The past several weeks

Not a lot of significant things happened the past few weeks, but its been a while since I blogged, so I wanted to document the small, everyday fun things that have been going on. After all, it's all the small things put together that make up our life stories. 

In January I worked with a non profit group called Big Ocean Women and we helped to fundraise and host Collin Kartchner, a child activist, to come and talk to kids about the effects of social media on children. His movement is called Save the Kids. It was a great night and I think very impactful for our community. I am grateful to be associated with these incredible women, and hope they can continue to help me do better in the community and the world. 

In February Ragnar and I took on a painting project in the upstairs bathroom. Painting is by far one of my least favorite things, but after some patchwork from a broken towel rod, it needed to be done. It made the bathroom look much fresher! 

Ragnar got us tickets to attend the first ever Houston Roughnecks XFL game. It was a neat experience and especially when you get to sit on the very first few rows! 

Ragnar took Valentine's Day off and we went to Morton's for lunch and spent the day celebrating. It was a nice day out. 

Cavin participated in Solo and Ensemble and played Perpetual Motion. He got a 1, which is the highest, on his solo and ensemble. Ella also did UIL competition and they did awesome. They scored a 1 on stage and a 2 on sight reading. The judges were pretty hard all day. 

I got to redeem my mom's Christmas present with her and we went to Painting with a Twist. We painted birch trees, and we had a nice time! I love being with my mom.

The boys started their Spring soccer seasons and Cavin has Ragnar coaching his team again and is the Golden Tigers this year and Deacon is back on his same team with coach Wes Brown and is the green Lightening. Last week Deacon scored 6 goals and Cavin 2. They are playing hard and watching them improve makes my heart happy! 

Ella is now old enough to attend church dances and was able to go to her first stake dance. She wasn't too thrilled, but she has a great group of friends to go with, so she said it was "fine" ;) (which is what every teenager says) I think she secretly had a pretty good time.  

I'm so glad we live in an area with so many members for her to hang out with. 

Finally, we went to a Rockets game and Channing got her turn at being on the High Five Club where she high fives the players as they are announced before the game. She was excited to have a turn.  

She's getting so big! 

The Rockets won and it was a fun night cheering them on. We have had a good couple months and the kids are growing and learning and I love to watch!

Cavin's Ordination

Cavin had a big week and was able to be ordained as a Deacon and go through the temple for the first time. His Oma and Opa from Germany came in the morning of his ordination on January 12, 2020 and we were so glad for the family support. My parents, Natalie, Hellmut, Ursula, and Daphne joined our family to be here for him. 

Here are the 4 great men who were in the circle.  

Both sets of grandparents. He has such great support from both sides and I am eternally grateful for both of our parents. 

We have a pretty great kid! 

I love this family of mine!

He has two awesome Aunts that were kind enough to come and cheer him on in his next phase of life. 

He was SO excited to pass the sacrament after this meeting, he was beaming! Afterward he said he wanted to pass the sacrament every week for the rest of his life! I am so glad he feels the joy of the gospel and wants to participate in the priesthood duties.

After his ordination, we got to attend the Houston, TX temple and do baptisms for the dead on Thursday, January 16, 2020. With both sets of grandparents in town he wanted to attend the temple for the first time with them there as well.

Here he is by the beautiful temple!

 

We took several pictures before and then we met my parents who were already in the temple doing their temple shift and took more after. His Uncle Chris and cousin Caden were able to join us and he was excited about that. Ella, Cavin, Caden, and I were baptized by Ragnar. Chris and Ragnar did the confirmations. We did over 40 family names and it was a neat experience.

My sweet sister Natalie took Deacon and Channing and watched them in the annex until we were finished which was kind of her. 

Here we are all together. Families are forever!

Christmas Day 2019!

I feel like Christmas day needed its own post this year. There were many pictures. As an adult Christmas isn't as exciting in regards to looking forward to presents or Santa. However, there is nothing more exciting to me as a parent than watching your kids run down the stairs in anticipation of the gifts they would receive.

Christmas Eve we had my parents, Natalie, and Chris' family over for games and soup and we read the Christmas story. It was fun to have them come, and Cavin and Channing worked hard on their games where we had to make points in a cup and do a scavenger hunt to find the snowman pieces. 

Christmas morning we turned on the song "Deck the Halls" from the Mannheim Steamroller which my dad used to play every Christmas morning. When the music plays they can come down out of their rooms and Christmas begins. 

I love the stillness of the Christmas tree lighting the room before the excitement begins.  

They raced to see who would find the pickle first and Cavin was the lucky one.  

If you find the pickle first, you get to open the first present.  

Ella got many things this year, but her favorite was her new guitar. She loves music and wanted to learn the guitar as she already plays the piano and cello. She also got the new echo dot, her favorite book series, a bookshelf, jewelry, a blanket (she has an obsession with soft things and texture ;)), beanie boos, and other little token stuff.  

Cavin is always the one I am most worried about buying presents for. He has an idea of what he envisions Christmas morning to be like and sometimes I worry about matching it and not disappointing him. He got switch remotes, the Nintendo swich game Mario and Sonic Tokyo games, an echo dot, a bay blade stadium, rubix cube etc.   

He seemed happy, and together the boys grandparents on both sides gave them a basketball hoop which they were excited about! 

Deacon just wanted a basketball and cars. He is so easy. He never really wants toys, he just wants to play sports..how many balls can you buy him though??? 

Channing is the sweetest thing, she was excited to open her presents and happy about her gifts.  

She finally got her beloved Kindle she has been wanting for 3 years.  

She also got the American girl doll Blaire which she really wanted.  

She also got an art kit, art supplies, a unicorn case, a microphone, jewelry, and beanie boos.  

They had a fun morning and it was fun to watch them enjoy their gifts. 

I am grateful everyday for the family I get to call my own.  

We ate cinnamon rolls after we opened presents. 

Ragnar spent a couple hours putting together the basketball hoop after breakfast. The boys played a minute and then we drove to my parents for a nice day of football, food, and puzzles.  

We had to finish this puzzle before we left, so I made them stay a little longer ;)

Although I pray that the kids do not think the meaning of Christmas is about what they receive, I do love to give them gifts. For our family, it is really the only time besides birthdays they get anything, and I love to think about what would make them happy. I am grateful that we know that the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ, for without Him, our life would be meaningless.