Dueck's Roost

When it comes to pictures, March 2018 was VERY much the opposite of Feb! Why? Family road trip to Utah for Kevin's mom's wedding.  Luckily our Toyota Sienna is AWD, because we seriously needed it on this trip. In case any one is wondering ... it handled perfectly!!  Here's our cute driver:-). You would really think that a family van would have PLENTY of space for 7 people, but I can absolutely assure you this is definitely NOT the case! Which is why this McDonald's stop was a much needed break from being squished together, smothered by blankets and pillows, and sprinkled with never-ending cookie and cracker crumbs. Bonus! It was also a great photo op;) The first destination of our road trip involved a short detour to Grandpa and Grandma J's house in eastern Oregon.  Grandpa pulled out all the stops, getting the tractor out just so he could hang some awesome swings for us;). There was actually no shortage of fun things to do! ...

Not completely sure why, but the picture supply for February consists of just a few glimpses of some special moments. In other words, this is gonna be another short and sweet month! So, for February 2018 we have ...  Snowy Seattle!! This may not seem post-worthy, but we're not exactly known for snow in our neck of the woods:-). James finally beats Kevin on the infamous Cable Line trail!! ( https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/cable-line-trail ) Mae gets commissioned for another character cake! Pretty sure after the Pokemon challenge she said she'd never do another one ... but apparently she changed her mind:). Adorable little Paige really wanted an LOL doll cake,  and Mae came up with this little bit of sweetness:-). Sharin' some family love on Valentine's Day! ... and it looks like the heart-shaped pizza tradition continues. Finally! A lazy day at home with all the kiddos together  (so rare these days!!!) And...

Okay, so there was one other "thing" we kinda sorta did in January. Here are some hints ... It's something crazy In fact, I'm pretty sure it's something only insane people do It involves chopping and prepping hundreds of pounds of veggies And washing thousands of dishes It kinda feels like riding a roller-coaster It always keeps you on your toes (no actually, to do this you'd better have a quality pair of cross trainers) We took a massive leap into the great unknown and started a restaurant (insert here all the crazy faces you can think of)!!! In reality, working towards opening this restaurant started LONG before January 2018 (around 2 1/2 years before in fact), but in January ... the franchise was finally registered in the US (it's a Canadian company ... https://www.choppedleaf.ca ) we had finally arranged all the financial bits the right location had finally become available (something that took months and months, as well as at le...

January is my friend right now, because it has very few pictures to sort through. Meaning, this is going to be short and sweet! Meaning, I get to knock out an ENTIRE month in one shot!! Meaning, I'll have another post down and only a bajillion to go!!! So, to begin AND to finish off January, we have ... More from the sleeping beauties:) Why do I have a feeling there's going to be payback from these ones someday?:/ Cake making!! (by Mae of course, and this time in honor of Cousin G's b-day) Followed by, cake eating!! Pumpin' some iron. Ballroom dance ... From this talented girl! And last but not least, surprise attack on Dad!!! Excitement complete!!

Our first act of 2018 was pretty darn awesome.  On New Year's day, we woke up unreasonably early (so early that it was very dark and very cold and I really wanted to go back to bed), and headed towards Snoqualmie to the Mailbox Peak trail ( https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mailbox-peak ). I had been told about this trail many times and was definitely a bit hesitant; I also had never done winter hiking and wasn't sure it would be my thing--I hate being cold and wet at the same time, and a snow-covered trail seemed very unpromising in that regard.  Still ... it also sounded like a pretty cool adventure (which I do like) so I decided to give it a try. No surprise, James and Kevin were more than happy to join in as well! We layered up ... No snow pants or snow coats! That would be WAY too hot and get you all sweaty in the first several minutes of the hike. Which would def not feel good later when it's windy and quite freezing at the peak. On the flip side, ...

And just like that, we're saying goodbye to 2017!!  Of course we had to decorate:) Have a cookie decorating station.  Play some fun family bingo! (thanks Aunt Allie for starting this fun tradition) And enjoy never-ending food and games.  Moving on!!!