To all the Mothers

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

dawn's bio

I graduated high school in 1991 and headed to college at the University of Iowa. Lisa was in Iowa City at the same time which was great. I fondly remember trekking to her apartment every Monday night to watch Northern Exposure... In 1993 I married Eric Miller (he was at Wartburg College at the time working on a BA in German) and in 1995 I graduated with a BA in Communication Studies. Eric and I then moved to Milwaukee, WI where he got a Masters in Architecture and I started working for a company doing multimedia - creating training cd-roms to be specific. We did a lot of work for Miller Brewing Company which I thoroughly enjoyed -how can you not like working with beer? In December of 1998 Eric graduated and we took a trip to Europe to celebrate. Mmmmm.... Paris....

In April of 1999 Eric got a job at Boora Architects and we moved to Portland, Oregon. Much to my mothers regret, we have been out here ever since and have no plans to go back any time soon. Although I miss the hot humid summers, we love the city and the climate too much to go back... We had Sebastian in September of 2000 after a rocky pregnancy and I have been home raising him since. Charlotte was born in March of this year. Some day I will figure out what I want to be when I grow up (in addition to being a mom), but right now I would settle for my 6 week old to start sleeping through the night.

Retirement

Besides traveling, grandkids, fishing, and woodworking, I have been doing some metal work. Here is the latest.

We enjoy reading all the memories of Grandma Florentine and Grandpa Leonard. Didn't realize how much fun you guys had at grandma and grandpa's place. Now why don't you guys share some of your memories you had growing up in your own home.

We had a nice trip to Portland. It was pretty out there with the trees and flowers blooming and green grass. Had to get acquainted with our new granddaughter and enjoyed playing with Sebastian. Looking forward to their visit when they come back to Iowa in June.

We had spent a week in Des Moines babysitting for Tom and Karla so they could go to Aruba. We did a few fun things while we were there. We went to Prairie meadows one day and to the Zoo with Lisa and her kids. Got to celebrate Nick's birthday before we came home.
Marv and Fran

The Stepp Boys

Ryan Stepp (13)




Aaron Stepp (22)

Nathan Stepp (13)

Debbie's Bio

Being the oldest grandchild leaves me with a lot of life to put in a short biography. But I will do my best to keep it simple.

I graduated from high school in 1975 and went to a very rural area with a small Presbyterian college. Tarkio College seemed to be somewhat of a unique school considering the location and the various type of students it attracted. Not sure what brought them from the east coast area. Did hear that recruiters told some far fetch stories to persuade prospectives students, such as it never gets cold enough to even need to wear a coat in the winter. Mind you, Tarkio, MO is an hour north of St. Joe, MO and is basically a farming community. Funny thing though, they actually believed the recruiter. And they all stayed the entire 4 years and graduated. The town was not much by itself, but when the college was in full swing it actually had activity going on. We use to say basically the streets of Tarkio rolled up when it was summer. But that is where I worked during the summer months to pay for school. I graduated in 1979 with a BA degree in Music Education.

The summer before my last year of college is when I started dating my husband Sidney. He was interviewing for a recruiting job for the college. Sidney is also a Tarkio College graduate, graduating a year earlier and had just returned from Oxford, England after studying literature there over the past year. At Christmas of the same year we announced our engagement and were married the following May of 1979, just two weeks after my graduation from college.

A week after we returned from our honeymoon in Colorado, Sidney was offered a teaching position as a high school English teacher in Ravenwood, MO, a small rural area near Maryville , MO. He made $9,000 a year as a teacher. I did some substituting for the elementary school and worked part-time for Payless Shoe. I also worked some for the university library and the public library in town. We rented a farm house from the high school art teacher. Sidney was also attending classes at Northwest Missouri State University to earn his Masters Degree in Literature.

