My great grand-niece, Alice Green is such a sweet girl. I love her personality, because she is so loving and caring. For the early part of her life, Alice was an only child. Then her mom, Melanie Harman met her step-dad, Jake Harman and her life changed forever. Before long Alice had a little sister named Izabella, and soon after, a little brother named Jaxx. Siblings was one thing Alice had wanted for a long time. The good news was she only had to wait until she was a little past three to get her first sibling. The lonely days without a sibling were almost over. As soon as Belle could play, Alice was set. She is such a fun-loving girl, and the giggling in the Harman household runs wild…especially with the added kid stuff from Jake, who is a kid at heart.
These days, Alice is growing up quite quickly. At nine years old, Alice is already acting like a teenager. Some kids mature quickly in that way. She is definitely growing up! Alice has her own views and opinions about things these days. In the past, she cared more about her toys and getting dirty as much as she possibly could. Maybe a little bit of a tomboy in her there. These days, her sister and brother are very much her top priority. She loves them very much and enjoys being with them and entertaining them. I suppose there could come a day when Alice will wish her siblings would leave her alone, but that is pretty normal. I think that as the years go by these three will grow closer and closer. They fight, even now, but that is totally common among siblings too. Nevertheless, Alice feels totally blessed to have her sister and brother in her life.
Alice and her step-dad, Jake also have a special relationship. Jake was never one to exclude Alice in any way. 
When he married Melanie, he accepted Alice as his own daughter. They love to tease each other, and as is common in the Harman household, “random rudeness” is just part of the daily activities. Alice has embraced “random rudeness” and can dish it out as effectively as the next guy. She also loves to just randomly tackle Jake and this give him hugs. He has proven to be a real dad to her, and she loves him very much, and he considers Alice his own child. You don’t have to be related by blood, to be related by love. Today is Alice’s 9th birthday. Happy birthday Alice!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My nephew, Dave Balcerzak absolutely loves his hot rod. It must be a guy thing…well, ok girls like hot cars too. Anyway, Dave loves his hot rod, which is the muscle car he has dreamed of since he got his driver’s license. Personally, I don’t think Dave thought he would ever get such a car. Then to make matters worse, Dave is a trained computer programmer, not a mechanic, so working on such a car…well, it’s not really in his wheelhouse. Nevertheless, this story does have a happy ending, because dreams really do come true.
A few years back, when they were living on Coffman Avenue in Casper, Wyoming, Dave came home and told my niece, Chantel Balcerzak, his wife that he had found the car of his dreams, and begged her to come and see it. They didn’t have the money for a new car, but Chantel went with him. The car wasn’t far away…parked just a block over and down from their house. When Chantel saw the car she thought, “Are you kidding? It’s junk!!” Nevertheless, she kindly did the “Maybe someday, Honey” speech. I have a feeling Dave saw right through that and with a sinking feeling, saw his dream car sinking into the abyss. Dave and Chantel lived on Coffman for 4 years and Dave drove out of his way, at least every other day just to look at that car and mentioned it often. Finally, I asked him if he had ever asked the owner if they were even interested in selling, but he said he would when they had the money.
Five years and two houses later, Chantel decided, to go and ask the man if he wanted to sell. She tells me that she can’t remember the occasion, but remembers thinking it would make the perfect gift. The car was gone, and now it was Chantel who had a sinking feeling. She told Dave and he, rather “dramatically” told her that he was “giving up then!! That was the only one that he wanted!!” Dave didn’t mention the car again, but he did try finding one that might be close…even though he was “giving up” on the whole dream car idea. Unfortunately, every car he looked at was never “right.”
Chantel decided to take a different approach, because she really wanted to make her husband happy. So, she asked the Lord to make it available somehow and then pretty much forgot it. About six months after “giving up,” Chantel was driving to her mom, my sister, Cheryl Masterson’s house. To get there Chantel always take the road past Highland Cemetery, through the light, and up the hill. As she was heading up the hill, there it was!! And incredibly, with a for sale sign!! Chantel pulled over and called the number listed. For an absolute steal, she bought the car for Dave for Christmas. Oh, and it ran!! Chantel was definitely impressed with that part!! The car is a 1967 or 1968 Pontiac Lemans. Funny that she bought it, and still doesn’t know the year!! 
