family
My nephew, Wes Burr, is the partner of my niece, Cassie Franklin. Wes came along at a very low point in Cassie’s life. She had gone through a nasty divorce, and she needed someone kind to come into her life, but wondered if she could trust anyone to be that person. Wes was that person. She was finally in a good place. And her two children, Lucas and Zoey Iverson were finally in a good place. Wes treated the kids as if they were his own, from the very start, and 
gave them the kind of life they desperately needed. It was a match made in Heaven and a very great relief. to everyone in the family.
These days the family has moved to a new town, where Wes and Cassie run a business together called Back to Back Cleaning Company. They also have a new little addition to their family…little Alicen. She has been pure joy, with a big dose of spunk. Recently, she picked her first apple…and promptly threw it. Cassie didn’t say what she threw it at, but from the look on Wes’ face, I think it might have been at a person, or maybe a window. Nevertheless, she was “forgiven” for this little discretion, as everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Things like this would likely have 
been cause for a lot of stress, and a big argument before, but Wes is very good natured and kind.
Wes and Cassie have built a loving family, where imagination, laughter, happiness are free to express themselves. Cassie and her kids didn’t have that before. When a partner comes into the lives of your niece and family, who changes everything from bad to awesome, it is impossible not to like that person. That is exactly how I feel about Wes. He is a sweet man, who has made the lives of my niece and her kids so much better. Today is Wes’ birthday. Happy birthday Wes!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Every year, after having a carefree time of summer, the inevitable arrives…going back to school. Some kids love going back. Others hate going back, and some have mixed feelings about it. Still, there is a level of excitement for most kids, even if it’s just about new clothes and reconnecting with friends that they haven’t seen in three months. Some kids just like the routine of school, and feel bored in the summer, while others love being able to sleep in, and hate the idea of the routine of getting up, getting ready, and getting to school. At this point, most people are thinking about which of the above descriptions is them, because each of us fits in somewhere.
These days, even if kids don’t love going back to school, the 
latest tradition is to post pictures of the first day of school, along with what grade they are going to be in this year. Then, at the end of the year, they post last day of school pictures. The contrast between first and last day is often…amusing, as well as surprising. The first day, many are a little dressed up, or at least showing their new sense of style for the coming year, while the last day brings a very relaxed look showing that they can’t wait for summer’s arrival. Let’s face it while many kids love school, the human mind needs a break sometimes, and that is all there is to it. Anyone who doesn’t think kids need summer break, was simply never really a kid.
Some kids are heading off to college, or back to college. Some kids are continuing their elementary school 
careers, starting middle school, or starting high school. Some are taking their last, first day of school pictures and some people are taking their first, first day pictures. Whatever the case may be, each one is a unique and very special memory, and one that will be cherished forever. Each picture shows how much the child has grown and changed. It also shows a child who will never be the same again. By the end of the school year, that child will have grown and become someone entirely different. That’s what school does to kids. They spread their wings a fly, even if it’s just for a little while and for a little way. The child they were is quickly becoming the adult they will be, and the pictures simply show the journey each child has taken to reach their destination.
My grandniece, Adelaide “Addi” Sawdon is growing up so fact. Addi is the daughter of my niece, Jessi Sawdon and nephew, Jason Sawdon. This school year will find Addi in third grade. She loves school and particularly science. She is excited for third grade and got to see her class on Friday night. Now she is ready to get the school year started. She is quite the social butterfly and loves to make new friends. She also has a mind of her own and knows what she wants. She recently cut her own bangs, which was also super funny! She told her mom that she wanted a change. I guess that’s one way to get change.
Addie is fun loving and creative!! She and her cousin, Mackenzie Moore are best friends, and they spent a lot of time together this summer. They went to a soccer camp at the University of Wyoming, they learned to hula hoop, and they went to a Spanish camp at Laramie County 
Community College, and they went to Vacation Bible School!! The girls had so much fun at each event, and they loved having sleepovers, meeting new friends, and learning new things together. She loves Jesus and is never afraid to tell people that!! She is just getting into sports and loves basketball, volleyball, and soccer. And she also loves ninjas. Which is super funny! She loves ninjas so much that she asked for nunchucks for her birthday. Call me naive, but I had to look up exactly what nunchucks are. They are chain sticks used for fighting in Karate, so don’t mess with Adelaide Sawdon!!
