Additional Pictures from November

Grandma Hilde with Rowan

One of many loads of branches removed

Aunt Evie reading to Rhi

Dragging off the tree logs

Lovely be-berried branch in NC

Glowing holly leaves in NC

Non-Stop November

Great Grands Arlene and Ray watch Leslie play with Rhiannon

Rhiannon with Rowan and Kayme

The pace of 2012 just won’t slow down and November even seemed to  move faster, starting off with Hilde and Mark still in Asheville NC.  Hilde took a bus tour of the city to start the month and then the last morning, Mark and Hilde managed to  take a short hike to sample a little of the great trails in the Pisgah National Forest, right on the edge of the city.  What a beautiful place!  That gave them a little exercise before all the sitting in airports, in planes and then finally in the car heading home.

There was not much sleeping in after the late-night arrival home:  the tree-trimmers for the power company came by the next morning and removed nine of the big pines and spruce which the  previous owners had planted right under the power liens.  The mess left by that many big trees was another great opportunity for exercise as Mark and Hilde filled the truck  with branches several times, with Mark dragging the large logs away with the tractor.

The middle of the month was busy with many meetings, including one where Hilde spoke up against some zoning which prohibits farming in a township south of here.  How can anyone ‘buy local’ if the locals don’t want the smells and activities of food production anywhere around?  Mark and Hilde also spent a chilly afternoon checking and repairing some deer stands.  Apparently they brought back more than aching muscles, since Mark awoke in the night with a 1.25 inch western pinecone beetle behind his ear!

For the first time in four years, Jim was able to come north and hunt in Wisconsin.  Although the guys had no luck, they did see a few and managed in a deer season which ran the gamut from warm  to foggy to howling winds and temps in the 20s.  Hilde went home with Jim the 18th to help with child care a couple of days, since Rowan was just a week too young to attend day care.  Time with both little ones (one in constant motion and the other constantly eating!) was special.  Kayme and Hilde ran errands and took the girls to visit their Bormann great-grandparents.  Mark detoured from Platteville to Sussex to retrieve Hilde and put liners in the cellar windows.  He does enjoy helping out on the house stuff.

Thanksgiving this year was particularly special as we all gathered.  The house was full with noise and food and joy.  Evie read to and played with Rhi, Grandma gave her a bath and Grandpa played peek-a-boo from behind a mask, so she was a happy little girl.  The roosters obligingly crowed for her also.  Cuddling and feeding little Rowan is such a comfort!

Throughout the month, Hilde’s ears and sinuses gave her unending grief.  Although the antibiotics helped, eventually, at the end of the month, the ENT doc did two myringotomies (tiny punctures in each eardrum) which he described as airing out the attic.  Now she is hearing so much better—all the better to hear and sing Christmas music!.

A High-Octane October



Happy Henkels at baptism of Rowan Emilie Henkel




Brian, Hilde, Scott, Terri, Ray, Laure & Steve

October was a simply wonderful month for Mark and Hilde with the arrival of Rowan Emilie Henkel (6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches) on October 10 and the prompt baptism with Grandpa Loren Fritz officiating and Uncle Paul Fritz as sponsor.   Mark and Hilde rushed down to enjoy the new addition:  Mark's loving contribution was to do the necessary electrical work for Jim's dining room lighting, while Hilde played vigorously with Rhi so she didn't feel too displaced.  They returned the next week for the baptism, held at a Thursday night service to allow the pastoral members of the family to be there.

Hilde's niece Heidi is Rowan's other sponsor but she was in Minnesota for the other major event of the month:  the wedding of Heidi's brother Curt to Lori Peymann.  That joyous event brought all seven Bormann siblings together for the first time in many years, as shown above.  The wedding was truly beautiful and Terri was glowingwith joy.  Heidi was soloist and did a great job!

The busy run in Mark's law practice has continued.  He was in Madison early in the month for  very intense sessions with the judge to FINALLY get the work scheduled for the trial next March and then went straight from Curt's wedding to Iowa to do depositions there. 

Coming home for two days, Mark and Hilde did their own chicken butchering for the first time:  21 large roosters taking them half a day to kill, pluck, clean, cool and then reclean and freeze.  It is very tiring, for those who have not tried this rural entertainment.  The home-made clucker plucker worked very well for the first five (when the motor burned out) throwing wet and bloody chicken feathers high in the pine tree and in their faces.  The hand plucking was tedious, but the turkey fryer worked well for heating water.

