Dueck's Roost

Okay, well it's official, I'm the most behind that I've ever been on our blog. 15 whopping months. Yep, more than a full calendar of empty pages (or posts). Yikes! What can I say, it's been a whirlwind of a year. I know, I always give that same excuse, but I'm pretty sure it really counts this time. Too much to even mention in the few brief moments I have available at present, and some of it too difficult to blog about, but I suppose most of our craziness will make it into the upcoming posts. Let's see, where was I?? Oh, yes, on to our first family trek up Mt. Si. In case it hasn't been obvious enough, one thing our family does, is hike!! We hike in the summer, we hike in the fall, we hike in the spring, I try to avoid hiking in the winter if at all possible, we hike on vacation, and most importantly we hike as a family--whether the family likes it or not;)! Mt. Si is a pretty popular hike. Maybe because of the distance from Seattle (only about 45 m...

Why is it that everything seems to happen all at once instead of spaced out in nice little bite-sized segments? An a unavoidable fact of life I suppose. In just the first several days of July--give or take a bit, we drove to and from Utah (and played a lot in between), hauled James daily to scout camp, traveled to/spoke at our stake youth conference (youth group weekend event), celebrated our 14-year anniversary (post to follow), and who knows what else. That's okay, we were excited for the opportunity to be with these awesome young people and talk about the importance of "standing in holy places". Here we are with one of our groups ... - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Well one son has "graduated" from cub scouts, and two are not yet old enough to participate. But we still have one studly cub scouter going strong. And quite a stud (and scouter) he is!! Big J was able to hang out at Cub Scout camp for a few days this summer, and we had the privilege of hanging out with him the last evening for family night. Here we are (minus the picture taker) eating our picnic dinner. Mr. Stud himself. Mr. Stud in front of the rocket ship (the theme this year was outer space). Mr. Stud with his group's flag. Picture Taker (AKA, The Hottie) with a bunch 'o scouts. Miss adorable. The Stud (and Miss Adorable) sitting still. The Stud playing games. The Stud launching a water bottle rocket. Time for firebowl. The Stud as an alien (from outer space;). The Stud performing in his skit. Still performing. Thanks awesome studly scouter for letting us join you!! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The first of our 2013 summer trips was for our annual Dueck Family Reunion. This year we high-tailed it to Utah and stayed in a fun cabin in Sundance. The high-tailing was quite literal. Here's the rundown ... We were supposed to leave on a Friday--giving us two days to travel before a Sunday-morning baby blessing--but since Kevin's flight from Florida was delayed and then delayed again, Friday night was really not an option. Not unless we wanted to start his week's worth of laundry (so he'd actually have something to pack) at midnight and set out in the dead of the night. We didn't. Instead we opted for a 5:00am departure and clipped along at a nice pace. We did steal a quick 30 minutes to meet our fantastic friends (who happened to be on the same road trip as us) for dinner, and then ended the day at the home of Kevin's awesome and gracious cousin and family. Somehow I ended up without any pics from the blessing. Carly was a gem, though, and we were happy to b...