A Warm Christmas Break!

This year Christmas Day almost set a record high for heat. It was over 80 degrees and quite frankly disgusting, humid weather :) That is sometimes the case for Houston! We did our best to enjoy the Christmas break and have fun with family!

We kept our tradition and the girls and I went with my mom and sister Natalie to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and to see the Nutcracker. It was definitely not one of the best performances. We were very underwhelmed, so we ended up leaving early and watching a ballet show on Netflix ;)haha. It was still a fun memory, and I am glad we still got to do it. 

We made gingerbread houses together which the kids always enjoy!

The kids love to make these Hersey pretzel m&m treats. We make them every year and we had fun making them. 

Ella and Channing handmade gifts and this was Olaf they made for a friend.

Cavin really loves the Santa Tracker and watches it most of Christmas Eve. We had my parents and sister Natalie over for Christmas Eve dinner, games, music, and Christmas story.

The kids love to sleep together Christmas Eve. 

I love the lights and the quietness of the night before Christmas and all the anticipation. 

They hear "Deck the Halls" from Mannheim Steamroller to come down for Christmas morning, then they rush down to find the pickle.

I hid it too hard, so I had to give a hint and then Cavin found it ;) haha

Cavin got NBA 2K for the switch, a kicking tee and kicking stand for practicing field goals, a blanket, mind games, pillow, a book, flag football equipment etc. 

Channing got a Chromebook, fidgets, movies, squishmallows, jewelry, sticker books and other random things. Ella got voice lessons, and actually started crying cause she was so excited. She got a sketchpad for the computer to do graphic design, makeup, shoes, jewelry and other things. Deacon got a few balls, ping pong paddles and net, squish mallows, movies, and a kindle. 

They had a fun morning. They are great kids, and thankfully easy to please as they are not ones who always want things. 

I sure love Christmas morning with them!

We went over to my moms house in the afternoon to hang out with my sisters and parents. The kids love their cousins. 

The boys played football. 

The girls drew most of the day!

Cute cousins. 

I'm glad I got to be with my parents. It's been a challenging year for them. 

We went to see Sing 2 together a couple days later which was cute!

A couple days after that Chris and his kids were able to join us at a park which was great..and sweaty!

They played cops and robbers, pickle ball, and flag football. Then we got a treat at Bahama Bucks!

The next day Belana Fingerle, Ragnar's niece came with her boyfriend Manu to visit. 

We took them to Buckees, chick fil a, and a Rockets game. 

After the game we went to our friend's the Cotton's home and hung out and watched fireworks. They were good ones, but so loud! We actually made it to midnight to cheer Happy New Year! This year held a lot of growth for our family, but each day I am grateful for who I get to share my life with. I am praying 2022 is a great one and we can challenge ourselves and not be afraid of getting out of our comfort zone. 

Music Is Good For The Soul

During the Christmas season, we always have many opportunities to participate in musical performances. The kids got their love of music from their father, and truly love to listen, sing, and play music. Cavin and Ella both had orchestra winter concerts, and Channing had her choir performance. In addition, all three of them and Ragnar participated in the Stake orchestra music night where Channing and Ella sang "Wonderful One" with Cavin accompanying on the cello and then our three cellists played the Messiah music and Channing sang in the children's choir. The girls sang again in our ward church Christmas sacrament program as well. They did a beautiful job, and I am so grateful that they share their talents with others. 

Ella was first chair cello for her Lyrica class for the concert.

Her friends came to support her!

Cavin's last winter concert at TMS. 

Channing's school choir concert

She has a great group of friends.

The cellists at the Summerwood Stake Concert

I was proud of my girls being so brave. They sang to over 400 people!

I'm grateful for the family that supports them and for the joy music brings into our home and our lives. 

A Crazy Two Weeks With a Little Turkey Mixed In.

Whew, we made it past the last few weeks! It was filled with a lot of twists and turns, but many blessings mixed in as well. 

