Dueck's Roost

Next up for September ... back to school!! Unfortunately, Porter woke up and headed out so early for seminary that I didn't get a picture of him:( Mae joined James in middle school this year. And Joseph joined Brooks at elementary school as a new kindergartner.  Getting a good picture of him was a bit tricky;).  And for school pictures ... Joseph-Kindergarten Brooks-4th Grade Mae-6th Grade Poor girl. The day of her school pictures, she got all fixed up and they ran out of time to actually take her picture. Then at the end of another random day, they unexpectedly called her out of class and snapped this little beauty;). Needless to say, it is not her favorite picture, but I really kinda love it!  James--8th Grade (love the awesome smile;)!! Porter--9th Grade (first year of high school:/). Love these kids:). Can't believe they're growing up so fast, though!!

We started off the month with this super fun kid's 6th b-day! How is it possible that he could already be so old, you ask? I have NO idea!! The good news is that he's still our sweet, affectionate, silly, fun-loving youngest child. He's a constant reminder to all of us of the beauty of innocence and we are so grateful to have him in our family.  McDonald's lunch date  (his favorite place to eat out;).  Family B-day party. We were happy to have Auntie Jill, G-ma Loo, and the cousins over!! James and Jill chillin' together:-).  Mae was amazing and planned a fun Pokemon Party for her little bro.  Complete with pokemon labeled food: Squirtle Spit, Charmeleon Chips, etc. ...  Pin the tail on Pikachu ... And some charades-type game (can't remember what she called it) where we had to act out a certain Pokemon and try to make the right sound. Definitely amusing since many of us really don't know anything about Pokemon cha...

And to finish out August we have ...  Kevin does a bit of sightseeing in Hope, B.C. (Canada)--home of Rambo: First Blood;) (Beautiful green geysers and some pretty impressive caves.)  (The massive caves were part of an old railway system.) Mae re-decorates her room--here's a sampling ...  Great times with the family at Fircrest Fun Days!! (These were a hit.) James taking good care of his little brother! Not sure what to label this one--cousin fun, twin time, synchronized baby pool poses, floating water balloons. Hmm, tricky.  sprucing up the backyard!--new bark, gravel, etc.  (Oh, and a new coat of stain on the deck, which this guys helped to prep for!) And, back-to-school thrift store shopping!! Moving on!

For their 4th annual High Adventure, Kevin and the boys ventured out to the Seven Lakes Basin Loop in the Olympic Mountains for the boys first-ever 50-miler (literally a National Rain Forest!--but, fortunately, no rain this week!). They were sad to be without cousin Porter Draney, but were happy that Doug and Ben Stucki and Ryan Barnhurst were able to come along.  As always, the trip took a lot of advance planning; including figuring out how to pack bear canisters large enough to hold all their food, but small/light enough not to take up an entire pack. Soon enough, though, departure day arrived and off they all went! Ready to get started. At the trailhead.  Time to enjoy some beautiful sights like this ...  And this ...  And this ...  But first, they had to hit the trails! And get hiking!   Lots and lots and lots of hiking. Really. Sometimes they stopped hiking long enough to snap a quick picture; like t...