PELLA

Tom and I were puttering around here Saturday morning, trying to not awaken P&M asleep in the basement. NPR was on, droning on and on about the Iowa caucuses. Suddenly I heard Pella, then, believe it or not, they were interviewing someone at the Pella, Iowa Pizza Ranch. I guess there was a political meeting of some sort there and they were mocking the goodness of something called corral bread or some such menu item. We suddenly listened more closely. We know you are in the thick of the presidential shenanigans there now. We will pay more careful attention now. I miss you all. Happy New Year. I'll post more later. Right now I am working on my final grades for the semester that ended in Dec. Love, AK-Mom

Christmas

Christmas, at least the secular equivalent, is over here. The gifts, which numbered more than I think I can count, are strewn in various places throughout the family room, making walking a navigational challenge. Not that I didn't provide a huge plastic box for each child in which to keep "all" their presents. Perhaps it was the definition of "in" which needed further clarification. Carl has spent the entire day in his room "relaxing". The good news is he hasn't begged yet for food. As of 3:20pm we are still about an hour out from Christmas Dinner......dinner will consist of only 3 things - ham, potatoes and peas. I'm exhausted. No use cooking a feast for those who would rather play anyway.

Jakob and Brita slept near the tree with the hope of spotting Santa. Alas, Santa snuck in unnoticed. Brita was quite pleased to have Daddy show her that Norad (FAA) tracks Santa's sleigh all around the world, so by early morning our time he was already over the Philippines. That's proof, is it not, that Santa is real???

Thanks to all who shared gifts with us. The choices for each were simply top notch! Each child is quite pleased with aunties and uncles and cousins today.

I think Grandma's phone was off the hook this morning. I tried to call several times and it was always busy. I had the staff check it, then by the time I tried again, it was lunch time, now nap time. We hope to catch her here soon. Her roommate passed away on Saturday. Let's pray she gets someone else that's easy to get along with.

The boys have not argued at all today. Laser tag was a hit, so is Transformers Chess. So all in all, it's a very good day.

Hope all is well with the other Bettgers. We sure would love to read some others' posts!

Hugs from the East!

Not Exactly Billy Joel but Dixon Smith Middle School

Greetings from my phone to your computer! Isn't technology cool?? Tonight was Joshua's Winter Band Concert. We thought we would share part of it with you. The improvement of this fine group from last Spring is a miracle to behold! Pretty good sound, don't you think? Sorry for the skewed video - not quite sure how to fix that. Don't even try to pick Joshua out - he's directly in the middle of the group. (Click in the middle of the screen to activate the control to play the video)

The Culmination Point!

The three month point was not too bad. There wasn’t so much at risk after doing this emerging community for such a short time. I didn’t want to leave Bend… but it was pretty likely that I would at least be around for another 3 months. This is different. After being here for six months, seeing some amazing things happening, relationships being build, connections made, movement… this is part of me now. Whether I am supported by First Presbyterian or not, I keep going forward. I have to! I will find another way, albeit much more difficult.

So I see this time right now as such a culmination of things. Have I emphasized enough how related this ministry is to the rest of what is going on in Bend and at First Pres? Has the communication been enough? Do enough people know what we are about and where we are going? Do they need me? Do they need this ministry? And if yes, do they feel the need strong enough to contribute the funding?

The last few weeks have been almost magical with how things have fallen into place. Monday night’s gathering at Silver Moon for $2 pints, free fooseball and pool. 20 some new connections, laughs, introductions, spiritual conversations. Connections with members of Session (the decision making board), hearing their thoughts on ministry and their passion for our church. People contacting me after just google searching “house church,” “emerging church,” “Bend,” etc. Dreams of non-profit coffee shops, pub conversations, spiritual formation. Recent support from the New Church Development team. Parker and “The Shepherd and the Knucklehead” (Bend’s “Bard and the Bumbler?”).

