Dueck's Roost

Can't end the month of July without including this fun little collection from a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Auntie J's house. It's weird to see these pics, because some of the kids are already sooo much bigger!  Aunt C (and sweet pup) happened to be visiting from Hawaii, so that made the day extra beautiful!

Right on the heels of Camp Helaman, came Youth Trek!  It's where the youth from our church to some degree re-enact what it might have been like to be the early pioneers out on the open plains. Every teen has to fit all their belongings in a 5 gallon bucket, then they load everything onto wooden handcarts, divide into "family" groups and begin the multi-day trek.  Some groups even dress in old fashion clothing--think dresses and bonnets--to really experience what the journey might have been like.  I wasn't there myself, but did end up with a handful of fun pics from the experience ...

When there's a good excuse to go fishing, why not go fishing! Right? Since Kev was asked to speak up in Cle Elum, WA at our area's 2018 Camp Helaman, he decided to head up a day early with James and fit in a relaxing day of fishing at a small nearby lake.  Can't remember if they caught anything, but I'm pretty sure they had a great time. 

  And to finish off June, we have ...  Brooks' 5th grade graduation (awww, he looks so cute and tiny here; although I have absolutely no recollection of why in the world I let him do his hair that way)     The release of the newest Star Wars movie Mae & Kev head off for a week at girls camp   and,    Joe (and Brooks) head camping with me for a family reunion   Of course we had to stagger our trips so that our brand new baby restaurant could continue on without completely falling apart!!

For 2018's high adventure it was time to take it back to the place where it all started ... Mildred Lakes. I'm not sure Mildred ( https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mildred-lakes ) is exactly what it use to be, but it certainly is a secluded and beautiful little spot in the world that holds a special place in our hearts. Many family and friend memories have been made at good ole' Mildred;).  As far as memories go, this trip DID NOT disappoint!!! Of course, there was the beautiful scenery, a bit of small wildlife, a very unique trail (check out the cool root ladders!), and the absolutely gorgeous lake full of fresh fish. There was also the unforgettable memory that cut the trip short (no pun intended) ... our amazing buddy D getting his leg impaled by a sharp knot on a very unfriendly log. I held back on the graphic image, but it was definitely an intense gash.    And, no surprise to anyone who knows him, D hiked all the way back out like it was nothin' with his full pa

So we have this thing. Actually, the Dad of our house has this thing. It's called hiking. Our Dad looooooves to hike. He really really really LOVES it. The rest of us really really really LIKE it too. Sometimes we even love it; depends if he's tricked us onto a ten-mile trail that was supposedly only two miles. That may be an exaggeration but only slightly;).  Anyway, so every Father's Day we show this Dad of ours how much we love and appreciate him by doing HIS thing. Actually, it's kinda a trick of our own because it's technically a "hike", but in all honesty it's a super super easy one. We're gonna call it a win-win for everyone!!:) The best part is that for this traditional Father's Day hike of ours we go to a nice little spot called Tradition Lake ( https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/tradition-lakes ). It's a pretty tiny lake, but the trail around it is nice and relaxing, and even has some some old rusty objects laying around that are