She loves to snuggle and “chill” as she says. She is very funny and has a great sense of humor. She has such a sweet heart. She is developing her own style and loves dancing in her “dance outfit” in front of the mirror. Her mom says that it was so sweet. Addi comes by her dance moves naturally, because her mom and dad have great moves too. She also loves to sing just like her aunt, Kellie Hadlock. Addi is always busy, and yesterday, she was listing her favorite foods, hobbies, and the people she loves…basically a whole autobiography. Wolves are her favorite animal and so is any animal in the wolf family. She had her “friends” birthday yesterday, and about 10 friends were at her party. Her parents rented a giant bounce house water slide. The kids had a blast. Today is Addi’s 8th birthday, Happy birthday Addi!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My nephew, Steve Spethman is a man of many talents. He is quite crafty. In addition to forging knives, he made reindeer this year. He also does metal art and made a dragon. Steve has always kept busy. He is an honorable man and has taken very good care of his family. He and my niece, Jenny Spethman have taught their children the importance of hard work and integrity. They have also taught them the importance of having God and the most important part of their lives. No matter what happens in life, you can get through it with God. Steve and Jenny know this firsthand, because their first daughter, Laila lives in Heaven, and they look forward to seeing her again when they go home.
Steve and Jenny have five children, Xander, Zack, Isaac, Laila, and Aleesia. They have always had a full house, because not only did they have their children there, but they also had their children’s friends. The Spethman house was the place to hang out…from friends, to girlfriends, everyone wanted to be at the Spethman house. Of course, in life, all things are subject to change, and this year 
has really been a year of change for Steve and Jenny. This summer Xander and his girlfriend, Alli Simpson moved to Colorado so she can go to college. That was really hard, because the kids were at Steve and Jenny’s every day. Their son, Zack graduated from high school and got his first full-time job. Their son, Isaac is buying a house and will moving out within the next couple of months. While Steve and Jenny aren’t officially “empty nesters” yet, they are feeling that status knocking at the door. Still, they have led very busy lives with all those kids, so they are seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel, bittersweet as it is, after having five kids.
These days, they are actually spreading their own wings a little bit. They decided to take a little getaway this 
year and took a trip to Las Vegas…just the two of them. I’m sure that felt strange. They have been doing a little gardening this year, and that has been a pleasant experience. They are both pretty artistic, so their gardens are beautiful. Things are different in a number of ways, but one of the biggest is that Steve is used to having his boys there to help him with things, but now the boys are having him help them. Oh, how the tables have turned. Today is Steve’s birthday. Happy birthday Steve!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My aunt, Dixie Richards has always been a caregiver, in one capacity or another. She took care of a number of Uncle Jim Richards’ family members when they needed help, and his mother lived with them for a number of years. As her own parents grew older, she also took care of them, spending many hours at their home to make sure they had what they needed. She was so important to their health and happy life, because not everyone was able to be there as much as she was…and her hard work was greatly appreciated by all of her siblings. I remember my mom, Collene Spencer and aunt, Sandy Pattan telling me all about how important her loving care was to their parents and to her siblings too. A person who have the heart of a caregiver, is a precious gem indeed.
As a child, like her siblings, rock hunting was a great family outing. They all loved picking up a pretty rock and taking it to their dad to see if this one was a special one. Grandpa could look and a rock and have a pretty good idea of what the inside looked like. These family outings were the highlight of their lives. There were no computers back then, and I don’t think they owned a television set either. Nevertheless, every night all the siblings gathered around the floor of the living room, to listen to Grandma, Hattie Byer read to the family. It was the best part of the evening, but to be sure, if Grandma read anything in the book that seemed to be “off color” the offending book was never finished and never seen again. It’s possible, I suppose that the offending book became kindling for the wood stove.