In 1983 Sid received a an offer to teach English as a Second Language for King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A few months before we left we found out that I was expecting a baby the 1st of March. I was a bit nervous about traveling overseas, especially since this was my first flight and then having a baby in a foreign country and a Third World country at that. But my Indian doctor was great and I received excellent medical care. Aaron Riyadh was born at 10:20 in the evening on March 1, 1984 weighing 8 1/2 lbs (3.2 kilos). Sidney was on cloud nine and walked across the city of Riyadh to our flat since the city busses stopped running at 10:00PM. He could hardly remember how he got home. He passed out cigars to shop keepers along the walk home. They had no idea what the cigars were for but took them anyway.

After three years in Saudi Arabia were returned back to the states and Sidney started his studies for his Doctorate degree in Curriculumn and Instruction at Southern Illinois State Univ. in Carbondale. I did some part time work at the university in the Presidents Office. Aaron was 2 when he started day care. I then found a position as an Assistant Manager for Waldenbooks. In January of 1991 Sid accepted a position as an Instructional Designer for Applied Science Assoc. in Schaumburg, IL. I was able to relocate with Waldenbooks in Arlington Heights, IL. and we commuted from Carpentersville, IL where Aaron attended kindergarten and 1st grade at the public school. In August of 1991, Sidney took a position with Oak Ridge Associated Universities and worked as a contractor for DOE in Tennessee. We purchased our first home in South Clinton, Tennessee. A year and a half later we found ourselves expecting again, but on a checkup visit the sonogram told me that there was twins. Sid was leaving town for a business trip the same day, but after finding out that he was the father of twins the trip was postponed. My due date was December 1, 1992 but because of minor complications a C-section was required on November 2, 1992. Nathaniel Adam was born at 1:00 PM weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz and Ryan Benjamin was born at 1:01 PM weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz. We had suddenly outgrown our small ranch style home which looked more like a day care center for infants with two of everything in just about everyroom. We found a story and a half home in Clinton with a huge back yard, enough space for a swingset for the kids and then some and our bedroom was downstairs away from the boys whose bedrooms were upstairs. Glorious space and room to grow, we could once again walk in our home without tripping over toys or a child.

A year and a half later and after 11 layoffs at ORAU Sid decided that we needed more security and found a job in Chicago with System Software Assoc. Global Technologies. Aaron had completed the 6th grade in Clinton and Nathan and Ryan were 3 years old. We packed up our home in Clinton and bought a home in South Elgin, IL. Although the schools were in bad shape, we manage to have Aaron graduate from high school and have the twins make it through the 3rd grade in the elementary school, but decided that since both Sid and I hold teaching certificates we could give the twins a better education than what we were seeing in the schools. We homeschooled Nathan and Ryan for 3 1/2 years and then made a lifestyle change for all of us. With the boys entering junior high and their curriculumn becoming more demanding which was more than I knew I could handle, it was time to get them back in a public school. Sid was getting weary of his hour commute each morning and evening by train to his office in downtown Chicago. His company permitted him to work from home and with that we decided to move back to Tennessee, in the same small community we moved from 10 years earlier.

Aaron has been living in Seattle since shortly after his high school graduation and is presently working for Pioneer Organic Foods. Nathan and Ryan love the middle school here and are both presently in the school drama club. Sid is busy with work, sometimes night and day. And I'm trying to fix up the house. We have a landscaper coming to redo the yard. But the best is seeing the hills of the Appalachian range from our front yard and watching all the wildlife playing.

Patti's Bio

Hi All,
First of all, graduation sure seems like a long time ago – 1979 if we must admit! After high school I started work in the Personnel Office at City Hall. I met Bob about a year later, and we were married in 1981, which means that we will celebrate our 25th anniversary this summer. Now, I can remember when my parents hit #25…I’m really not sure why I thought they were “old” at that time! :)

1986 was our life-changing year. We bought our first house, Shane was born two weeks after we moved in, Bob got into the cable business, and I changed jobs after 7 years at City Hall.

Life pre-Shane was good, but life with Shane has been so much better! He is very much an athlete and sports kept us parents busy staying involved with his teams and being the cheerleaders. All I can say for you young parents is enjoy these times with your kids cause the years sure go by fast!

