Days With the Duerksens

On Friday, we got to see a preview of the fall sports at Goessel, including JH volleyball and HS football, which we will be busy watching beginning this week.  It was so hot we nearly melted during the FB scrimmages and announcement of the teams, but it's always fun to kick off the new school year with this event and it gets everyone excited for what could be . . . One of Cambry's goals this year is to get more overhand serves over - probably in practices.  So far, she's accomplishing that!  She's also working on her passing.  She seems to have adjusted to a new coach easily, so that's good! She is clearly into what her coach is saying . . . Announcement of Teams: (ours are in the middle) Caiden will play mostly JV this year on Monday evenings.  It looks like he might see some quarterback action during those games.  We're curious to see how this goes for him as a freshman.

August 16, 2018 - Back to School Caiden - Freshman -  He's driving to school this year - actually, sometimes he's taking ME to school!  He's continuing his pursuit of no smiling in any pictures this year. . . Cambry - 7th grader Delaney - 3rd grader Mom - 3rd year back, teaching 6th-7th graders this year This is my "I'm ready, but I'm nervous" face! There is a new bus driver in the neighborhood - Lacie Hill!  We wish for her many dry days ahead after a rather soggy start.  We have too many mud roads around here to keep track of! Delaney was crowned Princess Delaney on the 2nd day of school!  With an August birthday, she gets to be one of the first to celebrate every year!  Mr. Wiens really does it up for them - dance party and all!  I was happy I could get away for a few minutes to join her class for the celebration.

It happened - our youngest turned 8 last week!  She chose to have her friend Quinli over for swimming and playing.  We tried out the new Hesston pool because her cousin, Addi, was guarding that day.  They had a great time, and then we picked up pizza and came back home to play.  We also had family over to celebrate over the weekend.  It's funny - we bookend our summers with birthdays!  Cambry's in May and Delaney's in August.  At eight years old, Delaney continues to impress us with her curiosity, love of learning, creativity, and boundless energy!  She and Cambry are the best of friends (usually) for which we are thankful, and she recently began piano lessons. We will see how that goes. . . We love you Delaney! A much-waited-for doll:  Kendall! Birthday ride at 8 Birthday ride at 1 A new pillow from Grandma A skirt to match Camille's from Grammy!

We squeezed in a little family trip to St. Louis over the weekend - quick but fantastic! We had to wait around to check into our hotel for a little while, so we killed time at the neighboring, nearly-abandoned mall.  After finding two restaurants in the food court for lunch, Delaney and I enjoyed this two-story carousel.  The poor guy who has to sit there all day . . . Day #1: Ulysses S. Grant Historic Site I knew very little about Ulysses S. Grant, so this little (free) stop was great!  The house we toured was his wife's childhood home and they did live there for a few years after they were married.  Besides being a Civil War General, he was a president who worked to fulfill Lincoln's vision of freedom for all - despite the fact that his father-in-law believed in slavery.  They were said to have very loud arguments over this!  I appreciated how our tour guide encouraged us to keep in mind the perspective of the slaves who lived at the site and pointed out some intere