legos

As kids grow up, you suddenly find yourself looking at a whole new person. It’s not just the normal changes that happen as kids grow, like height and a new grown up look about them. Suddenly, they have interests that are very different than yours. Sometimes that could be a bad thing, but for my grandnephew, Ethan Hadlock those new interests are different than many kids his age. Ethan is really into history, and especially World War I. History is often the last thing kids are interested in, but for Ethan, history and especially World War I are the coolest things. He even wanted his friend birthday party to have a World War I theme. His mom, Chelsea Hadlock did a great job creating that for him.

Ethan is the grandson of a retired cop, my brother-in-law, Chris Hadlock and an uncle who is a cop, Jason Sawdon, so security is important to him. With that in mind, Ethan has joined the club Cyber Patriots which teaches kids to check websites and things for cyber security threats. I think that is an amazing club to have. These kinds of threats are a very real part of life these days, and everyone needs to know about it, especially kids. Ethan is also in a welding class right now and he really loves it! That isn’t surprising either, considering his great grandpa, my dad, Allen Spencer was a welder by trade. Christmas brought Ethan a couple of new horizons to try. He was give golf lessons, and he can’t wait to start them and learn the game of golf. He also received a World War I tiger tank Lego set. It is an RC car that he will have to put together. He can’t wait to get going on that. Everyone loves Legos, and Ethan is no exception. He’s really good at Rubik’s cubes too! He can put them right really quickly!!

Ethan loves animals. The Hadlock family is a family of “dog lovers” and Ethan loves all of them. He is always willing to help with the animals, whether it is feeding them, playing with them, or chasing them down when they don’t want to come in the house. Recently, his aunt, Kellie Hadlock hired him to watch her bird. Ethan quickly accepted the job, but really thought it was a volunteer job. When Kellie paid him, he was so thankful that he honestly thanked her every time he saw her for like a week!! It was so sweet! Ethan is no stranger to volunteer work either. Each summer, he volunteers at the Vacation Bible School at his Aunt Lindsay Moore’s church in Laramie! He always works in the recreation area and gets to do things like shoot water rockets!! He always has a blast!! Being the only boy among the cousins, Ethan is always ready to take care of all his cousins too! He watches out for them!

Now that Ethan is 15 years old, he is ready to take his drivers ed test!! He is very excited about learning to drive. He and his mom went to get his study books a while back, and he is ready for the test on Monday. I can’t believe that this sweet boy, who picks on everyone just like his dad, Ryan Hadlock, but is always ready to give a hug to anyone in the family, and even seeks out the family for a hug, is old enough to learn to drive. While it may seem impossible in years, it isn’t surprising in size. Ethan is already well on his way to gaining the height of his dad and grandpa, who are both well over six foot. Ethan is close to six foot now, and with a number of years to grow yet. Today is Ethan’s 15th birthday. Happy birthday Ethan!! Have a great day!! We love you!!

My nephew, Tucker Schulenberg has been through a number of big changes over the past year, not the least of which is a name change. This past summer found Tucker’s dream coming true, when his dad, Ron Schulenberg officially adopted him. It is something Tucker had wanted almost since the day his mom, Rachel Schulenberg married his new dad. They are best buddies. Tucker has looked up to Ron for years now, and carrying his name is the ultimate honor for both of them. We are all very happy for them all, because we have all wanted this as well. Now, Ron and Tucker work together and play together. Ron is a great role model for Tucker, and he is very, very proud of his son.

Tucker is in his first year of middle school now, and with that change has come some other changes…some his mother is almost dreading. The biggest “dread” for Rachel is girls!! Nevertheless, try as she might to avoid it, Tucker is a bit of a chick magnet. So far this year, Tucker has had four girlfriends. I guess that his love of girls is definitely in the early stages…nothing serious for Rachel to worry about. Tucker is a complex kind of guy, and that might be what attracts him to the girls. He is well liked at school, for several reasons. Tucker likes to share the wealth, so to speak. He shares gum…by the 6 pound bags…with the kids at school. It’s not just the gum that makes the kids all like him, however. Tucker hates bullying, and will not tolerate it, against himself or others. He stops it in its tracks. While Tucker isn’t one to pick a fight, he will fight it it’s necessary to stop bullying. That is something that makes us all very proud.

