welding
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, Garrett Stevens has been a welder for a long time now. He currently works at EMIT Technologies, but he has been selected to take the certified welding inspector (CWI) test. The CWI is an extremely challenging test with only a 30% pass rate on the first attempt. Right got now Garrett is in classes to prepare him for the test, and he will be taking the test in August. When Garrett passes the CWI, he will be able to work more in quality control. This is such a great thing for Garrett, as it will help him move his career forward in the direction he wants to go. Garrett is a natural at welding. He learned his career easily, and is always striving to improve himself. He is never satisfied with the status quo, choosing excellence instead.
Garrett has chosen excellence in all areas of his life. He has always made his parents, Alena and Mike Stevens so 
proud. Garrett was their only son, and he is his dad’s son for sure. They love doing things together, even though they don’t get much time to do that these days, now that Garret and his family live in Sheridan, and the rest of his family lives in Casper. Nevertheless, whenever they can, Garrett and his dad get a little fishing in, even doing some ice fishing recently.
Garrett is a hands-on dad who likes to spend quality time with the two daughters, Elliott and Maya, that he and his wife, Kayla have. Kayla tells me that he is great girls dad, which isn’t too far out of his wheelhouse, since Garrett grew up the only boy of his parents’ three children. That meant that Garrett, while all boy, still understood little girls. He and his sisters, Michelle Miller and Lacey Stevens have always been close.
Recently, Garrett and Kayla bought a trampoline and he doesn’t hesitate to jump around and be silly with the girls. Kayla thinks it takes him right back to his childhood since he has such fond memories from the trampoline his parents got for him and his sisters. They had so much fun playing on that trampoline. Now he is making new memories with his girls, and they are loving it. It’s not just the trampoline that Garrett plays on with his girls. The go swimming, to the park, the bouncy game place in town, and running around in their own living room or their yard. The girls will have so many wonderful memories and games to pass down to their own kids someday. Today is Garrett’s birthday. Happy birthday Garrett!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My nephew, Garrett Stevens is such a great “girl dad.” He reminds me a lot of my own dad, Al Spencer, his grandpa. These guys have proven that they know how to shine in a house full of girls. Garrett and his daughter, Elliott are always doing projects together. Elliott loves her daddy so much, and she wants to do whatever he is doing. As Garrett’s wife Kayla says, “Who needs boys?” Garrett would agree. His “little helper” is right there to help with whatever he is doing, and she does a pretty good job too. Garrett is so patient with her. They have painted together, and while Elliott is inexperienced and drips paint on the floor, Garrett never gets upset with her. He knows that painting, like any other work, is a learned skill, and he is teaching his daughter how to paint the best she can. Garrett has always been patient with kids, and his girl is no exception to that rule.
Garrett has been following in his grandpa’s footsteps in another way too…he is a certified welder, and he has been working at EMIT Technologies for a number of years now. All his hard work and dedication paid off a 
month or so ago, when Garrett received a promotion to Welding Lead. It was such a proud moment for his wife, Kayla, who has watched him work very hard to provide for their family. For him to now have the recognition that he so greatly deserves makes Kayla so happy. She has always been so proud of Garrett. He is able to do just about any “jack-of-all-trades” kind of job, but he really excels at welding. Garrett also has the ability to lead. In fact, he is a natural, and his company saw that in him. Garrett was destined to lead, and so they are very happy about this new venture.
