Slow DOWN!!!!! STOP!!!!! Stay on the ROAD!!!!

We have a new driver (like you really couldn't guess from the title)!!!!! :) Noah!!
Usually, when one learns to drive, they have one instructor, not so for Noah!!!! When driving the bus, there is no lack of instructions; from the 4 experienced drivers, as well as from the 6 or 7 other passengers who think they know how one should drive!!!! :)



Oh, and we also have a new lawn care agent......Moses is learning to use the riding mower!! :)

 

Pickin' Beans!!!!

Phoebe!!!!!


Charity!!!!!!

Elizabeth!!!!!



Esther!!!!!
Those beans sure taste Good!!!!! Yum!!!

 

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

~Andrew and Rebecca Shepard~
August 30th, 2003!
Happy Anniversary, Andrew and Rebecca!!!! It is hard to believe that it has been three years already!!!! What a special time that was for us; to welcome a new brother into our family!!!!!!! It has been a blessing for us to watch you two grow together in the Lord!!! May Your Lives Continue to Shine for Him!!!!
~We Love You!!!!!! 

Texas Travels!!!!!

Some of you may have heard of the Entreprenurial Bootcamp held in San Antonio, TX, August 10th-12th, produced and directed by Vision Forum. With many speakers including Arnold Pent III, Doug Phillips, Scott Brown, Geoff Botkin, Nick Logan and several other sharing Biblical insights and personal testimonies on how to create a Multi-Generational, Entreprenurial Vision, it was a challenging and inspiring conference. Dad, Noah and Elizabeth were able to attend, and received great counsel and encouragement.

A highlight for us was to hear and meet Joel Salatin (who introduced the idea of raising poultry in pens to us through his books), a third generation farmer from Virginia. A devoted Christian, Joel Salatin gave challenging messages inter-woven with practical advice and ideas. (He gave three different messages, and we had only planned on going to one, but after hearing it, we couldn't resist going to all three!!!! :)) After his sessions, we were able to meet him in person, and join several other people in further discussion.
In-front of the little river winding around the conference center!!!

Through some dear friends of ours, we were hooked up with a wonderful Christian family living not too far from San Antonio, who graciously offered us the use of their guest house. It was wonderful to meet the Patty family, and we so appreciated their generosity in allowing us use of their home. Although our packed conference schedule did not allow for much time to visit, we enjoyed the time we did have to get aquainted. Thank-you Patty Family for housing us!!!!

After a long day of sitting, Dad and Noah let off some steam in a game of ping-pong!

While in Texas, Elizabeth got to meet one of her pen-pals, who lived near the Pattys. Ruthanna attended the first night of session with us, and it was great to meet her!!!!! :)
Elizabeth and Ruthanna Prislovsky!

To break up the 13 hour trip, we spent the night (both ways) with Aunt MaJana in Oklahoma City. We had not seen her for quite awhile, so it was great to see her and get caught up on all her recent happenings!!!!!!!
Noah, Aunt MaJana and Dad!!!!

The Lord was gracious and gave us safe travels for the 26 hour round-trip! It was such a blessing to attend the conference and be so richly encouraged.  

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom!!!!

August 2nd, 1980 Michael David Ulmer
+
Donna Cecile Homan

Twenty-six years (and 22 days!) ago, our parents were married.
Dad and Mom, what can we say??? As your children, we have been given such a beautiful example of a godly, Christ-centered marriage!!! What a rare blessing we children have to wake up each morning knowing Daddy and Mommy love each-other and are happy together!!!!
Thank-you, Dad and Mom, for loving Jesus first, each-other second, and your children third!!!! May the Lord bless you with 26 (and more!!!!) years together!!!!
~We Love You!!!! 

Wisconsin Pictures.........

A few more of the pictures we took while I was in Wisconsin!!! :)

Aliisa cutting out our skirts!
Aliisa is a fantastic seamstress, and worked diligently on making matching skirts for us to wear to the Square Dance Convention (see below). She did a fabulous job, and the skirts turned out SO well!!!!! We also got matching shirts at a Western store, and so we were completely matching for the convention. Thank-you Aliisa, for making my skirt!!! :) I just love it!!! :)


Square Dancing at Convention!!
The Klahns love to Square Dance, and while I was up, they taught me (or tried to teach me!) how to Square Dance. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it a lot! The Saturday I was there happened to be when part of the Wisconsin Square Dance Convention was held, and the four oldest Klahn children and I went together. It was a lot of fun, once I got familiar with more of the moves!!!
Aliisa and I posing in our Matching Outfits (the hats were not part of our outfits, we borrowed them from the boys for the picture!)!!!
Thank-you, Aliisa, for a wonderful, memory-filled visit!!!! :)
 

Wisconsin Trip!!!