Hahahaha!! Chantel is not a car girl, that’s for sure!! As I said, Dave never really trained as a mechanic, so apparently he spends more time cussing it than driving it, but he still says it’s “his favorite” next to Chantel, of course. Chantel says that he has to say that to her, but I think it’s the truth, because Dave has loved Chantel since they were kids. Today is Dave’s birthday. Happy birthday Dave!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My nephew, JD Parmely is a very busy guy. He is a mechanic by trade, but in reality he is a mechanic for life. I can’t say that I know of anyone who spends as many hours in a garage as JD does. I thought my husband, Bob Schulenberg, who is JD’s uncle spent a lot of hours in the garage, but he doesn’t even come close to JD’s time in the garage. JD owns at least 15 vehicles. Some are classics some are daily drivers, and he is always tinkering on one or the other of them…that is when he isn’t working on someone else’s car.
JD has many friends who need work done on their cars, and JD is their go-to guy. JD’s specialty is Hondas, but he can work on most types of vehicles. He also has two uncles, Bob and Ron Schulenberg, and two brothers, Barry Schulenberg and Eric Parmely, all of whom help each other on jobs needing a second set of hands. They also share information when one or the other has a difficult job. Sometimes a job needs two minds to get it done…a fact that every mechanic knows.
While JD loves mechanic work, there is one thing that he just might love more…yep, I think he loves his nieces, Reagan, Hattie, and Maeve Parmely; and nephew, Bowen Parmely more. JD doesn’t mind rough housing with them, swinging them around, riding bikes with them, and whatever else they might dream up to play with their Uncle JD. In most ways, JD is a kid at heart. He can totally relate to his nieces and nephew, and doesn’t mind playing with them one bit. They love hanging out with him and hanging on him…another thing JD doesn’t mind.
JD can always be counted on to help with any job, from mechanics to loading and splitting wood. The boys 
have cut a lot of wood in their lifetimes. A couple of weeks ago, while having a family picnic on Casper Mountain, at JD’s mom, Jennifer Parmely and her partner, Brian Cratty’s cabin, the boys loaded a trailer full of wood for Eric and his wife, Ashley’s house. It works out well that the landowners on the mountain need to mitigate the downfall to protect to mountain from fire. It gives the guys wood for fires, and also something to do while loading it, hahahaha!! They all need something to do with themselves when they are not “mechanic-ing.” Today is JD’s birthday!! Happy birthday JD!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
While I knew that the Louvre was not always a museum, since it was built in the 1500s, and no museums existed then, I never would have guessed that at one time it was a palace. I’m not sure why, it just didn’t occur to me. The construction of the Louvre palace was begun by King Francis I in 1546 on the site of a 12th-century fortress built by King Philip II. King Francis was a great art collector, and the Louvre was to serve as his royal residence. What better place to eventually become a museum than the castle of an art collector.
The work, which was supervised by the architect Pierre Lescot, continued after Francis’ death and into the reigns of kings Henry II and Charles IX. It seems that every successive king wanted to change things or add things to make it their own. Almost every subsequent French monarch extended the Louvre and its grounds, but major additions were made by Louis XIII and Louis XIV in the 17th century. Not only did these kings make major additions, but they also greatly expanded the crown’s art holdings, and Louis XIV acquired the art collection of Charles I of England after his execution in the English Civil War. Then, in 1682, Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles. That was the end of 
the Louvre’s time as the main royal residence, but it would not be closed up and locked away forever.
In the spirit of the Enlightenment, many in France began calling for the public display of the royal collections, believing that it would be a shame not do display them, and that they belonged to the commonwealth of France. The French writer and philosopher, Denis Diderot, was among the first to propose a national art museum for the public. In 1750 King Louis XV temporarily displayed a selection of paintings at the Luxembourg Palace, but it was not until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 that any real progress was made in establishing a permanent museum. The French Revolutionary Government turned the Louvre into a public museum in Paris on August 10, 1793, calling it the Musée Central des Arts in the Grande Galerie of the Louvre. After more than two centuries as a royal palace, seen only by royalty and guests. With artwork and artifacts representative of 11,000 years of human civilization and culture, the art collection housed in the Louvre is one of the richest in the world.
The French army seized art and archaeological items from territory and nations conquered in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, and the collection at the Louvre grew rapidly. Much of this plundered art was returned after Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, however the Louvre’s current Egyptian antiquities collections and other departments owe much to Napoleon’s conquests as well. Two new wings were added in the 19th century. The 
Louvre complex was completed in 1857, during the reign of Napoleon III.
