TTT Happy Holidays To All! TTT

Gingerbread House
Group Mackenzie & Paragon Restaurant team
". . . and to all a good night!"

UPDATE -- Holiday Event
by Barb Anderson
Portland, OR

The architecture/engineering firm where I work (Group Mackenzie) participated in the Gingerbread Kingdom in Portland again this year. Our entry is displayed in the Pioneer Place Mall downtown Portland but can also be viewed online at www.gingerbreadkingdom.com .

It was a lot of fun...about 10 of us helped out to create it ... most of it happening in one weekend since we are all procrastinators! The project is a fundraiser for the Neighborhood House.

The idea behind ours is that it's Christmas Eve and Santa and the reindeer have just left the North Pole to deliver the toys. All of the elves are exhausted and fell asleep wherever they were!

Happy Holidays!
Barb

Photo Editor's Note: I urge you to take a look at the referenced web site to see this innovative fundraising competion. Collaborating bakers and architectural firms compete for votes (and charitable donation dollars). The creative teams have a good time helping others who are having a hard time during the holiday season. Check out the Photo Gallery link to see all the entries; click on thumbnails to see enlargements. Check out the vote tallies, too. It's well worth your time!


Engaged:

Heidi Kaye Johnson to Ryan Lowell Henderson

Announcement is made of the engagement of Heidi Kaye Johnson, daughter of Rich and Marlene Johnson, of Long Lake, Minnesota, to Ryan Lowell Henderson, son of Chuck and Tammy Henderson of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They plan to marry in the summer of 2005.

Heidi, Ryan
Ryan and Heidi


FAMILY UPDATE -- It's A Boy!

Jonathan Glen Hill
8 pounds 3 ounces
19 inches
Born 8:22 a.m., December 21, 2004
To Nathan and Brenda Hill
Wahpeton, ND

Welcome! Jonathan Glen Hill, born by Caesarean section at the winter solstice, on the shortest day of the year, went home Thursday with his mom, Brenda, where he was welcomed by his dad, Nathan, sister Jazmine and foster sister Summer. His proud grandparents are Mertis Hill and Dwight and Janie Anderson. We are looking forward to receiving pictures of Jonathan and his family whenever they are able to send some. Congratulations to Jonathan's proud parents -- and our best wishes for the holidays and the new year to all.


FAMILY UPDATE
by Richard Johnson
Lowell, OR

I guess summer must really be over if it's December and raining, so no more excuses for putting off the update.

Our main project this year is a 21 lot addition to our Sunridge Subdivision in Lowell. Mia does most of the planning and after years of working on it we were ready to start work on the ground early this spring. We do all the clearing, grubbing, underground pipe laying, and street subgrades in preparation for curbs, paving, and sidewalks. "We" means Mia, Mia's dad Roy, and me. We usually have a temporary worker or two to help us when we are laying pipe.

This was a big project for us because we had to put in about a quarter mile of pipes outside the subdivision to get storm water and sewer where they need to go. We had extra motivation to work hard on the downstream 18 and 24 inch storm pipes this fall because the streets were getting paved. When the water runs off the street it goes into catch basins and straight into the pipe we were still putting in the ground. We got it in just in time. We won't have to do that for future phases now that it's in place. We worked a lot of 80 hour weeks to get it done and now we're almost there.

We also have an addition to our family for a while. Ariel Betzen-Dawson is living with us since August. He is 16, and we've known him most of his life. His dad lives in Washington and his mom in Germany. Ariel asked if he could live with us for a while, as neither of his parents are able to provide a living situation that suits him as well as we have here on the butte. It seems to be working out well all the way around and we have plenty of work for him to do on the land.

It was good for Wiley and Arbor to have another "brother" around to do stuff with while we were working every day from dawn to dark. Unfortunately we can't just bring them along to work with us on construction projects. They can do farm work but not construction, so they take care of checking on the goats and fixing fences.

We have lots more farm work to do as we build up our goat herd. We are trying to clear some land we bought that was logged and left a mess a few years ago. The goats clear out blackberries and other non-native weeds that choke out trees and grass. The goal is to move toward restoring some land to oak savanna. It is a threatened ecosystem here, and there is no market incentive to save it. It was traditionally maintained by fires that were set by the native Indians or occurred naturally from lightning. The Indians found game and some plants they could use in oak savanna, so they would burn it, keeping it from reverting to forest.

