This summer I babysat five kids every day from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It was a good experience for me, as I hadn't taken on that much responsibility before. Ryan and Jessica's wedding was also this summer, and I got to sing with my cousin, Jessica (Myron) Gauderman; her dad, Tim; and Jessica Hellevang's uncle, Loyd Heimbruch. It is strange to think that everyone is growing up, including me.

I am now a senior in high school, trying to figure out what I want to do the rest of my life! I have decided on either going to NDSU or UND, but NDSU is looking better for me. I want to major in business and get a job at a bank, or be a Licensed Practical Nurse. I'm not sure yet, but I have plenty of time to decide, I've been told.

This fall I was in our school's musical, The Secret Garden. I was one of the "dreamers" (ghosts or spirits) who came and visited those who were still living. We had to look dead, of course, which meant white faces and black eyes, and that was very attractive! My cousins Marlene, Kim, Whitney, and Mark Johnson and Patty and Rachel Henderson, came to one of the performances, so that was fun. The musical took a lot of time, but I enjoyed it. I have been in North High musicals since 10th grade and it is sad that this was my last one.

So that's pretty much what I've been doing, and now I'm looking forward to relaxing, finally.

Lindsay

At North High's musical, The Secret Garden. Back: Mark Johnson, Sarah Nelson, Kim & Whitney Johnson, Patty & Rachel Henderson, Marlene Johnson; front: Katie Roseen, Lindsay Hellevang & Kadrie Swanson.

In thinking of Uncle James, I remember that "Uncle Red" was always sitting in an old green chair reading National Geographic when we would visit Grandma's house. He took Mom (Kathleen) for a ride on his Harley one time, and I remember hearing her scream from the block over (which he thought was extremely funny). And, honestly, through everything, I've always thought of him as having a very gentle, giving soul.

Adriana Stahlecker Brown (niece)
Granbury, TX

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My first memory of James is when Kathleen and I married and traveled to Waco to meet my in-laws. James came in about midnight, shortly after we arrived. He was wearing "waffle stomper" shoes (really high wide heels, the style then). He asked me what size boots I wear. He had a pair of nice Naconas that he did not wear anymore because of his change in clothing style. They fit like they were made for me. He and I hit it off really well and have traveled many roads together since.

Earl Stahlecker (brother-in-law)
Gatesville, TX

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James was only 7 or 8 years old when I left home to go to nursing school. So my main memories of him are when he was pretty young. For some reason, one memory that is clear is of us having some puppies on the farm and one of them licking James around his face and ears and he was just giggling hysterically, which made all the rest of us laugh, too. He was a pretty "sunny" natured little guy most of the time, it seemed to me. He had bright red hair, a nose covered with freckles, and a mischievous grin on his face most of the time.

He came up to Ault, Colorado, and spent a summer with Harold and me, where we were living on a feedlot operation, after he was in his teens. He and one of the sons of the owner of the place were "fooling around" with some M-80's they managed to get hold of somehow ... and one of the M-80's "flew" (or was thrown) into an open trench where Harold had just laid some new PVC pipe water line, and blew up ... breaking the line. You can imagine the commotion that caused!

Carol Dake Printz (sister)
Sidney, NE

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Here goes my tale to tell on my dear brother. James and I were about three years apart in age. He was around 8 or so when Daddy died, and I often wonder how much he remembers of Daddy. Tricia was just a little tyke, and Mother was so busy trying to get us all raised, I sometimes feel like he got lost in the shuffle. We would fight like cats and dogs, but on the flip side, we would defend each other to the bitter end if someone else was picking on either one.

When we were little, some of my fondest memories were of James and I either playing dress-up, or cowboys and Indians, on the old horse "OLE DOC" down on Hog Creek. You see we had this unspoken deal that one day we would dress-up ... hat, purse, Mom's powder, high heels and all. (We have the pictures somewhere to prove it!) The next day we would ride OLE DOC down in the woods and to Hog Creek and we would be cowboys and Indians.

(Mother says now that she had concerns about me dressing him up, etc. but that Daddy would just laugh and say, "Don't worry, someday he will put an end to that!" and he did.) A lot of the cousins got an introduction to OLE DOC. He was quite the horse.

Before Daddy died, when he was still running the feed store, there was a group of men that would sit around and tell tales all day long. We nicknamed them the Spit and Whittle Club. That speaks for itself. They loved to have James around and teased him. There were a few times that he would come up with some not-so-nice words, and be in trouble for them at home. It did not take a lot to figure out where those words came from, as neither Mom nor Dad talked that way. He would just say, "so and so said that," and, of course, he would be a member of the Spit and Whittle Club.