Shane is now a sophomore at Iowa State University, studying construction engineering. Bob and I experienced our first year as empty nesters again, however, I’m still trying to figure out where my extra “free time” is so I can make room for new hobbies!

I’m in my third year at Farm Credit Services of America in the insurance area with a job that involves working with our sales force and analyzing insurance stats, assisting with presentations and a little bit of database programming. Bob is in his 20th year with the cable business and enjoying all the perks that come with being at a job so long…I sure envy his vacation time!

In our free time, we like to golf, fish, go boating, ski, and garden. It's great to read everyone's bios and catch up with the family again.

Patti

Martin's bio

I graduated high school in Denver in '99 and spent four years in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania (which i loved) at Juniata College where I got my BS in math and computer science in 2003. I moved to Baltimore, MD, for two years, where I got my master's degree in Applied Mathematics in 2005 from Johns Hopkins.

Then,... deep breath, ...... I got married, got a new job, moved to denver, bought a car, and got an apartment all in the course of 2 months in the summer of 2005. Whew!

My wife, Maggie and I are loving denver, and both glad to be back home (she graduated from New York University in 2004, and I was sad to lose my excuse to make frequent trips to Manhattan). I am now working as a mathematician, (who knew that was really a job title??) and really enjoy it.

Good suggestion on a post topic Dad/Lisa! Who doesn't enjoy talking about himself? ;-)

Marty

Annette's bio

Well, let's see. I'll start back in 1986 when I graduated from college from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, IA. with an art major and Mass comm. minor.
Upon graduation, I purchased a new car, kissed my parents good bye and drove to New York to start my first job at NY Newsday, (a daily newspaper in NY, cir. 600,000). After that job, I worked at a variety of urban newspapers as a staff artist.

In 1990, I married my husband David and in 1992 we moved to Seattle, WA for a change of lifestyle. It has been a great decision for us.

I worked at the Journal American Newspaper in Bellevue, WA and David (a Geologist) works for URS Corp. in Seattle. In 1995 we had our first son Alex, and I ditched my career in newspapers and starting my freelance illustration carreer. In 2000, we had our second son, Joseph. I am still freelancing and doing contract work for Microsoft for the last 10 years. Best of all, I work from home and can juggle momhood and careerhood under the same roof.

We live about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle in a little neighborhood called Madison Valley. We can walk to our coffee shop, grocer, little art galleries, bakery, parks and play fields. After living in NY, Seattle is our paradise. We are a family who ski's, hikes, bikes and enjoys a lot of outdoor activities and Seattle is great for all of that.

Come for a visit, we would love to show you around!

Annette, David, Alex (11) and Joe (6)

Ann's update

Well, after graduation from high school, I went to San Diego to be closer to Gary for a year. He was in the Navy at the sub base and I nannied in La Jolla. We got married in '94 and he went off to finish up his time in the Navy and I moved us back to Carroll, we 1st lived a few blocks from Grandma, then in '95 moved to Mt. Carmel and had Alexander, then Emma, Samantha, and Benjamin. After 4 beautiful kids, we decided to shut down the baby factory and have been busy with the kids and all their activities. Gary works for Pella Corp. in Carroll and about 5 years ago I got my real estate license and have been doing that part time so I can be home for the kids as much as possible. We love being here and it feels so much like home since I grew up so close. It was neat to send Alex to school where I went to school and my dad(Norm) and Grandma & Grandpa. The school has since closed and they go to Kuemper now, but we do manage to get some ball games in at the old ball field. The town is full of kids, so it is easy to get a game started. Being so close, we take many trips to the farm to visit Grandma & Grandpa Schettler, the kids love to get eggs and see the pigs and get spoiled.
I enjoyed reading everyone's memories of Grandma and Grandpa, brings back many of my own, like the melmac dishes and dressing poor Matt in the little blue dress, and sending notes down the laundry shoot and Al's "rememory" wall when we went on our walks, and how we harassed those dogs when we were in the "forest" making our stew and when we would go in the garage and sit in Grandpa's car to pretend we were cruisin' ( maybe our parents weren't supposed to know that one!) We had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Tony's Bio

Ok so this is not Tony typing because he refuses to use a computer :)

After graduation Tony joined the Navy and visited many nice places but can't say that he loved the Navy.