Tucker likes LEGOs, YouTube, comics, the outdoors, shooting targets, and his dog. His varied interests, and his friendly nature, make him fit in everywhere. While his new interests make all the kids at school like him, Tucker still loves his daddy the best. They will always be best friends. Tucker is growing up fast, and I find myself amazed at how big he has grown. Where have all the years gone. It seems like just yesterday that Tucker was the almost 3 year old son of my brother-in-law’s new wife, but that was 9 years ago. Today is Tucker’s 12th birthday. Happy birthday Tucker!! Have a great day!! We love you!!

imageimageKids grow up so fast. It seems like yesterday that our family welcomed my grand nephew, Easton Moore. In reality, that was twelve years ago today. Easton is in his first year of middle school this year, and he is having a great time. Kids do so much changing in that first year of middle school. It always seems like they literally go from being a little kid to a young adult…overnight. Easton is still too young to participate in sports, because the kids have to be in 7th grade for that, and he is in 6th grade, but that hasn’t stopped Easton from practicing his moves. Easton spends a lot of his spare time playing football, swimming, track, and basketball. He wants to make sure that he knows a lot about every sport…keeping his options open, don’t you know. As with most middle school kids, Easton really loves having his locker. It’s such a grown up thing for kids to have a locker that they can have their own things in, and it’s all safe, because it locks. Add to that, the newness of going from class to class, rather than staying in one room all day, and you have a whole new experience.

Like his dad, Easton is very much an outdoors kind of guy. Whenever the family goes camping, his dad, Steve Moore, brings his guns and works with Ethan and his older brother, Weston, teaching them how to shoot, as well as gun safety. Easton has become an excellent shot. Last week, Easton’s parents took him to Cody, Wyoming from their home in Powell. They had had found a good deal on a 22 long rifle, and the told Easton that it was to be his birthday present. As you can imagine, and see from this picture, it was as if they had handed him the moon. I seriously doubt if he could sit still the whole drive over to Cody. Getting your first gun is so cool. All you can think of is the next time you can go out shooting. He will have and even better time now, when they go camping and shooting, because he will be shooting his own gun. Of course, that makes you a better shot too, because you learn how the gun is going to react.

Easton is still into Legos too. That has amazed me over the years. Not that Easton is still into them, but rather what Legos have become. Whoever thought up Lego Robotics, had a really good idea. Many a child had learned from that. Like most kids his age, Easton also likes video games. His favorites are Legos and Mindcraft on Xbox. The family got a new Xbox Live for Christmas, so he can really expand his building abilities.

Easton is a good helper around the house too. Many kids whine and cry about having to clean, but he and the rest of his family have taken a pitch in and get it done attitude, so the cleaning gets done really quickly, leaving imageimagemore time to play. He is also a snuggler, and believe me, every mom or grandma who has one of those, is very blessed. Lots of kids, especially boys get over that pretty quickly, and when they are done, it’s a lonely sad feeling for their mom or grandma. Easton’s mom, my niece, Machelle Cook Moore, takes all the snuggles she can get, while she can get them. She knows that all too soon, he will be too “old” for snuggles. For now though, he’s still her snuggly boy. Today is Easton’s birthday. Happy birthday Easton!! Enjoy that new rifle, sharp shooter. Have a great day!! We love you!!

imageWhen most kids lose their teeth, they put them under their pillow for the tooth fairy to come and retrieve in exchange for money, but once in a while…things just don’t go as planned. Such was the case for my grandnephew, Ethan Hadlock. Ethan recently lost a tooth, which is perfectly normal, but not with Ethan, who was eating Mini Trix at the time. I’m sure you can guess the rest. Yes, Ethan swallowed the tooth. This is a serious problem for a kid who is expecting a visit from the tooth fairy for that tooth. Nevertheless, Ethan went to bed that night hoping the tooth fairy would understand, and in the morning, he found out that she absolutely did understand. I guess maybe Ethan isn’t the only kid to swallow a tooth…so it stands to reason that the tooth fairy would have a Plan B…just in case, because she simply couldn’t leave a child unpaid for a lost tooth, just because it got swallowed, now could she. Kids have to have a way to make money…right!!