After Daddy died, when Stan graduated, we had to move to Waco, to be closer to Grandpa and Grandma Gandy. James ended up quitting school, I believe his sophomore year. He did take some schooling at a vocational college. James loves to read and is, in a lot of ways, more versed than someone with a college degree. James has two sons, William Earl Dake and Jeremiah Dake. William Earl lives in Waco while Jeremiah lives in Indiana.

My brother has always had a little gypsy in him. He has resided in Arizona for quite some time. He loves it there, and the last we heard from him, he was working on a ranch out of Tucson somewhere. He loves to ride Harleys. He has always lived by the motto that "No news is good news." So, we do not hear from him very often.

James was able to be home for Mother's 80th birthday. At that time he was working for some kind of an oil and gas line surveying crew and it just so happened that he was close by. Since then, he went back to work for the ranch, the last we knew. We love him dearly, and must always accept that James will always be James.

Kathleen Dake Stahlecker (sister)
Gatesville, TX

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Uncle James has always stood out in my mind as a sweet, good-hearted person. When I think of him, I think of a baby blue Harley, wild red hair, and a kind, free spirit. Once he traveled to Colorado to visit us with a group of friends on motorcycles. The foreman's wife thought it was the Hell's Angels coming to take over the ranch! We've often had a good laugh over that as Dad (Earl) had to explain that the wild-looking group was actually coming to visit us! I remember that Adriana and I really enjoyed having Uncle James there to visit us and were sad when he had to return home, as he was always a lot of fun. When he was in Texas for Grandma Lois's birthday, James came to visit Adriana and me one afternoon with Dad and Aaron. We enjoyed seeing him and are always glad to hear from him. He is definitely a one-of-a-kind uncle!

Angela Stahlecker Roberson (niece)
Hico, TX

But, no ... while I was talking to Beaver on the phone, I heard Lori in the other room ... she changed the reservations to our name! I felt that was extremely unfair for us to use it, instead of them. But, I have a stubborn daughter. (Now, where did THAT come from?) There was no changing her mind.

So, away Beaver and I went, to spend a most lovely evening, in the most elegant, old fashioned accommodations we'll more than likely ever have occasion to enjoy! We even watched an old movie that seemed to fit the feeling of the evening, with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Louis Armstrong.

Photos © Donna Johnson
The sitting area, left, was cozy and refined; the high ceiling's detailed moldings are not evident in the picture, so it doesn't totally convey how nice it felt. The bathroom was very large, with marble and every little necessary item at our fingertips, including lavender powder for the bath. There were lighted shelves behind the bathroom door that one certainly doesn't find in the usual type of hotel room.

To top it off, we went ahead and splurged, ordering from room service, which was wonderful ... delicious food and delivered with a beautiful little peach colored rose. I could get used to that treatment. (Grin.)

So, a big thank you to Lori and Shawn for a delightful surprise! We were definitely winners this weekend!

Photos © Donna Johnson
I enjoyed the Weston Walks, left, so had to share. There were several pictures, with older documents and historical details. The rose that arrived with our meal, on the winning invitation to The Grand Hotel.

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Photos © Donna Johnson
Lori & McKenna at "Thank you!" brunch. McKenna would not look at the camera.

If we have everything by NOON ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, we should do fine. (But sooner is better -- there's a lot to be done to make a finished Bulletin! --Photo Editor)

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We just finished our meal and I put up the leftovers in divided plastic dishes in large plastic bags for meals to last me until moving day. We had roast chicken with dressing. (Of course, it was rotisserie and only needed heating with the Stove Top dressing in it and beside it.) We had canned cranberries ... and I was wishing they were from Dave Ring's little jar ... a baked potato, divided between us, and some brown gravy to use over whatever, with creamed corn as our vegetable. We finished up with bakery pumpkin pie.

We both decided we liked it better than last year's fighting the crowd at a buffet that turned out to do no better than we, as everything was very evidently out of cans.

Tomorrow Rich, Mar, and kids are coming to be with us and help finish packing the good dishes and help with the fine cleaning that needs to be done. We are to meet our new landlord next Tuesday and move the following Saturday. If possible, I might send out next week's paper Friday night -- I can do it at midnight, or so.

We have not had any snow here yet ... we've had flurries but they have all disappeared. The grass is still green around our area.

Dorothy

I'm guessing the couple is Uncle George and Aunt Phoebe Huisman -- how cute of both of them -- doing farm work, with the picture taken next to the tractor.

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That is George and Phoebe Huisman; can't tell if it's an Allis Chalmers or not, but I bet Phoebe could turn that crank to start it! I think that is the first Dake grandchild, Carol, who was allowed to run back and forth across the big table to whomever was sitting around it.

"Wheeeee-e!" Sarah squealed. We hit the next big puddle and the water splashed up over the cab. A muddy spray refreshed us through the open windows.

