The Hartzheim's

Friday, January 3, 2020

Winter School Break!

This winter break we planned a lot of activities to do together as a family! The month of December was very full and we had a fun time making memories.

We went to the Humble City Parade which I have never been to although I have lived here most of my life. It was a cute little parade.

We made ginger bread houses together which the kids always love to do. This year we had a rough time getting them to hold together, so we will have to try another strategy next year!

We still had fun!

We went down to the Toyota Center to watch the Rockets play which was nice.

We made sugar cookies which the kids wish we did more often! It's just so messy, I can only handle it for so long ;)

Cavin's santa cookie and Channing's Olaf the snowman one were my favorite.

We went to Tomball, TX to see the Christmas German Festival. It wasn't as exciting as usual, but Ragnar got to get some German food.

The Utah State University basketball team came to town and played in the Toyota Center which was lucky for us. We got to go to an alumni dinner before and watch them play! Cavin was chosen to play Jumbo Jog on the court during half time and put on oversized clothes and make a layup. He didn't win, but I was so proud of him being brave enough to do it. He was so nervous!

Daphne came to go with us and she kept it entertaining with her fun attitude and chants. She even got us on the jumbotron and we made ESPN. The Scotts and the Child's families got to come with us, and they won in overtime, so it was a fun night!

A couple evenings later the kids got to go have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's with their cousins while Ragnar and I spent the night downtown at his work Christmas party.

Ragnar made $80 in the money machine which was nice.

I have a handsome date. The party wasn't that thrilling, but it was fun to be together and it was nice to have a hotel gifted to us from a client and have a night to ourselves.

The kids had a blast on their sleepover and obviously didn't sleep much because as soon as we got in the car after picking them up, all 4 of them were asleep in minutes! haha

Christmas came and was a nice day which I will post about in a separate post.

After Christmas we were given tickets to Zoo lights, so we went down to those.

You couldn't see any of the zoo animals, but they had a lot of fun light displays.

It was nice weather and a good time to go.

Zoo lights are something I have always wanted to try, but haven't ever spent the money on, so it was nice to be able to go and experience it without having to fork out a lot of money. A nice memory.

Another one of Ragnar's former co workers was kind enough to give us tickets to see NASA galaxy lights. It was definitely not as many lights as the zoo lights, but it was neat to see.

We got to take a tram through the lights to the farther section of the exhibits.

They had music to these lights that were cool to watch.

It was a drizzly night, but we had fun being together.

Our last activity of the break was to go to Valley Ranch and go ice skating.

The kids did a pretty good job and they are getting much better every time we go. Deacon never wants help as he thinks he can do everything on his own. He got pretty good shuffling along by himself. Ella did fine on her own and Cavin fell several times but kept getting up and going again. Channing is the one who wanted me to hold her hand pretty much the whole time, but it was fine. The ice wasn't great, which I guess you'd expect for a $5 stand up ice rink, but it was still a fun adventure. I only wish my ankles weren't so crooked so it wouldn't hurt so bad to have ice skates on. After only 20 minutes I always get blisters. Either way, we had a fun time together.

We have had many game nights and evenings with friends with smores and fireworks and just a fun break with the kids, family, and friends. I'm grateful for the time we have together.

Thanksgiving Break

We had a fun filled Thanksgiving week off. The last day before the break Deacon had his Thanksgiving play which I got to go and watch. He was an adorable Pilgrim boy.

He is pretty shy at school, but he does love to go and he loves his teacher Mrs. Adams and his class.

He is such a handsome pilgrim boy.

I'm glad I got to hear his songs and be there with him.

He had to share what he was thankful for, and of course he chose his brother Cavin who he adores.

We had lunch together and then I ate with Channing and we began our Thanksgiving break!

Saturday morning, November 23rd I participated in my Cross Fit clubs Clovis run. It was a beautiful day. There were about 30 people participating. We ran 10 miles and then did 150 burpee pull ups. Those took a while! I felt great on the run and finished in 1:18. Then it took me 20 minutes to do that many burpee pullups, so my finishing time was 1:38. I finished in 2nd place after a guy named Daniel. It was good and I felt strong and I have enjoyed building my strength this year.

On Monday we got to see Corey's family and Marisa's family who both came into town for Thanksgiving with their in laws families. It was great to see them all. We went to the park, kayaked, and tried to catch up.

We did a bonfire with smores which was nice.

The next day they all came to our house and hung out and we got a call from Corey that John received his mission call, so he came to our house to open it before they left to College Station. He was called to Bulgaria and leaves April 1, 2020. He was pretty excited.

After they left, we went to dinner at Salt Grass with Marisa and Ethan on a double date before we headed to the temple. Unfortunately, when we came out from to the parking lot, our car had been broken into. Ragnar's temple bag had been stolen, but thankfully nothing else. That event delayed us from getting to the temple, so we were only able to make it to do sealings. It was a bummer, but I am still glad we were able to go together.

I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving day, but my parents and Natalie came over and joined us this year. It was a quiet day, but it was nice to be home and celebrate and we had a nice time with them.

Friday we met my parents, Natalie, and Marisa's family for Frozen 2 at the movie theatre. There were SO many previews before, but when the movie finally started, it was cute. The kids really liked it.

After the movie, we had a girls night and did our traditional Nutcracker ballet performance. We went downtown again this year and saw the Houston Ballet perform.

The oldest 3 girls went, we left the twins behind.

We had dinner before and I drove us down.

Channing missed Charlotte this year who was out of town, but was glad to have another cousin join her. Aubrey and her had fun watching the dancers.

It was a fun night, and I am glad we have kept up the tradition. We do need to make sure we go in the afternoon again, the late night performance had Channing wiped out!

Saturday night we went downtown to see the Rockets game. They played well and won by almost 40 points. It was the first game we have been able to go this season so far, so it was nice to be there with Ragnar.

We ended Thankgiving week with a couple church events. Ragnar and I completed our 12 week personal finance class. It was a long class we committed to in hopes of helping make some better habits with budgeting. It was beneficial, but didn't have the desired effect we had hoped for. Nonetheless, I am glad we went and stuck with it.

Right after our class, we got the privilege of watching our girls perform in the Christmas concert "Joy". Channing sang in the children's choir and Ella played the cello with the orchestra who played songs from the Messiah. It was a nice concert and I am proud of the girls for sharing their talents.