Days With the Duerksens

Delaney is enjoying her 2nd year of piano, and recently played in Cynthia's December recital.  She played "Silent Night" and "Come, Go With Me."  Two of her 4th grade friends also play, so we enjoyed listening to all of them! Such a large group! Lydia, Athena, Delaney

In early November, we all attended the 4H Achievement Night where Cambry received her 5th year pin and won an award in her photography project - thanks to her work in completing her record book!  In this coming year, Cambry has enrolled in the Jr. Leadership project, which means she will be taking on a few more leadership opportunities within the club.  At the recent Christmas party, she led one of the games, which is definitely a new thing for her!  She will also tackle a woodworking project with Chelan - hopefully!

November always brings basketball season into our sights.  This year, Caiden is in his second year on the high school team and Delaney is beginning her second season in biddy ball.  What fun it is to watch them each week - both contributing to their teams and at the same time, improving their own skills.  Caiden made his debut on the varsity team against Inman.  We knew he was suiting up for varsity, but we didn't know how much playing time he would actually get.  As it turns out, he is a regular contributor this year!  Goessel won the Bluebird Classic this year, making it the first time in 11 years! Going into Christmas break, the team is 4-1.  It's been a long time since Goessel had a winning record this early in the season, and we are really enjoying this defensive team every week! Bluebird Classic Champs!    Delaney's team has also seen improvement this year.  They are 2-1 right now after not winning a single game...

Chelan and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on Nov. 2.  We celebrated with cupcakes made by our sweet girls . . . after Chelan finished the fall harvest!  As I said on Instagram: "Anniversary #17 is a reminder of real life.  Texting has been our main form of communication through a busy fall.  He is finishing harvest today, Fridays have been for HS football, and weeknights have been full of school activities.  A lull is close, and we might have real face-to-face conversations again!" Real life is busy but good!