All about Rags!!

September was a big month for Ragnar. On September 12, 2019 he was called by President Hales in our stake presidency to meet that evening. He came over to our house that evening and extended a calling to Ragnar as the 1st counselor in the newly forming bishopric. We both weren't sure what to think. Ragnar is an awesome guy and very capable. I knew that this would come, but I thought we were still a waze out. Nevertheless, he got on the phone the next morning and called his dad to see if he could quickly fly in to ordain him a high priest so he could be sustained in the calling. Hellmut was willing and able to come, and so he booked a flight. On Sunday, having not been told who the bishop would be, we found out he would be serving with Bishop Larsen and Craig Stephens which he knew in college and was neighbors with at USU.

They were sustained as a bishopric on Sunday and since none of them were high priests, they each had their fathers fly in to ordain them. Bishop Larsen was able to get his there Sunday, and Ragnar did his ordination on Tuesday night in our home. With Hellmut's visa, he had to wait 72 hours to get here, but we were so grateful he was able to make it. He was serving helping with the Frankfurt temple and we knew it was a busy week.

Father and Son! 

Hellmut was ordained by President Thomas S. Monson, so it was important for them both to have the same line of authority.

These great men were here to support him. My dad, Shane Larsen, Hellmut, Wyatt DiVall, Brenton Scott, and Bruce Tate. Hellmut ordained him as a high priest in German, and Brenton Scott set him apart as a counselor in the bishopric.
He is excited to do something new and work with the youth. He's a little unsure about what to do at this point and it will take some growing pains, but he will do a great job and I am excited for him. I, however, am not excited to have to be released as the Young Women President. I have been having a hard time with this new phase of life with all the kids gone, and now not to have a calling to focus on, I am a little unsure where that will leave me. I will do my best to support Rags though and I know he will do his best.

We went to Ihop the morning Hellmut was headed out to leave for a quick breakfast. It was yummy, but not even a few minutes after this picture, Ragnar left to take him to the airport and the rains came down with a vengeance. Tropical storm Imelda had hit and we got an enormous amount of rain in just a few hours.  

On his way back from the airport, Ragnar realized he wouldn't get to work, so he headed home and the streets began to flood. He wasn't able to get home, so he parked his car at Kroger, about 5 minutes from our house. Luckily, his friend in a truck was driving by and was able to get him a good portion of the way home before even he couldn't get home.  

The water on the street rose so fast and the kids and I started hauling furniture up the stairs as fast as we could.  

Ragnar ended up soaked running the last mile of the way home. It started to go down by the time he got to us. For about an hour I was really worried our home was going to flood. 

It was a crazy storm and unfortunately homes did flood in other areas and the clean up relief started a couple days later. We were blessed to be ok, but others were not as fortunate. 

A few days after Imelda, was Ragnar's 42nd birthday! 

We both worked out in the morning and he led the workout with his new bootcamp group he goes to at 5 a.m in the morning. Then we had birthday donuts!!

For lunch I went downtown to meet him for lunch. We went to Morton's and enjoyed a good meal! 

That evening we both had to be at church for our callings, so we got a late start on celebrating his birthday. The kids all made him presents and Cavin made him a cute homemade trophy cup. 

He wanted a weighted vest for his working out. Hard to believe that at 40 pounds of vest, that is still 45 pounds less than he weighed last year on his birthday.  

We had his favorite chocolate chocolate chip bundt cake. I am so proud of him this year and all he has accomplished. He has worked hard and I am excited to see what his 42nd year will bring! 

Back to School 2019-2020

August 12, 2019 is the first day back to school. It feels too early to send them back already as the summer flew by and felt so short. The kids were so excited that they were ready 45 minutes early. I love how our family just doesn't know how to be late. I am so grateful that they love school so much and I hope they always have a desire to learn. I am really going to miss them around all day!

I have the cutest kids ;) 

Ella is in 8th grade and it's her last year of Timberwood Middle School. I'm grateful she has a year with Cavin to help him on the bus and show him around. 

Cavin is in 6th grade and it's his first year of middle school. He is a smart kid and I'm sure he will be just fine.  

Channing is in 3rd grade and really loves school.. especially the social part ;) 

My cute Deacon is in Kindergarten and was so excited to wake up and go to school today.  

In Germany on the first day of Kindergarten you get a schultute. So here he is with his!  

Family selfie before the big day! 

We got to walk in the elementary kids, so we got a picture with Channing's new teacher Mrs. Edwards. 

Deacon has Mrs. Adams which was Ella's teacher. She was excited to get our first and last child. She is a good teacher.

As for me..well..a new phase of life and I'm not exactly sure what it will bring. 13 years of having a child home with me has been a big portion of my married life. I am excited for a new phase, but also nervous about what it will look like. Here goes another school year, and I hope it's a great one!

Deacon is FIVE!!

On July 30, 2019 Deacon turned 5 years old. He was SO excited for his birthday. I love to watch his enthusiasm for everything. 