These days, Garrett and Kayla are getting ready to expand their family, and we are all very excited for them. Their precious little one will be arriving very soon, and little Elliott will be a big sister. I know the whole family is excited for this next life step. Having two kids is different than having one, but it won’t be cause for drama in this down-to-earth family. It’s been so interesting to watch Garrett as he has grown and changed through the years. In some ways, like his love of children, there has been almost no change at all, but in others, like have 
he has grown in his skills, there have been many wonderful changes. When he was younger, I never would have guessed that he would be a welder, but I always saw him as a dad. He was also a loving brother and cousin. His sisters, Michelle and Lacey were so blessed to have him as a brother, and he was very close with is cousins as well. Garrett was the life of the party at family gatherings and was always good for a laugh. His smile could light up a room, as could his laughter. I’m very proud of the man he turned into. Today is Garrett’s birthday. Happy birthday Garett!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
As another child turns 16, so another child is behind the wheel. My grand-nephew, Easton Moore has reached that milestone year of his life. Easton is the younger of my niece, Machelle Moore and her husband, Steve. It’s hard for me to believe that Easton is 16 years old already. It seems like just yesterday that he was born. That is the way most parents feel about the time their child turns 16. Easton will be getting his license soon. They have to have 50/hours of day and 10/hours of night driving to do before they can get their license. He is almost there. Something new has helped Easton, that his brother, Weston didn’t have the use a driving app. They didn’t have that when Weston was learning. This years lack of snow has hampered Easton’s snow driving experience, but the past two weeks has made up for the winter’s lack of snow, 
so Easton is catching up fast. Machelle tells me that Easton is really improving with practice. Strangely, Powell, Wyoming, where Easton lives has just now started plowing the streets. Shocking for Wyoming.
Easton signed up for a welding course at the college that he is super excited about. The Boces program, which stands for the Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Has made many college classes available to high school students. It’s a great way to give these kids a chance to get ahead in their college education, and to make sure that the course of study is the career 
move they want to make. Easton is still is not sure what he wants to do after high school, but taking that class might open some doors for him.
Easton is actively looking for a job, so he can save for a car. He has a stack of applications to fill out and hand back in. Easton is motivated to help whenever anyone needs help. He just jumps up and just does it!! That says a lot about his character. Today is Easton’s 16th birthday. Pretty soon we will all need to get off the sidewalks, as a new driver hits the road. Happy birthday Easton!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
I was looking at some of my uncle, Bill Spencer’s family history information yesterday, and I came across a comment he made about some of the pictures. It was about the National Youth Administration that was transferred to the War Manpower Commission in 1941. When he mentioned that it was about educating the nation’s youth, I immediately got on the defensive, because I thought that it almost sounded like the Nazis pulling children out of their homes to train them the way the government wanted them to be trained. Of course, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, and had I read the rest of Uncle Bill’s comments before I got touchy about it, I would have known that. I think sometimes, we have a preconceived idea about things, and we don’t really understand exactly what is going on before we fly off the handle.
The education effort that my uncle was talking about was set up by the National Youth Administration through the War Manpower Commission, and had to do with the upcoming and inevitable entrance of the United States into World War II. The skills that were going to be needed to build the equipment needed for our troops to fight in the war were very different from the skills the nation’s youth had at that time, because many of them were farmers. The nation was going to need welders, machinists, and sheet metal workers desperately. The training program was designed to provide training for youth 16 to 25 years of age. The plan was that the ones who were not drafted could help with the war effort at home.
It was this program that trained my dad, Uncle Bill, Aunt Laura, and Aunt Ruth to weld, and gave them jobs in the shipyards in several different capacities, mostly as Rosie the Riveters. Of course, while Uncle Bill did a similar job to the ones done by his sisters, I don’t think he would take too kindly to the name Rosie the Riveter. Nevertheless, it was on May 1, 1942 that Uncle Bill began his training, and shortly there after, he talked my dad into doing the training too. Uncle Bill had hoped that welding would keep them both on the home front, but when that was not to be, they both went to sign up. Dad was accepted, but Uncle Bill was not, because of flat feet and a hernia. Still, the welding skill was not something that would ever be a waste where my dad was concerned, because he worked as a welder for most of his life after the war was over.
The National Youth Administration officially operated from June 26, 1935 to 1939, and was designed to provide training and help find jobs for people during the Great Depression. It was part of The New Deal programs set up by President Franklin D Roosevelt during his first term in office. I don’t often agree with government run programs, I suppose this one had it’s place. Many of the people who benefitted from the chance to train themselves for a new skill were farmers who didn’t have many other skills, and it was the training my dad received there that supported our family for his entire working life. The National Youth Administration was officially transferred to the War Manpower Commission in 1942, and officially folded in 1943. It was most likely due to lack of funding to continue the program, but I suppose it served a greater purpose during the war years, and now was no longer necessary.