Right after the chickens, Mark and HIlde were on the road to depositions in Platteville and Madison, home for a couple days and then, in the face of superstorm Sandy, flew to Asheville North Carolina for more depositions.  The storm was JUST to the north of there with snow visible from town, but melting at this altitude.

It turned out that Hilde's father did break something in the fall last month:  he ended up finally diagnosed with three compression fracture of his vertebra, the cause of his increasing pain and weakness.  This meant that he was hospitalized instead of attending grandson Curt's wedding, but after a procedure with bone cement to stabilize the vertebra, he is out of pain, and recuperating at a rehabilitation center.  The concern, calls, emails, conferences and lots and lots of prayers was the other way all seven siblings united during the month.

Despite the business nature of the trip to North Carolina, on Halloween, Mark and Hilde managed to take advantage of the better weather and make a late afternoon visit to the North Carolina Arboretum.  Even at this season of late fall, the place is enchanting, filled with tree and shrub species which were new to them.  It would be great to return to in other seasons...and would be enhanced by the company of Evie to help identify things!

September 2012

 September in Rudolph meant a big change in weather from the hot days for the first weekend to an inch of slushy (and unpredicted) snow three weeks later.  Mark and Jim completed the re-roofing project very nicely and the Henkel ‘girls’ had fun playing and relaxing between feeding them.  Jim got to give his Rhiannonr her first ride on a tractor, too.  It was a big help having Jim come work with Mark!

September is the peak time for budgets on the county level, so Hilde had lots of meetings, even though she missed a couple.  Her real focus was tomatoes, lots of tomatoes, as the heat with Mark’s careful watering led to a bumper crop.  Hilde made juice, sauce, ketsup, jam and lots and lots of tomato soup, plus tomatoes were given to office folks, the Lutheran school, two of Hilde’s friends, and of course, family.  As of the end of the month, there were still more tomatoes coming, at a slower rate, since there was not killing freeze thanks to covering with tarps.  The peppers came late but bountifully so there were many of those to chop and freeze.

One cold and wet morning, Mark and Hilde accompanied a forester on a 90 minute trek through the hunting land to try to arrange for the required cutting.  Hilde kept up with the guys until the very end, pride overcoming a blister and swollen ankle.  Now to see if an acceptable plan can be bid out for cutting in the next couple of years.

As always, there were several trips to fit into this month (it seemed shorter than 30 days and all high speed!)  The oldest senior masters Henkel went down to Palatine to visit John and Evie, spending a Saturday morning at the huge annual hamfest in Rockford and then sitting on the testing panel at J P Woods (where John trains currently) for 8 high ranking black belts.  That was very interesting with unique breaks and self-defense moves.  Mark went to LaCrosse with Hilde when she attended the annual counties’ conference;  from there he drove to Madison for one day and worked in the room the final morning.  This allowed them to have two lovely evenings dining and strolling along the wonderful riverfront---it was a special time.  The various trips allowed Mark and Hilde to see the last lush days of summer, the peaks of color and harvest, and of course the beautiful harvest moon yesterday, shimmering on the waters of Lake Winnebago.  Wisconsin is a beautiful state!

Hilde’s parents continue to have problems with her father falling again early in the month.  Although he didn’t break anything this time, his back gives him a lot of pain and Terri, Laure and Anne have been keeping a closer eye on things there.  The hope is that Dad & Mom will both be able to attend grandson Curt’s wedding next month in Minnesota.

To close out a month which started with Jim helping his dad put on a roof; the last Saturday involved Mark going to Sussex to help with closing leaky basement windows and figuring out the wiring problem which kept Jim, Kayme and Rhi a little chilly on the cooler nights.  Having a state of the art boiler system does help if there is no power going to the boiler.  While the guys again labored mightily and successfully, Hilde, Kayme and Rhi played and relaxed…Rhi’s vocabulary is really expanding, but she continues to use an imperative Gark! when she wants Grandma to crawl around the house with her.

August 2012 Finale

What an active month with travel, family, lots of gardening and homeowner activities.  Mark had lots of rescheduling for work and a little less time watering as Rudolph got a little rain.  Hilde continued with canning and freezing around extra meetings and then donned a hardhat for the frac sand and paper mill tour in very hot weather.  Both Henkels fit in physicals resulting in clean bills of health and managed to enjoy a few tranquil moments on the deck watching sunsets.