The Goose has landed. He flies where he wills and will not be predicted. He is not tame, he cannot be boxed in or caged up. He is wild and free. But he moves, he gives LIFE and fills with passion and excitement. We must be ready!

We Got Elfed!

Elfin Greetings from the East!

Click on the link and enjoy our children's silliness!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1324497484

Snow

No Billy Joel here. Just Joshua on the saxophone. Getting better every month!

The forecast says snow tomorrow. A 40% chance of a dusting. They will probably close the schools once the clouds hit the radar. When the dusting layer melts, they will say "well, at least the children were safe." I'm not so optimistic that the flakes will fall. My friend gave me a 4" Christmas tree. I decorated it with only snowflakes. At least we will have some type of "white Christmas." Brita wants to move back to Chicago. Wants to take our house, her friends, her school and our church along back. The only thing she misses there is the snow. I bought her boots for Christmas so she can enjoy any dustings we may get before Spring. I miss the snow, too. But I don't need boots.

We have all been down with different viruses. Me being the most recent victim. I sure am thankful for NyQuil!

What plans do y'all have for Christmas? We'll be here. I don't have to work! We will accompany Carl on a business trip to sunny Pennsylvania the week of New Years. We enjoy being in the hotel, watching TV (since we don't have one) and swimming. Even better, I'll have my own TV in our 2-bedroom suite so won't have to watch cartoons all day!

Most of all we are looking forward to sleeping in. I have a door hanger I use during vacations. It reads, "Do not wake Mom unless you enjoy cleaning toilets!" Hopefully they won't catch on that at the hotel the housekeeper does that job. Sssshhhhh!

Hugs,
Cheryl, aka Auntie Cheryl

Thanksgiving in Boise

The Bettger/Rank family enjoyed Thanksgiving in Boise. This year, we were happy to have Uncle Walter Aman here with us. He, his granddaughters and grandsons will be joining Al and Wendy in New Mexico for Christmas.

We all visited the Canon family while Uncle Walter was here. Eloise Canon is my cousin. Her father Albert was Esther and Walters brother. Anyway, the Canons live here and we see them once in awhile.

Thanksgiving Dinner here was held at the Nelsons -- minus KayLynn and Damon -- who had gone to be with Damon's family in Escondido, CA.

Molly and Pat left for home on Saturday. Andy went to Seattle on Monday morning. He arrives in time to put in almost a full day at work.

TomTom

Hey all -

We're doing well. We came back Saturday from Boise to see Billy Joel in concert here in Portland. It was nice to have Sunday here to recover from the driving and nights away. We did miss having Sunday in Boise, though!

Billy Joel was amazing on Saturday night. I just downloaded his 2006 live CD called 12 Gardens Live. He sang all of our favorites. There were only maybe 2 songs we weren't familiar with; but even those were AWESOME. We did notice that he had transposed most of the songs down a few tones (not quite as young as he used to be) - but man, he still has a fantastic voice, and stage presence. What a performer.

Tonight we're hosting two couples from the church board. We are a relatively new Board, so I suggested to the group that we do some get togethers outside of the "upper room" setting where we normally meet; and bring spouses so that we can get to know each other better and even get to know spouses. I put together a matrix (yes, analytical in too many ways, I know!) and planned out who is getting together with whom in which months, so that everyone gets a chance to have dinner with each of the other couples at least once.

My norm when entertaining is to start dinner with more than enough time to spare, then frantically try to pull it all together after everyone has arrived and is hovering around the kitchen island. Well this time, with my knowledge that this time of the day (5:30 ish) is when I feel the ickiest, we prepared in advance! We made the chili on Sunday afternoon, and froze it Sunday night. I took it out and put it in the fridge last night; and put it on the stove when I got home from work around 5:45. People aren't coming until 7 (and they're bringing the salad & cornbread), which gives me a good chance to ensure dinner will be ready shortly after they arrive - and I have time to post on the blog and read my book (I made dessert last night too)! I'll let you know tomorrow how it really all plays out ...

