Dueck's Roost

Brooks had been waiting for a "friend party" for quite a while. For some reason it never seemed to work out or be the right timing. His 7th b-day, though, finally changed that. Admittedly, it was probably not a conventional birthday party. In fact, B's awesome older siblings really ran the whole thing. They taught Brooks and his friends how to make paper Chinese lanterns. Led a game of apple smashing--with extremely over-ripe/rotten apples that we had sitting around in the garage. (The parents may have thought we were a bit crazy, but the kids sure seemed to have fun with it!) Then Porter and James organized a game of soccer.  Everyone enjoyed pizza! Brooks enjoyed some presents! That is, REALLY enjoyed some presents;). (Great day for this fantastic kid!) Then everyone finished off with some fun upstairs. And tasty ice cream bar cake. Yum! And as if that weren't enough, Brooks scored a seco...

One night for family night/family home evening/Dueck night of chaos we decided to make a family banner. Everyone drew something that represented our family--something that we really value. And here it is ... Mae included a colorful portrait of each member of the family--Joseph has since grown additional hair;). Brooks represented us well, showing that we love to be out in nature. Porter's drawing expressed the importance of our home (sanctuary/refuge). My banner-whithin-a-banner showed some of the words (and mottos) that define us. Kevin's ring contributed a concept we believe in fully, that families can be eternal!  And James offered a beautiful drawing of a temple, showing the importance of our religion/faith/family beginnings! So happy to have this!

And finally, to finish off October we have ... Time Out for Women 2013 (love being with these ladies!) Brooks' bowling date! And James' Arrow of Light (at least I'm pretty certain that's what's occurring here).

And on to Halloween ... which is always fairly predictable for us--in an exciting way, of course;).   We carve pumpkins.  Nice, Brooks! Always love to have grandmas over for the excitement! Woohoo! Aunt Heidi and her soon-to-be-finance, Darren, got to join us this year. And, voila ... The final product! Of course we also always attend a "carnival" and trunk-or-treat at our church building. Let's see, this year I think we brought a GI Joe, vampire princess, mini minion, Ben 10 fire guy, and Harry Potter to the par-tay;). Minion fun (with a little Ben 10 thrown in the mix)! Yum! Gotta love a teenager dressed up as a teenager! This is a seriously loud car right about now. And in recent years, we then always make our way to the home of some amazing friends, to prolong the excitement by hanging out and trick-or-treating in their fantastically festive neighborhood. Success! Can we go to bed now, please?! ...

Okay, so you know once I've posted about K's b-day, Mae's will be quick to follow! The two of them were just 6 days away from sharing a birthday. I'm sure their ideas of a perfect birthday party, however, couldn't be more separate.   Mae's dream for her 9th b-day party was a fun spa-tacular day with her friends! Complete with spa services ...  And yummy treats--including edible nail-polish bottles ...  and candy-dipped donuts (made from her own little donut maker). Mae had a great time with her friends! They got pedicures ... (those g-mas worked so hard!!) Made their own flip flops ...  (Cute? Yes. Wearable? No.) Did chocolate-based facials ... (some even went all out with rejuvenating cucumber slices) And made bath salt art to take home.  (Mae and I had fun making the colorful and minty bath salts ourselves)  Mae loved that cousin G got to come!! Getting presents from many thoughtful ...