The end of the month was a celebration when Jim was installed as assistant professor of biology at  Wisconsin Lutheran College in Wauwatosa.  It was a special day, and having Rhi happily looking over her collection of relatives was the icing on the cake.  As her vocabulary grows, it is fun to watch her satisfaction with getting things across.  She surely enjoyed having both sets of grandparents to play ball with!  The rainy weather did point up a leak around Jim’s chimney, but he properly tarred up the flashing as soon as things dried out.

Mark and Hilde went straight from Sussex to Platteville on the 27th---extra time with family AND less time driving than going back to Rudolph and then down again.  Along the way, Mark bought a nailing gun and Hilde a sewing machine.  Our toys are all tools of one sort or another.  The nail gun was for the ‘labor day’ activities---tearing defective shingles off the north addition (about one-third of the house) and reshingling.  This was a fine father-son activity for Mark and Jim.  They used the tractor for gathering and dumping the shingles.  Some of the fiddly valley-around-the-power work was done by the light of the blue moon as the conditions were clear and lovely for it.  So August ended with the roof half off and plenty of work ahead.  There is a rumor, hard to believe, that some folks relax and vacation on holiday weekends, but no Henkel believes that.

The month of August had family members moving all over as they headed off to school and jobs.  Niece Alana headed off to grad school in Montreal, both Adam Henkel and Erich Bormann went to Madison and  Heidi Orchard is back in Missouri while her brother Curt is in Iowa.  Sometimes it is hard to keep track of this family.

Early August 2012

9-grain bread, choc oatmeal cookies, pineapple zucchini bread and pickles

Using an existing crack and then bending the conduit!

Evie smashes her two-inch board, with John holding

 August started with Mark and Hilde roaring home from Platteville, watering everything in the garden and then repacking for a couple days at WI Wells.  Mark gathered continuing education credits while Hilde relaxed and caught up on the pile of county papers which had accumulated.  While they were in  playland, Rudolph experienced a wildfire (over 100 acres) and then a violent storm which left half of one birch tree cracked off.  For the rest of the month Hilde went full speed ahead on canning, freezing and baking, despite the heat. This picture is one day's yield.

Just after the  8th anniversary of Jim and Kayme’s wedding (how can it be so long?) the big family gathering took place: Jim, Kayme and Rhiannon for four days and John and Evie for 3!  Rhi had a wonderful time with all the attention and loved chasing the young chickens, although she wanted to crawl into the brooder house through the HIGHLY ‘be-fowled’ hatch.  Lots got accomplished:  Jim enjoyed running the country roads, John did the annual de-rusting of our final family pathfinder, and Mark wrote a will for Jim and Kayme.  Having everyone together for worship on Kayme’s birthday was special---look at the smiles on the new group picture atop the page!

The big event was Evie testing for her second dan black belt, with all the senior masters Henkel together at a testing—first time in several years.    Evie did a great job, with precise, clean forms (five taegeuk and keumgang), energetic sparring and then smashing her two-inch board with a spinning sidekick.  Jim and Mark assisted Dr. Stevens on the judging panel, John led the testing groups, held lots of board (bruising his hand in the process) and finally, Hilde got to present Evie with her black belt and pin.

Over the weekend two property issues came up:  the driveway lights shorted out and the inspection of the roof on the addition revealed it was in much worse shape than previously appeared.  The previous owner of this place had very poorly installed wiring under paved driveway without conduit to protect it, so Mark ended up digging a narrow trench across the driveway to straighten things out with three days of labor.  The roof became the labor of Labor day weekend...see part two of August blog soon!

July 2012

Hot and hectic with homecomings: that best describes July 2012 for the Henkels.

Mark and Hilde spent many hours weeding and watering in the gardens and fruit beds, but the incredible heat and drought combined to limit and then dry out the lawns, flowers, and trees. While careful watering helped the hardy peach tree produce its first three small peaches, the summer raspberries and blueberries both had meager yields. The sugar maples, after no sap run in spring, lost many leaves mid-month and their health for the future is in doubt. Seeing the neighbors’ crops wither and water holes dry up has been very painful.

On the family front, the long-awaited return of Jim and then Kayme and Rhiannon meant that Mark and Hilde very happy and pretty busy also. On the first weekend of the month, they drove down to Sussex in two cars (one is Jim’s Rav 4), both stuffed with furniture, food, tools and other items. Mark’s fitness, foresight and flexibility were very helpful when the incorrect key (fault of the realty!) made the only access thru a basement window. There was no time to waste since the washer and dryer arrived for installation even before Rachel bought Jim from the airport. Meantime, John and Evie arrived from Chicago bringing a futon, additional muscles and lunch. It was a wonderful reunion as Jim looked over his new home. Then work began on setting up the futon, the Henkel bed for Rhi and the wireless server. The really major project the first weekend was to remove the bile-yellow kitchen sink and get a nice one installed. Mark and Jim did a great job and enjoyed working together, too!



