Speers Family Reunion Cruise 2023!

Since covid our extended family has really struggled. It has been heartbreaking to me as I don't understand why and how certain family members have chosen to distance themselves or remove themselves from our family. Due to that, we weren't sure if a family reunion would happen this year. We try and do one every other year, but my mom's heart has been pretty shattered and she didn't know if she could make it happen. Through it all, we encouraged her to continue on the tradition and continue to make memories for those who wanted to participate. We hoped to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and do the reunion all in one on a Royal Caribbean cruise. My parents booked the trip and although it wasn't the same and you can feel the hole in our family, half of us were able to come and we did our best to make memories, celebrate my dad, and create a memory that my mom loves to continue. Family is everything and even though we are through a trying phase, I have hope that we can all be a whole family again.

Our family reunion theme this year was "Anchored in Christ"

We went on a 5 day cruise on the Voyager of the Seas to Cozumel. 

The kids have never been on a cruise, so they were excited to explore the ship when we got on. 

Naturally, Ella went straight for a chair where she read!

Liam, Cavin, and Deacon did most everything together. They played a lot of basketball, golf, and soccer. 

We enjoyed the breeze and relaxing on the boat. 

Channing and Deacon tried out the pool, but quickly decided they did not enjoy the salt water, or how many people were in the small pool with them!

They opted for ice cream instead ;)

That night we had "formal" night at dinner and had a nice time. Mario and Tia were our servers and they were great. Tia adored Deacon and called him "Dimple" and would always say smile for me Dimple ;) haha.

The next morning we docked in Cozumel and went out for an adventure! We ended up switching from the underground caves and cenotes excursion to a snorkeling/beach excursion.

The crew we had was fun and we had a nice ride!

Deacon didn't really want to try snorkeling, but when he decided to and got the hang of it after about 10 minutes he loved it and said he wanted to do it again! We got to see a lot of fish!

We relaxed and played on the blow up slides at the beach, and I paddle boarded. 

We brought home a lot of sand in our suits!

It was pretty, clear water which was nice. 

The kids loved coming back each day to the towel animals! 

Each night we would cram into my parents room and do a devotional. It was a nice highlight of the day. 

We enjoyed eating together in the dining room and on this breakfast morning, the big kids got to enjoy breakfast alone together. 

We had a small "church meeting" Sunday morning. Here is our "half" family reunion crew. 

Channing and Aubrey went iceskating together. 

Deacon won his soccer tournament and Ragnar won the ping pong tournament. Fun to watch them play!

The last night they sang to my dad!

Despite it only being half of our family, I think we made good memories and the kids got to spend time with their extended family. I do not know what the future of our family will look like, but I sure love them all and pray we can all come back together again.

Sports Fun!

Deacon went to Atascocita High School's football camp for a couple days and had a good time!! He is so competitive and I love watching him play sports. 

It was so hot. They did it in the evening to try and beat the heat, but Texas summers are hard to escape!

Our cute future football player!

Ragnar and I went with a bunch of friends to Home Run Dugout to play wiffle ball. It was a fun night! Even though I couldn't run the bases yet, I hit the ball and had a friend run for me and we still had a great time! 

Finally, on June 28th, almost exactly 3 months after my surgery, I made it running a mile at physical therapy! I was so happy that my foot has finally turned around and is feeling better!

I sure have missed running and am so glad to start getting my foot back! My mental health will be in a much better space I hope! Running has always been an outlet for me, and my mind and body have missed it!

The Summer of Doctors!

I literally have spent so much of the summer in doctors offices. With my foot still being checked in on often, all my physical therapy appointments, well checks, a mammogram, dentists, Ella's wisdom teeth, Cavin's allergy appointments and his ENT appointments etc. I have spent a LOT of time in doctor's offices.

First, Channing had to get her last two baby teeth extracted since the ones coming in behind her teeth were coming in sideways. The orthodontist wants to start braces on her and Channing really wants to fix her teeth, so this was the last step before we could do that. The laughing gas didn't work since most red heads don't take to the anesthesia, but she did awesome and didn't have any problems! The teeth came right out even though the roots were very deep!

Ella a few days earlier had her wisdom teeth removed. She only had 3, but one of them was really far up, so they had to dig pretty deep. That was the only side of her mouth that really hurt. She recovered very well and also did awesome. 

She didn't even really swell! The only challenge she has had is opening her jaw all the way as it has only barely been two weeks.

And finally to make sure we kept the dental industry in business that week, Cavin got his braces off!

He has changed SO much in 2 years!

He looks so handsome!!

Now for the last surgery of the summer, Cavin had to get his tonsils and adenoids removed. They are so enlarged with a significant blockage in his nasal canal that it is causing sleep apnea and he snores so loudly. We are hoping this helps. 

His surgery was Monday July 17th! 

The surgery went well, but the poor boy had a rough week of recovery.

He didn't talk all week as he said it hurt too much. He hardly ate and just kinda laid or sat there. He didn't complain or whine, he just would tell me each day was his pain level from 0-10 and he would say for almost the whole week an 8. I felt sad for him. He finally made a huge change a week after his surgery and was eating again and talking and finally feeling better. Of course, just as when he was 2, the movie Cars cheered him up and made him feel better. :) I'm so glad all the surgeries are done for now!