Kids
My niece, Elizabeth “Liz” Masterson is a remarkable woman, and you will hear the same statement from anyone who knows her. Liz is a journalism teacher at Kelly Walsh High School and has been teaching since 2004…first at Natrona County High School, and then back to her Alma Mater…Kelly Walsh High School. She is a favorite among her students and stays in touch with many of them. They all truly love her, and every so often, Liz hears a story about herself from fellow teachers and students, that takes her by surprise, because Liz is not one to “toot her own horn” or even to realize how amazing she is.
While Elizabeth was at dinner the other night with two of her teacher friends, one told her that she had overheard two of her students talking about Elizabeth, and “how great she is!” Being the very down-to-earth person she is, Elizabeth is always surprised and shocked to hear this kind of thing. It’s a compliment, but it embarrasses her a little, too. The teacher heard a teenage girl tell the guy she was talking with that she had just been introduced to “Ms. Mast” (the name the students have given her over the years) so that Elizabeth could give her a little help on a project, and that it was literally like she had experienced a “celebrity encounter!” These were the student’s own words. This was the, albeit “dramatic,” conversation overheard by a teacher, between two kids talking to each other, but these were this young lady’s feelings.
What my sister, Cheryl Masterson, who is Liz’s mom, so enjoyed about this “celebrity encounter” story is that it is not only hilarious, but also sweet. In the family, we have all been impressed with Liz’s ability to connect with and mentor her students, but seeing it through the eyes of a young lady who had only known OF Elizabeth before…a young lady who was very pleased that she was now able to actually know her…a young lady who had entered “Elizabeth’s circle,” so to speak, was well…awe inspiring. It’s a very small thing in the world of life events, but for this young lady…she knew that she had experienced a “celebrity encounter” and it made her 
day! In fact, the event so impressed her, that she and her friend were still talking about it when they got to this teacher’s classroom!
Cheryl is certain that Elizabeth’s friend laughingly, and lovingly, rolled her eyes, but still it was very endearing for her, as Elizabeth’s good friend, to hear, and to pass such a sweet story to Elizabeth. As the journalism teacher, who also creates the school newspaper and the school yearbook with her students, Elizabeth tirelessly attends nearly every single function and school event the school has. All sports events, all dances, all activities of any kind. She takes pictures of all the events, and of all the kids at these events, and she gives all that she has to these students all school year long. The students and parents see it and appreciate it! Truly, Elizabeth is a fixture at her school. She is chosen almost every single year by some student as their favorite and most influential teacher, and recognized for that, among other teachers, at a special dinner the schools have, every year. Whether she knows all the kids or not, they ALL know her! She has a reputation among the students as being salty, sassy, and no-nonsensical, but a lot of fun to be around, and they learn a lot from her! She is one of a kind! She is blessed and she is a blessing to others.
Elizabeth’s students often go on to great things, but some stand out just a little bit more than others, like Meagan Degenfelder, who was just elected as Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. It was a proud moment for Elizabeth, as her former teacher too, and she was invited to attend the inauguration, and also had the opportunity to meet Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon at the inauguration gala.
Liz loves teaching and all her students, but she is also a well-rounded person. She loves going to concerts, and has attended approximately ten with her sister, Jenny, but Liz has attended hundreds more with friends, students, and her other sisters. She is a great aunt, who has taken nieces and nephews to movies and games, and 
has showed up for them on their birthdays and all accomplishments. She is an amazing mentor for her nieces and nephews as well. Liz not only teaches young people how to be successful in all they do, but she lives what she teaches too. Today is Liz’s birthday. Happy birthday Liz!! Have a great day!! We love you and we are very proud of you!!