For the next two weeks, Jim camped in the house, painted Rhi's new room and attended his special class in the history of the Old Testament. Kayme and Rhi stayed in Maryland to finish Kayme’s last opera commitment, supported by her parents first and then sister Rachel. Little Rhiannon really missed her daddy during that time, despite skyping every night. Finally Kayme and Rachel packed up Rhiannon and a blueberry bush and drove nearly 1000 miles to arrive in Sussex. The next day Mark and Hilde went down to help with unpacking as the rest of their belongings arrived. Everything came in good shape, including the grand piano! Naturally, it was very hot while all this was going on so this was definitely sweat equity!



Mark had some good news as the next trial on his schedule was postponed, allowing him to really get going on prep for the next two coming up. He has just been very busy with motions, depositions and briefs: in fact he ended the month in Platteville on another hot day, doing a full day farm visit with many experts coming and going.



During the July county board meeting, Hilde was recognized by both the county chairman and the executive director of Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin for her leadership in the formation and expansion of the agency.  It is hard to step aside, but already the executive committee is ramping up in busy-ness for budget work and nobody can do everything that interests them.

Turning “over 60” did not seem to have any effect on Hilde’s energy, just the heat, heat and heat. However, with all the family activities, gardening (she canned first pickles and froze first batch of beans plus did lots of zucchini) and meetings, she still found time for one July tradition: a lunch with Irene! Usually they celebrate between their birthdays, but this year is was a little late, still sweet. “Make new friends, but keep the old---one is silver and the other gold!” It really is precious to have a Christian friend for more than 30 years and a joy to see her on her feet again.

The posting of this blog was delayed by the total failure of the server at the Platteville hotel, but better late than never



JIm Kayme & Rhi in new house



Mark and Jim replace the sink

June 2012

Mark checking brickwork and windows

June started with a bang as Hilde and Mark became house pre-viewers for Jim and Kayme as the deadline for getting a house loomed.  Although the housing market is said to be so good for buyers, the returning couple had nothing but troubles as they had three offers that fell through (one because of a history of troubled wells only brought to light by Jim’s aunt Terri!).  However, finally, the search was successful and Jim and Kayme officially closed on a home in the Town of Lisbon (just a couple miles from where Hilde grew up!) just at the end of June.  Jim, family and furniture will apparently arrive on three separate dates, but it will work out and soon they will be here in Wisconsin.  (the underline will NOT go away!)
 a

2012 chicks arrived!

Rhi's refinished bed

Mark has been spending a lot of time catching up at the office after the long time gone to trial, but he has been busy at home also.  This year he fenced the corn immediately upon planting, flushed all our home-brew watering systems and helped Hilde pick strawberries one morning.  He has been more of a mother cluck to the new chicks than Hilde, who was pretty limp with a cold/allergy/ear & sinus infection, now cleared up.  The assortment of chicks includes some Aracanas because Hilde wants green eggs for  Rhiannon.

Radio propagation has been especially strong in June, so Mark got to contact folks in several new states.  It is great to hear him talking to a staticky-drawl from Tennessee or  to guys in Oklahoma or Pennsylvania.  Mark continues to call an 2-meter activity net on Wednesday night with regulars and some  interesting surprises checking in some nights. some nights.

Despite the ‘foggy head’, Hilde made strawberry jam, froze a good supply of peas and managed to, very regretfully, retire from the Aging and Disability Resource Center Board.  After seven years, five as chair, and excitement like having two successive directors take other jobs, having nutrition and IT service need to be changed and then expanding from two counties to four, Hilde feels the agency is stable and successful.  Having just a little less on her plate will be nice.  The lovely vase of roses and kind parting words were  wonderful.

In the end of the month, while Mark assisted Jim with the complicated paperwork for a long-distance purchase, Hilde stripped and refinished the nearly 100 year-old bed that Jim inherited from his grandmother Hazel.  The bed was originally Granny Scheid’s and purchased around 1916.  Both Mark and his brother Phil slept in it in their childhoods.  Now Rhiannon will be sleeping in it as she transitions to her own room and her own bed…five generations!

