Skiiing!!!!

While on the lake, most of us tried out water skiing......Dad has had practice, and was the best of us all. He made it twice around the lake. Others of us, weren't so good!!! :)
Dad water skiing!!! :)


Noah getting suited up to give it a try!!


Ready, Set.........................


.........GO!!! (Esther made it up a few times, it was staying up that was the problem!!!!) :)

Saturday at the Lake!!!

This past week-end, we enjoyed spending Saturday with Uncle Tom and Aunt Barb, at their house in Lincoln, NE. They live on a lake, and we all enjoyed a day in the lake!!!! :)

Silas loved the Water!!!


Esther was the only one of us that didn't get sunburned!!! :)


Swimming!!!!! :) 

Corn!!!

This past week, we have been greatly blessed with many friends and neighbors giving us their extra sweet corn!!! This has been a treat to eat fresh, and we have been busy freezing it as well!!!!! The Shucking Crew!!


Cutting it off the Cob.


Phoebe helping Esther bag it for the freezer!!
That corn will taste so good this winter!!!! :) 

Stumpf Wedding!!

Last Weekend, our family traveled down to Augusta to be at the wedding of the daughter of our long time friends- the Stumpfs. We were priviledged to witness their wedding, and enjoyed catching up with their family during our stay with them.
Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Yordy.


Cutting the Cake!!!! :)


Rebecca and Esther serving cake.


Justice sure enjoyed Uncle Seth's tie!!!! :)

Best wishes, Nathan and Ricki!!! Thank-you for letting us be part of your special day!!!! May God Bless Your Marriage, and May You Live Your Lives Together for Him!!!! :) 

Happy Birthday, Seth!!!

(I'm not sure if I will be able to blog tomorrow (the 19th is Seth's birthday), so I am blogging a birthday wish for Seth in advance!!!)


Happy 20th Birthday, Seth!!!!!! May God Bless You this year!!!!!! Thanks for being a special older brother!!!! We Love You!!!!!! 

Happy Birthday!!!

In our blogging absence, we have missed 4 birthdays in our family. So this post is devoted to those birthdays!!!
Birthday 1:
July 7th;
Happy 23rd Birthday, Lydia!!!!!!!
May God Bless You this year!!!! Thank-you for being a encouraging older sister!!!! We love you!!!! :)


Birthday 2;
July 15th;
Happy 5th Birthday, Phoebe!!!!!!
You are growing so fast!!!! Thank-you for your smiles and hugs!!!! We love you!!!! :)


Birthday 3;
July 15th;
Happy 16th Birthday, Noah!!!
Have A Great 16th Year!!!!!! We love You!!!! :)


Birthday 4;
July 16th;
Happy 25th Birthday, Rebecca!!!!
We Miss You, Rebecca!!!! Come and Visit Soon!!! We Love You!!!!! 

Fishing.....

A few weeks ago, Dad took some of the younger ones on a fishing outing at a near-by lake. The Highway Patrol were sponsering a contest for whoever could catch the biggest fish. No one caught anything, but they enjoyed the time with Dad!!!!
Posing in front of the helicopter.

Caught anything yet????

And as a side note.........we are in the midst of potty-training Silas!!!! :) He is doing very well, and initiating using the potty regularly. :)
 

We're Finished!!!!

July 10th, we finished the last of our spring broilers!!!! Hooray!!! NO more butchering until October!!!! :) We finished the last 50 birds, and have no broilers on the property. What a great feeling!!!! :) We have ordered our next batch of chicks, but they don't arrive until mid-August.
We took a few pictures last time we butchered......


Nice boxing glove, Esther!!!! :)


What a face!!! :)

A LONG over-due Post!!!

Well folks, it have been almost 2 weeks since I last posted, and a FULL two weeks it has been!!! It seems like we have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off!!! (Very fitting, don't you think, considering the large quantities of headless chickens we produce here on the farm!!!!) :)
Things are keeping incredibly busy, with many, many activities and responsiblilities to occupy us.
Thankfully, the pictures actually successfully transferred from our home computer to the cd, so I have a bunch to post!!! :) So here it goes, I am going to overwhelm you with pictures of our recent weeks!!!!! :)

Another picture-less Post.......

