Days With the Duerksens

This year's track season had its ups and downs - both for Delaney and with the weather. I think we had one track meet that we considered "nice" weather. Otherwise, it was windy, cold, and/or wet a lot of the time! Delaney, too, had some good meets and some not so good. She was pushed this year by her teammate, Nivea, in the 100 meter hurdles. Ultimately, this was excellnt preparation for the state track meet, where she placed 5th and had a lifetime PR in the prelims of 16.03! Her 300 meter hurdles journey was also up and down - but mostly up. By the end of the season, she realized she was close to beating Vanessa's school record time! In the finals at the state track meet, that goal became reality with a time of 47.23 seconds - beating the record by .11 seconds. Triple jump never did go as she would have liked, but the 4x100 meter relay she was a part of had quite the handoff journey. Finally, at the state track meet during prelims, they had 3 excellent handoffs and f...

Cambry had several pieces that made it into Hesston College's juried art show in April. It is sure fun to see what she's working on when we visit - this year that was a ceramic bowl, a photograhp, and a mixed media collage canvas! And in bonus academic news -- she passed her physics final with a 91% >

Vanessa, Grammy, Delaney and I flew out to Portland to visit Addi and Daniel over spring break. What fun to be away for a few days to see new places and the family we love! Main attractions were: -hanging out at our AirBnB -marionberry everything (drinks, jam, etc.) -Pittock Mansion -Powell's Bookstore -March Madness basketball in downtown Portland -riding the public transportation to the games -Japanese garden -food trucks -Depoe Bay and Newport Beach Sea Lions

Chelan and I had a chance to spend a quick weenend away with Caiden at Rock Springs Ranch for one of his classes. It was special to meet with other farm families whose children are planning on returning to the farm to live and work. I think we all felt like it was a valuable weekend! In March, I dragged Chelan along with me to a Trisha Yearwood concert in Salina. Oh, the memories that come with hearing favorite songs from my high school days. This was our first time at the Stiefel Theater in Salina, and it was beautiful! One has to marvel at those old theaters and the work and effort it takes to restore them. Thanks, Chelan, for going along, and being stuffed into the far back corner with me!

Another basketball season has passed, and this was a fun one! The girls had fun (mostly) and played well together. Their season ended in the sub-state semifinals against a tough team from Troy. Surprisingly, Delaney made the list for all-state basketball, honorable mention! Another highlight was taking 3rd place at the Centre tournament in January.