chicken
My niece, Kellie Hadlock is a girl who is so sweet and thoughtful that people can’t help but love her. She is literally the favorite aunt among her nieces and nephews, and I suppose that I could get in trouble for saying such a thing, except that I didn’t say it, her siblings did, and if anyone would know this, it would be them. Kellie loves to babysit all the “babies” of her siblings. Her nephew, Ethan Hadlock, and nieces Aurora Hadlock, Adelaide Sawdon, and Mackenzie Moore all love to do things with Kellie. Kellie takes the kids to Jump Craze and the movies, or just to her apartment to hang out. When the kids see Kellie, their faces light up with delight, because they know that she is going to make them laugh, and they are going to have a great time with her.
Kellie has been dating Travis McDaniel for a while now, and they are very happy. She still loves her job at 
American Title, and is super qualified and well liked there. Her sister, Jessi has nicknamed her Pie, and likes to tease her that her birthday is actually March 14th, which is Pi Day. That said, Jessi tells her that she will not be celebrating with her today, because her birthday is actually yesterday…which of course, isn’t true. That is just how Jessi likes to tease her sister. Nevertheless, Jessi and her husband, Jason love to have Kellie come over to hang out. It’s nice to just do nothing and being content, and Kellie makes that easy.
Probably the greatest thrill in Kellie’s life is singing. She gets to lead song service at our church quite often these days and totally loves that. Singing is a must for Kellie. She just can’t imaging life without songs about God. She is an amazing blessing at church, and to anyone who has ever heard her sing. Singing is truly her life, and I love to listen to her…like anyone else who knows her.
For their birthday, my sister, Allyn and husband, Chris let their kids pick an activity, dinner, and of course, cake 
for their special day. Kellie has chosen to go bowling for her birthday. For dinner, she chose Allyn’s fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. All of her family will be coming over to help celebrate, including sister, Lindsay and her husband, Shannon Moore, who live in Laramie, as well as her brother, Ryan and his wife, Chelsea. Of course chocolate cake will not be on the menu for this birthday party, because Kellie hates chocolate. She chose a Funfetti cake instead. Today is Kellie’s birthday. Happy birthday Kellie!! Have a great day!! We, like everybody else, love you!!
My aunt, Dixie Richards is the 8th child of my grandparents, George and Hattie Byer, and the middle of the younger three daughters. She is also a very giving person. She is always there whenever her help is needed. For many years she has taken care of her grandchildren, as well as the children of her siblings and their children. It has been a long run of children who can say that they got to spend quality time with Aunt Dixie. What a blessing that was for them, and how nice I was for their parents, who didn’t have to worry about who was watching their kids. They knew that their kids were entertained, loved, and cared for in the best possible way.
Aunt Dixie has lived in the country for as long as I can remember, but I suppose there might have been a time when she didn’t. She has always enjoyed the country life, 
complete with the farm animals that went with it. One of her farm animals came from my mom, Collene Spencer, who was given a baby chick that one of her grandkids had won at the fair. I could never figure out why they gave away live animals at the fair, because most people didn’t have their parents permission to bring these animals home, and often, the animals weren’t allowed in town. Nevertheless, my mom had big plans for her baby chic. She was going to raise it and have eggs. Little did she know that she had a rooster. Even when the chick started crowing, Mom denied the obvious, still hoping for eggs,but finally she had to face reality, and the chick, named Queenie, who should have been King, moved to aunt Dixie’s place. Mom never knew what happened to Queenie after that, but I think that deep down inside, she knew that Queenie had probably become chicken noodle soup or some other such thing, because he was older than most butchered chickens, 
and probably not suitable for a fryer. Nevertheless, Aunt Dixie would never have told her sister what happened to Queenie, because she was far too kind.
These days, Aunt Dixie is retired from babysitting, and her favorite thing to do is to spend time with her family. She and Uncle Jim love being close to their grandchildren, all of whom they are very proud. I’m sure they are looking forward to the day when they will have done great grandchildren too, because as every parent knows, grandchildren are the reward that comes from having children. I know that they will be wonderful at that too, just as they were with kids and grandkids they have now. Today is Aunt Dixie’s birthday. Happy birthday Aunt Dixie!! Have a great day!!we love you!!
We’ve all eaten them…unless you are allergic to chicken that is. Hot wings. They grace just about every Super Bowl party food table, or any other football gathering for that matter, but where did the idea come from? Well, they have been around longer than I thought they had. I think that many people used the chicken wings for soup stock, and some restaurants even threw it away. Now my husband likes the wings, but much of the time, I find them a waste of time, unless they are in the form of hot wings. I think a lot of people would agree with my point of view.
