Saturday, 12 May 2018: Brussels

I finally resolved the mail mystery.  I had forwarded our mail from Brussels to Austin for the winter and then I put in a temporary change of address to have everything delivered here while we are in Brussels for the summer.  Nothing came and nothing came ... not even junk mail.  When I stopped by the post office to check to see if I'd filled out the form correctly, she asked me if my last name was Miller?  Yes.  Well, it seems that while I'd turned off the mail going to Austin, I didn't really turn on the mail to be delivered here.  Angela, our delivery lady knew we were back, but I needed to tell them at the post office.  She brought out a large plastic box with everything they's been holding.  Thankfully there were not too many bills!

Jason, the cabinet guy, and all three of his kids have birthdays very close together.  Their family tradition is for one giant party.  Makala turned nine, Ashton turned 7, Parker, 9 and Jason, 36 maybe.  All the kids had their own cake and it was quite the event.  Justin and I went over about 10 in the morning to help chop vegetables for the booyah.  Jason and Amy said they were expecting about 25 adults and about 20  kids for the event later in the afternoon.  

Booyah, very common in northeast Wisconsin, is really a delicious chicken stew.  You can often find it at church picnics, county fairs, and various gatherings, but today, that was the menu for this private party.  Jason had a twenty gallon pot in which he boiled chicken, with just a touch of beef and oxtail.  We added onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, peas and all sorts of deliciousness.  Amy's parents were there early to help too.  All three kids were eager to help particularly with the carrots.  We left for a couple of hours in the early afternoon but returned in time for dinner and cake.  We even came home with some booyah for the freezer!