For a while now, it have been harder for Aunt Dixie and Uncle Jim to get out and about, so a I decided that it’s important for siblings to see each other. With that in mind, I have been working to get Aunt Sandy in touch with 
her siblings and her sister-in-law. We have been to see Aunt Dixie and Uncle Jim three times, and everyone had a great time. We were able to get hooked up with Aunt Jeanette Byer once and look forward to going again. We are also trying to get her with Uncle Wayne Byer and Aunt Bonnie McDaniels. Time will tell on those, but we are hopeful. The visits with Aunt Dixie and Uncle Jim have been so wonderful, and the people who have joined us have really enjoyed being able to see them again. Here’s to the next visit. Today is Aunt Dixie’s 81st birthday. Happy birthday Aunt Dixie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My grandnephew, Keifer Balcerzak is such a great family man. He and his wife Katie have been together since they were in school, and they work very well together. Keifer is a guy who brings the humor into life. His wife says that you shouldn’t be next to Keifer, if you need to be serious. Keifer has a smiling kind of face anyway, and when he smiles or laughs, his whole face smiles or laughs. That is the kind of person you need to be around if you’re feeling down at all. Nothing better than to be around someone who makes you laugh in spite of yourself.
Keifer has always loved sports…pretty much any sport. He has played softball for years, and his teams have won championships in the local tournaments. These days, he has 
also become an umpire for softball. That is right up his alley, and he really loves doing it. Of course, whenever he isn’t an umpire, or working, Keifer is with his family, because they are his top priority. Keifer and Katie have two beautiful children…a daughter, Reece, and a son, Aysa. Reece has tried some different sports too, and I’m sure she will find one that really suits her. I fully expect that in time, Aysa will be a lot like his dad and will play softball too…maybe even with his dad. That would be a generational thing, because Keifer and his dad, Dave Balcerzak played together too.
A while back, Keifer decided that he needed to get in shape. He didn’t like how he looked, so he says he “killed” 
the other him. I guess you could say that was true, or at least part of him, because he lost a bunch of weight, and now he works out regularly. That is always a good thing, because he has young kids, and a guy wants to be able to keep up with all the activities they are into, not to mention simply being able to play with his kids and not feel winded. It far too easy these days to let ourselves go, and before we know it, all we can do is sit around the house. Keifer didn’t want that to be him, so he got up off the couch and got busy. Now he is in great shape, and he feels great too…and his wife calls him a “hottie” again…or maybe she never stopped. No matter, he feels great. Today is Keifer’s birthday. Happy birthday Keifer!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
As mining work started up in the United States, the need for housing in the area of the mines started up too. This need brought about the “company town” as a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company. Of course, this meant that quite often, all or most of the wages paid to workers, came back to the company in purchases, and as we all know stores and such always have a markup so that they make a profit. Still, they did meet a need, and there was often nowhere else to go. Company towns were often planned with a number of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets, and recreation facilities.
The initial motive of building the “company towns” was to improve living conditions for workers. Nevertheless, many have been regarded as controlling and often exploitative. Others were not planned, such as Summit Hill, Pennsylvania, United States, one of the oldest, which began as a Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company mining camp and mine site nine miles from the nearest outside road. Just being that far from anything else around, was prohibitive to those who felt like they were the victims of gouging. Today, many of those “company towns” are ghost towns…lost to a bygone era.
One such town, the town of Kempton, West Virginia was located just a few feet inside the West Virginia border. This strategic location allowed the company to operate using scrip rather than cash. To me that seems like a move to a cashless system that further held the workers there, because the scrip was only accepted at the company businesses, thereby eliminating outside competition. As with any monopoly, this created price 
gouging. To make matters worse, if an employee needed a “big ticket” item, such as such as washing machines, radios, and refrigerators, they could get them and make payments. This put many miners in debt, and they were required to pay off the debt before they could move away. The town of Kempton was “founded in 1913 by the Davis Coal and Coke Company, a strip of land 3/4 of a mile long and several hundred feet wide was cleared for the construction of company houses, four to six rooms each with a front yard and a garden in the back. In 1915, J Weimer became the first schoolteacher at $40 a month with 53 pupils. The company store was located on the West Virginia side along with the Opera House that contained the lunchroom, bowling alley, pool table, dancing floor, auditorium, and the post office.” These towns were in reality, “privatized” towns run by a government that was neither elected nor fair, they were simply the ones in control, and if people wanted a job they dealt with the rules.