Accounts of the invention of hot wings, or Buffalo Wings as they are often called, vary, but apparently the one that has been most accepted is that they were invented by Teressa Bellissimo, who along with her husband Frank, owned the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. When the Bellissmo’s son, Dominic made a surprise visit from college with several friends, Teressa needed a fast and easy snack to present to all of her guests. It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying chicken wings and tossing them in cayenne hot sauce. Apparently, the wings were a big hit. However, when a long article was written about the Anchor Bar, no mention was made of the Buffalo Wings.
Another man, John Young also claims to have made the first Buffalo Wings covered in a special Mambo Sauce in his Buffalo restaurant in the 1960s. Young’s wings were breaded, unlike the hot wings of today. Young registered his restaurant as John Young’s Wings ‘n Things, at the county courthouse in Buffalo before leaving the area in 1970. The Bellissimo family claims that the Young Buffalo Wings used the same sauce as the Bellissimo Buffalo Wings. I suppose it really doesn’t matter who invented them, or what sauce is used, especially since there are multiple flavors now. The main thing is that pretty much everyone has had and loves Buffalo Wings. In fact, they have become a party mainstay since the 1960s.
By the time my Aunt Dixie joined the family, there were already seven children in it. That meant lots of help to take care of the new baby. If she was anything like she is today, my guess would be that she laughed easily and often. Aunt Dixie has never been a melancholy person, but rather always seems to look for the positive things in life. That is a trait that few people have these days, and one that will make her life always rich.
Aunt Dixie has a creative side to her too. She has a talent for making things that add a touch of beauty to her life and to those around her. I can remember the many family Christmas parties that Aunt Dixie and her family have put on, and her talent is easy to see. We have all been blessed by the things she and her family have made for those parties. They always bring something new to the feel of them.
Aunt Dixie has always loved living in the country, and has had her little farm for many years now. I remember when she came to the rescue of my sisters and me, when she took the chicken/rooster my mother ended up with after one of the kids brought it home from the fair. It was cute at first, of course, and Mom’s plan was to have eggs. Having chickens in town was against city ordinance, of course, but Mom didn’t think anyone would know, since it was just one chicken. Then it started crowing, much to the embarrassment of all the rest of the family. Finally Mom gave up and admitted that it was indeed a rooster. Then she had to figure out what to do with it. Aunt Dixie saved the day by adopting the rooster. 
Now, I’m sure he became fried chicken or chicken soup, but there are worse things in life…like having to listen to that rooster crowing every morning.
Aunt Dixie loves kids…especially her grandchildren. She has 5 grandsons, and then…finally, three short years ago, she received the granddaughter she had longed for. Now her life is complete…at least until the great grandbabies start coming, but that’s another story. Today is Aunt Dixie’s birthday!! Happy birthday Aunt Dixie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Years ago, when the different booths at the fair used to give baby chicks or fish as prizes for the different games you could play. My mom and dad were at the fair, and a little boy came up to her and asked if she would take his baby chick, because his mom wouldn’t let him keep it, so mom took it, and decided to raise it in the hope of having eggs. She named our chicken Queenie. We loved Queenie. She was yellow and fuzzy and so soft. Of course, the thrill of having Queenie wore off for us kids pretty fast, and Mom was left to her care.
With dreams of eggs for some time to come, my mom took great care of Queenie. And our little chick thrived on the care. She was probably the only chicken to ever live in a house. Mom kept her in a box in the utility room. She was a household pet…not that everyone liked her. She had a tendency to peck at the little kids, and they somehow didn’t think that was a very good idea. So mom had to keep Queenie away from the kids, and that meant the back yard was off limits sometimes…to the kids.
As Queenie grew, there began to be some…strange occurrences. Sounds that Queenie shouldn’t be making were coming from her. I’m sure many of you know what was going on, but my mom didn’t want to believe that her chicken was really a rooster. Her plans of having eggs were dissolving before her eyes, and try as she might, there was no denying it.
The neighbors started asking about a rooster in the city limits, and of course, mom was told she couldn’t 
keep him there, so she talked to her sister, my Aunt Dixie, and it was decided that she would take the rooster named Queenie, since she had a place in the country and other chickens.
My mom kept telling herself that Queenie was out at my aunts house, living it up as the King of the chicken coop, but we all knew that Queenie probably ended up as most chickens and roosters do…as fried chicken, or some other such tasty dinner entree, and it’s just as well, because whether we liked Queenie or not…eating him was definitely out of the question. He was a household pet, after all.
