Days With the Duerksens

Caiden started 1st grade today! I can't believe the summer is over. We had a great one, and it flew by! Caiden wasn't so sure about starting school again. It will be interesting to see how his day went when he gets home. He told me he was looking forward to playing soccer at recess again! At least he was looking forward to something. I have to admit that getting up at 7:00 a.m. was early for me! However, the morning was so beautiful that I soon forgot about my sleepiness. It was a cool 55 degrees and there was mist rising from the pasture grasses with the sun coming up behind! The grass looked as if it was glowing -- BEAUTIFUL! I said the usual things to Caiden before he got on the bus: "Remember to be a good listener, even when others aren't," "Remember to tell the cooks thank you when you pick up your tray," etc. There is still something about sending him off for the entire day, knowing I'm not there to check in on him. Chelan and I

This last Sunday was a special day for Delaney. At our church, it is a tradition for the grandparents to give a blessing/prayer for their newest grandchild. There is also a rosebud presented to the baby on this Sunday. Our family is unique in that both sets of grandparents are from the same church -- a real blessing that we sometimes take for granted! So, Grandma (Chelan's mom) wrote a nice poem to share, and then Papa (my dad) said a prayer for Delaney. We are so priviledged to have our children growing up surrounded by such a supportive church family!

Delaney is 1 week old, and this is what we see most of the day . . . I continue to wake her for almost every feeding! Of the three kids, I have to say that this has been the easiest transition (so far)! Caiden and Cambry continue to smother her with kisses, love pats, and fights over who gets to hold her first!

Well, it's been almost a week, but I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of our newest addition! Delaney Mae arrived safely on August 9 at 1:38 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 13.6 oz. and was 20" long. First impressions have been that she looks a little different than the other two! The c-section went well and Delaney appeared healthy from the get-go. However, after about 2 hours of grunting in my room, Dr. Patron took her to the special care nursery for some extra oxygen. After about 24 hours, she was allowed to return to my room. We came home yesterday (Thurs.) at noon. Caiden and Cambry adore their little sister, and we often have to choose numbers to see who gets to hold her first!! Caiden, especially, has been a big help running up and down the stairs for things that I need. However, I'm sure the novelty of this will wear off soon! Thanks for all the support and encouragement from many of you over this past week. Enjoy the pictures!

Last Saturday, my mom and dad came to deliver a gift to Caiden. At first, I couldn't figure out what kind of gift Caiden would be receiving in the middle of summer, but when they got here, I figured it out pretty fast. When my mom found out we were expecting Caiden (almost 7 years ago), she began hand-quilting a quilt for him. Obviously, it didn't get finished in time for his birth (life happens), but here, 7 years later, he received his baby quilt from Grammy -- it's just beautiful: beautiful fabric, beautiful stitching! And I admire Mom's determination to keep at it all this time! Caiden has already snuggled with it several times. Thanks, Grammy!

You'll have to read the 2nd post first to understand these pictures, but here are more pictures from our week. On Monday, we went to Buhler to play at Matt and Trissa's house. Caiden and Chayce are enjoying their gator. Chayce, Cambry, and Mace had fun inside the combine cab. The bigger kids rode their bikes, but Chayce was pulled in the wagon on the way to the Buhler Pool. We also hit my parents' pool and the Hillsboro Pool during the week! Fun with bubbles! Candace and Cambry had fun swinging on Friday morning, their last morning here!

Well . . . not a surprise for us, but for Chelan's parents' 40th Anniversary! The idea started at Christmas -- to have Treg, Candace, and family fly out here from CA to surprise their parents. We had kept the secret for 7 months (even from our own kids), but on July 23rd they finally arrived with Chayce(3) and Finn(1) in tow. What a surprise it was -- they had suspected nothing! The CA Duerksen's stayed for an entire week, and it was a very different visit than at Christmas time. Chayce had even asked his parents if it would be cold here -- that's all he knows about KS! This was the kids' first trip to KS in the summer, so they got to see a little bit of swathing and baling. There were numerous rides on the bush hog and 4-wheeler, lots of swimming, lots of playing, and lots of eating! We had a great time, and we hope their parents enjoyed the surprise -- even though we all invaded their house for a week! We celebrated Finn's 1st birthday while they were h