This year has been one of so much change for my niece, Amanda Reed. The biggest change is that Jadyn Mortensen, the daughter that she shares with partner, Sean Mortensen went away to college. It wasn’t that she was so far away, but because she is their only child, her leaving brought not only their first college student, but also the empty nest syndrome. They are a very close family. They all share a love of all things outdoor sports. Jadyn is even attending the University of Wyoming on a full ride rodeo scholarship. From boating, to snowmobiling, to skiing, to motorcycling, to horse riding, this is a family of athletes, and they do it all together. So having Jadyn in college, leaves a big hole in the family dynamic, and they are all feeling it. The good news is that summer is coming, and Jadyn’s break from college. 
Amanda and Sean decided to buy his parents cabin at Ryan Park, and the area is just beautiful. Ryan Park is in the Snowy Range, and the area is surrounded by trees and nature. They spent last Christmas up there. Everyone who joined them had a wonderful time. The cabin will be a wonderful addition to their many outdoor activities, both for summer and winter use. A cabin in the mountains is always a beautiful spot to spend time. I know they will really enjoy their time there.
Amanda has been working in the banking industry for all of her adult life, and she has made great strides in her field. Amanda went to work at the Rawlins National Bank at a young age and worked her way up to the pretty 
prestigious position of BSA Agent, which is a part of the law enforcement area of the bank. Now, she has been promoted to Vice President over operations, which is a wonderful step up. She’s very happy about that! Amanda has worked so hard to advance her career, and she has been so successful in everything she does. This latest promotion is such a big one for her, and we are all so proud of this accomplishment. I know that the future will continue to be amazing for Amanda. It seems that every time she turns around, there is another great change waiting for her. She is such an engaging person, and always wears a smile. She has a great group of friends that, along with her family, round out her world very nicely. Today is Amanda’s birthday. Happy birthday Amanda!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Since moving from Powell, Wyoming to Butte, Montana has changed many things in my grandnephew, Weston Moore’s life. Weston is enjoying his life in Butte. He is working for a company that installs music sound systems in vehicle. This was a new line of work for Weston, and he is learning so much, and he can now figure out problems with electrical that we all dread on working on in vehicles!! He really enjoys the work, and his new life in Montana. Of course, with his family living so far away, he doesn’t get to see his parents, Steve and Machelle Moore and his brother, Easton Moore, as often as he used to. That makes it hard, and the weather in Montana and Wyoming doesn’t always make visiting home an easy thing to do. 
Nevertheless, Weston managed to get home for his brother’s graduation, Thanksgiving, and Christmas this year. Weston loves to surprise his family. They ask him when he might be coming home, and he does his best to make them think it will be a long while…and then he shows up. Weston loves it when they are all surprised to see him. Weston’s family was hoping to go to Butte for his birthday, but unfortunately, this trip is going have to wait a little while, because the car needs new tires, and it gets better gas milage. It’s a struggle for a lot of people this year. Hopefully prices go down so they can get together and do more things this summer.
While all this has made for an interesting year, it’s Weston, himself that is the biggest news. Weston has been working for a while now to become…less!! Weston decided that he wanted to lose weight and get healthy, so he set out to do just that. I’m not sure how long he has been working on it, but I can tell you that 100 pounds doesn’t come off overnight. Losing that kind of weight takes hard work and determination. Weston had made up his mind, and he wasn’t quitting until he succeeded. We are all so proud of his success. He looks great, and 
he decided that to complete his transformation, he needed a haircut too. Well, he succeeded in a complete transformation, and I can happily say that today, we have less Weston. Today is Weston’s 23rd birthday. Happy birthday Weston!! Have a great day!! We love you and we’re so proud of you!!
