Christmas - Finally!

After the 3 tumultuous days we had endured, Christmas Day finally arrived in all its sunshiny, mild, and relaxing glory! It was a great day to enjoy being together - a restful day!

The older kids were up quite a while before Delaney joined the party - around 9:30. We finally had to let them open their stockings and gifts before she got up. There were some goodies waiting to be unwrapped:

Cambry has enjoyed taking pictures and videos with her new camera - and I've been really impressed with it! Coming soon: "Cambry's Creations" - a new blog! She carries that Barbie mermaid around everywhere and she loves sleeping in her new mermaid pajamas!

Caiden is showing off his new book and his new goal post. Isn't the goal post impressive? Just kidding, look below for the real thing . . .

That's right - Chelan welded some pipes together to make the real thing. Caiden told him this was the best Christmas present ever! They've enjoyed a few games of field goal HORSE, and Caiden has beaten Chelan 3 times!

Delaney has enjoyed tootling around in her new car!

New sleds for the kids - the only way we could enjoy them on Christmas Day was indoors!

Lunch was Chinese take-out from Hillsboro. Very Christmasy, isn't it? It was delicious!

Comments

Surprise!

Well, I sure don't get surprised very often, but Saturday night was a huge surprise to me! I thought I was heading to Hesston for an AGCO Christmas Dinner with Chelan. He told me we needed to drop something off at Ben and Tina's house (my cousin), first. Okay, no big deal! While we were there, Ben said they were about ready to go out for dinner, did we want to come along? Surprisingly, Chelan thought about it and wanted to do it (clue #1 that something was up). I kept saying that we couldn't skip out on his dinner, but Chelan insisted that going to Wichita for dinner would be much more fun. I even said, "This seems like something you had planned!" However, I'm always up for dinner in Wichita, so I agreed, reluctantly!! We enjoyed a meal at Hangar 1 Steakhouse and I thought that was the end of it. But, on the way home, Chelan asked if we could go by the new arena since the inaugural concert was there that night -- Brad Paisley! I thought it would be f...

Spring Art

While Mrs. Schmidt was away on maternity leave during the spring, Mr. Novak (from Hesston) filled in for her. Since Cambry has her first 3 class periods in the art room, she got to know him very well and he mentioned several times how he appreciated Cambry's artistic style and way of thinking. He even let her paint a little bit on his own pieces! Cambry took several pieces to the WSL art festival in April. She came home with a first place finish in the graphic design category and an honorable mention in the computer design category. We are so thankful for the instruction she has received over the last 4 years in Goessel. Now, on to Hesston College with Professor Cross!

Choosing Trust Over Fear

I have struggled with writing about the shooting in Hesston - in fact, I wasn't going to post anything about it. However, for the sake of memories, I decided I should at least touch on it. It does deserve a place. It just hit so close to home - particularly since Doug was directly involved. Honestly, I sometimes feel guilty for struggling with this tragedy. I wasn't there, I didn't lose anyone close to me, and, although I know a few people who work there, I didn't know any of the victims. And I get to move on with my life with little disruption. I feel like I am on the outside looking in. But I guess that's okay. I didn't have to be directly involved for this to touch me. My heart is sad for the families of those who died, for those who were injured, for those who witnessed it, for my brother-in-law who will probably replay images over and over, for my sister and my niece and nephew who might sometimes wonder "what if?", for th...

Days With the Duerksens

Search This Blog