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Ramona

By JESSICA GILBERT

Ramona correspondent

(785) 965-2621

Usually Frances Buxman has 25 or more at her Thanksgiving table. And usually when we invite Tooltime Tim for Thanksgiving he can't come because his siblings are arriving. But this year Tim said he could be at our table for Thanksgiving. "How does this happen?" I asked my sister, Pat. "Oh, Frances is going on an adventure."

Indeed, Tim's mom had a splendid adventure planned for Thanksgiving — much more fun than cooking and cleaning up!

"My daughter, Patty, and her husband, Darrell, from Salina, picked me and my two grandkids — Cole and Bryanna — up on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we all drove to Lowell, Ark., to spend Thanksgiving with Patty's daughter, Kayla," Frances reported.

Frances' adventure turned into a surprise when on Thanksgiving morning she was snoozing on the couch and got a tap on her shoulder. "There stood Sandra!" said Frances. "She and A.J. decided to come and surprise me. That made 13 for Thanksgiving dinner. I had a wonderful time!"

Betty and Harold Ohm went on a trek for the holiday, too. They went to see their daughter, Brenda, and family, in Platte City. "I even got to go to Blair, Neb., and see my first great-grandchild," said Betty. "Brenda took me and my granddaughter, Jordan Richardson, to see little Hannah for the first time."

Hannah Shay Heuton was born Nov. 1, to Craig and Kandi Heuton. She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and measured 21 inches. Grandparents are Sharon Hibbs of Blair, Neb., and Brenda and Steve Heuton of Platte City. Great-grandparents are Nyla Heuton of Carroll, Iowa, and Harold and Betty Ohm of Ramona.

"She's quite a charmer," enthused Betty, "but then you'd expect a grandparent to say that, wouldn't you?"

Yep, we know all about the charm of a grandchild. My sister has been enjoying her one and only grandchild, Dagfinnr, since Friday when Pat's daughter, Jana, arrived with the precious grandson. Pat, Tim and I, stood at the airport placing bets on whether Jana would emerge wearing high heels. (She always comes off the plane looking like she just stepped out of Vogue.)

She emerged from the airplane with Dagfinnr perched in front of her in a Bjorn carrying device, a stroller draped over one shoulder, and a heavy baby bag on the other. She looked like a million bucks, but she wasn't wearing high heels! Instead her feet had a stylish pair of patent flats. "That's my concession to motherhood," laughed Jana.

Our Thanksgiving was especially nostalgic — this is the first Thanksgiving since Mom's death — so we were thrilled when Keith and Vicki Schubert of Aurora, Colo., came to spend several days with us. (Keith is the son of Hank and Gertie Schubert.) Tooltime Tim joined Pat and me since his mom was going to Arkansas for Thanksgiving, and our aunts — 101-year-old Anna from Herington and Frieda from Wichita — brought honor to our table, along with cousins Ken and Becky Peoples and Sean from Haysville. Tony Meyer came for lunch, too.

We had plenty of entertainment playing Chase the Ace and viewing DVDs made by Keith and Vicki of our ancestors (set to German music, which was fabulous) and photo collections of their grandchildren, set to music. Vicki is a scrapbooking fanatic, but after learning how to make DVDs with music she's changed her tune. "This is much faster than making scrapbooks," announced Vicki. "I'm hooked." So were we — we looked at them several times!

Tony Meyer had two Thanksgiving celebrations — one at our table and then another the day after with his niece, Cyndi Bentz of Tampa. Cyndi's children all gathered Friday evening for dinner and Tony was part of the celebration.

Paula and Max Morgan had Paula's son, Rod (who lives in Ramona) and his daughter, Hannah, along with Paula's mom, Gloria, for Thanksgiving. "We had Hannah for four days," said Paula with glee. I've learned that Paula is most happy when her little granddaughter is in the house with her and Max.

Paula has been the officer in charge at the Durham Post Office recently, as she often is on weekends in Ramona, but we won't be seeing her in Ramona much in months to come, because she's been awarded the postmaster position in Roxbury as of Dec. 8. Congratulations, Paula!