K, signing off now ... Love you all - M

Weekend Recovery

Aunt Shelly posting here for the first time. It is quiet as Tim is still sleeping. I worked on call Thursday thru Sunday nights. It was fairly quiet until 5 AM today when I had calls about every 15-30 minutes until 8 AM (including 2 deaths). Tim's friend Maddie was up and getting ready to go back to Purdue so I got her some breakfast before she left at 6 AM.

I have been catching up all of the postings. Britt read some of them to me as I was working in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. Cheryl, I know the feeling of just wanting to prepare all of the traditional foods. This year the kids asked for "plain bread stuffing, none of the cranberries, nuts, rice or cornbread extras." (I have tried new recipes the past few years). I chuckled as I read your question of whether our turkeys were thawing....since mine was NOT! I figured that I must have been a little distracted or stressed this week. I let Tim take my car and drive himself to the clinic for his blood tests while I did my grocery shopping. I was in the checkout line when I remembered that I had put the turkey in the sink and turned the water on fill it up--90 minutes earlier--and I didn't remember turning the water off. When we got home the cold water was still running and the turkey floating in the sink downstairs. Fortunately, the water overflowed into the other side of the sink and not all over the floor!! I think that's a first for me--with the water, I mean. I am frequently distracted and often forgetful! Heeheehee...

Today, I am off work and will focus on cleaning the house and getting some Christmas decorations up. We got out a few this weekend. When all the kids left home, Dan and I realized that we didn't want to continue our past tradition of cutting our tree on Thanksgiving weekend when it was just 2 of us, so we purchased an artificial one. Now I am trying to get the prestrung lights to work properly. More on that subject later.

Thanks to each of you for posting....have a great week.

WI Bettger thanksgiving

We kept it pretty low key here. It was Mom, Dad, Tim, me, and Will, my boyfriend. We just relaxed in the morning and then had a yummy traditional meal. Mom was on call in the evening so we made sure to eat a little earlier. The guys played some Settlers and then Will headed back to the Cities for work on Friday. On Friday, Tim's friend Maddie drove up from Indianapolis and is here for the weekend. We had a lot of laughs as we were entertained by Tim at the dinner table last night. He is sure a blessing to us, no matter how much he can drive me up the wall at times.

I am driving back to the Cities in a an hour or so. It's been a good time away from crazy teaching, and awesome to remember all of God's blessings and miracles in our lives.

Leaving Boise tomorrow

We leave Boise tomorrow at 11:45. We are going to the airport to pick up Kay Lynn and her husband Damon, with Laura, Andy, and Greg. We will have a quick breakfast with the group and then hit the road. It will be good to have at least a very few minutes with KK & Damon.

We're getting back to Portland so quickly to see Billy Joel in concert in Portland! He's an old standard, and we're looking forward to our time with him ... and an arena full of other concert goers. I didn't know about Billy Joel before I met Pat ... I think it was from Billy Joel that I first learned how the piano could also play a percussive role in songs - he has an amazing ability to put chords together and rhythmically astonish the listener.

We've had a really nice time here. Mom and I went shopping for maternity clothes and I bought two pairs of jeans. Glad to have them. I feel much more comfortable! We'll try to post the babe's heartbeat on the blog shortly. We're trying to figure out what to call him/her right now - before he/she comes out! Suggestions have been, Little "P" (short for parasite), Pipsqueak, Whoozit, Peanut, Bean ... any other suggestions?

We're glad to have your prayers & support and anticipation! We'll use the blog to share info and stats about the little one as the info comes in.


Love you all,

Molly

Thanksgiving Day in Boise

All our family spent the day at the home of Ric and JeriLu Nelson and their family -- not far from our house. All our families were here except for KayLynn and her husband Damon. Uncle Walt is with us this year too.

Anyway, we finished our dinner. All the family except 4 of us are in the middle of watching Dr. Zhivago in the downstairs media center. Before that's done we have another appointment!