imageEthan is in first grade this year, and the change from Kindergarten is amazing. He has really matured, which often happens as kids become seasoned students. Ethan is, of course, a part of the latest Star Wars craze. He loves almost everything about it, but please understand that Clone troopers are way cooler than storm troopers or Jedi. If you don’t know that, you aren’t with it. For Christmas, Ethan got a light Saber and other star wars stuff including star wars monopoly and star wars Disney infinity games. Those should keep him busy for a while. Ethan has taught his little sister Rory to play Monopoly, and they love to play it together. Ethan loves to be the banker, and Rory loves moving her game piece around the board. Ethan is very adept at Legos, and puts together complicated Star Wars sets in about an hour. It would take me hours!!

Ethan loves school, and is doing second grade work in reading and mathmatics. His favorite subjects are math and music. Ethan he has a best friends club at school. I used to love being a part of the clubs in school, both imagethe school oriented ones, and the ones the kids set up themselves. It’s funny that a Best Friends Club is something the kids do nowadays, because this was something my Aunt Evelyn Hushman was a part of, and everyone thought it was so cool then, and really wanted to do it too. Of course, Ethan is not all about school either. He loves to play the guitar, like his dad, Ryan Hadlock does, and like any daddy’s boy, he wants to go duck hunting with his dad. As with any family with more than one male, and sometimes even the females, there must be battles. In the Hadlock household…it’s nerf battles. These battles happen randomly, but there is a battle at least once a month. If you are at the Hadlock house, watch out for flying nerf balls. Today is Ethan’s 7th birthday. Happy birthday Ethan!! Have a great day!! We love you!!

Plowing up the farmerAfter looking at this picture of my Great Uncle Albert Schumacher, and learning of his love for machinery from my cousin Shawn Frederick, I have decided that while my Uncle Bill Spencer does not look like his Uncle Albert, he is indeed very much like him in many ways, as is my cousins Tim and Shawn Fredrick’s dad, Gene, and Tim’s son, Daniel. These are men who like the inner workings of machinery, as well as their design. “Great Uncle Albert’s claim to fame”, according to what Shawn told us, “was that he studied machinery constantly and could fix ANY kind of machinery. He was also the only one in the territory to own a Ford car and always dreamed of owning a Rolls Royce. He also taught all of his boys to repair cars.” I have to think that maybe he handed down his talents by way of the genes to a number of other men in the family too.

Uncle Bill, who is Albert’s sister, Anna’s oldest son, and the one Uncle Bill on old tractorwho got many of the Spencer side of my family interested in the family history, put together a tractor made from a pickup. According to Uncle Bill, “It had 1927 Dodge 4 cylinder engine with a 6 volt electrical system. The front axle was turned upside down for clearance. The rear axle was a worm gear drive gear system that was 18 inches top to bottom. It had 10 x 20 truck tires from a 1915 5 ton Wilcox Truck. In low gear the engine turned 18 times to turn the wheels once. It could do twice what a team of horses could do, and it didn’t have to stop to rest.” Uncle Bill was pretty proud of that tractor. He also bought an old school bus, back when his kids and my sisters and I were little kids. He spent quite a bit of time converting that old bus into a camper/motorhome for his family to travel in. I can vividly remember the fun times we spent in that old bus. We used to take trips in it with them, and we would hang out in it when they visited us or we visited them…especially us kids. It was almost like a club house.
Daniel's Building
Daniel, being a young man of just 12 years, does most of his design and building work at home, and much of it is done with Legos and such, but his dad tells me that Daniel is constantly building and inventing things…sounds a lot like his Great Grand Uncle Albert, doesn’t it? I think Daniel’s future possibilities are endless. He is a smart young man, and very motivated, so he will go far. It’s amazing to me that these men, while generations apart, are so much alike. I have often thought that when there are generations and generations of people in the same line of work, that it was just following in their parent’s footsteps, and maybe to a degree it was, but maybe it was just in the genes.

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