The Lost Boy & Grandma's Dog

As I drove up to my parents house today to pick up Seth after a shopping trip to Flagstaff with Annelie & Niclaas , I found my dad walking down the road, he flagged me over & told me Seth & Duchess (my mother's dog) were missing. He was walking around to the neighbors to ask for thier help. I sent Annelie & Niclaas up two different dirt roads to look for them. I had a pretty strong feeling that they headed out toward the back of my parents property. My dad & I started walking the trail that led to the back gate. Soon we saw Seth's little shoe prints & Duchess's prints on the trail. My brother Cory had taken my mom on his dirt bike with him down the trail before I got there but at that point we weren't sure where they were. We got to the gate & I turned to look back toward the house & I saw Annelie, Niclaas, Duchess & Seth running toward us. My Dad just hugged me & started crying so then I started crying, we were all so scared & seeing him run down the trail brought a tremendous amount of relief & emotion. Soon after Cory & my mom came down the trail. They had tracked him down a dirt road that led to another dirt road that led back to the main road. Seth's & Duchess's footprints were side by side all the way but by the time Cory had gotten to the end of that dirt road one of my parents neighbors had found him going down the main road & brought him to my parents house where Annelie & Niclaas were by that time. He was missing for about an hour & walked almost two miles. All he had to say to me was, "Mom, road, cars". It wasn't long before several of the neighbors were coming up the road to see if we had found him yet. A couple of them in thier pick-ups, another on a four wheeler. The neighbor who found him is a hunter & as Derron put it, "he glassed him up", that's hunting talk for "he looked through his binoculars". I'm so grateful to live in a place where neighbors are neighbors in every sense of the word. On the way home I think Niclaas summed it up for all of us when he told me, "Mom I was thinking what I would do with out him. I would give up everything to have him".

This isn't Duchess, but this is what she looks like. I'm so grateful that she sticks to Seth like glue. And her size would make anyone think twice about messing with her friend.

KABOOM!

I'm sure Ivin could be arrested for what he's doing, but it's Founder's Day & it's OK! At 6:00 a.m. on the dot we heard the oh so familiar sound that rings in our ears & screams "It's Founder's Day! Get up & come have a pancake!"Why do we love this so much? It's hard to expain, it's just a Joe City thang.

The flag raising started sharply at 6:30 a.m. My son Niclaas raised the flag with the help of Dylan Hansen (not related), Bryson Palmer & His leader Uncle Clarence. Two miracles happened on Founder's day this year there was absolutely no wind, amazing, but even more amazing, I know your thinking what could be more amazing than no wind on Founder's Day? Well, look closely at this picture. You'll see a flashy car who's owner has never before been seen before 10:00 a.m.

Founder's Day is always full of all kinds of activities. We've had rodeos with & with out horses, turkey shoots, archery shoots, 10K's, 5k's, basketball, volleyball. I've even heard of an activity that had something to do with pulling the head off of a chicken. Thank goodness that one died out, literally. This year Brian Martnineau organized a dirt bike & quad race down the river to Manilla wash & back. I came to witness it for myself & to watch my little brothers, Cory & Ezra Jansen, who rode their dirt bikes. Well kinda. Ezra's bike stalled at the start, he was left in the dust, but he got it going & came from behind & had a pretty good finish. Cory was in the lead & part way through the race his chain locked up, he wasn't able to finish. Two other Joe City boys had some hard luck too. Dillon Roberson's bike quit on him & Joey Richards misunderstood the markers & came back in the wrong direction. It was still alot of fun & everyone is hoping that it becomes a new tradition. There was a couple new activities introduced this year. A tractor driving skills contest, I didn't make it to that but I'm confident that there was some stiff competition. There was also an obstacle course for kids to ride their bikes through. It all ended with the traditional family dance that much to the delight of the teenagers was DJ'd not Blue Grass Band'd. (Did that make sense?)

Credit for this picture and title goes to my "Sister in Zion" Julie Clifford..

Spring Time in Joseph City

It's spring here in Joseph City. I'm sure it is in other places to, but it's not like it is here. The other morning after my early morning walk I was enjoying the sounds of the birds. The birds were accompanied by the sound of coyotes crying in the distance, It is mating season after all, & the sound of my neighbors donkey eeeeaaah! Aah, the sounds of spring.We have the expected winds but the past week has been gorgeous weather. It is this time of the year when everyone is out cleaning up there property, discing the fields, burning the lawns & setting aflame the irrigation ditches & fence lines. On Sunday we were all reminded , from the pulpit, to get our burn permits from the fire department before we do our burning. This is a new thing for us the citizens of this little town. Our property is ours & we are a little rebellious when it comes to any one telling us what we can & cannot do with our property. I myself am guilty of this. I could be seen a couple of weeks ago in my back ditch toting a propane bottle with a weed burner attached burning every dried weed & blade of grass within the reach of my torch. Did I have a permit? Well, no. I mean Hell No!

"Sisters in Zion"

There is a group of ladies here in town that started a bunco group. I was invited in a few months ago. Once a month some one takes thier turn hosting. There's a theme to base our prizes & refreshments around. I hosted last month & I chose to do a "pink party". I served crepes with strawberries, whipped cream and of course buttermilk syrup. You can't get any pinker than that. Everyone wore their best "pink". My dear friend Linda was the "best dressed" of the night . We made a new friend from Winslow, Natalie, who was invited by one of the other ladies. It was quite the comical moment when she asked, not knowing her, if Linda dressed like that all the time. She now realizes that Linda is the queen of dress-up.

Buttermilk Syrup

Melt 1 cube of butter,1 cup sugar,

1/2 cup buttermilk syrup & 1 tablespoon

light karo syrup. Bring to a boil, remove from

heat. Add 1 tsp baking soda & 1 tsp. vanilla.

Watch out! It really bubbles up. Let cool a little & serve.

It's so good, in the words of my dear friend Darcy,

"You'll want to bury your face in it"!

Okay, Okay I give in!

This whole blogging thing is interesting to me. It is very similiar to journal writing which was supposed to be secret & private. Nowadays everyone it seems wants to put their journal writings on the world wide web for all to see. My mind is having a hard time with this. But it seems that in this fast paced world we all live in now, there's no time to visit any more & catch up with our friends & family members. Our free time usually comes about 10:30 at night, the kids are in bed, homework is done, the cares of the day are put to bed till the next day, & we think," I wonder what so -n- so is up to?" Don't call my house that late at night, just check out my blog!