As in usual Hartzheim tradition we started the morning with Birthday donuts!

Then he chose to go to Chuck E Cheese with his cousins. We got there right when it opened so it wasn't busy and they could get all the tickets from when the machines are turned on.  

He especially loves the basketball hoop and soccer kicking games.  

The older kids like to get a lot of tickets off the coin game.  

Channing and Charlotte had a blast hanging out together.  

Deacon rode several rides and was so happy to be there.  

Such cute girls. 

Cai liked the train and just went around and around. 

Crew and Deacon tagged along to many of the arcade games.  

They redeemed their tickets and I think they had a good time. Deacon has entered this phase where he always wants to do a silly face in pictures.

Afterward we came home and had pizza and cupcakes.  

Here was my sad attempt at basketball cupcakes. He was happy, so I guess that's all that matters. 

When dad got home we had dinner and cupcakes again.  

We opened presents and he got a cool transformer car toy from his Oma and Opa.

Nerf guns from his Aunt Marisa and Uncle Ethan. 

A soccer book from his Uncle Corey and Aunt Stephani.  

A bike from his Grandma and Grandpa Speers. A water football from Aunt Natalie, a Bumblebee transformer from Uncle Chris and Aunt Chira and shin guards, water guns, water balloons, a backpack and other random things from Ragnar and I. He was excited to play with his presents. 

Right now he really loves games and since we couldn't go swimming because of the weather, we played games together. He is really into Go Fish, Uno Attack, and Obstgarten. 

He also sure loves his daddy. He wakes up early each morning to make sure he can say goodbye to him before he leaves for work!

For his birthday he got tickets to a baseball game. We went on Friday night to see the Astros vs. the Mariners. We had great seats so he was pretty excited to watch. He kept telling me about every single play! 

Since we had 2 pairs of tickets Ragnar and I traded boys after a few innings so they could both be with us. Both sets of tickets were great seats so it was fun for either.  

Deacon was right off the foul line on the 3rd row so a foul ball went right in front of him and a nice gentleman gave him the ball and he was thrilled! 

I am glad we have things that the boys like to do with us.  

He really wanted to stay til the Friday night fireworks and so we stayed and they were pretty cool. He was sound asleep when we got home, but didn't want to let go of his ball. :) Baseball is definitely not a sport Ragnar and I enjoy, but with that great of seats, we had a good time together and Deacon loves every sport, so we were happy to oblige.  

Since we missed the pool on his birthday and he REALLY wanted to show his cousins and his dad that he could go off the diving board, we had the cousins over Saturday for a fun afternoon/evening at the pool.

He had a good birthday/days and I hope he knows how much we love him. He is such an easy going kid and really fun to be around. He is all about sports and very competitive. No matter what you ask him or challenge him with, he says "I can do that, it's easy!" He is a quick learner and has a lot of natural athletic ability. He is so excited to start soccer in a couple weeks. Some other things about Deacon, he loves the color red, goldfish, anything Rockets and he can't go to sleep when they are playing until he knows the score. He is always shooting hoops in the playroom, or kicking a ball in the soccer goal in the backyard. If he is lucky his brother will play baseball with him as well. He still takes a nap, but we are slowly weaning him off since he starts all day kindergarten next week. He is so excited about school, but we will have a really tired boy for a while. He has a stuffed animal Wolfy that he sleeps with. He loves chicken nuggets and vanilla icecream. He wants to wear the same outfit of a grey nike shirt and florescent yellow nike shorts almost everyday and since I do laundry everyday, he thinks it's game to be able to wear it every other day. He is pretty tough when he gets hurt and doesn't usually cry. He can always keep up when we walk places and we usually have to catch up to him. At the grocery store he always uses the aisles as track lanes and races up and down, which is why he rarely comes anymore ;) He has big beautiful blue eyes and is a good kid. He is very active, but also listens fairly well. I am excited to see what life brings our boy and am so grateful he is ours. 

Annual Summer Olympics

Every summer since we have lived back in Texas we have done a summer Olympics at my parents home. The kids are pretty competitive, so they really look forward to competing with their cousins. 

We always start with the kids making their flag and the Olympic theme song.  

They were pretty creative with the flags.

We headed to the pool and did some events there. Ella won the freestyle swim and Ella and Cavin tied on who could float the longest. Caden won the race with the noodle and Charlotte the junior division.

Cavin and then Coleton got the hightest on the coolest jump, Caden and Ella won the tallest and biggest jump/splash. We also did kayak races with my dads kayaks and Cavin won by 3 seconds over Ella's time.  

They love being together at the pool!

When we got back, we did some outdoor events. Caden won the javelin and Deacon won for the junior division. Caden won the shotput and Crew won the junior division. Channing won over everyone in the archery and then a couple had enough energy to do the shooting event. 

We had lunch, watched a movie, and had an awards ceremony. It was much more low key this year, but the kids still had a good time and we kept the tradition alive!