Cut out of the Appalachian wilderness, the town of Kempton flourished and became a vibrant community rich in culture and familial spirit. Then, when the mine closed in April of 1950, it just as quickly faded into oblivion. Nevertheless, the former residents tried to keep their connections alive. They held a reunion in 1952 to share their memories and to recall a strong sense of home. Unfortunately, what were once good intention, faded as life got busy and people moved around. Finally, the forest began to reclaim many of the houses as weeds took over and neglect allowed for decay. These days, the fruit trees and annual flowers that were planted long ago 
by people who loved the place “still bloom to greet the Spring” and a few of the broken-down buildings still dot the landscape, if one in incline to look around. Newer homes have been built, that are privately owned, and mixed in are a few of the old remnants of times past. With mine reclamation laws in place now, groups have come in and performed archeological digs to recover old work items from the past and restore the site to historical status.
Like the United States, Ireland wanted to be free from the rule of the Britain…to become a sovereign nation. Also, like the United States, the British did not want to release Ireland. So began The Irish War of Independence also known as the Anglo-Irish War. The war was fought guerrilla warfare style in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces, which included the British Army, along with the quasi-military Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and its paramilitary forces the Auxiliaries and Ulster Special Constabulary (USC).
It was in the early part of the century, that a man names Michael Collins joined Sinn Fein, which was an Irish political party dedicated to achieving independence for all Ireland. The Sinn Fein party became the unofficial political wing of militant Irish groups in their struggle to throw off British rule from its inception. The idea of giving Ireland “Home Rule” was not a new one. It was first introduced in 1911, when the British Liberal government approved negotiations for Irish Home Rule, but the Conservative Party opposition in Parliament, combined with Ireland’s anti-Home Rule factions, defeated the plans. Then, with the outbreak of World War I, the British government tabled further discussion of Irish self-determination. It was then that Collins and other Irish nationalists responded by staging the Easter Rising of 1916.
In 1918, with the threat of conscription (conscription is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service) being imposed on the island, the Irish people gave Sinn Fein a majority in national elections, and the party established an independent Irish parliament, Dail Eireann, which declared Ireland a sovereign republic. This was, of course, in direct rebellion against British rule. Collins led the Irish Volunteers, a prototype of the Irish Republican Army, in a widespread and effective guerrilla campaign against British forces in 1919. The war went on for another two years before a cease-fire was finally declared. Collins 
stepped up a one of the architects of the historic 1921 peace treaty with Great Britain, which finally granted autonomy to southern Ireland. Their work had finally paid off.
It seemed that maybe, finally all was finally right in Southern Ireland, and in January 1922, Sinn Fein founder Arthur Griffith was elected president of the newly established Irish Free State. Griffith appointed Collins to be his finance minister. Collins held the post until he was assassinated by Republican extremists in an ambush in west County Cork, Ireland on August 22, 1922. He was laid to rest in Dublin.
Fort Selkirk was built as a trading post on the Yukon River at the junction of the Pelly River in Canada’s Yukon. For many years it was home to the Selkirk First Nation, also known a Northern Tutchone. The Selkirk First Nation is a First Nation self-government in the Canadian territory, Yukon. “First Nation self-government is a formal structure through which Indigenous communities may control the administration of their people, land, resources, and related programs and policies, through agreements with federal and provincial governments. It is about First Nations taking greater control over and making their own decisions about matters that affect their communities within the Canadian constitutional framework. First Nations have their own governments with responsibilities, structures, resources, and taxation powers similar to other municipal or territorial governments in Canada. These First Nations are guided by their Final Land Claim Agreements, Self-Government Agreements, and Constitutions.” I suppose this would be similar to the Indian Nations in the United States, who are government entities in their own right.
