The Lutrick's Visit

I woke up at 7 a.m. I heard strange popping noises last night. It sounded like a giant popcorn machine outside. I guess it was fireworks for Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day).

Today is Koninginnedag, a special day set aside to honor the royal family. Queen Beatrix and the royal family walk through the streets of a particular town, and people entertain them and give them food and flowers, etc. The whole town or city will be decorated in orange, the official color of the royal family, “House of Orange.” People all over Holland hang the Dutch flag out with a special orange piece attached to the tip of the flagpole. It is one of the only days in the year that it is legal to hang the Dutch flag. I won’t go on my patriotism spiel. All I know is that I’m glad to be an American, even if I can’t live in the States, where the American flag is proudly flown from houses, restaurants, and stores. If you’re an American you’ve got something to be proud of, for sure! =) Koninginnedag is also the only day of the year that people can legally have “garage sales.” Actually, what people usually do is just put a blanket down or set up a table and sell things from there, since many people don’t even have garages.

I’m so excited; the Lutricks are arriving today! Tomorrow our conference begins at church, and Brother Lutrick Jr. will be our guest speaker. I’m looking forward to it. I know God’s going to do some great things.

After waking up (that usually helps, ha!) I did my devotions and then checked my email. Then I ate breakfast, shook out all my bedding, and moved it into Josiah’s room. After vacuuming a little, I made my bed. Yesterday Lydia and I got our room all cleared out, since the Lutricks will be staying in there. Mom made Lyd and me an omelet to split. I got a quick shower and then helped Mom make up Mrs. Lutrick’s (my) bed.

I wanted to do some baking for our company. Mrs. Lutrick loves banana bread, so I made 3 miniature loaves. Josiah invited me to walk with him to the bottle drop while they baked. The weather has been gray and somewhat humid today, but refreshingly cool. It felt wonderful to go walking, as I was quite warm from baking. We got home and it was time for family devotions. Dad read us a Psalm, and then he prayed. He asked if we wanted to get snack bar food. After taking our orders, he left to pick it up. I hurried to make scones. They baked as we ate in the living room. The kitchen was sorta messy with all the work I was doing. After we ate I then decided to make muffins too. I can’t remember the last time I did so much baking all in one day. =) I want our guests to have yummy food to eat. Mrs. Lutrick has three little ones, so she probably doesn’t get around to baking very much. I hope we can be a blessing to them for the short two days they will be with us.

We did a lot of work around the house all afternoon. It was dinnertime when Dad said we should go ahead and eat. We weren’t sure when the Lutricks would arrive. We were just finishing dinner when they pulled in at 7 p.m. It was nice to see them again. We first met the Lutricks in Scotland in October 2007. Then we saw them again in Germany at a Christmas banquet in 2007. We were seated at the same table.

Well, we set the table again so the Lutricks could eat. I held the baby, Keana, in the meantime. She is SO cute! I love it when she smiles. Josiah and I took Justin and Jackson down the road to see the ducks and goats. They loved looking at the ducks. Unfortunately the goats were already in bed for the night. =D Then we played ball with them at the school playground by our house. That was fun for them. They needed to stretch their legs after that long trip from Germany.

We talked for a good part of the evening. Mrs. Lutrick put the boys down for the night, and then she came and ate some banana bread with us in the kitchen before bed. We had a nice talk and then headed upstairs, as it was getting late. I look forward to the conference tomorrow. It’s going to be good! =)