Ohio Trip

For my birthday this year, we decided to make a trip to visit my brother and his family in Ohio, which is where I grew up. Although I only lived in the "Amish Country" area of Ohio for 4 years (lived near Cleveland, though, from birth through most of 6th grade), this is where I feel like I grew up. It was so awesome to visit my family and to see the picturesque views of the countryside. It really is such a quaint, beautiful area of the country.

Here's a picture of an Amish farm near my brother's house.

Another farm....see the rolling hills? So pretty!

What a gorgeous sunset!

My brother Chris talking with Elizabeth. He's gonna need a lot of practice with babies....he and his wife Kara will be having their second child in March. Such a miracle, considering that their first child, Noah, just turned 11! It took awhile for them to even be able to get pregnant with him, so this was a HUGE but very wonderful surprise!

And here is Noah....he's such a great kid! He and Anna have only met twice, but they have such a special relationship. Noah loved playing with her and Anna was in heaven!

A very common sight on the roads.

Chris and Kara took us to Hershberger's, a bulk food store/bakery/petting zoo. We watched an Amish girl making homemade ice cream. It was run by a generator, but it was the real old-fashioned type of ice cream maker. We didn't have any because it was only about 10 in the morning...however, we did eat HUGE longjohn donuts, fry pies (which are like those Hostess cherry-filled iced pie thingies but homemade and with amazing fillings like elderberry, strawberry rhubarb, blackberry, etc.), and peanut butter cookie sandwiches (yes, 2 peanut butter cookies filled with peanut butter frosting...mmmmmm!).

Here's my brother with Nathan standing next to the largest workhorse in all of Holmes County. My brother is over 6 feet tall, so that might just help you realize how humongous this thing is!

Caleb, Anna, and I taking a look at the girl feeding the ponies. It was an overcast day, but it still was so great to see the beautiful scenery.

Caleb checkin' out the ponies.

Nathan talking to the pony.

We had such a nice time and hope to go back when there's snow on the ground. My Floridian husband and children still have no idea what it's like to really see snow and to do all the fun stuff, like sledding down the hills, I used to do while living there There's something about this area of Ohio that just makes my heart so happy; I doubt we'll ever live there, but it sure is awesome knowing we can visit.