Aggressive non-native plants that have been introduced along with fire suppression and development have wiped out most of the oak savannas. Those that are left are usually in decline and filled with non-native weeds and grasses. Of course the goats are happy to eat native, rare, and endangered plants along with the weeds, so we don't know how well we can repopulate native plants. We'll never know unless we try. The consensus is that it is better to have a savanna with the non-natives in it than none at all.

We have had some success in getting grants to help pay for planning, studying, tree removal, etc. since we are working toward an ecologically desirable outcome. Our hope is to achieve some level of restoration that is compatible with a level of pasturing, and possibly logging, that can pay for maintenance after the grant money dries up.

Our idea is to build a goat herd that can live in this climate without supplemental food and shelter and is good for meat. Goat meat is much more in demand than it used to be, so there is a good market for meat goats if the cost of raising them isn't too high. We've started with Kiko goats that were bred from feral goats in New Zealand and it appears that at least some of them will do OK.

We posted a few more pictures of us on the web. You can see them at http://butteheads.com

Mia trench Richard, laptop
Mia Nelson in trench, left; Richard Johnson writing update, right.
This was a Thanksgiving letter, but the old man is kinda slow, so
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


FAMILY UPDATE -- New Puppy
by Lori Chap
Maple Grove, MN

Meet Tate
He's a Papillon/Long-Hair Chihuahua mix, born October 24, 2004. I got him from my step-mom as a surprise Christmas and birthday present. Jake's got a new brother!

Tate Jake and Tate
Tate, left; Jake with his new "brother," Tate, right.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN

Thank You
from Caity Chap
Ashby, MN

 Thanks to all of you who sent gifts and cards to Caity during and after her hospital stay. She truly appreciated your thoughts and prayers! She was a very sick little girl, but is looking good again now. I think she's caught up on her rest and is almost caught up on her homework, too!

Caity with balloons and teddy bear from her Great-aunt Linda Zitzmann and family.=>


The Matriarch Speaks W
by Dorothy (Dake) Anderson
Alexandria, MN

Starting with Bulletin 124, I plan to run biographical sketches of the members of our staff. When that has been done, I want to run sketches and pictures of each of the readers and subscribers who have not already done introductions. Please tell us about yourself. What is your work and what else do you do with your time? How are you related or what friend introduced you into the family? I am hoping that you can share family photos and background sketches. Send all manuscripts and pictures to me at dma49261@juno.com

Introducing our other Ashby correspondent for The Bulletin...

Beaver
David "Beaver" Johnson

I live in the woods and lake country of Minnesota, on the farm east of Ashby where I grew up. I have a small gravel business along with farming. Without leaving our farm, we can see deer, eagles, wild turkeys, Canada geese, egrets, pelicans, brush wolves, beavers, and many other animals. We live in oak woods, with two lakes, many sloughs, and high hills with wonderful views.

I spent most of my growing up years wanting to be grown up right away. Dad channeled my excess energy into learning to work, so I was operating machinery and driving dump trucks years before I was old enough to take driver's education.

I graduated from high school in 1968, and spent a year going to junior college. The following summer, I left for eight months on active duty in the Air National Guard, learning aircraft radio repair.

When I came home, my folks had bought a nearly defunct coin laundry in Ashby, and were busy restoring it to working order. I went to work driving a truck for the Ashby Creamery, doing repairs at the laundry, and hauling gravel. My brother, Richard, who was still in high school, did most of the farming, while Dad and I helped out when we could. Together, we kept the farm and gravel business alive until Richard decided to spend winters elsewhere (see his story of his trip to Alaska, Bulletin 89) in 1975.

By then I was working at the Ashby Equity Co-op as a sort of jack-of-all trades. I quit my job to farm and haul gravel, driving school bus for regular income. I've never regretted that move, enjoying the satisfaction of spending my time outside, being my own boss, and watching kids learn by helping with the farm work.

At this time, the farm included sheep, hogs, beef cows, feedlot cattle, and the production of hay and corn silage. A few years later, we bought my wife's home farm. On the added land, we raised grain corn and soybeans.