Since buying their family farm, my nephew, Eric Parmely and his wife, Ashley have had a number of daily duties that are different from people who dwell in the cities and towns. Of course, there are the normal duties that go with a farm…everything from feeding animals, helping with births, gathering eggs, taking care of the land, and repairing fences. This year has been a little unusual in that like many areas across the United States, Wyoming has received an extra-large amount of snow, meaning that the rural roads, which are not always plowed by the county or state, are left buried in 3 to 6 feet of snow. That means that nothing is moving, and those people who happen to have tractors, will likely have to go out and help with the “digging out” process. That was the position Eric and Ashley found themselves in. One storm found them waiting for 3 days to get out, and then it only happened because Eric got out and became a snowplow. Of course, the whole thing didn’t totally hurt Eric’s feelings, 
because he loves his tractor, and this was a new way to use it. Men and their toys…right? The main thing is that they were finally able to get out and get back to the business of life.
Eric is a mechanic by trade and loves his work. That means that tinkering with anything mechanical is not really work. Getting on the farm equipment is that way exactly. When they bought the tractor, there were many evenings spent in the barn with his father-in-law, Albert Eighmy, son Bowen Parmely, and often Ashley and their daughters, Reagan, Hattie, and Maeve all watching as the work was done to this fantastic piece of equipment, so that it would be ready to be a regular piece of the menagerie of farm equipment necessary to run a farm. Bowen especially loves the tractor, because, being a boy, it seems to run in his blood. He is his daddy’s boy. The girls like to ride on it too, but they aren’t as interested in the mechanical side of things as Bowen is.
Eric has become a wonderful family man…a great husband and daddy. He and Ashley are doing the things 
necessary to raise responsible, decent, and well-rounded kids. Their kids are homeschooled, which is becoming more and more necessary these days, given the radical activities in the school system now. And the kids are happier too. Ashley teaches school, and Eric brings home the bacon…back to old fashioned values. Not every family is run this way, but it works very well for them. Today is Eric’s birthday. Happy birthday Eric!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
One thing I never knew about my niece, Kellie Hadlock, is that she is the Hadlock Family Fashion Source. Of course, I know that Kellie is very fashionable, but I didn’t know that she was a “go-to” fashionista for them. When her sister, Lindsay Moore comes for visits from Laramie or Kellie goes there for visits, the girls often find themselves in the bedroom in front of the mirror, going through the clothes and putting things together to decide what looks best to wear. Lindsay told me that when she goes through pictures from their conversations, she finds that they are mostly of herself in different outfits. She wants to remember just how to wear things and what goes together, do she can look as fashionable as Kellie always does.
Lindsay tells me that Kellie is her “go-to” source for fashion advice. I see Kellie every week at church, where she is one of the worship leaders. I know that she is very fashionable, but I wasn’t aware that her family counts on her fashion sense to make sure they look pretty and up to date. Still, I can’t say that I’m surprised, since I have found myself following Kellie’s fashion leads too. Lindsay was going through pictures and could that most of the pictures from their conversations were of herself in the styles that Kellie suggested. She wanted to make sure that she remembered the looks, so they could be repeated later. Lindsay says, “I can always count on her to tell it to me straight and that I will look cute by asking her!! She is truly the most fashionable in our family.”
Kellie continues to grow spiritually, and Lindsay has really loved their talks about God. They have started a new 
study, whereby they try to read a chapter of the Bible each week and then they have text discussions about it. The Bible is so much more than the words on paper. There are much deeper meetings, when people take the time to search them out. Lindsay says that these have been rich discussions in which they have both learned so much. The Holy Spirit reveals different things to each of them, which is of course, awesome!! Lindsay says, “She is a wonderful sister, daughter, dog mom, aunt, and girlfriend. She is a cut above, a true gem.” I totally agree.
