Computer Difficulties.

Although computers are a blessing and a big help in many areas, it seems they break down far too often. We will not be posting here for sometime due to numerous computer problems. Hopefully, we should be able to start posting again in a few weeks, once we get everything straightened out.

Our Joy Girl!!

Phoebe is our little ray of sunshine!!! She is very joyful and sensitive with a bubbling, sparkling, smiling attitude that is a delight to watch.
Here are two recent pictures that capture a glimpse of her personality!!! :)
All dressed up; prim and proper for a dainty tea-party at Scott and Lydia's.


Trying on Seth's work hat and sun-glasses!! :)
I thought those two shots were too cute to pass up!!!! :)
Anyway, today we had a semi-typical day, Dad had to work over-time at school last week and this week so they rewarded him with a day off. He worked at the factory in the morning and then came home and got Mommy for a little 2 day get-away. :)
We are finishing up the school for this week, straightening up the house and enjoying the mild weather!!! We got some rain Wednesday, and it sure is a blessing. We had barely any snow this winter and we really need the moisture.
Noah, our faithful gardener is working hard to get the garden soil in top condition for planting. For most of the vegetables, it will be a few weeks until they get in the ground but the potatoes are ready for planting. Noah also has several seeds started in the mini-greenhouse which will later be transplanted.
The rain also urged our daffodils, irises and tulips to pop up little green shoots. We look forward to seeing the flowers they produce!!!
Signing Off!!!!

The Birthday Meal.

Our family tradition is to give the birthday boy (or girl) the privilege of selecting a special meal on their birthday. Moses decided on shrimp stir-fry, a yummy treat indeed!!!!!

Esther cooks the shrimp while Moses looks on excitedly!!! :)


The finished product; rice, carrots, celery, onions, peppers, zuchini- all that good stuff!!!


The completed meal..........steak strips for those who don't care for shrimp, the shrimp and veggies.
Happy Birthday Moses!!! :) 

Happy Birthday Moses!!!!!!

Moses with Justice 2/11/06
We are celebrating today!!! Today is Moses' 11th birthday!!! Happy birthday Moses!!!
We are so thankful that you are in our Family!!! We love You!!!! :) 

Another Nephew!!!

And here is the other adorable little nephew, Paul Anson, who is a growing young man too at 3 months and one week!!! Ah, nephews!!!! 

Pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay!!! This is exciting, we've got pictures!!!!!!! This is our very cute little nephew, Justice Shepard! But of course, this is a 'old' picture, taken when he was only 2 days old, and now, he is a growing young man at the age of 3 months!!!
Wow!!! Stay Tuned, now that I've gotten this figured out, we'll be posting lots of pictures!!! (Hopefully!) 

Correction...........

Last year, as we celebrated Mom's birthday, there was quite a arguement on how old she was turning. Unfortunately, I came away from the celebration thinking Mom was a year older then she really was, so I put on here that she was 48 years old.
But, let it be known that today, Mom is 47-years-young!
(Sorry Mom!!!!)

Happy Birthday MOM!!!!!!!!

Today we celebrate Mom's 48th birthday.
Happy Birthday Mom!! Thank-you for being our Mom-you are the best!! May God Bless you for your constant care for this family!!!!! We love you!!!!! :)

Life if busy!!!

It is always nice to have a 'down' day, relaxing, spending time as a family, and getting prepared for another week. This past Sunday was such a day for our family, and it was nice!!! The weather was nice so we children spent a bunch of time outside, playing volleyball. It actually seems like we are getting a bit better at it!!!! The time the ball spends in the air, in comparison to the time it spends on the ground is starting to even out a little bit!!! :)
Last week Charity got a fever and has been sick up until today. Silas and Micah are sick too, but not as bad as Charity was. The Lord has been gracious and (so far) no one else has gotten sick!!! Please pray that the sick ones would soon recover!!!

Yesterday was Scott and Lydia's first wedding anniversary.........has is really been a year already!!! It seems like yesterday we had just met Scott!!!! And now, they have one year of happily married life under their belts, the sweetest little munchkin on earth (besides his little cousin!) and years more to look forward to!!! Happy Anniversary Scott and Lydia!!!!!!! :)
That's All for now!

