnout. Last year, we had people there from both coasts. Families originally from this area plan their return visits to ensure being here for the ice cream social.

The men go by 5 in the morning to get final supplies, like ice. The rest of us show up around 7, and that is when the real fun begins. We wrap up about noon, and go home and rest. The lines (for food, ice cream, or take-home pints) open up at 5:30, but customers start arriving about 4:00. People know that if they don't get there quickly, we'll run out and there won't be any more until next year.

Here are some pics from last year (before I was blogging):

When the ice cream gets thick, someone has to stand on it to keep it down. Either that, or K is a weakling. Look at his face!


Notice the tractor rigged up to churn ice cream. That's the invention of one of the men at the church.


Do you see my little baby in the background?!

Little Church on the Prairie

Today was the last day of vacation Bible school ("The Incredible Race"). Here is Moses, carrying his canned goods for the food drive:

Tonight we had the program, and lots and lots of food and games. Here's the setting:

Here are the kids singing an old favorite with a twist:

And then, the games! It was a dreary night, so everything was inside.

Moses needed a little help from Daddy with this one:

Moses obviously enjoyed the orange sucker, especially while sitting next to his friend Susan:

Phew, what a week! Signing off for a few days-- I'm speaking at a bioethics conference this weekend, and this time Moses and K get to come with!