Summer in a Nutshell

Another summer flew by in a flash, and tomorrow I go back for my 7th consecutive year teaching middle school ELA in Goessel. This summer had its share of challenges (lightning strike, hail, HOT weather, well water pump problems), but overall, we did have time to relax and recharge before another busy school year. Here are some random photos from July and August.

LOTS of swimming:

Wheat harvest was a bit of a bummer because some of it was hailed out, but we managed to enjoy the tradition anyway without a lot of setbacks.

One setback with 30 acres left to go - the header bar broke.

Tracking Grandpa's return from the elevator.

More swimming:

Another trip to Camp Mennoscah

We worked to get Caiden ready for K-State. He moves in on August 17!

Coach Tang showed up at orientation!

This pile grew throughout the summer!

I worked on putting together some new bookshelves for my classroom. Another painting project we completed was our new front porch railing (I just don't have pictures of it!)

Delaney enjoyed a week of volleyball in Hillsboro with her team.

We finally found a vehicle for Cambry on the 2nd try. She's all set for school now!

And, she found amazing success at the county fair - Grand AND Reserve Champion in her class of photography!

Delaney turned 12! She enjoyed her favorite mac and cheese at Panera after some shopping!

Caiden had his last dr. appointment with Dr. Patron. We were blessed to have him see Caiden through all 18 years of his childhood!

Looks like Caiden outgrew him!

And then Caiden smashed Delaney's finger in the front door - accidentally, of course! So, we drove back to Newton - this time, to the ER. We are definitely thankful for the doctors in our lives! I guess you could say we ended summer with a 'bang!'

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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!

Off and Running!

A month into the school year and everyone seems to be clicking along . . . at least for now! We caught up with Cambry today, now in a room of her own for the very first time! She is enjoying her esports team, particularly making the social media posts and taking pictures for the team. She gets some Rocket League time in as well! And she has access to the art building pretty much when she wants it! Caiden is doing his thing at K-State and at athletic events again. And Delaney is trying to do every possible activity available in high school. Of course, her top priority is volleyball, and right now, her team is 2nd overall in 1A-1 and recently won their home tournament for the first time since 2017! And, Kenya is growing like a weed!

Days With the Duerksens

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