"Shower-bumps! Shower-bumps!" Amy chanted aptly.

Spring was in the air and we were enjoying the ride! The little snow left in the shadows up on the ridge was rapidly disappearing. I was hauling manure from "Isle Magnificent" with an old flatbed Ford. The kids were bouncing along beside me on the springs of the bench seat as we hit each "shower-bump." Checker was on the seat between us, sharing in the excitement. Happily, his iodine-stained eye had cleared up.

Sherry (employed at her customary rate of $3.33 an hour) was at the sheep pens, opening and closing the gates for us. So this was a family affair; a nice change of venue from the recent long days in the lambing shed.

The sheep were still with us, but the lambing had slowed to a trickle. The Utah sheep herders had been fired, Domingo had quit, and now Brad was laid off. We were saddened to see his young family leave. They had hoped he could stay on as a full-time ranch hand. But back to town they went, to look for another job.

We'd had José over for supper the night before: savory lamb chops, potatoes, and homemade blackberry pie. José told us, at the supper table, that he had a wife and four children in southern Mexico. Whereas Sherry was making $3.33 an hour opening and closing gates, he said that in Mexico he did farm labor for $1.50 a day! For a while, he'd had a good paying job in a factory, at $3 a day. Sherry and I could hardly comprehend the hardship that caused men like José to leave their families -- for years at a time -- just to put food on the table.

After supper, Amy joined Sarah in carving "ink stamps" out of potatoes; heart shapes were their most successful design. They dipped the potatoes into the ink and stamped the hearts onto paper -- for cards and letters.

José had said he worked a whole day in Mexico to pay for one bag of potatoes.

At our destination -- with the dump-truck load of manure -- the kids would turn around on their knees to look out the back window. I'd grind the power take-off into gear with one of two knobs.

"Elevator going down," I'd say, as I pulled out the second knob.

Looking at the headboard of the truck bed going up, the kids got the convincing sensation that they were in an elevator, going down. When we reached the "bottom," I'd drop the clutch and the load would slide off. Then, shoving the knob back in, I'd say, "Elevator coming up."

Once back on top of our imaginary elevator, we were off for another load. On return trips, the broken, rim-rock ridge was on our right and the great, open plain on our left.

As evening approached, the mule deer began to come down from the hills. A few at a time, they crossed the road in front of us, to gather in the hayfields on the plain. Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, the fields were beginning to show the gentle greening of spring.

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This Week's Birthdays
November 26---DeLoris Anderson
November 27---Shalana Kay Weiland (11 years)
November 30---Aaron Stahlecker

Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries
November 26---Ben and Heather Henderson (3 years)
November 29---Kurtis and Jeni Larson (3 years)

Congratulations!

December Birthdays
' 
December 3---Twila Aydelotte
December 4---Carol Dake Printz
December 4---Elaine Anderson Wold
December 4---Sonja Dake
December 7---Aunika Swenson
December 10---Ryan Henderson
December 11---Wyatt Wm. Meyer (8 years)
December 12---Sarah Lynn Dake Steinhauer
December 13---Larry Dake
December 13---Derek Swenson
December 14---Kathleen Dake Stahlecker
December 17--- Char Morgan Myron
December 17---Austin Printz
December 19---Barb Anderson
December 19---Lisa Boltz
December 20---Jay Pierre Miller
December 21---Melanie Anderson Shockey
December 21---Jonathan Glen Hill (3 years)
December 24---Ken Hellevang
December 24---Arbor Johnson
December 24---Beaver Johnson
December 25---Angela Stahlecker Roberson
December 26---Koen de Been
December 29---Mitzi Johnson Swenson
December 30---Travis Quick

December Anniversaries
Z
December 20---Eric and Melanie Anderson Shockey (5 years)
December 23---Harold and Carol Dake Printz (40 years)
December 27---Earl and Kathleen Dake Stahlecker (33 years)

December Special Days
O
December 7---Pearl Harbor Day
December 22---First day of Winter
December 25---Christmas Day
December 31---New Year's Eve

Dear Miss Hetty,

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

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Click here to review last week's Bulletin

The Thanksgiving issue could have been thick and bound if everyone wrote what they were thankful for. It's so hard to narrow it down to just one thing, or even a few. Seems no matter how things go, one can still be thankful for many of the things we take for granted -- like our faith, and our sight and our abilities.

That would have been more fun for Grandpa and Grandpa than for Aiden and Austin to go to McDonald's. Just watching their grandsons having such a great time would be worth it all. Don't forget to send Sam's wedding pictures you mentioned. What a bitter disappointment, not to have your pictures turn out, especially when it was your son, and hope someone has some nice ones for your albums.