Silas is Cute!!!!

For those of you who don't know, Silas developed some dark brown patches of various size and form on several different places on his body. Because those dark patches are a symptom of a disease, we had him checked out at a hospital in Kansas City when he was still under a year old.
Since then, they have requested that he have semi-regular check-ups, just to make sure that nothing abnormal starts happening in him. (They have found no reason to believe that he has any disease or illness, but want to keep him monitored.)
Mom took him in for a check-up at our local doctor's office. He was a regular clown!!! Silas has many teachers around here who delight in teaching him cute little tricks, which he picks up really fast!! :)
One thing that he picked up on his own, was how to form your hand into a pistol and then made a boom noise. It is really too cute, he runs around with his hand like a gun and says "gun" over and over again; his version of shooting some one. He even slouches on the floor like a sniper and pretends to shoot. After he mastered that, he discovered that a machine gun noise works better.
When having his check-up yesterday, the Doctor was looking at Silas's tummy and kept pulling his shirt up. Silas did not like him looking at his tummy and tried to keep his shirt down. Finally, in 'desperation', he looked up at the Doctor and gave the Doctor his very best machine gun shot. The doctor thought it was hilarious, especially later observing Silas crawl around on the floor 'shooting'.
Another thing Silas learned is to kiss hands. He has been shaking hands with ease for quite some time, but just recently learned to take the hand in both of his hands and very soberly give the hand a little kiss, then draw back with a huge grin!!
As you might have guessed, we sure do enjoy this little guy. His laugh, his grin and his little antics are so precious-we love him to pieces!!!
"

Wow; the week is almost over!!

It always amazes me how fast time flies!!! This week just started and now all we have left is the last day of this week (or the first day of next week, depending on how you look at it).

Thursday morning was a rush of school.
Esther and I left around 12:30 and went to Sabetha. After we got there, we ran a few errands and Esther dropped me off at Mary and Wavia's.
We got my quilt on the frame this week, and we are now ready to start hand-quilting a pattern across the top. We sewed 'running' stitches all around the edge and a couple rows across the middle (these stitches are temporary) to keep the backing, the front and the back all together.
With the frame we are using, you sew the bottom of the quilt onto a strip on material nailed to the frame and then later, once you've quilted the whole thing, you undo the stitches. Well, once we got everything sewed to the frame, we started sewing the edging on. But it started to get all sloppy around the bottom for some strange reason. We ended up having to take out a lot of stitches and such. So I started quilting one of the blocks while Mary sewed the edging. Well, she forgot she had pins all the way around and ended up sewing 3 pins into the edging. We had to poke holes in the side so get them out.
About 1/2 way through the afternoon, Mary and Wavia's (the ladies who are teaching me) youngest sister, Adeline drove down from Illinois with friend. They were all so glad to see each-other. It is so nice to see sisters enjoying each other. You can really tell that they developed close relationships when they were young, and have invested a lot of time and energy to keep them going throughout the years.
We got everything worked out and working smoothly by the time I had to leave, and I was glad. The sisters were excited about working on quilting the blocks over the week-end. I am excited to see the quilt taking more and more steps until completion. I would love to see it completed by April, but we'll see!!! I'll keep you posted!!! :)
(By the way, if you are ever in our area, I would love to have you help quilt some blocks!!!) :)

On Friday Esther cleaned in the morning for Grandma. When she was coming home, a hose busted under the hood and she pulled over. Thankfully, she had the cell-phone and called Mom to go pick her up. Our red van has a problem with it and is currently out of commission, and now the brown van too (but only temporarily).
The bus is still running well which is such a blessing!!! It has also been wonderful because Seth has graciously allowed Dad to use his truck to get to work, thus sparing the bus more wear and tear.
Friday night was food coop and Mom and I went in to get it. Seth stopped by on his way home from work and loaded up everyone's orders into their vehicles.
After years of trying to figure out how to distribute everything and split bulk packages up and such, they switched to a new system, which, although a lot quicker and more efficient, I am back where I started, with a big question mark. But it is really a pretty simple process, so I should be able to get it figured out before too long!!!
Lydia was there, so I got to see and hold Paul for a bit. Nephews; they are the best!!! It is just too bad that I don't have Justice close by.
After loading up, Seth and I went to tow the van home, but we didn't have any keys for it, so there was no way to steer. We ended up going on home, eating supper, and then Esther went to help him get the van since she is a licensed driver.