The sheep and hogs are gone, but little else has changed. I never seem to be able to afford new machinery, so I farm with tractors that are about to enter their fourth decade. My gravel truck is old enough to vote, and at least one of my loaders qualifies for Social Security. If I ever quit farming, there will be no need to have an auction sale; I will simply call an antique dealer.

I enjoy community service in my spare time, having served on local co-operative boards, school board, school building committee, and in several positions at the American Legion.

Donna Sivertson and I were married in 1973, and have three wonderful sons, Wyatt, Weston, and Ben, who you know through their writing in The Bulletin. We divorced in 1991.

In July of 1992, Shari, who I knew from her friendship with my sister Kathy, introduced me her cousin Donna. Donna loved my farm, and thought she could put up with me. When I realized that we really were soul mates, I let her and Shari kidnap me, and we were married January 24th, 1994, in the Manatee County Courthouse in Florida. We decided that she would henceforth go by "D," as there were entirely too many Donnas ... but that's another story.

We have been blessed by having a wonderful blended family, and I feel very comfortable as a part of the Anderson clan. With my siblings living in Alaska, Oregon, and the far reaches of North Dakota, it's a great feeling to have another family nearby.

D and I plan to retire when we go broke, and stay with each of our kids for a couple of months at a time. We will tell them that the only way they can avoid having us as house guests is to send us money so we can stay home.

D and I love to travel, and have been able make trips to Alaska, Washington, D.C., Texas, Mexico, and many less distant destinations. Fair warning to my siblings -- our talk about traveling lately seems to center on Alaska, Oregon, and North Dakota.

We love company, D is a wonderful cook and hostess, and I enjoy playing tour guide, so stop in and see us. If you come at the right time of the year, you might even get to help us pick rocks or haul firewood!


LTD Storybrooke

Watching The Fire
By Larry Dake

Watching the fire is as essential to the good life as purring the cat. These cold winter evenings when we sit in front of the stove with our feet up, our cares drift up the chimney with the smoke. The intrigue of the flames focuses our minds. And as the fire dies down, the impending darkness, and the glowing embers, draw us together.

It's a ritual as old as time.

As a teenager I became aware of this one warm summer night when my cousins, James and Kathleen, came up from Texas to visit us in Minnesota. Donnie and I invited them for an overnighter canoe trip on "our" Rum River. When evening came, we pulled the canoes from the water to set up camp under some old oak trees that were growing on a natural river terrace.

The first thing we did was build a small fire and throw green grass on it, to chase the mosquitoes away with the smoke. The coffee pot was set in the flames to boil water while steaks were grilled and eaten. When night began to fall, we collected armloads of sticks from the forest floor and built the fire into a roaring blaze.

Sitting and standing around the roaring flames as they leapt high into the air, sending showers of sparks skyward, we laughed, joked, and shared wild stories. We torched marshmallows, and James led us in making firebrands and twirling them about in crazy patterns. We made such a ruckus howling and singing that we apparently kept someone in a distant farmhouse awake. (Late in the evening they came out and started blowing their horn.)

We were having a rip-roaring good time!

When the fire began to die down, we quieted down, too. It turned slowly from roaring flames, to brightly glowing coals, with occasional licks of blue. We gathered in close and our conversations turned to more serious talk.

As we sat together, the coals dimmed to glowing embers. In the cool, wee hours of the morning we were snuggled shoulder-to shoulder, mesmerized.

Kathleen breathed in her sweet Texan drawl, "Hey ya'll, wouldn't it be somethin' if we could spend the rest of our lives just floatin' down the river, an' sittin' by the fire?"

I nodded wholeheartedly, "Mmm-HMM!"

And, at that eternal moment -- it was true.

The same blackened coffee pot that sat by the shimmering coals that morning sits by the fire in our living room today.

And I'm still drifting down the river.

As I go, fires have marked many of the best times. Because the best times are -- when friends and family are drawn together.

And that's what fires do.


Travelogue t

The Bolivian Beat
By Kjirsten Swenson

Editor's Note: Kjirsten has returned to Bolivia for a second year of independent study in Morochata, prior to enrollment in medical school at Baylor University in Houston, in 2005. She spent several weeks trekking around Bolivia before returning to the hospital in Morochata. This episode actually occurred a month ago; this way, we have Kjirsten's photos to illlustrate it.