I'm sorry. I love posting pictures, but until we get some things on our computer working right, you will have to satisfy yourself with a verbal update, and wait a little longer for the pictures.
On our computer, we have a filter on the internet, which recently has been denying us access to our blog, friends' blogs or anything that has to do with blogger.com (you bloggers will know that to post, you have to login to blogger.com, which is why I haven't posted). We have contacted our filter server, and they are going to adjust our filter so that we can access our blog once more. Hopefully, they will make the needed alterations and we will be able to return to using our home computer for blogging soon. Until then, I am taking advantage of the computers at a local Library (and immensely enjoying the High Speed Internet!!!) :)

Last week our last steer went to the locker. We had the locker kill and quarter him for us, and then we cut the steaks and roasts, and ground the beef. The fresh beef sure is tasty.
Esther and Elizabeth enjoyed a couple of days up in Seward, NE, visiting friends. They went up with the Ansons, leaving Friday night and returning Sunday evening.

The garden is flourishing-starting to produce those yummy vegetables our family loves. The peas are all gone now, but we have cabbage and broccoli coming in yet. We harvested the beets, and after eating many of them that day, froze several gallons. Esther has been able to have one of her favorite veggies- steamed summer squash and zucchini (don't forget the Parmesan cheese on top!! :), and the first cucumbers are on the table. Noah also harvested all the onions and garlic.

The Farmers Market continues every Friday night, where Noah sells eggs, surplus garden produce (there really is no such thing as surplus vegetables around our house!!!), and cookies and Esther sells her enormous (and delicious!!!) cinnamon rolls and fresh bread.

We are down to 50 some birds left to butcher this next week. We planned to only raise birds for our family and some friends this fall, but because of the huge demand we faced with orders, we are going to do a couple hundred birds again this fall. We have been butchering 2 days per week for the past 2 months, and it will be nice to have those days freed up again. We won't be raising birds this July or August, as the heat stunts their growth too much.

Our family all enjoyed watching our traditional 4th of July video- "Gettysburg". After a huge supper with the Ansons, we went to Bern and sat under a fantastic display of fireworks. Noah made a special treat - homemade ice-cream!!! :)

Well, time for me to sign off. Stay tuned for pictures- we will post the ones we've been saving up for the past 10 days as soon as possible! Have a Wonderful Day!!!

A Little Delay..............

We are having a few troubles with our computer right now, so our posting is going to be more sporadic for a few weeks. We will try to start posting regularly as soon as possible.

Happy Birthday!!!

Today, some one in our family is celebrating!!!
Happy Birthday Scott!!!! (Dare I reveal your new age???!?!?!?!?!) :) We are so glad that you are in our family!!!! May you have a wonderful, blessed day!!!!! We love you!!!!!

Now, I have been saving this next picture for the past few weeks, waiting for the perfect opportunity to post it......:) I guess today is the day!!!!


" Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Proverbs 3:5 & 6 

Our Highlight!!

I posted Esther's highlight, and thought I would add my highlight. As the celebration grew to a close, we took advantage of the freezing cold water in the swimming pool!!! :) Can you guess what we did??? :) Oh...............she's heavy!!!! (Not really, just really squirmy!)


Mission Accomplished!!! :)
So, if you are a 2006 graduate, beware, because if you come to our house, we will dunk you too!!!! :) 

Our 2006 Graduate!!!! :)

During the evening, we set aside some moments where Dad shared some thoughts + gave some exhortations and blessings to Esther. It was a special time. Dad shared some of his musings from the Book of Esther, and how they related to our Star.
Father and Daughter!


In appreciation of Dad and Moms' choosing to homeschool her, Esther surprised Mom with a dozen roses. Dad, got a super-sized bag of M'n M's!
Hats off To The Graduate!!!!!!!


Esther and the roses Elizabeth gave her.

Esther's Highlights!!

Esther, being our 'baby person', was surrounded by little ones. What a delight for her!!!! :) She enjoyed having one-on-one time with them, as did they!!!!
Esther and Mary Claire.


Esther with little Miss Karly Kroeker!


Rocking Justice to sleep!!! (She has the touch!!)


The little ones loved playing ball with Esther!!!! :) 

Supper-time!!

As the evening came, we started gettings supper things out.
Dad is our Fantastic Griller!


Going through the line..........


Andrew and Esther-getting in line for the choclate fountain!!!


Yummy, this food is good!!!! :)