Fred and Marguerite Utech had their traditional Thanksgiving gathering the Saturday following Thanksgiving. "We didn't have as many as usual — only 21," said Fred. "Some were absent because of health issues — like Garland's wife couldn't be here because she stayed home to be with their daughter who just had open heart surgery."

Garland's daughter is only 29 and Fred explained that she had a bad valve and they thought it would need to be replaced. "In the end they just repaired it, and she's doing fine," said Fred.

"How are you and Marguerite doing?" I asked Fred.

"Oh, we're just our usual limpy selves," he said with a chuckle.

Betty Stenzel had a busy holiday weekend. On Thanksgiving she was joined by son, Greg, and granddaughter, Nikki Stenzel. Then on Friday evening Betty was in Marion at her sister-in-law, Helen Chill's, home. "My husband's nieces and nephews — Timmy, Matt, Piper, Maddie, and John Wilburn — were here from Texas," said Betty. "These were Lenore's kids." (Lenore was Eddie Stenzel's oldest sister.)

On the weekend before Thanksgiving Betty attended Centre High School's rendition of "Alice in Wonderland." Betty's granddaughter, Nikki, had the lead role of Alice. "So you know I attended both performances!" said Betty. After the final performance Betty was part of a large gathering of family and friends who all went for pizza to celebrate.

Warren and Paula Fike went to Linda and Dan's house for Thanksgiving in Burdick. On the weekend they attended the 90th birthday party for Dan's mother, Myrtle Peterson.

Marge Stroda had Thanksgiving lunch with her mother and then went to Marion to be with her husband, Maurice. Art Stroda spent the day with his daughter and husband in Salina. Art's going to be a grandpa in April! Art's sister, Jane Staatz, and husband, David, had Thanksgiving at their home here in Ramona, and were even seen out putting up the first Christmas display in town.

"We had all our girls and their families with us," said Jane.

Connie Smith said she had a little turkey this Thanksgiving. "Dan couldn't be home and so we didn't have our usual big family gathering. But my daughter, Catina, was here for several days," said Connie.

Various friends came by and Connie said she got lots of e-mails and phone calls. "Collin showed up — smelling to see if there was any pie," laughed Connie. "And Catina and I got down all the Christmas decorations in anticipation of decorating. Christmas has exploded in my dining room!"

While Collin Bailey was checking out the pie at Connie's house, he had traditional Thanksgiving dinner at his dad's house earlier in the day. "Nate's boys — Collin and Brendan and his family — were here for Thanksgiving," said Judy. "My kids were in various places celebrating."

Al and Darlene Sondergard were at their daughter, Kay's house in Hope. "We had 20 for Thanksgiving dinner and 28 for supper that night," said Darlene.

When I asked Steve Jirak what he did on Thanksgiving he just laughed and said, "Ate! Ate! Ate!"

The first family gathering took place Nov. 18, when the Tajchmans celebrated at Clay's house. Then on Thanksgiving Day Steve and Vickie's family had the meal at their home where Grandma Tajchman joined them, along with Vickie's sister, Jackie and three of her sons (Leo, Pius, and Ivan).

While I was in the post office gathering news from Steve, I asked our postmaster, Kathy Werth, what she and Don did for the holiday. "We went to Salina to be with my sister, Shari. She was on call at the hospital so she couldn't be far away," explained Kathy. "She got called three times on Thanksgiving!" Don and Kathy went to Salina Wednesday evening and stayed with Kathy's daughter, Jenny, who's studying to be a nurse. They got to enjoy the comforts of Jenny's house — which Kathy and Don spent days remodeling this past year.

Bobby Thornhill and Judy Bickford were on the road around the holiday. On Nov. 17 they were with Bobby's oldest son, Travis. "Got to see all the kids and enjoy the great company," commented Bobby. On Thanksgiving they were with Judy's daughter, Chelsey, and her boyfriend's family, which took them to Florence and on the next day they were in Salina with Bobby's brother, Gordon. Cousin, Terry McRae, also of Ramona, went with Bobby and Judy for this celebration.

When I teased Bobby about all the gatherings, he gave me his wry smile and said, "I can eat turkey a lot!"

And that's the news from Ramona where we're all stuffed, and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.

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