After the ceremony
After the ceremony, a blizzard of mistura (confetti). Any celebratory occasion in Bolivia includes lots of mistura throwing. Daniela in the arms of Martha, her mother, with Dentista Karina and Kjirsten at right. The woman at left (grandma?) is not identified in Kjirsten's photo notes.

Happy Thanksgiving, a day late! Yesterday I arrived from Morochata and Katya invited me to a Thanksgiving dinner at her English institute here. No turkey, though. :( But the baked chicken was tasty, and I did eat mashed potatoes, too.

Two weeks ago Saturday was the baptism of one of the doctors' daughters. He had asked me to be the madrina. In Bolivia, madrinas and padrinos are named for all sorts of events, from weddings to town festivals. My friend Luis is saving his money because he's been asked to be the padrino of the sound system for the big potato festival next April.

In Bolivia, the Catholic church doesn't baptize babies as newborns. Instead, the religious ritual has been mixed with original rite-of-passage events of early childhood, and as a result, usually happens after the child is at least a year old.

Juan's daughter Daniela will turn four on Christmas eve and is my special buddy when she visits her papa in Morochata. We play with my aerobie, pick flowers, look for farm animals, and buy chocolate, too. So when Juan and Daniela's mother asked me to be her madrina, I agreed. I think officially padrinos are supposed to be married by the Catholic church, so as a single non-Catholic, I wondered how acceptable it would be ... but the parents weren't concerned and the church officials never asked for more than my name.

My initial responsibilities included buying the clothing she'd be baptized in and picking out a special gift. Friday afternoon I met "Dani" and Martha in La Cancha, Cocachabamba's infinite market. Somewhere near the stands of oranges and bananas, but before the contraband electronics section, we found a beautiful cream dress and matching cape for around $12. Dani chose fancy shoes to match. Her parents and I pooled cash to buy a rather extravagant gift: a child-size car powered by batteries.

Afterwards they invited me to their cuarto, literally to their room. Their "room" is their entire living space, and seeing it reminded me that the family I live with is so well-off in comparison to most Bolivians. He's a doctor and she's a student. I don't know how much he makes, but it would certainly be a lot more than most Bolivians. He spends most of his time in Morochata, but when in Cochabamba, lives with Martha and Dani in a room no larger than my bedroom. It was crowded with a double-bed, a couple of cloth-covered hanging racks, and a table and chairs.

I was presented with a plate heaped with chicken, rice, and potatoes, and obliged to show my gratefulness by eating it all. Back at my family's house, everyone had just returned from Valentina's preschool "graduation." I had missed it, but they had oh-so-generously saved me a plate of chicken, rice, and potatoes...

That afternoon we met perhaps 30 other families baptizing children at a church in Cochabamba's center. In the priest's baptism sermon, he talked about the importance of parents and compadres (me) in the life of children." After the ceremony we went out to eat with a few friends and relatives and consumed enough for two days. I wish Bolivians didn't show love by making me eat.

Sunday I returned to Morochata and have been here since. Because of the weekend festivities I hadn't managed to buy fruit, but at 5:30 a.m. vendors were already selling at the bus stop. I bought 23 smallish mangos, 30 tiny apricots, and 10 apples for less than $2! Mmmmmm...

The rains have come and the corn is growing. Not much else is happening around here. That's part of why I love it so much! We've been visiting nearby communities to vaccinate, and last Tuesday hiked for over two hours to reach a tiny village spectacularly located on top of a very high hill. We left at 5:30 in the morning and literally walked through the clouds. I'll try to post photos today or tomorrow.

Yesterday I said "goodbye" to Morochata, ate one last plate of potatoes, rice, and saice (stew) in the old hospital, and was on my way. I shall miss the place and people very much. When I return in March or April, they should be moved into the new hospital.

I plan to take the train to Uyuni to visit the salt flats, and from there will make my way toward the Argentine border. So I am furiously doing laundry, sorting, storing, packing, ugh. And now I'm late for lunch!

Hasta luego,
Kjirsten

Kjirsten, "Dani" Martha, Daniela, Karina, Kjirsten
Kjirsten and her aijada, Daniela, left; with Martha & Karina, right.