It all started with Ragnar's co worker testing positive for Covid. He began to have some symptoms so he tested just to make sure he was in the clear. Well, he was positive. Thankfully the rest of us were negative and remained that way. We were pretty frustrated. After almost 2 years, why did he have to get it now?? The week his parents were FINALLY able to come visit us! It didn't make sense and the timing felt a little cruel. So, he tried to quarantine as best as he could and we prayed we remained negative so maybe his parents could still come. We had begun the weekend with Channing's soccer team losing the shootout game and already bummed cause we were clearly the better team, but we can't seem to catch a break, then Ragnar was given a raise he had been promised but it was not even worth a raise. So..mix that in, it wasn't off to a great start. 

We were hoping the next week started off well. Ragnar's parents ended up coming over night then taking our car to Dallas to visit her sister Brigette and see if Ragnar could test negative before they came back. Well on the day they were supposed to come back, our car didn't start and it all went further downhill. We ended up driving up to Dallas to get them and to not waste any more days with them since with Covid and the car we were losing time. We got to Dallas and hung out with his Aunt and Uncle and his sister Stephanie and her kids. The car was supposed to be ready that evening, but when we went to go get it, they found another problem. After much debate we decided to have our friends the Brown's bring it back from their trip to Dallas from Thanksgiving, and they were kind enough to do that. So we loaded in the car all 8 of us to go back and the van tire..which is brand new was flat! We figured it out and had a safe trip back to Houston. The rest of the week had some bumps with babysitters bailing, tree lights not working, covid test information getting lost etc, it seemed like if it could go wrong, it did.....but we made it. 

That was my take on the week last week as all I could mostly see was the frustrating things that happened and how our time with his parents that we were SO looking forward to didn't go as planned... 

This week I was able to see clearer and see the miracles that happened in the process. So I will relate it from that viewpoint for the rest. The first miracle was that Ragnar had little covid symptoms and the rest of us were ok, we didn't give it to the Hartzheim's and were able to salvage the visit. 

The second blessing was we got to spend time with his Aunt Brigette and Uncle Kent who worked so hard all week to help with the car and get it back to us. We also got to see his cousin Stephanie and get to know her kids. We were able to get back to Houston in one piece and enjoy a cozy car ride home together. 

We got to spend time bowling and playing together.

We basically had the side of the bowling alley to ourselves.

We got to spend a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home with both our parents and sweet sister Natalie. It's not too often the kids get to be with both sets of grandparents.

We had a nice Thanksgiving meal and got to play games. 

We got to go to an endowment session in the Houston temple and then do baptisms with Ella and Cavin and we had the whole font to ourselves as everyone we asked couldn't come, so it was a nice cozy experience and Ella, Cavin, and I helped almost 50 people be baptized. 

We had a nice time in the temple and a nice dinner after. 

Saturday we got to put up the Christmas decorations together. We made due with what we had and made it all work. We listened to music, danced, and Ursula made sugar cookies with the kids. 

Sunday the the kids performed some music for their grandparents to practice for their performance in a couple weeks. 

Then we introduced them to skookies!

Monday they had to head home, we hung out, went to Ragnar's work to meet his co workers, and then to Whataburger. 

All in all, the visit did not go as planned, our life which I feel is normally pretty put together, seemed to be a mess. Yet, we had a wonderful time with his parents. We love them and love when they take the time to visit us. They have been a huge blessing in our life, and we are so grateful for them.

So, when things are not going well, this has taught me to take a minute and try and look for the positives. For a couple weeks I could only focus on the negative, but you will find what you are looking for. I want to choose to find the positives and cherish this family support we have, despite if all went as planned. 

School Happenings!

The kids had some exciting events the past few weeks. 

Cavin made Middle School Region Orchestra again this year and was in philharmonic orchestra. He was 2nd chair cello and did a great job. He worked hard at it and has gotten to be a great player! He performed his region concert at Summercreek High School.

Doesn't he look great in a tux!

These are the kids from his school who made it.

Also he finished his first job and season reffing soccer. Here he is going to the bank to get his first bank account! He is hard working and I'm proud of him!

Channing also finished her soccer season with a sad shootout game which they lost in. She loved being a part of the team and having her dad coach! There were 18 girls on her team, but all of these 9 were members of our church.

Deacon finished his season undefeated again and loved every minute!

He has been playing with the same boys and really likes it. 

They had an end of season party at Tin Roof BBQ. 

I LOVE watching my kids work hard and grow. I'm glad they continue to improve and I love to watch them play.