Dueck's Roost

This guy really is amazing. He is so dedicated to serving others, working hard at his career, making his family laugh, spoiling his wife (nice, since that's me;), keeping himself physically fit, being accountable to a higher power, and knowing when to put everything else aside and kick back for a break!  Luckily I get to share the crazy ups and downs of life with him!  Happy birthday, Mr. 37!!  The girls of the house;) G-ma love. Birthday treats, yum:) Movie tickets--this boy loves himself a good movie!

Okay, so we are kinda a religious family:-). Not that this is a surprise to anyone. We are Mormons (officially members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--long name, I know!!), and the center/headquarters for the Mormon church is in Salt Lake City, UT. Utah is also where a lot of our family lives and where Kevin and I attended college (BYU) and met/married.  Long story short, Utah has a lot of meaning for us! That said, we started a tradition when Porter turned 12 that each of the kids would get to go on a special trip (the boys with K and Mae with me) to Utah for that special birthday (in our church 12 is when they transition from "Primary"--kids group--to "Young Men"/"Young Women"--youth group). The plan would be to visit Temple Square,  attend at least one session of General Conference (where we hear from our church leaders), maybe visit BYU campus, and of course hang out with family!! So here is Porter & K's trip f...

So, we currently do have a teenager in the house (remember, I'm super behind, so Porter is now 13). but this post shows the day--a year-and-a-half ago--when we celebrated the big event.  I can't believe how fast my "little boy" has grown up. More than anything, it just reminds me what babies K & I were when we had him; that, and how quickly he'll be an adult and gone from our home. Whaa:(!  I'm not going to spend much time on this post, since I already need to log his 13th birthday as well, but I promise to take a bit more time in that one to describe my amazing little/big guy!!  I'm sure it could change soon, but Porter has definitely been a family/home kid. I can't remember the last time he chose to have a friend party instead of just doing something together as a family.  We are so happy to be parents! And so grateful for our kids.  Love our grandma's too (and grandpa's)! They really are amazing! Anot...

Generally speaking 2013 was not our best year for school pictures. Although, if our goal was "quirky-ish", then I guess it was our best year:-). Regardless, I love these awesome kiddos and can't believe how fast each school year comes and goes.  B-1st Grade J-5th grade M-3rd Grade  P-6th Grade  So glad these guys are mine!!

I've realized I can no longer call this the Man Hike. Our boys (and their cousins) are certainly on their way to becoming men, and no doubt will be amazing men someday, but I don't think the title fits quite yet. Family High Adventure is probably more appropriate I guess. To help make sure I did a suitable job with this very important post, Kevin asked the guys to send notes of their experience. I've tried to piece it all together (and in quick fashion), and here's what I've come up with ... (note: "Ryan" is Ryan Gee, and "RG" is Ryan Gardner) Day One: Hiking In Hour into hike Ken (Papa D) got groin cramps! Ugh, no fun. Ryan stayed behind with him while the rest of the group proceeded to Huckleberry Creek. While the group ate lunch at the creek, Kevin went back and discovered that Ken could not go on. Came back with Ryan. All the boys were unbelievable, practically running uphill on the hardest part of the mountain trek even w...