More of Kjirsten's photos may be seen in her Webshots album here: http://community.webshots.com/user/kjswenson


v Working @

This series on driving a truck in The Netherlands begins in Bulletin 125, continues in Bulletin 128 and Bulletin 131.
My "Workaday" Part 4
Story & Photos by Frans de Been
Oosterhout, The Netherlands


My nephew Bastyn, who is 10, is on his holiday, so he rides along...


Oh yes, McDonald's calls... It was his day -- he was having fun and could tell his friends how it was to be on a truck with his uncle. When you leave for a second, they take it over!!!!!!! Even the "Big Boys" have fun that day. My son Koen has to take the wheel.


So we go to the customer and deposit the container  But first we must get it open with a pliers and show what we have here: furniture with some chairs, strawberries from China, cheddar cheese from "Yes," the USA, and all kinds of X-mas lighting from China.

We put out the girder of the trailer and we take an empty one to continue this, sometimes three times a day. After a day's work, we fill up the diesel and go home after 12 to 15 hours.


And why do I do this every day? Yes, here they are again: new BILLS on the doormat!


Dutch Treats for the Holiday Season

Now I will send you a different Dutch recipe that we use at New and Old Year. This is named Poffertjes (small pancakes). Poffertjes are like pancakes, but smaller and thicker; they taste sweeter and ... better! Usually they are served with powdered sugar, syrup and butter.

You will need a poffertjes pan. This was originally an enameled cast iron (one handle) fry pan with about a dozen small depressions covering the whole bottom of the pan.

Here it comes... Bon Appetit!

Photo Editor's note: To convert Frans's European measurements by weight to US cups measures that are more familiar to most of us, I used the cooking calculator here and my kitchen scales:

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions.htm

I don't have a poffertjes pan, but I do have a Danish aebleskiver pan, which is quite similar. I rely on a skewer to turn aebleskivers. (Knitting needles, a fondue fork, a cooking fork, or even a table fork, will work, too.) For a picture of a poffertjes pan and turning fork, click here:

http://fantes.com/aebleskiver.htm

Dutch Poffertjes
(Tiny Pancakes -- or "Puffers")
by Frans de Been
Oosterhout, The Netherlands

Ingredients

125 grams flour (1-1/8 cup)
125 grams buckwheat flour (1-1/8 cup)
300 mls. lukewarm milk (1-1/4 cup)
1 egg
10 grams (2 teaspoons) dried yeast
2 Tablespoons corn or golden syrup (optional)
pinch salt
75 grams melted butter (1/3 cup)
icing (powdered) sugar

Method

Dissolve the yeast in a small portion of the milk.

Sieve (sift) all the flour with the salt, make a hole in the middle and pour in the yeast mixture. (Note: 1/8 cup of flour is equal to 2 level Tablespoons. If you don't have buckwheat flour on hand or can't get it, you can substitute the same amount of whole wheat flour.)

Stir from the center, slowly adding the remaining milk and later, the beaten egg and syrup.

Leave mix to rise for about three quarters of an hour in a warm place.

Heat the pan on high, butter each cup and pour in a small amount of the mix, filling it about half way.

Cook till the poffertjes are golden and dry on the bottom.

Turn them (with a small fork or toothpick) and cook the other side.

A poffertjes pan usually makes about a dozen, enough for one person.

Sprinkle generously with icing sugar and put a small lump of butter on top of the poffertjes. Serve hot.


This and That
6
by Elaine Wold
Wahpeton, ND

Written by me and published in the Fargo Forum about 20 years ago. We were to write about the gift we were most disappointed in.

A Sacrifice Of War
By Elaine (Anderson) Wold

The Christmas gift I was most disappointed in was the gift I was expecting, but which I didn't receive.

It was early winter. Mid 1940's. Tanks and planes, bombs and guns hovered over faraway Europe and Southeast Asia. In our prairie farm home, with seven children to support and a farm payment due that fall, my parents, I knew, could not afford the gift I longed for -- a typewriter.

The fall harvest was completed. Hog prices seemed profitable that year and so it was with elation that my Dad said he felt we could order that L.C. Smith typewriter from the dog-eared Sears and Roebuck catalog. Because it cost $79, it would not be just mine, but a gift for all the family to use. What joy!

