Happy Birthday Ethan, it is such fun when grandkids have birthdays!!

Did you hear the happy news of the two little girls who were found? They weren’t very old, Caroline is five years old and her sister, Leia Carrico, is eight years old. Friday afternoon, they asked their mother if they could go for a walk, and she said “no.” but then she turned around to take care of a younger brother.

A little later she found they were missing. They searched and asked neighbors if they’d seen them but after two hours reported the girls missing.

Mendocino County, Napa County, Del Norte County, California State Parks, the National Guard and the Us Coast Guard, Cal Fire, Humboldt Technical Rescue and the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Posse worked with the Sheriff’s office all to find the girls.

They weren’t found before the sun set on Friday night and they weren’t found by sunset on Saturday. How worried their parents, family and neighbors must have been!

There was going to be a press conference at 10:30 Sunday morning, but due to “new developments” it was delayed to 11:30. The happy conclusion of the missing girls was that they were found Sunday morning, They were somewhat dehydrated but got in warm clothes and went home soon.

The girls had been following a deer trail, when they realized that they were lost. The good news is that Leia had learned some things about being lost in the woods from the 4-H program. They had boots on, granola bars, and drank water from huckleberry leaves, and huddled together under a bush to keep warm and stayed put until Delbert Chunley and Abram Hill of the Piercy fire Department found them. The men had found boot prints and wrappers, and knew which way the girls were going, and found them about a mile and a half from their Benbow home.

How wonderful that so many people joined the search, coordinated through the Humboldt Sheriff’s office. Many were searching, and thoughts and prayers were definitely rewarded with the girls found safe and sound!!

The 4-H program has been popular with many of the Kids on the Klamath River in years gone by. They’ve raised pigs and lambs, and learned horseback riding, but I didn’t know that part of their hiking and camping program included survival skills.

Boys and Girls from first grade to thirteenth- one year after high school, can join the 4-H program and it looks like it is a good idea for kids living in the forest to be aware of survival skills.