Today was a Saturday work day. Esther cleaned the kitchen and Noah baked for supper tomorrow night. We are having a seminar session at some friends house, but we are bringing supper so Noah worked on dessert. I worked on bathrooms and cleaning out the bus, which needed it pretty badly. Tabitha and Charity worked on the downstairs rooms some and Moses and Micah helped out wherever needed. Phoebe was helping me to scrub the front porch and I was slightly skeptical on just how much a 4-year-old could do to clean a very dirty floor. When I stepped out for a moment to get another towel to dry up, she kept on scrubbing and when I returned, she had cleaned a very large little spot, and did a great job!!! She was delighted to be able to help with such a task, and she truly was a good helper!!!!

Well, I think I should call it quits for tonight, I justed wanted to keep you up-to-date!!
Signing Off,
Elizabeth~

What's New at Your Zoo!!!!

Okay, that title is just a tad cheesy; but hopefully, it made you smile!!!! :)
This week is rolling right along, and I'm going to try and give you a glimpse of what it has held so far.
On Tuesday Mom went to pick up Seth's new (old) car. It is a 1987 Oldsmobile something or other. It is in very good condition for its' age, and he got a good deal on it. It is rather noisy though, and it reminds me of his first truck, which was so loud you could hear it a mile away!!! :)
After Mom got the car, she drove to Lydia's to help with Paul, who had kept Lydia up all night. Esther took most of the children to town, got groceries and stopped by the Library. I stayed home with Moses so he could work on his nesting boxes for his hens.
Dad was home for supper, and we had a quiet evening as a family.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Esther and I cleaned for neighbors as usual in the morning. The weather was really, really nice on Tuesday, but on Wednesday it wasn't too great. It was a good bit colder with a good, strong wind (the one thing I don't especially like about living in Kansas!) but Esther and I took a walk for quite a while.
Scott and Lydia came over during the evening with Paul and we all 'fought' over who got to hold him. Seth was working late, so he didn't get home until 9:00. Dad was working at the factory and he didn't get home until 10:00; we sure miss him when he works nights.
Today (Thursday) we have school in the morning and then Esther and I are going to Sabetha for the afternoon and part of the evening. Esther will be babysitting for our chiropractor, which she does one or two afternoons a week and I will be quilting.
I just love quilting with these two ladies!! They are 80 and 85 years of age, respectively and the elder one has lost some of her sight of late. They are the two youngest of a family with 13 children but have never married. They have lived together for many years, and have served their siblings and their families in many, many ways.
It is amazing and inspiring to see the things they are doing even at their age!! They still raise a very large garden and put up a great deal of vegetables and fruits. And they are very busy baking treats to send to relatives!! (They are great cooks!!) They are the nicest, sweetest and kindest old ladies you would ever meet.
They have so kindly helped me with these quilting projects, I am just so grateful that they are willing to spend their time passing on the valuable skill of quilting to a younger generation (me, and also they have taught 2 of my older sisters).
Well, I must run and finish school.
Signing Off,
Elizabeth

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!!!
A very happy birthday to a very special brother-in-law!!! We're so glad you are part of our family! May God Bless you on your special day and always!!! We love you!!!!
We had planned to post a picture here of Andrew (with Rebecca and Justice) but things aren't working quite right just now, so no picture yet.....hopefully we'll get it straightened out in these next few days!!!!!!!

Welcome!

Hello friends, welcome to the Ulmer blog!!!
We are experimenting with this, so please hang in there while we try and get things up and running properly!!!
We will be posting regularly and hopefully getting pictures on here as we go, please visit often!!
Stay tuned...........the best is yet to come!