We've been invited by Eloise and Lanny Canon to come and visit them. They live about 10 minutes from here -- to the west. Eloise is my cousin. She and I have been visiting each other since we were both kids. Now we live in the same town and we hardly ever see each other. Anyway, their family is with them today so since Uncle Walt is here, we'll all get reacquainted. Eloise is the daughter of Uncle Albert and Aunt Bertha Zimmerman. Eloise's sister is Jerry, the musician. They have a brother. I think his name is Jim. Jim lives in SD.

SUMMARIZING OUR DAY
We got up early. The men from our church typically got together at 6:30 for breakfast at one of the larger motel restaurants here in Boise. There were about 30 of us this morning. Pat, Uncle Walter and I went to the men's breakfast. After that, Uncle Walt and I picked up Andy at the airport.

Pat and Molly will be good parents by the time their child arrives. Their dog Laszlow is one of the better trained dogs (Viszla) I've seen in awhile. He is a hunting type dog. He is here at the Nelsons with us and the two dogs have quite a time getting to know each other here.

Greetings to all of you who have responded to the blog. I'll be getting some pictures on the blog here when I get back to my home computer.

From Grandma

I talked to Grandma today. She says to tell everyone to have a blessed Thanksgiving. She loves all of you and misses you all. She said to keep serving the Lord and following Him.


P.S. She does not know Molly and Pat's news yet.

Happy Thanksgiving From The East!

Joshua, Jakob and Brita want to wish the Bettger Family a very special Thanksgiving!

It's 66 degrees here. Joshua, Jakob and Carl ran in the Turkey Trot this morning - boys one mile and Carl three miles.

Dinner is at 4:00 pm. Come on over! I'll have enough of Grandma's dressing for everyone!

A full report on what's happening in Bend

Here is an excerpt from something I wrote up for church recently about what's happening here in Bend with the ministry that I am a part of. Probably the most expansive description I can give at this point. The whole thing is at this link. I figured this would be a good way to fill you in on what's happening.

Increasingly, almost exponentially, connections are being made. As people find my blog and word gets out through various members of our community, conversations strike up and relationships begin to be built. With each new person comes a whole new set of connections and relationships. It is only within the last month that we have really begun to clarify what our vision for this community is to look like. It takes even longer for those who are not in leadership to “get it.” Along with this clarification of vision has come an understanding of how we might be in relationship with the church as a whole and as leadership. There has also been a clarification of who we might connect with and what our various roles in these relationships might be. Things are just beginning!!

The Burning Man crowd… a group of absolutely beautiful people totally unreached by any churches here in Bend. Other groups of young, and not-so-young adults, from the recreation world to the business world. Things are starting in these areas. Connections with authors and leaders from the emerging church and Presbymergent (on the national level). Relationships with local churches and organizations in Bend (Oasis, The River, Cascade Covenant, The Mission Church, Sundeos, The Nazerene church, Fellowship Bible Church, New Hope, various house churches, the Goodness Collective, Lupwa Homes, coffee shops, Young Life, Apologetics Guild, First Pres youth group, COCC, substitute teaching)… the list goes on. It is all only just beginning. All these connections and relationships built as a representation of First Presbyterian Church of Bend… all part of the process of growing the kingdom of God in Bend.

There are a number of exciting things going on now to encourage spiritual formation and community and a number of things being planned for 2008... (the rest)

Greetings from uncle Walt

Today I came to visit Tom and Kathy because they were so generous and invited me to spend Thanksgiving here. I am happy that I was able to come this year as my family is not in Portland anymore. Alan and Wendy now live in Albuquerque, NM, so the grandkids and I will go there for Christmas. It's warmer there.