The Ostendorfs seem to be fortunate at winning things. This time chili cook-off winner. You would know your Bulletin family wants to know all about that. How many did you compete against with your chili, Lori? I looked through The Bulletin for the recipe, but didn't find it. HHHmmm ... MMMMMMMmmmm. I was surprised that a cell phone could take such a clear, good picture.

Well, I couldn't believe my eyes to see the picture of BOTH cats sitting TOGETHER, and not fighting at all. Now, that took some discipline and untiring training to get Miss Kitty to allow Mai Tai to share stuff.

Thanks, Miss Kitty, for your version of how it all came about. And I think you are one great cat to be willing to let another cat watch your birds. We have so many questions unanswered, though. Like what about the cat dish, the litter box, the night situation. Or does he go back to the studio downstairs as his refuge? Be sure and give us updates on this queer setup that you didn't ask for. Do you pronounce it "My Tie?" ... or May Tay?

[Mai Tai, pronounced "My Tie," is thriving. He's upstairs full time now and though he still has plenty of room for improvement with regard to respecting his "big sister," he's rapidly changing from cute kitten to a very handsome cat. He's all brat, all the time, but he's "family" now. --Ed.]

The shock of finding a grandson of your great uncle to reconnect with the family would have been very meaningful for all of your family, Jerrianne. How ironic that the inlaid wood work would bring you together. Can you imagine the thrill it would have been for Dave Ring to have stumbled onto all that on the Internet? And then to find someone willing to help him reunite with a family. There will be a lot more to that story as it unfolds of both your family and his. Very interesting life story he shared. We are sorry to hear of the Parkinson's.

I was so glad so many responded to the Editor's request for why we are thankful. Even Miss Kitty and Mai Tai submitted one, but then they have reason for being thankful when they both could have been homeless.

When I saw the words, "I'll scratch the surface," I thought to myself, yes, that is exactly it. One can only scratch the surface on this subject. Then as I read on further, here it was our Capt'n Jack, no less, talking about his beloved Lady Ginn. I remember them just before they were married, and I must say they have been extremely happy anytime we've chanced to see them. Jack was so musical and always dressed just perfect with that nicely trimmed mustache, and Virginia had that beautiful smile and naturally wavy hair!

LTD Storybrooke, we were captivated by the Silver Dollar Ranch chapter of your time at the sheep ranch. It is written like it happened yesterday. It must have been gruesomely unforgettable. You can draw graphic pictures with your words; did you know that? What a clever approach to this lamb adoption situation. Esteban and Domingo's endings were sad. One just sort of wonders where those two men are right now. And they might be wondering the same about this Larry and Sherry Dake.

The Travelogue on the Viet Nam Memorial wall by Verlaine was so touching. I remember when that happened, and Verlaine showed us the pencil tracing she had made of our friend's name on the wall with 50,000 others. It was too uncanny how that all happened, but it was true. I am so glad she shared that with The Bulletin. Our Bulletin family would have so many special stories if they would just bring them to memory and tell us.

Beaver always has a special way of writing, so when we see the story of "One Mower Time" by Beaver, we expect great things and weren't disappointed. We got a laugh out of how sorry he was when the mowers broke down. There went a few more tax dollars, eh?

I lit up to see that colander in the picture of the cranberry sauce. It is just like the one we have in our cupboard that is many, many years old, but still works whenever there is a job for it to do. Our wooden handle is stained, too, from all the grapes that were made into juice off Roy's grape vine by the back steps.

Thanks for the Celebrations and Observances from the files of Hetty Hooper. I don't forget the one on November 27th, Shalana Kay Weiland, my great niece. I already have her gift, but I'm not tellin'.

This old heart was so thrilled to see Shalana in her aquarium costume, and Krista in her Miss Smartie Pants costume for Halloween. I guess I didn't even know there was such a candy as "Smarties" candy rolls until I saw the caption under her picture. I thought that was just a cute title. Oh well, this great auntie is pretty old -- sorry, kids. I have a lot to learn.

I was so touched to see Dave Ring sending in his "subscription" to The Bulletin. He will persevere in his search for the family he didn't realize was there.

Considering the cats we have in The Bulletin, we can well identify with the cute picture of Ethan Horne bringing home TWO cats. Ethan, if your mom won't let you have them, I know Jerrianne will always find room.

I loved the Quotation for the day. We have so many blessings we don't even count that really are blessings. So as it said, when I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.

I would have to say, becoming a subscriber of The Bulletin has surely enriched my life and broadened my world. I want to thank our editor and the photo editor for their untiring endeavor to have just enough and not too much and hardly any repetition and something for everyone.

P.S. Where in the world is Weston?

Roy and Betty Droel