It seemed like years before the letter arrived which would inform us the long-awaited package arrived in town. Tearing open the envelope, the tears dribbled down my flushed cheeks as I read, "sorry, not available -- due to production of defense items only." Disappointed, angered and filled with self-pity, I wondered why I had to make such a sacrifice just because of a dumb war miles away!

Somehow, the months passed. The dark clouds of war passed over and the sun seemed to shine again. Service persons returned to our community, some with emotional and physical scars. Others, however, did not return. One, killed in action, would have become my brother-in-law. Another, a prisoner of war, died in a concentration camp. Another was missing at sea -- the list went on. It was then I fully realized the sacrifice others had made in that far-away land, and I became aware of the many gifts and opportunities I had. Did I really need anything more?

In time, I found myself teaching in a rural school and I bought my "L.C. Smith" with my first paychecks. Even though it has retired from its many years of faithful, active duty while I now use my electric model, that black suitcase still holds lots of memories for me.


Sam Receives Early Holiday Gift
Family Breathes Sighs of Relief
By Wyatt Johnson
Moorhead, MN

Tired of our utility room smelling like the digestive tract of our extra-large Maine Coon, "Sam," we decided something had to be done. We had seen the self cleaning litter boxes in the stores, and thought we'd check out eBay auction to find a deal (which we did). A search for litter boxes turned up a small "company" (I suspect that it is a husband and wife who make and sell them from their home.) that had a product called "KittySuite Odorless Litterbox" for sale.

We searched through their eBay feedback, to find many glowing reviews of how the KittySuite had transformed smelly homes into fresh ones.

"INGENIOUS - Worth Three Times What I Paid!! Thank You For A SMELL-FREE House!!" rants "usermike";

"Absolutely the best invention. Thanks 4 takin the smell away from my home!!!!!!" gushes "tkollath";

"Great!EZ Install! Fan Quiet/ House Smells Nice/ Use any Litter!/ Cats can stay!" admires "writingmom2001."

We received the KittySuite yesterday, and installed it IMMEDIATELY. As if to mock us, the last time Sam used his old litterbox, he "missed" and got most of his business on the cement wall and floor. As I was cleaning up the old to make room for the new, I choked on my breath, crossing my fingers that the Kittysuite could live up to its billing.

This morning, as I opened the door to let Sam out of the utility room, I again crossed my fingers, praying to not be slapped in the face with the odor of smelly cat. I opened the door, paused, holding my breath for a second, then took a deep breath in. Could it really be? YES!!!! It smells like a normal house!

Wyatt

Sam exits Kitty Suite
Sam, not happy to have an audience, exits KittySuite.

The KittySuite, as you can see from the picture, has a fan and hose that vents outdoors. It came with an installation video that shows how to install through a normal stud-frame wall, through a cement block wall, or through a window! Even though I felt a little silly paying $85 for a litter box, if it makes our utility room tolerable, it's money VERY well spent. Sam can stay...for now.


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays:
December 29---Mitzi (Johnson) Swenson
December 30---Travis Quick
Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries:
December 27---Earl and Kathleen (Dake) Stahlecker (30 years)
Congratulations!

January Birthdays:
'
January 3---Brandon Hellevang
January 3---Virginia (Dake) McCorkell
January 4---Nathan Hill
January 4---Harry "Junior" Anderson
January 5---Jayce Michael Chap (6 years old)
January 11---Brandon Harvey Lehtola (2 years old)
January 15---Shea Ashley Birkholz
January 20---Lois Dake
January 22---Timothy Mellon
January 30---Whitney Johnson

January Anniversaries
Z
January 24---David "Beaver" and Donna (Anderson) Johnson (11 Years)

January Holidays
January 1---New Year's Day
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:

Dear Miss Hetty and Staff,

What a beautiful anniversary card! Thank you.

Because our anniversary is so close to the Christmas holiday, we usually "celebrate" by getting ready for a trip to visit relatives, or getting ready for relatives to visit us! :>) That is the case this year, too. Eric and Cody are here, and Justin's will be coming tomorrow.

We got snow yesterday, so looks like we may have a "White Christmas." However, the forecast is for it to warm up by the weekend, so who knows!