Because the Hadlock family is spread out over Wyoming now, they have decided to meet in Wheatland this year for Kellie’s birthday lunch. Kellie really misses her sisters, Jessi and Lindsay, so her dad, Chris Hadlock suggested that we all meet in Wheatland which is the same amount of time away for each family. They plan to go this Saturday and have lunch at Guadalajara and have her little party for our family there. Kellie is so excited. Her whole family will be there, including her brother Ryan and his family. Then, the family here in Casper will have another birthday dinner for her on Sunday night. Kellie has chosen her favorite fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. In the Hadlock family everyone gets to choose a birthday meal, or they can choose to go out to whatever restaurant. This year will be special for Kellie because the other girls could 
not come up for her birthday. So she basically gets two parties…well, actually three, because her boyfriend, Tim Thompson is in town from Gillette to take her out for dinner today. Kellie gets to feel really special this year, with all this attention, and I think she has earned it, because she is a very special girl. Today is Kellie’s birthday. Happy birthday Kellie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My grandniece, Manuela Ortiz joined our family on July 18, 2021, when she married my grandnephew, James Renville. Manuela is such a happy person, and she brings so much sunshine into the lives of our family. She is an excellent dancer, and James is learning to dance too. They have even done some videos of them dancing and placed them online. Not everyone has the coordination to do things like Salsa dancing, but Manuela certainly does…and I’ll have to leave that to her. It’s best that way.
Speaking fluent Spanish makes Manuela as asset to Wyoming 
Housing Network, where she is a housing counselor. When Manuela first came to America from Columbia, it was with the intent to study English, so that when she went back home, she could move up in her company. Things changed as time went by, and before long, she knew that she wanted to immigrate to America permanently. That was in the works, when she met her future husband, my grandnephew, James Renville. They met in 2019 and have been inseparable ever since.
Recently, Manuela decided to write an e-book called The Stages of an Immigrant: Stories of an Immigrant. In her book, she tells about her own experiences as she navigated the immigration system of the United States. We are all very proud of Manuela and her journey to become an American citizen the right way.
This past Christmas, Manuela got to go back to Columbia to visit her family for the holidays. Having been here when Covid hit, she hasn’t been able to go back home, and that has been so hard. Manuela has embraced her 
Wyoming family, and totally loves her Wyoming Cowboy (her husband, James), but this was a special trip and very fun for her. Aside from the climate difference, there are many different customs that go along with the holidays too. The decorations alone are very different. I’m sure that as the years go by, Manuela will incorporate some of her family’s traditions into Christmases here and maybe some of ours in future Christmases there. Today is Manuela’s birthday. Happy birthday Manuela!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My cousin, Darla Stanko passed away on February 26, 2023, at 63 just years old. As I think of Darla, I remember her laugh, which was just like her mother’s. It was sweet and a little shy, but when they laughed…you laughed, because their laugh was contagious. As kids, we would all go down in Grandma Byer’s basement to play, while the grownups visited upstairs. Grandma’s basement was a little creepy and worked well as a “haunted” house…if the kids liked that sort of thing. Some did and some didn’t. I preferred other games. I think Darla did too. She had asthma and scary stuff could trigger things.
As kids do, we all grew up…quicker than we would ever have dreamed possible. Before long, babies were coming along. I remember talking to Darla once. She told me that without a doubt, the best thing she ever did was JeanAnn, and of that I have no doubt. For a mom to look at the beautiful little baby they have just given birth to…there is no greater honor. Kids are a big part of our lives, and games are a part of kids. JeanAnn told me about the times she and her mom played cards. Their favorite game was Speed…which is a high drama card matching game for two players. It was perfect for them.
The other thing that JeanAnn and her mom loved to do was to spend time jumping on the trampoline in their yard. I can just picture it now, a summer evening in the back yard, just the two girls, jumping and giggling the hours away. Of course, there was also their dog, Nelly with them too. Now Nelly was a different sort of dog. She was very gentle with JeanAnn, but then she was JeanAnn’s guard dog. She was also gentle with Darla too…except for that one time. JeanAnn could make Nelly mad and then point at a new person, and Nelly would go get that person. That was all well and good…until JeanAnn did that to her mom. My guess is that JeanAnn had no idea what was about to take place. Darla saw it coming, and she jumped on the furniture to get away from the guard dog that was now hot on her trail. She almost knocked herself out jumping down. JeanAnn 
says, “It was great” and maybe it was…for her anyway. Darla…maybe not so much, but I’m sure she laughed about it later.
