Probably before the war or just after.  No idea where this is.  It almost looks like a grain elevator in the background.  If so, it would be in Graf or Elk Creek.

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Lois was a life-long friend of both Betty and Lawrence

At the back of the Elk Creek house.  The cellar door was on the left under the single window.  The back door on the right.  The twins look less than a year old, so Ann would be three, Betty would be 24, and the year would be 1950.

Maxine Ernst (1921-2003) was the daughter of Ludwig (Louis) Ernst and Rua Lyell, a sister of Lucius (Lute) Lyell, Betty’s father.  

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Lois Barnes, Maxine Ernst, Bette Lyell 

Betty’s original name was spelled Betty.  Sometime in high school she says she changed the spelling to Bette, as in Bette Davis.  Late in life, she went back to Betty

Bette Lyell, Maxine Ernst, Lois Barnes

The house in the background is the Lyell family home in Tecumseh.  It was sold in 1956 to help pay for the ranch house at 3rd and High Streets.  The garage of the new house was remodeled so her father Lucius, known as Lute, could live there with Bette and Lawerence Chittenden and their five children.  Cora, Lute’s wife, had died of leukemia in June 1953

On the steps leading up to the Lyell house in Tecumseh.

On the steps leading up to the Lyell house in Tecumseh.

Ann has a vague memory of Barney Steiner having a plane

Lois Barnes married Barney Steinauer of Steinauer, Nebraska.  Zola married Keith Albers and lived in Cozad, Nebraska.  

Keith (1923-19870 was the youngest son of Ludwig (Louis) Ernest and Rua Lyell. Rua was a sister of Lucius (Lute) Lyell. 

Faye is Bette’s sister, seven years older.