The trading post of Fort Selkirk was the hub of the community, allowing the buying, selling, and trading of 
items needed for everyday life. Most of the people lived nearby, but these days, most of its citizens now live in Pelly Crossing, Yukon where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River. The original language of the people was Northern Tutchone. These days, there is an effort to ensure that the language and culture are not lost. Archaeological evidence shows that the site has been in use for at least 8,000 years.
In 1848, Robert Campbell established a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post nearby, and in early 1852, he moved the post to its current location. This caused a lot of resentment due to the interference of the Hudson’s Bay Company with their traditional trade with interior Athabaskan First Nations. So, on August 21, 1852, the Chilkat Tlingit First Nation warriors attacked and looted the post. For a time, after the attack, the fort was in ruins. It was rebuilt about 40 years later and once again became an important supply point along the Yukon River.
The fort was basically abandoned again in the mid-1950s, after the Klondike Highway bypassed it and Yukon River traffic died down. These days it would be considered a ghost town I suppose. Nevertheless, many of the 
buildings have been restored and the Fort Selkirk Historic Site is owned and managed jointly by the Selkirk First Nation and the Yukon Government’s Department of Tourism and Culture. That doesn’t mean that it has become a tourist hub, because the fact remains that there is no road access to the site. Most visitors get there by boat, though there is an airstrip, Fort Selkirk Aerodrome, at the site. A person would have to have a specific reason for going to the site, or they would be unlikely to make the journey.
Exploration of new worlds is a journey that always has the potential to end in loss of life, and even disaster. The Corps of Discovery, also known as the Lewis and Clark expedition, was no different. The expedition was proceeding as planned, except for the fact that Sergeant Charles Floyd was feeling ill. The expedition left Saint Louis the previous May, enroute up the Missouri River with a party of 35 men, called the Corps of Discovery. Floyd was a native of Kentucky who had enlisted in the US military a few years earlier. When he heard that there was a call for volunteers to join the ambitious expedition across the continent to the Pacific, Floyd was one of the first men to apply. Floyd was the perfect choice for the program. He was young, vigorous, and better educated than most of the soldiers. The two co-captains not only selected him to join the mission, but they also promoted him to sergeant.
Unfortunately, Floyd’s perfect attributes could not keep him from becoming ill. As a result, his part in the great voyage of the Corps of Discovery was short-lived. In their journal, Lewis and Clark reported in July that Floyd 
“has been very sick for several days. Then it appeared that he was getting better…for a time anyway. On August 15, he was “seized with a complaint somewhat like a violent chorlick [colic]… [and] he was sick all night.” The two captains were very concerned, and did what they could for Floyd, but they were far from what little medical help might have been available in 1804. Nevertheless, Floyd continued to grow weaker.
By August 19, 1804, Floyd’s illness was growing very severe during, and Clark sat up with the suffering man almost the entire night. Unfortunately, other than being with Floyd at the end, there was nothing that could be done. Floyd died in the early afternoon of August 19th, reportedly “with a good deal of composure.” The members of the expedition buried Floyd’s body on a high bluff overlooking a river that flowed into the Missouri. At the site, they placed a red-cedar post with his name, title, and date of death over the grave. Lewis read the funeral service, and the two captains concluded the ceremony by naming the nearby stream Floyds River and the hill Floyds Bluff in honor of their young comrade.
Lewis and Clark always regretted that they possessed such limited wilderness medical skills, because they were unable to cure the young soldier. Still, even if Floyd had been in Philadelphia, it is unlikely that the best doctors of the day would have been able to save him. From the journal telling of the symptoms, it is likely that Floyd 
was suffering from acute appendicitis. His condition grew worse and worse, and when his appendix ruptured, he died quickly of peritonitis. Without modern antibiotic, and without the knowledge we have today of proper surgical procedures, there was simply no hope. Amazingly, Floyd’s was the only death the Corps of Discovery suffered in more than two years of dangerous wilderness travel. On their return journey from the Pacific in 1806, after a successful expedition, Lewis and Clark stopped at Sergeant Floyd’s grave to pay their respects.