Other family news for the month:  Hilde’s Dad did NOT have any more falls and his rib and wrist seem to be healing well.  Nephew Curt Orchard passed his board exams and is now a licensed pharmacist, while his sister Heidi is having a great time with her internship in Jacksonville Florida.  And THREE young relatives attended the WELS Youth Rally in Tennessee: niece Leslie Bormann, and nephews Erich Bormann and Adam Henkel.  Nephew Joel Henkel bought a house in Rice Lake and niece Alana Henkel is traveling the Midwest with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra.  The family  activities are so varied and interesting lately!

Jim noted yesterday that he completed his post doc and bought a house on the same day and wondered what tomorrow would bring.  Well, overnight he and much of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and DC got blasted with a nasty storm.  Thank God, he and his family are safe, and they actually have power unlike many out there.  This really has been a month of blessings.

May 2012: Mostly Missouri

The lovely month of May was rushed and mostly away from home for the Henkels.  The  first part of the month, Mark

Douglas County Courthouse, Ava MO

Beautiful Mo Sunset

was in the usual pre-trial intense focus, getting things set up and copied and prepared.  Hilde had extra meetings and three public hearings to run, trying to get everything done before the departure.  It was bittersweet for Hilde to attend the staff recognition luncheon for the McMillan Library as her last activity.  After ten great years including time as the board president, it is hard to step down, but one person can’t do everything.  The farewells and plaque were lovely.

The early warmth tricked many fruit trees into flowering early, but frosts were hard on them.  However, the little peach tree waited until mid-May and was just beautiful.  Part of the prep for leaving was trying to get lawn all tidied and failing to get in the gardens as Rudolph got over 3 inches of rain and in the heavy soil, things were too wet to disk things.

On Saturday, May 12th, Mark and Hilde completely filled the car with four document boxes ( the other 8 boxes were already in Missouri!), a dolly, and all the clothes and books needed for up to three weeks in trial.  Mark’s case was venued in AVA MO, a small town on the edge of the Ozarks.  The cell reception there was poor outside and non-existent in the only motel, meaning if either phone rang, Hilde or Mark would grab it and rush outside to try to make contact.  Even the land line in the room cut off a couple times.  Hilde did find that the park on the hill was good for phone reception and spent a couple afternoons keeping in touch while getting some sun.

The trial was very intense with court running until 6 pm most evenings, and the plaintiff s attorney spending several days READING depositions of persons not at the trial…tough for the jury.  He also called Mark once at nearly midnight—the only discourteous action of the entire stay in the very polite South.  The dining choices were very limited, but eating salad and pizza many evenings worked out, and the views around the area were so very lovely.  On Saturday afternoon, Mark and Hilde drove along a scenic Ozarks road, Glade Top, enjoying flowers and views.  Then Sunday they drove to Mountain Home AR for church and enjoyed those vistas before a nice hot hike along a lake.  The jury came back late on the 24th with a win for Mark, so it was all worth it.  By getting up very early on Friday, most of the holiday traffic was avoided on the 13 hours driving back.  It was very good to be back in Wisconsin.

The final week of May was spent at HOME with Mark and Hilde working hard to catch up on mowing, and planting.  Both gardens are now fully planted, including the 30 tomato and 18 pepper plants which the office gals watered and cared for during the trial.  It was a real joy to be working together out there and relaxing from the long hours of the trial.  Better yet is knowing that no out-of-state trials are scheduled for the rest of the year!

Family news is mixed for the month:  John and Evie are doing great; but with the time for Jim and Kayme’s return approaching (mid July) they have been frustrated in several attempts to buy a house.  However, they now know they are adding another daughter to the family in October and have named her Rowan Emilie.  Hilde’s father had another nasty fall and broke a bone in his right wrist.  The extended family celebrated four graduations (all nephews:  Curt Orchard in pharmacy, Joel Henkel in business management, and Adam Henkel and Erich Bormann from high school) as that next generation continues to grow up and make us proud.  May has been a very full month!
          Note that formatting this blog has changed and I apologize for the lack of order.!!

April Activities 2012

April 20

April is always transitional, but with the weather 
fluctuations, it felt like Wisconsin  moved from warm
 to cold to warm almost every day!  The early blossoms on fruit trees got some hard freezes and some rather attractive snow along the way, so the fruit crop looks to be minor this year—very sad after the failure in maple syrup!

One is Not Enough!