The Grand Louvre, as the museum is officially known, underwent major remodeling in the 1980s and 1990s. Modern museum amenities were added and thousands of square meters of new exhibition space were opened. The Chinese American architect I M Pei built a steel-and-glass pyramid in the center of the Napoleon courtyard. Traditionalists were outraged. In 1993, the 200th anniversary of the museum, a rebuilt wing formerly occupied by the French ministry of finance opened to the public, and for the first time the entire Louvre was used for museum purposes.
My grand-niece, Katie Balcerzak is the mother of a sweet little three year old girl, who keeps her and her husband, Keifer Balcerzak on their toes. This summer has been a busy one, with little Reece playing t-ball for the first time. As most parents of a new athlete, especially a young one, can attest, learning the sport can have its challenges. Reece seems to have no trouble hitting the ball, but doesn’t seem to understand that she is supposed to run to the base after hitting the ball…no matter how much her mommy tries to tell her by yelling from the sidelines. I guess nobody told Reece that she had to run when she signed up. I don’t blame Reece. I don’t want to run either. I know that Katie and Keifer will get Reece lined up on the way the game is played, but in the meantime, they are having a good time watching her.
Katie is a great mom, and along with Keifer, they have raised a very smiley girl. I don’t think Reece’s goofy side just comes naturally. I think there is a lot of giggling, laughing, and goofing off that goes on in that household. That makes sense really. Since Reece’s premature birth and long hospital stay, bringing her home was a time of celebration, and celebrate they have. Everything is a good reason to laugh, and Reece has embraced that part of her parents. I think that if parents can give their children the gift of laughter, they have given them the best gift ever, and she has blessed them because life is great. They have their baby girl making life funny.
Katie and Keifer have been a couple…like forever. They were kids really, when they met. The have been married 
for just over six years. They are perfect for each other, and their love is strong. While dealing with the premature birth of their daughter, they were both a rock to each other. Any kind of problem with your child’s health is a tough thing to go through. Some end well, and others don’t. The couple needed to stay strong for each other, even when they feel like falling apart. Katie and Keifer did that for each other, and when Reece was able to come home, victory was theirs. I don’t know if that victory is why they named her Reece Victoria or not, and I suspect it was because of her grandma, who is also Victoria. Nevertheless, victory was theirs, and they are very blessed to have their precious, victorious, goofy little girl. Today is Katie’s birthday. Happy birthday Katie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Adolf Hitler was always trying to find a way to infiltrate the nations of the world, because his ultimate goal was to control the world. Most of us would think that he was mostly active in the nations around Germany, and that might be a correct statement, but Hitler also had his sights on the United States. In 1942, Hitler ordered the defense branch of the German Military Intelligence Corps initiated a program to infiltrate the United States and destroy industrial plants, bridges, railroads, waterworks, and Jewish-owned department stores. His ultimate plan was to sabotage all of these, thereby shackling the United States so they would not be an effective enemy in World War II.
The Nazis hoped that their sabotage teams would be able to slip into America at the rate of one or two every six weeks…going unnoticed as simple illegal aliens. The first two teams, made up of eight Germans who had all lived in the United States before the war, departed the German submarine base at Lorient, France, in late May. On a heavily foggy June 12, 1942, just before midnight, a German submarine reached the American coast off Amagansett, Long Island. A team was deployed, rowing to the shore in an inflatable boat. Just as the Germans finished burying their explosives in the sand, John C Cullen, a young US Coast Guardsman, came upon them during his regular patrol of the beach. The leader of the team, George Dasch, bribed the suspicious Cullen, and he accepted the money, promising to keep quiet.
At first I found myself feeling angry at the “traitor” John C Cullen, who had sold out his country by accepting a bribe, but then I found out that Cullen was not only not a traitor, but he was a hero and a patriot in every way. As soon as Cullen passed safely back into the fog, he ran two miles back to the Coast Guard station and informed his superiors of his discovery. After retrieving the German supplies from the beach, the Coast Guard called the FBI, which launched a massive manhunt for the saboteurs, who had fled to New York City.
The saboteurs, Dasch and Ernest Burger, were unaware that the FBI was looking for them, but they decided to turn themselves in and betray their colleagues. It might have been because they were afraid they would be captured after the botched landing. On July 15, Dasch called the FBI in New York, but incredibly they failed to take his claims seriously. Dasch decided to travel to FBI headquarters in Washington DC. On July 18, the same day that a second four-man team successfully landed at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Dasch turned himself in. He agreed to help the FBI capture the rest of the saboteurs.