He was stationed in Mobile, Alabama where he met Christy (wife) they were married 6 months later 1993 - and he legally adopted Kristen (Christy's daughter). We then came up to Iowa for Ann and Gary's wedding and the rest is history as they would say. Christy fell in love with Iowa and the farm although Tony thought she was crazy because of the cold and because she is not a FARM GIRL.

We had Madison Marie in August 1994 and moved to Iowa in December 94. After staying with Norm and Diane for a little while we settled in the big town of Breda, Iowa. We then had Ashlyn Denise Schettler in March 1996.

Tony built firetrucks for 5 years - but has been a self-employed welder for about 6 years. He stays very busy but loves his job - his job also allows Christy to work part-time at 2 local churches in Carroll doing accounting and also busy taking care of the girls. We enjoy coaching the girls softball team and Christy stays busy with her 18 Girl Scouts and Wednesday church program that she runs.

We love Iowa - but still go back to Alabama as much as possible to visit with family - as the south is still home :)

Tony, Christy & girls

PS - I love reading the memories of the farm - as my girls are now lucky to be building the same memories with the BEST Grandparents and In-laws in the world!



Picture - Christy's favorite Girl Scouts

Madison & Ashlyn (Tony's)
Emma & Sam (Ann's)

Lisa's Biography

I graduated high school in 1984. Then a mere 4.5 years later (record time for those days), I graduated from The University of Iowa, with a BA in Interior Design. A year later, I had a job in my field, at an architectural firm in Iowa City. Then I worked for some furniture dealers that sold office furniture. You know, the cubicle workstations. In 1994, I moved to Des Moines with my then-fiancee. I ended up working for an insurance company in their facilities department. Now I am back at an office furniture dealer doing the cubicles again. My biggest project right now is coordinating the ordering and installing of 5000 new workstation at a new building for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in West Des Moines. I have also had some fairly exciting projects such as a coffee shop, a car dealership, and a law office where I was able to do all the interior design. This includes space layout, carpet, paint, wallcoverings, as well as all the furniture. I am able to do a variety of projectsat my current job, which keeps it interesting and always challenging.

My personal life - I got married in 1998 to Matt Niebuhr, an architect that I met at my first job. (We obviously had a long engagement. I chickened out.) Then in 2000 we had our first baby, a boy named Miles Bruch Niebuhr. Got the middle name from Grandma's Mom's maiden name. Then in 2003 we had our second baby. Kate Marie Schettler. Yes, I kept my last name when we got married, and then we split up the kids' last names. Weird? Probably. Oh well. We don't really have a whole lot of extracurricular activities at this point with the two young kids. Miles loves to go hunting and fishing and play sports. We can't figure out where he got this, since neither of his parents are into any of those. Someone told us it is in the genes from caveman days! Either that or he gets it from his Grandpa (Marv). Kate loves to write, draw, and read books. This at least makes sense to me since I love those things also.

I am thrilled to have everyone participating in the blog! The older I get, the more I realize that friends may come and go, but your family is stuck with you! You might as well make the best of it!

I want more growing up on the farm stories about Grandma and Grandpa...

When my parents were out visiting a few weeks ago I bought some oilcloth to cover my table with while doing things like coloring Easter eggs. Next thing I know Dad (Marv) was holding it up to his nose and drinking in the smell of it. He said his mom always had oilcloth on the kitchen table and it reminded him of growing up. I had no idea but I thought it was a great story and I think of it every time I walk by my table.

So come on guys, throw up a few more quick memories of life growing up. I'll even start you off. Sebastian's favorite story of Grandpa's was when they were milking the cows and used to try to squirt it in the cats' mouths.