April featured some great family moments, right from the beginning.  Jim and Kayme flew into Milwaukee (with Rhiannon, of course!) to look for a future home.  As Mark and Jim examined basements, roofs and carpentry details, Hilde got to play with Rhi and help keep her out of trouble in each house (some had LOTS of breakables!).  For the evening, Claudette and Rachel brought food and the very good gathering with four grandparents, both parents and Aunt Rachel had Rhiannon very happy and excited---all those people to read to her, to feed her and to pay her attention!  Rhi got a little Easter candy, too, so all was good with her world.  Although there was no immediate solution of the housing problem, Jim and Kayme are waiting to see what will happen next.  The move will occur later in July so there is a little time yet.

 For Easter, Mark and Hilde headed south again, to Palatine to share the weekend with John and Evie.  With John tackling the crazy traffic downtown on Saturday, the four got to visit the Chicago Field Museum and see the Genghis Khan exhibit plus lots of very interesting animal exhibits.  The day was lovely, and the delay with the drawbridge up did give a glimpse of a sailing armada.  The “Next Generation” put together a delicious Easter feast for the evening and then some Cattan .  Worshipping together on Easter morning was very special.

Hilde was unopposed and re-elected to Wood County Board, and then received some new assignments.  Since she knows that Executive committee (finance, treasurer, clerk, human resources, maintenance, insurance and risk management are the oversight responsibilities) will take more time, she reluctantly asked to be removed from the McMillan Library Board after ten interesting and pleasant years there.  Hilde will also step down as chairman of the Aging and Disability Resource Center in June.  Both of those boards have been friendly and challenging---but especially while acting as chair, the time commitment is large.  Zoning issues, both town and shoreland (thru the county) have added meetings, study and lots of phone calls to fill out the month.


Mark has been busy preparing for both the long trial next month in Missouri and the two trials later in the year (both in Wisconsin, thank goodness!), however, he got some other interesting tasks done also.  In the violent winds accompanying the flip-flopping weather, the rotor atop his radio tower vibrated so much that his rotor came apart when the bolts shimmied out!  He ordered some replacement parts and re-installed the old rotor until that can be done.  Mark has been busily diving into spring tasks: working up the two gardens, transplanting blueberries and a tamarack and weeding and working up the blueberries and strawberries.  He added some summer raspberries to the small berry bed also.  It took about four hours of both Hilde and Mark digging and pulling and grubbing around to remove the violet infestation in the huge fall berry bed.  Mowing season for Hilde has begun—Mark sharpened the blades and Hilde hopes to avoid any rocks, bricks or other noisy mowing impediments this year.

Happy Rhi

There were some other really good moments:  Hilde went to Waupaca to visit Claudette and admire their lovely home and yard there, and she accompanied Mark to Platteville—always a pleasant and nostalgic place to visit.  The first asparagus was enjoyed April 15th which is very early for this northern location!  Down in Maryland, our Rhiannon has learned to climb and slide down the playset and is happy whenever she is out there—what a smile!



 

Maddening March

March was mostly spent in Buffalo Minnesota for Mark and Hilde. Going early by one day avoided a horrible sloppy spring storm with ice, sleet and wet snow, but extended the already lengthy time away from home to nearly three weeks. The town is rather small and mostly summer tourism, so things were not very lively there, with limited shopping and activities during winter.

While “Mark’s” trial (he was assisting another attorney for this one) dragged on, Hilde kind of zoned out, and explored Buffalo. They had lots of decorated buffalos in town, but 3 of them caught her eye. The one with a mural of the town welcomes people coming in from the south, the martial arts one stands before a karate dojang and the fenced-in, finny one represents the reason for the town name: buffalo fish in the lovely lake. Hilde read up on town history one sunny afternoon in the library.

Being in MN so long allowed Hilde to have a special reunion lunch with Marilyn Baxter Carver, who lives a ways north, but they met in St. Cloud for a long, long lunch full of chat. It was great to see her after 41 years! Marilyn and Hilde were at Arrowhead High School together, where Marilyn played bass clarinet and Hilde alto clarinet for all four band years. They also had a couple years at Ripon College together, and both had sons get married last year, so there was lots of sharing and laughter.

The 16th, the happy day when Mark and Hilde finally returned to Rudolph, was also the 83rd birthday of Hilde’s dad Ray AND the day he returned home after rehab from his fall back in January. The entire family is hoping for no more falls and a healthy spring and summer for Ray and Arlene!

