Spring has most certainly come!! The weather is lovely, and everyone wants to be outside (you know they really want to be outside when they offer to clean out the chicken coop!!!) :) playing or working.
The garden is starting to require more attention. We are really picky about what weeds we allow to grow in there!!! :) Sometimes it looks more like a wild weed garden then a vegetable garden!!! Noah has worked really hard to get the seeds in the little hot-bed and now they are big and ready for transplanting. The only problem is, we're not quite sure what to do with 100 cabbage sprouts and 100 broccoli sprouts and so on!! :) Yesterday Noah harvested the first of 3, 5-gallon buckets full of spinach!! Yummy!! Even though we all like spinach, that is a lot!!!
Esther is getting anxious to start her flower garden in the flower beds in front of the house. She is starting a collection of different seeds to start soon. Last year she had terrific results and if this year is anything like last year, we will be able to enjoy the beautiful colors all summer long!! :)

Dad and Mom took a little 3-day weekend away last week. They attended the Mid-West Home-school conference in Kansas City. They had two days for the meetings and a extra one to pray and think over what they had heard. Seth and Esther did a great job holding down the fort at home while they were gone. Dad and Mom really enjoyed the conference and had a wonderful time.

The computer is hopefully going to be repaired sometime in the next 3 weeks, so Lord-willing, we can maybe start up regular posts again sometime soon!!!
Have a Blessed Day!!!

Esther's Senior Photo Shoot.

Esther and I have been working on getting pictures taken for her graduation this June. Here are a few of the pictures we took.








Favorites Anyone??? :)

The Rest of the Visit

While the Kroekers were here, we pulled out the chocolate fondue fountain that Andrew and Rebecca gave Dad and Mom for their birthdays.
Enjoying the yummy chocolate!!! :)


Some of our younger ones enjoyed dress-up;
from left to right, back; Tabitha, Kyle and Katy; front; Phoebe, Kelsey, Charity and Micah.


Saturday afternoon we experienced a good deal of rain and wind as heavy storms blew through the area. But things cleared off andwe all enjoyed a long walk down the lane. The guys climbed the huge rock down the road and posed for this shot.
We had a wonderful time with the Kroekers!!! Come Again!!! 

Birthday Meal.

The second week-end in April, we were delighted to host our friends, the Kroekers in our home. They came for a 3 day weekend and we had a lovely time!!!!!! Because they came the day after Dad's birthday, Mr. and Mrs. Kroeker decided to take Dad and Mom out to eat for supper. A fine resturant not too far away offered to serve the meal. Scott and Lydia made a terrific supper and the parents had a great evening visiting. Elizabeth enjoyed caring for Paul and little Karly Kroeker (a month older then Paul).


Mr. and Mrs. Kroeker at supper.


Dad and Mom at supper.


Waiter Scott.


Waitress Lydia.
For some reason, this post is not allowing me to publish all the pictures I selected, so I'll have to get a new post for the rest. 

Wissmann Visit.

In early April, we were thrilled to spend a day with our friends the Wissmanns. Since the Wissmanns also have 12 children, it made for a full house-lots of laughs and special memories!!! :) It takes a lot of food to feed a group that size! :)


Moses, Stephen W. and Micah take a break after a morning of sports.


A bunch of Wissmanns and Ulmers gathered around Dad's lap-top watching funny video clips!! :)
What a great day!! Wissmann Family; Come Again!!! 

We've Been Busy!!!

We have missed communicating with all of you through this blog, and we hope to be able to resume posting regularly soon. But while our computer is still "under the weather" we are really appreciating the computers at the library!!!
We were delighted when a late winter (or was it 'early spring') storm blew in our way the last week in March. We received between 6 and 8 inches of snow, some of which melted off immediately. Besides snow, the storm also 'blew in' family members; Andrew, Rebecca and Justice! While we were pelted with snow, they were pelted with rain which kept Andrew from work and allowed them to take 2 days to come up North to visit 'the home folks'. We had a lovely time with them, and as the Anson household joined us, it was a lovely day of family time. Dad and Seth were both off from work and we got to get in a couple of hours of sledding; our favorite winter past-time!! The younger ones started a snowman but the snow melted before he could be completed!!!! :)
It was a joy to have the Shepards here. Having the two nephews together is such fun!!! It is amazing how fast those two guys grow!! :)
Now I'll put a little humor into this post, I think by the end of the story, you will be glad that technology has not yet made a way to transfer smell through the computer!!!! :)
It is one of those cool, spring mornings you read about in books. It is around 8:30 am and everyone in our house is up and about, cleaning up from breakfast and finishing last-minute chores before school starts. With the weather so lovely, all the windows and doors are flung wide open to allow the cool breezes to filter through the house.
Suddenly, a not-so-lovely smell starts to filter into the house (through all those wide open doors and windows). "It smells like there is a skunk outside this morning. Maybe one of the dogs got sprayed by one" some one comments. As the smell becomes more and more severe, some one is sent to peer out the windows to see if there is a skunk in the area. Our peaceful morning was rudely disrupted with the announcement "There is a skunk in the flower bed!!" Sure enough, our little visitor had been spotted by Roscer (Noah's Rat Terrier) but Roscer was unable to subdue the skunk without help, so he cornered him up against the house. The skunk was really annoyed by the barking dog and showed it by showering everything in sight with his 'perfume'. We shut the windows on that side of the house, hoping to eliminate the source of the smell and hopefully is would be driven to the other side of the house and out those open windows.
Thankfully, the skunk finally got around Roscer and headed off to make his presence known elsewhere. (He was intercepted by Noah and the shotgun before he made it under the barn.) Although he had left, Mr. Skunk left his mark and we 'enjoyed' the aftermath of his visit for the rest of the day. Ah, life on the farm!!! I think Roscer should stick to hunting rats...:)

No pictures this time, stay tuned, we'll post a bunch when our computer is up and running again!!!