Now, for me, possibly the funniest story about Darla’s life was the “fateful” trip to Denver. Darla decided to take her daughter to Denver, and to take her mom, my Aunt Delores Johnson with them. She needed a “navigator” and while I can’t picture my Aunt Dee in that capacity, maybe Darla thought map reading was like breathing…anyone could do it. My thought is, “Have you met your mother?” Anyway, off they went, and to make a long story short, they ended up on a one street in rush hour traffic, going the wrong way!!” Oh yes, that’s the Aunt Dee I know, and I can totally picture that whole situation…once I can stop laughing!!
My niece, Kaytlyn Griffith is in middle school now and she has done an amazing job with her grades. Her mom, Susan Griffith tells me that her grades are definitely better than Susan and Kaytlyn’s dad, Josh Griffith ever did. When the honor roll was released the last time a couple months ago Kaytlyn was on it with a 4.0 grade point average. Per parents were so proud, and she truly is an inspiration to them.
Because they live in the country, and her parents work, Kaytlyn qualifies for a restricted driver’s license. Kaytlyn is so mature and smart, that even though she barely studied for the written test, she got a 100% on it!! She is very smart. Once a driver passes the written test, they have 30 days to take the driving test. Unfortunately, when Josh went to take Kaytlyn for the driving test, they were told that she had to have an appointment, which we didn’t know before, because it never was that way in years gone by. Anyway, they had to reschedule the test. They couldn’t get an appointment until the 30 day…talk about cutting it close. They were all quite stressed. If she didn’t pass, she wouldn’t be able to try again another year.
Then, they found out that the test in was in Cody, rather than Lovell because that was the only option. Well, that added another stress factor because the traffic in Cody is very different than the traffic in Lovell. So, they spent the Thanksgiving holiday break making trips to Cody, so she could practice there for 2 to 3 hours a day.
To make matters worse, it snowed quite a lot on the day of the test. Nevertheless, they had to go or Kaytlyn would have to wait for another year. Then, the lady asked if she wanted to reschedule, to which Kaytlyn answered, “Absolutely not!!” Kaytlyn took the test driving her mom’s Tahoe which had 4-wheel drive, thankfully with an inch of snow on the ground. Kaytlyn did amazing. She didn’t slide at all in the intersections…pretty good for a 14-year-old girl!! It helped that she got to drive slower because of the snow. In the end, the snow, which they thought was a negative factor, ended up helping her a lot. Kaytlyn passed!! Her parents were quote proud and relieved. She only did one thing wrong during the test. Not bad for a young, first-time driver.
Her parents were so proud of her, and her dad fixed up a little car for her. The front end had been wrecked, but 
Josh had some new parts for it. Because it was two different colors, Josh, who is pretty innovative, made the color change a little more interesting by putting flames between the colors. It fits perfectly with Kaytlyn’s sense of humor.
Kaytlyn has grown up so fast. As her mom was looking through pictures from the past couple years, she was shocked at how much she had blossomed into a beautiful young lady. With her grades and everything else in her life, Kaytlyn has a bright future ahead of her. With her grades and everything else, her parents are beyond proud of her. They love her so much that words don’t cany begin to explain it. And we are all very proud of her too. Today is Kaytlyn’s 15th birthday. Happy birthday Kaytlyn!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
With each passing year, I find myself feeling more and more blessed with this husband of mine. Bob and I met while I was working at Kmart, where his sister, Debbie Cook also worked, 49 years and 4 months ago. We have been married for 48 years as of today. There were people who didn’t think we has a chance for a lifelong marriage, but they were all wrong. I guess you could say that we are both stubborn…in a good way. We made a commitment, and we were determined to stay committed. The rest, as they say, is history. We have been blessed with two daughters, Corrie Petersen and Amy Royce; two sons-in-law, Kevin Petersen and Travis Royce; four grandchildren, Chris Petersen, Shai Royce, Caalab Royce, and Josh Petersen; a granddaughter-in-law, Karen Petersen and soon to be granddaughter-in-law, Athena Salazar; and three great grandchildren, Cambree, Caysen, and Justin Petersen. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Through the years, our lives have taken a number of turns. Things we expected and things we didn’t. We have made major job changes, to jobs we didn’t expect, Bob working for the City of Casper and me at The Stengel Agency, from which we would both retire. Of course, our family has grown and continues to grow. We began 
our married life living in a mobile home, which we moved several times, and finally in 1995, we moved into town…the best move we ever made. I guess it took us that long to realize that we really didn’t like country life. We became caregivers in 2005, an eventually would take care of all four parents until each one passed away, the final one in 2018. That was probably the biggest, unexpected thing of all. When you are young, you naturally think your parents will live forever. We miss them very much and consider ourselves blessed to have had them with us for so long.