The best news of March was (1) the official call for Jim to teach microbiology at Wisconsin Lutheran College and Jim’s acceptance. This means that in July, Jim, Kayme and Rhiannon will be moving back to Wisconsin, to the great joy of all the relatives on both sides of the clan. The moving plans are a little complicated, but lots of family help will make it work. They plan to locate and offer on a home in the coming month so to be well settled when classes start the end of August. Oh yes there is a (2)! It is the joyous news of what Jim calls "Henklet #2" , a little sister or brother for Rhiannon and a second grandchild, who will arrive after they are back in Wisconsin. It made March so happy for Mark and Hilde. This is the news which has had Hilde beaming all through the month

Like most of the Midwest, our spring came very early and in such a rush that Henkels had NO maple sap for the first time ever. Others who tapped early got a small yield, but most did not have enough sap to cook down. The plus side is that things are green and flowering and lovely much earlier than usual—the lawnmowing is about to begin here. Now if only the fruit trees don’t suffer any damaging freezes, the year could be great for apples, pears and maybe even a peach on the lone hardy peach Henkels have been nurturing.

Our niece Heidi took her spring break out in DC to visit Jim and Kayme, and see the the capitol. Heidi took some really great photos of cherry blossom, and historic sites, but I liked the pictures of her and Jim with our Rhiannon the best. The last one, at Mt. Vernon, shows Rhi clearly pondering HOW to get some of those neat sheep for her own.

February 2012

February was one day longer this year--which helped Mark and Hilde with a very full schedule. Coming home from the successful trial in Wausau, Mark and Hilde had a lot to catch up on, slightly hampered by Mark coming down with a nasty cold.

One of the annual tasks is getting all those tax papers together and totalled and off to the accountant. What a great relief when that is done! The Henkels had another demonstration of the great community they live in when,with all the travel and confusion, Hilde left her checkbook at the post office just before heading out of town. Becky, the post master, carefully secured the checkbook, left messages for her on the phone and even called the bank so that Hilde would not need to cancel checks or accounts. Small towns are great!

February is a special month for Mark & Hilde--this year it was their 40th wedding anniversary, and of course the birthday, one day later, of Dr. James Henkel. The anniversary celebration was delayed a week so that they could be in town for the February taekwondo testing which went great. The next day the couple flew to Tucson for a wonderful relaxed week. While the residents thought the weather cold, the 60s seemed balmy and invigorating for Mark and Hilde! The one rainy day was spent seeing wonderful exhibits of quilts, pottery, mining, history and much more at the historical museum and Arizona State Museum---so much at once nearly wore them out. The weather was perfect for their day at the Sonors Desert Museum where they delighted in the raptors flights and got lots of neat photos. Other enjoyable sights included the Tucson Botanical Garden, the Presideo, Pima County Air and Space Museum, Reid Park Zoo and the older area of Tucson---beautiful houses and flowers.

The last day was perfect: Mark and Hilde took a tramride up Sabino Canyon, hiked up and down and picnicked next to Sabino Creek, sitting on rocks and enjoying the stark beauty. It was totally restful and refreshed both for the next set of travel. After the difficulties of finding parking--you pay, then circle for 20 minutes before snatching a spot --and those ominous flyers warning of mountain lions lurking, it was such a great day.

Meantime, the extended family was also having an interesting time. John and Evie went up and participated in the famous cross-country skiing event, the Birkebeiner. Evie has done it before, but this was John's first--so they skied the Korte, "just" 13 miles, and had a great time. Unfortunately, they were too busy to take any pictures! Howedver, Kayme took this great one of Rhiannon out enjoying early spring in Maryland. Hilde's Dad is still in the rehab place, but much improved and was able to 'get out on pass' to enjoy having 6 of 7 'kids' home around hime for fish fry. Having his oldest son Steve fly home for a visit was very special for them.

As February came to an end, a major storm sept into the midwest, so Mark and Hilde left a day early for his trial in central Minnesota (that's a contrast from Tucson, for sure!), safely arriving before the ice/rain/snow which left a nasty mess everywhere. They brought boots and the trusty-worthy RAv 4 and had no problems. February was full, and with trials beginning and end, a little busier than they prefer....both are hoping the pace will slow a little soon!

Starting 2012 Off

January was a great month, long and full. Mark and Hilde tend to be mood-influenced by the Packers, so the start was great and the loss in the play-offs a real bummer, but after such a record-setting season, Packer fans should not complain. This picture of Rhi at the Fritz Christmas shows a girl ready to tailgate!