I have read all the Bettger notes and found them all very interesting. Molly has some very new and exciting news! Hope all will go well with the blessed event. Good news also about Tim's healing. Also glad to hear that Nate has moved to the West

Being here for Thanksgiving without my own family reminds me of another Thanksgiving without family present, but it was a time when there was much to be thankful for. The year was 1945 and the whole world was thankful for the end of World War II. I was in Calcutta, India and very happy that I would soon be going home.

HappyThanksgiving to all of you, your uncle Walt

pre Thanksgiving

I still have one more trip to the store. I am thinking about going tonight, because I expect Molly to be here tomorrow afternoon when I am out of school. I don't have a turkey thawing because we are going to Ric and Jeri Lu's for dinner. Hooray! We alternate years for both Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Molly and Pat are on the road, about 4 1/2 hours away. I don't know much about how the roads are, but hope they will stop if the conditions are not good. We had snow here in the valley this morning, but it was gone by noon. They visited the midwife or doctor or someone and heard the baby's heartbeat today.

I just finished the dishes. I made baked potatoes, chicken, beans and salad for dinner for Uncle Walt and Tom. That was after quartet practice. Tom is singing with a group of men that are all Rotarians from different local clubs. They sang last week for an Idaho Power dinner and they sounded good. I was pleased, because last year I heard them and they are much improved by now. UT enjoys it.

Andy flies in from Seattle on Thanksgiving morning, so we will have everyone home. I am pretty excited.

That's all for now.

Brittany, are you enjoying the Spanish speaking part of your dealings with the children? I know the first year of teaching is exhausting. You just are working all the time.

Love, AK-Mom

Today I went to the store for the "last time" before Thanksgiving. Got everything that I needed....until I got home and realized I forgot at least 2 things. Unfortunately they are not something I can just "borrow" from the neighbors. Guess I'll have to make another "last" trip.

Do all of you have your turkeys out to thaw??? Don't forget or there will be a sorry platter on the table come Thursday.

For Thanksgiving we are going to be at home by ourselves. That is nice. Less pressure that way. I'll make 2 turkey breasts (we don't like dark meat), mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole made the "southern" way, Mom's famous rice dressing (with lots of giblets), cornbread dressing (trying a new recipe), peas, cranberry gelatin salad; Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake for dessert (Paula Dean's Southern special) and some type of chocolate pie. The children will eat the turkey, potatoes and gravy, the peas and the chocolate. Why do I make the rest??? Traditions are hard to break. I really like traditions. Seems like Mom is starting to forget some of them. That makes me sad.

Is anyone else besides us getting their Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving? Our children count on that tradition, too. They do all the decorating now. The whole house and the whole tree. I sit back and drink cider and smile. We put Christmas music on. The best part is this year I don't have any Fall decorations to take down - because I never put any up! Hee hee!

We still have over half the leaves on the trees here. It's been so warm they have not decided to give up yet. Won't green and red look out of place in the foreground of the Fall leaves? Silly!

I am thankful for family, and hugs (long ones with full arms around my shoulders), Christian contemporary radio, wonderfully forgiving friends, and my 5 hours of peace in the middle of my school days. Oh, and Thai food. And the 2 Fridays each month when I get to turn the pager off for 3 days.

My childen told me last night they are very thankful I am not dead. We have watched the movie "Christmas Shoes" twice in the last 2 days. It's a very touching movie - made me sob each time (and I don't do that easily). I would recommend seeing it this season. It is the story made around the song by the same name. OK, it may be a class B, but still worth renting.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Molly, I'm praying for twins! It's a wonderful experience, not to be missed!

Cheryl, the mom of the Lyons' Den

Hello to the Bettgers! I am sitting here eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Just got done with a morning of watercolor painting with the kids. It went well; just got the turkeys they painted hung up in the hall for the parents to see. Two more days of conferences and an observation by my AP (asst. principal) to get through before fairing the snow for Wausau on Wednesday morning. Feeling a lot better after a doctor's visit for pinkeye and sinus infection on Sat. What can I say? I am grateful for the days I am well. It was good to see Mom, Dad and Tim this past weekend--their first visit to the cities since Germany!