With Dasch’s help, Burger and the rest of the Long Island team were picked up by July 22, 1942 and by July 27, 1942 the whole of the Florida team was arrested. To preserve wartime secrecy, President Franklin D Roosevelt ordered a special military tribunal consisting of seven generals to try the saboteurs. At the end of July, Dasch was sentenced to 30 years in prison, Burger was sentenced to hard labor for life, and the other six Germans were sentenced to die. The six condemned saboteurs were executed by electric chair in Washington 
DC, on August 8, 1942. The situation was handled so quickly, that it is almost shocking to me. Two more German spies were caught after a landing in Maine in 1944. No other instances of German sabotage within wartime America has come to light. We assume that there were no others, but I don’t suppose we will ever know for sure. Nevertheless, no sabotages were ever carried out during that time.
My grand-niece, Melanie Harman is married to my grand-nephew, Jake Harman. Jake is quick to say that Melanie is an amazing woman who puts up with him constantly yelling, “Mom help!!” It is only every now and then that she tells him to “shut it!!” You see, Jake is not calling for him mom, but calling Melanie “Mom,” because she is the mother of his children, and she often says she has four children, and not three, because Jake is just “a big kid” at heart.
Melanie is always putting others ahead of her own needs…everyone in fact, and especially her kids. When Jake first met his sweet wife, the first thing he noticed about her was just how sweet and kind she was. She was also quiet, but Jake says that the longer they are together, the more like him she becomes. That is common, as people are married a number of years. Jake says that she can be randomly rude, just like he is. They are joking, of course, and it usually brings a round of laughter for them and those who know them. Melanie is Jake’s best friend, and he says he falls in love with her more and more every day. Jake is a jokester, yet even with all his picking on her, he marvels that Melanie still chooses to wake up to him every morning. Jake attributes their marital success to God, because as Jake says, “Only God could make some one as perfect as her, and only God would bless a sinner like me with her.”
Melanie is a hard working woman. She works 6½ hours a day as a bus aid then 4 hours cleaning buildings for Cleaning Solutions. Then she goes home to take care of her three kids or as she says four, because as Melanie says and we all know, Jake often acts like one!! To demonstrate that fact, the family recently made a trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. On their way back to Casper, Wyoming, there were about 100 Wall Drug billboards and at every single one of them Jake would tap her arm over and over and say, “Mom…Mom…Mom!! Look…look!!” Melanie would look at it and then look at Jake and say, “You do that one more time, and I’m going to beat you!!” She never did, of course, because she is full of love…even for people they don’t know.
Sometimes, when Jake is driving his bus for the disabled, the family comes and rides the bus with him when he is on the route busses. Melanie can talk to anyone, and that shows on the bus. No matter who starts talking to 
her, she never tells them to stop talking to her or leave her alone, no matter how mixed up they might be. Melanie always listens and talks with them. Melanie has a kind heart and that shows in all she does. The developmentally disabled can see that kindness in a person more than other people can. They can tell that it’s okay to talk to some people. They see that kindness in Melanie, and so do I. Today is Melanie’s birthday. Happy birthday Melanie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My brother-in-law, Mike Reed is a man who likes to stay busy. He is a supervisor for the Sinclair Refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, and has been there for years. As his working life winds to a close, Mike and my sister, Caryl Reed are busy working of their ranch outside Casper, Wyoming, which will be their “retirement” home. I’m not sure how much retiring people can do on a working ranch, but with the right help, I think they will manage to be more retired than working. They board horses, but really that is something that takes care of itself, because the owners are responsible for their own horses. Mike and Caryl just provide the land for the horses to stay on. They are also in their second year growing crops. Last year they grew oats, which a neighbor purchased immediately. This year they are growing oat hay. Now I didn’t know this before, but to grow hay is a three year process. You can’t just go out an grow alfalfa hay. Who knew? Next year will be their year for alfalfa hay, and they are excited. 
Mike really loves working on their ranch/hay farm, and really feels so at peace when he is there.
Mike and Caryl also love traveling, so this year they bought a really nice motorhome so that they could be comfortable as they travel around. After his retirement, they plan to do a lot of traveling, but Casper and the ranch will always be their home base. Mike also loves riding their new trike, and feeling the wind in their hair as they travel down the road. With the motorhome and the motorcycle, they are ready for any kind of trip they will want to take. With his retirement will come more golfing with Caryl. They took a trip to Salt Lake City for some R and R at the Little America Hotel there. They played golf at the city golf course, and enjoyed some relaxation time. They also like to stay at the Little America in Sun Valley, Idaho. Some of the Little America Hotels have golf courses, like the Sun Valley hotel…so they don’t even have to leave to play golf.
