In Kanawha, Labor Day is a big deal!

Kanawha has a big Labor Day festival. In 1987, our daughter rode on the Lutheran Church float. She is seated on the other side of the float in this shot, next to a girl in a turquoise shirt (who may be Katie Tveiten, her best friend)...

In this shot, you can see our daughter in white next to the gal in turquoise. She is looking at the camera...

 For Christmas Eve in 1988, David's brother Mark came from Seattle (where he was getting his doctorate in chemistry), and he brought crab legs for everyone to enjoy. Here you can see members of the family gathered around Ann's big oak table, eating the crab legs with relish. Left to right in this photo are, George Peregrim, Lois Timmermann, me, and our daughter. I must say that was one of the most delicious Christmas Eve dinners I've ever enjoyed!

 Here we are opening our gifts at Ann's house on Christmas Eve. This shot shows our daughter, David and I checking out a gift I was opening.

 The Rueber Family often celebrated special occasions with Alitza Boehnke (our daughter's namesake). Here some of us are enjoying a toast to her birthday. Left to right is Joel Rueber, Alitza Boehnke, Betsy Rueber, me with our daughter in front, and David. The painting on the wall is one I made for Ann for a Christmas gift. It is of the last church where David's dad served as minister, and it is located near Alitza Boehnke's house in rural Ventura, Iowa. David's father became ill with leukemia while serving this congregation, and died at the age of 48 in 1963, leaving his wife Ann and five children, ranging in age from 16 down to 2 years old. David was 14 years old at the time of his dad's death.

This shot is from the same celebration of Alitza Boehnke's birthday. Our daughter is giving her a gift, as David and I look on.

It must be a funny card, because I'm sure laughing... with Alitza Boehnke, our daughter, and David Rueber looking on...at Alitza Boehnke's birthday party.

 Not sure what's in this cannister, but it must be interesting. Alitza Boehnke, our daughter, and David Rueber watch me examine it...

 Ruebers helping blow out the candles on Alitza Boehnke's birthday cake! Left to right - Me, David, Joel, Betsy, our daughter.

 During July of 1988, David's sister and her husband and their children came for a visit to the research farm. Here are our daughter and Michael playing in our living room at the farm. If I remember correctly, it was a terribly hot summer, and we didn't have air-conditioning...and even if we did have it, David is not fond of running it, so the rest of us just tried to 'muster on.'

Here is our daughter, playing with Laura and Michael...in our living room at the research farm.

 During the summer of 1989, our daughter had a 4-H project in Child Care. Here she is entertaining Michael Smith, the grandson of a good friend of ours, Louise Smith. 

Here are our daughter and Michael playing in the 'moon-walk' at Kanawha's Labor Day in 1989. Another activity she had with Michael was finger-painting with chocolate pudding. That one was a big hit with him!

For Easter, in 1989, we visited David's sister Madelyn and her husband George and their two children, Michael and Laura. They were living in Jefferson City, Missouri at the time. Here are our daughter and Michael looking for Easter eggs as Madelyn looks on.

Here's our daughter with her uncle George Peregrim, and they are having a good laugh together at the Peregrim home in Jeff City, MO.

Here are Michael, our daughter and Laura having a bit of fun in the Peregrim family room in Jeff City, MO.

Our daughter, Michael and Laura enjoying a joke together...at the Peregrim home at Easter time.

 Here is our daughter making a 'peace sign' over Madelyn's head in their family room in Jefferson City. I believe the wall hanging may be from the two year stint that Madelyn and George spent in Swaziland, Africa in the Peace Corps.

Here is our daughter, hunting for hidden Easter eggs at Peregrims on Easter, 1989.

Our daughter, Laura and Michael made a little 'house' to play in, and here they are enjoying it.

Laura, our daughter, and Michael playing in the 'house' they made when we were visiting them at Easter time in 1989.

In 1988, we invited a Japanese foreign exchange student who was studying at Iowa State University, and one of his friends from Japan, to come stay for a weekend at our house on the research farm. Here are Toshiaki Ishii and Hiroko Arai playing basketball.

Hiroko shoots as our daughter and Toshiaki look on.

While the Japanese students were visiting with us, there was a church gathering at a local hog farm, and we were all invited. Here, left to right, are Toshiaki Ishii, David, Hiroko Arai, and me, with our daughter and Katie Tveiten in front. Rodger, Katie's father, is taking the photo. (I don't know the names of all of the pigs...)

This was our daughter's school photo when she was eleven. I think this was the year her glasses had a little image of the cartoon character, Garfield, in the lower corner. Her birthday and Garfield's birthday are the same!

This is the pioneer cabin near Spirit Lake, Iowa, where there was a massacre of white pioneers by Native Americans. Apparently, the whites were involved in some theft of horses from the Native Americans, and that theft resulted in this sad ending. I need to refresh my memory of this incident, as it seems to me that I recall a young boy was kidnapped, and later either died or was killed, and his grave is out in a desolate rural area in western Iowa.

This photo was taken of our daughter seated at the organ at the home of my co-worker and friend from the Kanawha Reporter newspaper - Louise Smith. Louise played organ for the United Methodist Church in Kanawha for many years, and she also had given piano and organ lessons over her life. This was taken at Christmas time. 

Here are a few assorted photos from a bit earlier in the 1980's...when we were celebrating our daughter's birthday at the home of Alitza Boehnke. Lois, David's sister, had made her a set of Barbie doll bedroom furniture as a gift.

In this photo, our daughter is blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. It looks as if there are at least four candles, but I think it may have been her 6th or 7th birthday. Left to right - me, our daughter, David, and Alitza Boehnke.

Our daughter is looking at me in the mirror of the little Barbie dresser Aunt Lois made for her.

Our daughter is examining the Barbie dresser and wardrobe made for her by David's sister Lois. We were celebrating her birthday at the home of Alitza Boehnke.

Here are some photos of Great-grandma Chase taken in about 1984.

On the left is Great-grandma Chase (Ann's mother), with our daughter and Alitza Boehnke at Ann Rueber's house in Cedar Falls.

It was summer, and I am on the couch with Great-grandma Chase - wearing shorts. Madelyn and our daughter are playing cards on the floor in front.

This photo was taken at Grandma Chase's birthday party held in Dubuque by her son Duane Chase. In this photo, in back, are David and me. In front, left to right, are Ann, Sophie Chase, and our daughter.

In this photo, Grandma Chase is blowing out all of her candles. I don't remember if this was her 90th birthday, or even later. In the photo, left to right, are Scott, Craig and Donald Timmermann, Grandma Chase, with Lois Timmermann holding Michael Peregrim in back, and on the right are Ann Rueber, Mary Chase (Duane's wife) and our daughter.

This photo has Great-grandma Chase and the great-grandchildren who were present at her birthday party. I think she loves having all those cute kids surrounding her.

So, now, were are nearly into the 1990's. Wilma is still living in her apartment in Cedar Rapids, and is still very healthy. Our daughter is about to celebrate her 11th birthday, and our little family was about to go on a very exciting trip...to Mexico!

You just have to come on back...!