I'll attach a picture of the two of us just for fun.
Love, Carol

Harold and Carol Printz
Harold and Carol Printz


Argyle and Kathlyn Anderson's daughters arranged to get all the grandchildren together recently for a picture to surprise Grandpa and Grandma. Colette and Tim Huseby live in Tracy, California, with son Erik and daughter Ashley. Twila and Jeff Aydelotte live in Antioch, California, with their three daughters and three sons. Don't they look like a team?

Kathlyn & Argyle's Grandkids
Argyle and Kathlyn Anderson's Aydelotte & Huseby Grandchildren. Front, left to right: Allison and Hannah Aydelotte and Ashley Huseby; back row: Spencer, Jessica, Brendan and Todd Aydelotte and Erik Huseby. All are looking forward to a winter visit in sunny California with Grandpa and Grandma Anderson, who live in frosty Anchorage, Alaska.

Miss Hetty Says

I do think it is nice of the boss's husband to invite me over for dinner with them on Christmas Eve. He is also entertaining a lady who has no family event planned. Norma is a nice person who lives alone in the same apartment complex as they do. I will enjoy getting to know her -- we ladies need to get better acquainted.

Keep Us Posted!

Please drop Miss Hetty a line and tell us who, and what, we've missed. And how about a report (photos welcome) of YOUR special celebration?

'Many Thankse
Everyone!

Miss Hetty


+ LETTERS TO THE EDITORS?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.... You do offer a very valuable service to your family and extended family -- The Bulletin has drawn so many together, especially the younger generations that are sharing. Keep up the good work...

Doris Anderson
La Mirada, CA


Thanks for The Bulletin this morning... I LOVED Miss Kitty's Haikus!

Janie Anderson
Dwight, ND

Miss Kitty takes credit only for forwarding -- she would love to know the author of the Haiku.


Another smashing issue. Congrats to all the young soon to be marrieds; sounds like a lot of coverage work is coming your way. Larry's story was hilarious, and had a happy ending, at least for the mouse. Nice to hear from Kathleen. I see a recipe came from Holland -- sounds delicious! Thanks for another great issue!

Douglas Anderson-Jordet
St Cloud, MN


This is just to let you know that I’ve changed my e-mail address to Ryan@ShortyR19.com . You can send The Bulletin to the new address. Thanks.

Ryan Hellevang
Fargo, ND


We are hoping to get on your subscription list. Thanks for the e-mail Don sent us about it. Are there archive copies we could look up on our computer? It is all so interesting. The older we get the more our family and friends mean. Nice you can keep close this way.

Roy and Betty Droel
Minneapolis, MN
Roybet8080@aol.com

Editor's Note: Archive copies? You bet! There are archived back issues and collections of stories and recipes available by clicking links on The Bulletin ... scroll down (or up) to find them!


Thank you for your letter and all the best to you for the New Year 2005 ... and to the rest of the big family in the USA. I don't have many days for the Holiday. I only have Christmas free. Monday I am back at work.

I had this week 5 sea-containers with powdered milk from New Jersey, USA. The last one has several stickers for the president elections.

Frans deBeen
Oosterhout, Netherlands

CHUCKLES

WORLD'S EASIEST QUIZ
(Passing only requires 4 correct answers out of ten)

1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
7) What was King George VI's first name?
8) What color is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?

All done? Check your answers next week!

Click here to find out Who's Where in The Bulletin l

To search a name in Who's Who or Who's Where: click on the link to open the page, then use CONTROL F on a PC or COMMAND F on a Mac. To search for a second occurrence of the name, use CONTROL G on a PC or COMMAND G on a Mac. (This works on ANY web page with text, unless the text is converted to an image. Chances are, it works in your e-mail, too.) HINT: Search by first name only, as most entries list the family name once but do not repeat the last name for each family member. In Who's Where you can search on state or city names, too.

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THE STAFF OF THE BULLETIN

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QUOTATION FOR THE DAY: It is in loving, not in being loved, the heart is blessed. --Old Sampler

EDITOR'S POLICY: If you wish to subscribe to The Bulletin, simply send me a statement of that fact. If you wish to keep receiving it I hope you will contribute to one of the columns that are running in this family epistle (at least occasionally!). My e-mail address is dma49261@juno.com


This Bulletin is copyright Dorothy M. Anderson; the contents are also copyrighted by the authors and photographers and used with their permission, and the contents are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the explicit consent of the creators.


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