On the health side, both Hilde and Mark had some short doses of flu, but Hilde’s father was the one for concern. He took a fall right onto the last decent shoulder and also landed with the inplanted defibrillator under him, leading to a proximal humerus fracture and lots of pain and bruising on the chest. He was hospitalized briefly and is now in rehab for a while to get him through the worst part, and hopefully avoid more surgery. However, Ray is doing pretty well now.

This month’s travel schedule included depositions for Mark down in Madison for two days and then continuing education credits in Waukesha. This very nicely landed on the 80th birthday of Hilde’s mother Arlene, so while Mark was in a seminar, Hilde, sister Terri and Laure and the new octogenarian had a great ladies luncheon. The four look pretty good and definitely look related!

Although January warmer and less snowy than usual, there were also a few nasty snows including one very slippery day where Hilde carefully drove into Wisconsin Rapids (9 miles) and chaired a 15-member meeting by video-conference from four locations with another on speaker phone, instead of everyone trying to get to Wausau . Those modern communication options sure help life along in bad weather! Jim and Kayme rented an off-season cabin in W Virginia to get out in the snow and then hiked around Swallow Falls, with Rhi bundled and perched happily on Dad.

The end of the month was focused on Mark’s preparation for a trial in Wausau. The pre-trial period involves getting boxes and boxes of documents sorted and all the evidence verified, duplicated, numbered, entered into computers and then all of that checked again. Mark has a very good legal assistant and a sharp young associate, which helps a great deal. So the final week of the month ended with Mark in Wausau. Hilde had a heavy-duty meeting at the end of the month then joined him up there in support mode.

Being away from the computer with all the photo files delayed this posting a little. To include a tad of February news: Hilde was able to do a little genealogy, have a wonderful lunch and visit with her friend Katy and then was in court to watch Mark very careful defense and closing arguments. To top everything off, Mark won the case. It was a good month plus!

December 2011

December made for a dazzling end to the year of 2011—full of happy times and joyous gatherings.

Early in the month, Mark and Hilde were happy and proud to attend Evelyn’s presentation on her doctoral study of ferns. Evie spoke well and the slides were great, bringing together enormous amounts of data. Her committee gave her some changes to make in the paper but full approval—congratulations Dr. Williams! After champagne in the lab and a fine luncheon together, Tony and Kathy headed back to MN and Mark and Hilde back to Rudolph.

Despite (again) extra meetings, including training on the new voter ID requirements for chief election inspectors, and going around gathering signatures on nomination papers, Hilde managed to attend all three Advent services this month. It seemed to help having them at 3:30 instead of at 9 am, and they really helped prepare hearts and minds for Christmas. Mark and Hilde rejoiced also to be present when Loren Fritz, Kayme’s father, was installed as pastor at Immanuel Lutheran in Waupaca. His daughter Naomi played organ and son Rev. Paul Fritz installed him---a special day. Hilde and Mark are looking forward to getting together with the Fritzes more now that they are closer to Rudolph.

Oh Christmas was really special this year for the Henkels. John and Evie were able to come up Thursday afternoon, and Jim and Kayme came the next day. Rhiannon is moving very quickly now and seemed delighted to be at Grandma and Grandpa’s. In preparation, Hilde had borrowed a playfence for the tree, plugged outlets and gated the stairway, so Rhi could run the length of the house and explore safely. Christmas with a bright, active little one in the house is wonderful. Rhi looked angelic in a ruffled dress for Christmas Eve---she was chewing on a rubber snake half of the time, to the amusement of all. What a joy to worship with our whole family together!

Although the whole month of December was chilly, Rudolph got only temporary dustings of snow, but one arrived on the 23rd so that Rhiannon could get out the next morning to experience her first snow. She also loved being pulled on the green sled on the gently sloped front lawn, and was introduced to Coffee and Freddie also. John and Evie gave her a more portable pet: a large TRIBBLE that vibrates and trills, with the batteries removable for quiet..

December brought many other gatherings with friends and relatives: the crafts ladies came out, niece Heidi came to visit, and the black belt Christmas party brought all those friends together also. At the very end of the year, Mark and Hilde traveled to Rice Lake to so brother Phil , Connie and their three grown up kids. That was a special gathering, very cozy with Phil’s stove snapping, their house beautiful for Christmas and Connie laid out a great meal. It was a wonderful month and a fine finale to 2011. Hilde and Mark were very happy.