As a personal note, I would like to share one of my recent adventures with you all.
For the past three years, I have been corresponding with a very sweet young lady in Wisconsin. After exchanging many long letters, and becoming very good friends, we began pursuing ideas of how we could meet. We introduced our mothers to each-other through the telephone, and they discovered for themselves just how much our families were alike!!!! This past August, the Lord provided a way for Aliisa and I to finally meet- a direct answer to prayer!!!!!!!!
I was able to ride most of the way up with Scott's Mom, who lives only 3 1/2 hours from Aliisa and her family. I arrived at the Klahn home Monday night, and stayed until Sunday morning.
I had a wonderful time with the Klahn family, who all welcomed me and made me feel right at home!!!!! It was a joy to finally meet Aliisa after getting to know her so well through pen and paper!! :)
Me and Anja-6 weeks old-

Aliisa -16- and Elsie-2- bringing water to the calves!!!!

It was truly a blessing to be with the Klahn family; what wonderful fellowship we had, with lots of laughs too!!!! :) Thank-you, for having me!!!!! Hopefully our families will get too meet sometime soon!!!! :) 

Stangl Family!

In these past few months, we have had the opportunity to form a better friendship with a wonderful family in Nebraska. Several of our children met some of their children at a friends' picnic a few years back, and Elizabeth kept in contact with their oldest daughter. After corresponding for quite a while, they began planning how their families could meet.
In June, they came down and helped us butcher chickens- what a labor of love!!!!! We had a wonderful time visiting with them and our family enjoyed getting aquainted with their family. Elizabeth enjoyed visiting with Ellie, and getting to see her again. Charity, Silas, Julia, and Phoebe enjoying lunch at our house.


Silas and Michael.

In July, were we able to visit with the Stangls again, following our day in Lincoln. We joined them for church in the morning, and then enjoyed lunch and fellowship in their home. We all enjoyed visiting with them again, and hope to have them down to our place sometime!!!

A Very hot day calls for a Root-Beer Float.................


................and a dip in the pool!!!! :)
Thank-you, Stangl Family, for having us!!! Come visit us sometime soon!!!! 

More Pictures!!!

Saturday evening, we enjouyed a stroll down the lane, and when we returned to the house, we gathered 'round the bonfire to enjoy some smores!!!!!
The fire was perfect!!!!


Scott- he always got the marshmallows the perfect brown!!!!
Yummy!!!!!!! :)


Cousins!!!!! :) 

Travelers from the East!!!!!

The second to last week-end in July, we were thrilled to have Mom's sister- Aunt Dorie- and her two girls out for a visit!!!! Aunt Dorie traveled out for Lydia's wedding (March '05), but we had not seen Victoria (19) and Heather (17) since 2002. It was a treat to have them, and get caught up with all the recent happenings in their lives!!!!! :) Uncle Billy and Chad weren't able to come, and we missed seeing them.
They arrrived Thursday night, after a memorable flight (or rather, the flight was not extra-ordinary, it was the 7 hour wait on the run-way!!!!!) and spent Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday with us. We enjoyed their visit immensely, and hope they will make it a annual event!!!!
Here is a sampling of the pictures we took!!!! (We took quite a few!!!!)


Would you ever guess they were Sisters????


Heather and Silas!!!! :)


I got creative with this one, and did some special effects----Victoria reading to Phoebe.


Most of the group!!!!! 

Oops!!!

I just noticed that the caption belonging on Tabitha's birthday post was mysteriously lost during the upload onto our blog.
Esther's and Tabitha's birthday posts were both late, due to our filters 'selective service'. Esther's birthday was July 21st, and Tabitha's was July 26th. (Sorry girls, that your posts were late!!!!!)
Also, we missed Dad and Mom's 26th wedding anniversary, August 2nd, but we will post about that once the filter is working properly.


Brotherly Love!
(If this post shows up twice, I'm sorry!!!!!) 

Home Life......

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!! Such has been the motto here at the Ulmers this summer! I believe one could call it 'organized chaos', but who knows. :)
Our absence blogging has not been because we have nothing to blog about. Indeed, we have many, many pictures to blog, and the events that have filled our recent weeks could fill pages if they were recorded. On our computer we have a filter, and after several months, it is not functioning properly. For the past 3 months, we have not been able to access our blogging account, so can not add to it. That is the reason for our blogging to be halted. The filter is having a momentary laps of good behaviour right now, which is why I am able to add this post. (I am typing furiously, in hopes of posting this before the filter returns to alerting us of it's dislike of our blog by blocking it!!) The filter also blocks our commenting capabilities, which is why we have not commented on anyone's blogs. Thank-you for continuing to comment on our blog!!!!! :)
I am still trying to determine whether or not I will attempt to update you all with the happenings of our summer. We are in contact with our filter server, and they are trying to alter the settings for us, but so far, going is slow! Hopefully, they will be able to change our account to allow us to post on our blog again soon. You will know that the filter is fixed when you see a flood of new posts appear on our blog!

The computer was not letting me try and post without a picture, so I grabbed the first one I saw. It happened to be one of my favorites of the ones we have taken recently. 

Happy Birthday, Tabitha!!!!

 

Happy Birthday, Esther!!!

In our blogging absence, we have missed several special birthdays.

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, ESTHER!!!!!!!!!

Thank-you for your cheerful smile in our home. For your tremendous help in our home, and the example you give. We love You!!!!!!

"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."