Bye and love to all! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We sure have a lot to be thankful for!

KB

We are on board. I will demonstrate the mechanics to the "communications division" (Pam), and we'll be off and running - so to speak.

We're expecting our two college students (Ryan & Caitlin) this week, for Thanksgiving. We will be consuming the turkey with some friends, as we have for a few years now.

More later

Feeling the winter spirit

For a little extra fun and personal update, here is my last post from my personal blog (www.natebettger.com)

I've been listening to Christmas music all day. I must say that Sufjan Steven's Christmas albums are so beautiful. I bought my ticket to fly back to MN. I have tried on my vintage snow pants, my ski boots (thank you Michael), and found the object of my ski jacket affection. Powderhorn Night Hawk Down... Gosh... I haven't seen anything this vintage-ly beautiful in a long time. Way out of my price range, though, and thankfully I have already gotten my new ski jacket and have yet to use it to the purpose it was intended. Thank God that I live close to the mountains.

I have no idea how to post a blog. Am I doing it right???? Can anyone see this???? Mothers of twins do not learn things very easily...their brains are always going in at least 2 different directions. Blogs are for young people, not for oldies like me. Tom, you were going to send me some instructions!

No time to write tonight - worked 12 hours today and my pager is still going off. Gotta get some winks while I can so I can repeat it all over tomorrow.

Someone let me know how I'm doing!!

Well hello there!

Hello all,

I will take the initiative to be the 2nd person to post on Bettger Big-Top! It looks like Aunt Shelly is out on the list of participants, and I hope the list grows to include others!

Our big news is that we're now in our 10th week of pregnancy! We're 9 weeks pregnant and quickly approaching 10!

I'm counting the days til Tuesday - that's the day we get to hear the babe's heart beat for the first time. The chances of miscarrying are significantly less after you hear the baby's heart beat, so I am excited to pass this milestone.

I'm still staying active. I biked to work about 5 more times after finding out we were pregnant (had been biking 2-3 days a week since August), but with the time change that makes it get dark earlier, it makes it a little freaky to bike home at the end of the day. Still going to the gym - went this morning; had pilates yesterday, and will have pilates tomorrow; plan to do cardio and weights again on Friday.

Sleeping has been hard. The first 1/2 of the night is good, until I have to get up to pee, then when I get back in bed, my back decides to ache, and my stomach ligaments hurt. This usually occurs at 12 or 1 am, so I have 4-5 more hours left to try to ignore the pain and sleep. I hope that I will have a period of respite between the 1st and 3rd trimesters, when I can actually sleep the whole way through. I think it's possible.But when I wake up, I do feel fresh, and seem to pretty much forget the fact that I didn't have a 100% comfortable night.

This last weekend Pat and I were at Whidbey Island Friday - Sunday (came back just in time for the dinner; had already cleaned the house). We had a really good time, got some hunting in, and spent a lot of good time being together. We love it on Whidbey - very pretty; artistic, rural, and just all around nice. Lazslow likes it there too. ;)

Then we had Thanksgiving dinner this past Sunday with our intimate group of friends, the Olmsteds (baby Madelyn), Hintzes (twins & baby Owen), and Hagertys (Rachel). We enjoyed our time together, and while Pat and Nicole weren't 100% sure the turkey was fully cooked, we have had no indications of food poisoning or salmonella. Always a good thing. We looked at old pictures of our group of friends on our TV, and just in general had a good time of thankfulness and togetherness.

I made cookies last night for a Bake Sale today to benefit the United Way. Mom's recipe, with milk chocolate and butterscotch chips. Mmm-mm-mmm! Tomorrow I have Book Club.

Man, after Tuesday, the reality will set in, and we will have to hit the ground full speed ahead to get some of the pesky things done that we've been meaning to do for so long ... like moving from a double bed to a queen bed, getting projects done, clearing out rooms, etc. We'll be kicking it into high gear for certain.

