The Little Boy from Kalamazoo, Michigan

traveling to Eastern Kentucky

once they stopped halfway through Indiana

; it was time for them to camp again at sundown.Where they stopped Stephen saw a dog that was part boxer and , german shepherd.It was a female dog . It looked like it had a home. Stephen petted the dog. The dog licked the little boy on his face.That big dog stayed with Stephen and , his whole family.Mom was taking steaks from the cooler to cook on the campfire.She was making potatoes that were baked.We sat around the campfire watching my mom cook dinner. We were singing around the fire until dinner was really ready.Wow , the sun was setting and, it was starting to get dark by the the time dinner was done. We all got our food and, I threw it up. I was getting sick from the heat. Mom gave me medicine for my stomach and, made me another plate of food.We also had iced tea to drink.It was so hot and,, humid and , the sky was clouding up . It was going to rain . we all put our sleeping bags in the wagon and , we slept wagon that night. The rain was pouring down and, there was hail that was nickel size . We were safe in the wagon. We all slept and said our prayer before bed. Dad read the family Bible to us right before we prayed. It was Thursday and, mom told dad that was expecting a baby . She was about two months pregnant. Stephen heard mom tell dad that she was pregnant but, daddy shook his head to say yes and, smiled . Daddy was very surprised!

. Soon it was morning we fed the chickens and ,gave them water. Then we gathered the eggs and, we washed our hands. Mom was making sandwiches for our journey and, then we had scrambled eggs and , bacon for breakfast. I After we ate,and dad watered and fed the horses. Soon we packed to go on our way . We took the dog with us because , she was following us. She never went back home. I named her Snuggles because, she liked to snuggle up with me But, she did wake up to get a drink of water and, she went back to sleep.. Soon we made it to Ohio. The river was there and , we had to cross it when we got to Cincinnati, Ohio. It was deep really. Dad had to make a raft and, take the chickens and some of our things across the river while the wagon and ,horses crossed over . Snuggles swam across the water. It was a very deep river. When we got across mom had to heat some of the water up on our fire so, we could change our clothes and , wash what we had on. We also had to wash our bodies also with soap and , water. So ,we changed and ,washed up first. Then mom did the laundry ,and hung it over a tree branch to dry. Then it was time for supper .Mom was cook some ham and fried potatoes. There was also corn on the cob we had that she was cooking. Of course we had water that night to drink. After dinner I said ,to mom," Can we go fishing ." Dad looked at Stephen and ,spoke up; " Sure let me make you a line and , hook on a stick but, you'll have to dig up some worms . " We can make us all a fishing. stick so ,we can catch some fish before we pull out. We were finally in kentucky after we crossed the Ohio River." Dad we sleeping here another night ?" dad responded ," Yes we are going to rest here one more night.” It was the weekend and , Sunday was coming . We usually had our Sunday meeting wherever we were as a family. This time there was a little white church down the street in town. We had plans to dress in our Sunday meeting clothes and , pack up and , go to church. We went fishing that Saturday and, caught some fish.We put them in the cooler so , they would stay cool. Dad ventured to the nearby store to buy some ice for our cooler. Dad came back with me a licorice stick that was black. He bought mama a new dress. Dad bought more supplies because , we were running out of flour and, sugar. Dad brought back me some crayons and, coloring book , so that I could color.

Dad got me a new outfit for church on Sunday . It was a white shirt and, pair of black pants.