Family!!

We were all excited to find out back in September that my sister and her family would be joining the staff here for a few months. The Dueck family was headed back to the states from Guinea, West Africa in October so that Jermery could join the family in January!! This would be the first time in 16 years sisters were residing in the same state let alone only 3 blocks from each other. Tabetha and Ethen were both overjoyed to have cousins close again. It has been a great 5 months of getting to know each other again and enjoying family times together.

So one of the best days together was January 2, 2008!! It was an early morning phone call, 3:45ish to be exact, from Dalton that started my day. I was needed up at their house so Dalton could get Sue to the hospital. Now you have to understand some geography to really get the rest of the story. The DeMarce house is just across the road from the hospital. The Dueck house is 3 blocks up a hill from us...so they are very close! Ok, back to the fun...I jumped out of bed, dressed, and ran for the car. I arrived at the Duecks about 13 min. after the call to find my sister already in the van and ready to go. Then I headed in and waited, and waited, and waited. The kids all slowly woke up and the excitement grew as we waited for word from the hospital. At about 9am Dalton came in and let us know Jermery Dalton Dueck had arrived at 5:03am weighing in at 8lb 11oz and was 21 1/2" long. Now for those of you who noticed the time of arrival will understand why having the hospital so close was a good thing. I found out later that they made it to the 4th floor and into a room by about 4:20am, with several contractions along the way. So there wasn't much time to "settle in" before that 5:03am arrival. It was such a privilege to be apart of that day!!

Jeremy Dalton Dueck

Then and Now!!