The future is bright, and with retirement, we have more time to be together. I suppose some people think that all that time together would get…complicated, but for us it has not. We have always enjoyed our time together and have found that working different shifts at times was one of the hardest things we endured. I’ve heard people say that we should have fought less in those years, but we actually fought more, so there is another myth shot down. These days we like to travel, hike, spend time with our family. Of course, Bob still keeps busy 
working on cars in our garage, and I have my writing. We find too, that we are homebodies to a degree, with Bob needing to be out and about more than I do. So, he runs to the parts house several times a day, hahahaha!! It’s his social life. I like to walk on the trail near our home, and the Carpet Trail (inside our house) in the winter. I always look forward to the warmer weather, because the Carpet Trail can get boring after a while. I would say that we have led a very blessed life!! Happy 48th anniversary, Bob!! I love you more each and every day!! Here’s to many more years of wedded bliss!!
My grandma, Hattie Byer was never a tall woman. I like to say that she was 5 feet…in her tall days, because most of us remember her as being more like 4 foot 10 inches, give or take an inch. Don’t let her short stature fool you, however, because my grandma was a capable woman in every way, especially in the handling of children. She raised nine of her own, and the grandchildren were no match for her either. It wasn’t that Grandma was mean, but rather that Grandma didn’t take any “guff” from the kids. I can attest to that, because I made the mistake of going up against her once. Yes, I said once. After that, I decided that going up against Grandma wasn’t in my best interest, hahahaha!!
Whenever one of her kids got out of line, Grandma was very likely to turn them over her knee. Everyone’s views on spanking children are different, but in those days, everyone spanked their kids. My personal opinion on that matter is that in the days of spanking your kids, the children were much more well behaved, but that is my opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Grandma was one who believed in spanking too, and I’m pretty sure the boys might have been a little more mischievous than the girls, with the possible exception of my mom, who was right in the middle of the two boys, and very loyal to both of them. Mom made the mistake of voicing her displeasure to her mom once concerning the spanking of her brother. Grandma let her go on, while she finished the spanking, and when both of the kids started to run outside, Grandma grabbed my mom by the hair, and proceed to give her a spanking to, for “improperly interfering with the discipline of her brother.” I think Mom got the message…loud and clear, and I don’t believe she ever did that again.
Grandma was well able to handle her adult kids too, as my Aunt Bonnie found out one time, when she 
mistakenly told her mom that she couldn’t spank her these days. Well, Grandma quickly reached out, and grabbed Aunt Bonnie by the feet, taking her swiftly to the floor. While she didn’t turn Aunt Bonnie over her knee, I think they both knew that she probably could have. Aunt Bonnie sat there on the floor with a shocked look on her face, and after the shock wore off, everyone in the room laughed hysterically, including Aunt Bonnie. Grandma never lost her touch. Today is the 114th anniversary of my grandmother’s birth. Happy birthday in Heaven, Grandma Byer. We love and miss you very much.