Mike loves restoring old cars and trucks and has several he is working on now. One of the trucks he is planning to sell, but the other will become a family work truck. The cars he restores, often become show cars, and that makes for more traveling, so it’s a win-win. Mike may be retiring, but I don’t see Mike not “working” in the near 
or even distant future. He is a man who likes to stay busy, and that means more projects. The thing about Mike is that he doesn’t start a project and then never finish it. He sees his projects through, and his work is excellent. So while it isn’t going to be a do-nothing retirement for Mike, it will be a very rewarding one for sure. Today is Mike’s birthday. Happy birthday Mike!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
There are some jobs from which people really cannot strike. To many lives are at stake. One such job is that of air-traffic controllers, nevertheless, on August 3, 1981, almost 13,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike after negotiations with the federal government designed to raise air-traffic controller pay and shorten their workweek failed. In the complaint, the controllers sited difficult working conditions and a lack of recognition of the pressures they face as major issues they were facing. When the strike began, some 7,000 flights across the country, had to be canceled. It was a major disaster in the United States. Air travel was a vital part of American life.
President Reagan immediately called the strike illegal and stated that he 
would fire any controller who had not returned to work within 48 hours. Robert Poli who was the president of the Professional Air-Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO) at that time, was found in contempt by a federal judge and ordered to pay $1,000 a day in fines. The air-traffic controllers still had not returned to work on August 5, 1981, so President Ronald Reagan began firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The executive action was regarded as extreme by many and significantly slowed air travel for months. Nevertheless, President Reagan did what he needed to do. There are certain occupations that require continued, loyal work, even during a dispute.
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An angry President Reagan carried out his threat that August day, and the federal government began firing the 
11,359 air-traffic controllers who had not returned to work. In addition, he declared a lifetime ban on the rehiring of the strikers by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). They made their choice and our president made good on the repercussions, and they got no second changes. Air travel slowed to a crawl, but on August 17, the FAA began accepting applications for new air-traffic controllers, and on October 22 the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO. These new air-traffic controllers needed to know just how important their job was and that even in a dispute, they went to work. To my knowledge, a strike of the air-traffic controllers has never happened again.
For many years, I thought my Spencer line came from England, but some things didn’t quite add up. When I started seeing DeSpencer and Le DeSpencer, I suspected that we might have immigrated to England from France, which my DNA proved to be correct. I’m more French than English. Nevertheless, for centuries, my Spencer ancestors did live in England, married English people, and so the line blended into more English blood in the current Spencers.
One Hugh le DeSpencer, who was the 1st Baron le DeSpencer, whose connection to me, while most assuredly there, would have to be researched to determine the level of cousinship, or whatever other relationship it is; was an important ally of Simon de Montfort during the reign of Henry III. He served briefly as Justiciar of England in 1260. In the “Middle Ages in England and Scotland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the monarch’s chief minister.” Baron le DeSpencer also served as Constable of the Tower of London. “The Constable of the Tower is the most senior appointment at the Tower of London. In the 
Middle Ages a constable was the person in charge of a castle when the owner…the king or a nobleman…was not in residence. The Constable of the Tower had a unique importance as the person in charge of the principal fortress defending the capital city of England.”
As chief justiciar of England, Hugh Le DeSpencer, first played an important part in 1258, when he was prominent on the baronial side in the Mad Parliament of Oxford, so called because they apparently argued a lot… and because of a possible misspelling of the word insigne as insane in whatever this says…”Hoc anno fuit illud insane parliamentum apud Oxoniam.” In 1260 the barons chose Le DeSpencer to succeed Hugh Bigod as Justiciar, and in 1263 the king was further compelled to put the Tower of London in his hands. He was the son 
of Hugh le DeSpencer I, born in about 1223 and was summoned to Parliament by Simon de Montfort. Hugh was summoned as Lord DeSpencer on December 14, 1264 and was Chief Justiciar of England and a leader of the baronial party, and so might be deemed a baron, although that may not have been completely legal.
He remained allied with Montfort to the end, and was present at the Battle of Lewes. He was killed fighting on de Montfort’s side at the Battle of Evesham in August 4, 1265. He was slain by Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore. That killing caused a feud to begin between the DeSpencer and the Mortimer families.
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