So good to hear that Tim's cast is off and that he's feeling good about this milestone, and we're still praying for healing in the arm and continued healing in the foot and hand. Pat's parents and family are also praying - Pat's brother Doug was in a serious motorcycling accident 2.5 years ago, so they know all the ups and downs that come as a part of the ongoing healing.

Are Cheryl & Carl & co, and Pam & Ken & co going to join up too? What about Aunt Toni?

Molly

TIME FOR A FAMILY BLOG

Consider this the beginning of the BETTGER BIG TOP!

• Get the whole family signed up!
  
• Tell us all what you are doing.
  
• Ask for an answer to your questions.
• Think about loading something on the Blog before Thanksgiving!

Turkey hunting season is more popular each year in Idaho. If it weren't for North Dakota, Idaho would have very few wild turkeys. As it is, Fish and Game here in Idaho has made a deal with the state of ND to import wild turkey and they do well in the foothills of the mountains. One fellow I work with goes hunting every year.

WE ALMOST HAD WILD TURKEY ONE THANKSGIVING IN STANTON!
The way I remember it, the day before thanksgiving one year, I was outside in the yard about dusk when a large bird flew into one of the trees on the east side of our yard in Stanton, not far from the basketball hoop. I couldn't figure out what a bird of that size might have been doing at that hour of the night -- so I crept a little closer to the tree. Just about the time I thought I might be able to see what type of bird that was, the thing fell out of the tree and landed at my feet. I saw then that it was actually a wild turkey.

Before long Ken and probably Dan and our Dad found out what had happened and we stood around looking at each other then back down at the bird. By that time, we could see little tiny x's forming up on his eyeballs as we got down a little closer. About the same time the wheels began to turn in Ken's mind -- thinking that Thanksgiving was -- like the next day so since we had a wild turkey here, why not cook it for Thanksgiving!! Fat chance of that with the chef that typically managed our kitchen.

Regardless of what we knew would be certainly forbidden, Ken had the courage to announce that we were suddenly owners of a wild turkey -- which by that time we had verified had actually been mortally wounded by hunters -- had had enough stamina to make it from the woods up to the tree in our yard -- and since Thanksgiving was the next day -- we should clean the turkey and have it for Thanksgiving dinner. That was not the best idea. It met with considerable resistance from our kitchen staff.

Eventually, we found it best to just use one of the hunting knives we had in the garage to butcher the turkey rather than to spend our time talking -- even though full authorization for incorporating this special addition to the menu had not been received -- and prospects did not look good.

Once the bird had been cleaned, we could see nothing unhealthy about it. It wasn't like it had been dead for a day or two. Ken primarily felt that it deserved to be cooked and added to the menu. Full refusal from the kitchen staff seemed to prevail but eventually, probably by doing most of the work without sanction were were able to sneak a wild turkey into an oven-- but we could not find a way to use one of moms sacrosanct roasting pans for such a questionable bird.

That Thanksgiving, we were able to enjoy wild turkey along with our regular Thanksgiving meal Even though there had been a lot of discussion about the wisdom of incorporating something that arrived in the dark, fell out of the tree, we all enoyed the wild turkey!

UNCLE WALTER WILL JOIN US THIS YEAR IN BOISE
A half hour ago, I got off the phone with Uncle Walter. He called to tell me that he plans to come to Boise to join us for Thanksgiving. He'll come Nov. 20 and leave Nov 24.

In a telephone conversation last week, I had detected how alone he'd be feeling this year for Thanksgiving with no nuclear family in the northwest. He told me that his whole family will be together in NM for Christmas. I just invited him to come to Boise for Thanksgiving and tonight he called to accept the invitation. Andy, Molly, Pat, Greg, Laura will be with us here. Dinner for us will be at the Nelsons this year. Damon and Kay Lynn will be in CA. When they return Sat after Thanksgiving, there will be a few leftovers no doubt.

TomTom