Ella's Sweet 16 week!

Ella's sixteenth birthday week was filled with a lot of highs and lows! Being a teenager isn't for the faint of heart! The week started with some heartache with some friends, but ended on a positive note. She didn't really want to do much to celebrate with a big party or anything even though we spent a year trying to convince her. She doesn't really love all the attention on her. 

Her birthday morning she had the pleasure of getting up and heading to school. At least she got an extra hour since she didn't have seminary.

Birthday sign and donuts. 

She is in to the cinnamon twist donuts lately.

We let her pick any restaurant and she chose Culvers.. haha my kids are pretty simple. She also loves cookie cakes.

She got some airpods, clothes, shoes, drawing stuff, jewelry, you know...all the teenage things!

She then chose to watch "The Rise of the Guardians" as a family which is her favorite movie. 

During the movie her friend Kaleb knocked on the door and sang a song on his guitar "The Joker and The Queen" by Taylor Swift and gave her flowers and balloons and asked her to "Simply Prom" that our church puts on. She wasn't sure what to think at first because she has felt a little invisible and didn't want to go. After his sweet song and the courage it took to ask, she decided to say yes and go! 

Two days later was "Mormon/Simply Prom"

She looked beautiful in her royal blue dress that she and her friend went shopping for. They were looking for a dress for Katelyn her friend, but found her one as well. 

Kaleb is a friend of hers who goes to church with us, is in her orchestra class, and does Shakespeare plays with her. He is such a fun kid, a true gentleman, and full of life. I knew she would have a good time with him. 

Her closest friends Connor, Katelyn, Warren, Aspen, Cayden, and Alyssa were going in their group, so she was so glad she was able to join them. 

She looked so beautiful in her royal blue dress.

Beautiful girls

They got Olive Garden catered and she was excited about that. 

She said the dance part was actually fun. They played good music and taught them each to waltz and a couple other dances.

I'm glad she was able to go and had a great first date. 

Ella is 5'2 and staying there. She is done growing, so she will have to make do with her short but strong stature. She is an independent child, but very obedient. She does what she says she's gonna do. She is very smart, but often not super motivated. She has good grades and works hard, but is still learning to use her gifts/talents to their full potential. She has so many God given gifts, she is just having to learn how to have the motivation to use them. She is an awesome seminary student and gets herself up and ready every morning. She should finish her driving hours in a couple weeks and have her license soon. She wasn't super excited about driving at first, but she is a good driver. She still loves to draw and paint. She reads whenever she can but school takes a lot of her time. She is in voice lessons and has her first recital next week. I love to listen to her develop her voice. She also has a great gift of music with the cello and just hearing and knowing music. She loves chocolate, ice cream, and ice. Her favorite color is black or red right now. She still says "don't die", "fine", and "schnitzel" a lot :) haha She likes to keep a low profile but is great at observing people and situations. She is great fun to have around and I can't believe I only have 2 years left with her. She will do great things in her life!

Channing is 11!!

Channing celebrated her 11th birthday this week and she was very excited to do so!

The day before her birthday she got to celebrate at school. I came to have lunch with her and bring her class cupcakes. I love how excited she still is to see me. 

The night before her birthday she invited a couple of friends to go see the new movie "The Bad Guys" and go to Culvers to dinner afterwards. She is surrounded by lots of good girls, and I am glad she has friends who have good values. 

These girls could put down some food! Haha! They were eating the whole time!

This is Channing, Meg, and Sophia.

Saturday morning was her birthday! She woke up to a birthday sign!

We had to hurry and eat donuts before her 8 a.m. soccer game!

We went to her and Deacon's game and my parents and sister Natalie joined us to support the kids. Then we went to sonic to get a treat for her birthday and have my parents celebrate for a minute before they had to go to their temple shift.

When they left we did whatever Channing wanted on the schedule for the day! So, first we watched her favorite movie "The Parent Trap"

Then she wanted to help me make her cake since she loves to bake. 

Finally her dad and brother got home from reffing soccer games so we could open presents. 

She got a karaoke machine which she was exited about and we each took turns singing!

She was just so happy it was her birthday all day. Her happiness is contagious! At 12:41 when she was actually born she danced around the house cause she was officially 11 then ;) haha

Hopefully her wish came true!

Channing is a beacon of goodness. She brings kindness and happiness wherever she goes. She is so thoughtful of others and always wanting to make people happy and is a people pleasure by nature. She is always writing sweet notes and thinking of ways to be creative and kind to others. She always wants to help me in the kitchen or with the laundry or wherever she can so she can be with me. She loves singing and writing. She loves music and piano. She is in soccer and just loves being a part of the team and having something in common with her brothers and dad. She is not much of a dessert person and saves her candy and treats for months, but she loves chips! Especially hot Cheetos and takis! She is a very good student and has great grades. She is on the Math Olympiad team and is competing this week in a competition. She loves to watch t.v., Jesse and Victorious are her favorites right now. She is doing a literacy girl club with some friends where they are reading the Felicity books and putting on a small play where she is Felicity. She loves jewelry and sparkly things and she has several pairs of converse shoes which are her favorite right now. Every night she comes out of her room and says she doesn't feel well. I think mostly it's that she doesn't like to be left out of what is going on and wants to see what she is missing ;) She is brave and confident and I am so excited to see the girl she will become. We sure love you Channing!

Easter

I love Easter. The message of hope it gives me deserves far more than just one day to celebrate! We did some of our usual Easter traditions with dying Easter eggs. 

Deacon wasn't too excited at first, but then he dyed some eggs. 

We were in charge of dessert for Easter dinner, so the girls made fondant to create bunny cupcakes :)

I attempted egg fruit pizzas. They tasted better than they looked, thankfully. 

We went on a small Easter egg hunt for their baskets and eggs. 

We got to have a wonderful Sacrament meeting and then headed over to my parents house for Easter dinner. 

I sure love this family of mine. We had a nice dinner and celebration with my family, parents, and sister Natalie. This Easter has been one where I truly have to cling to the knowledge of the gospel. I have to hold on to the knowledge of our Savior being able to make everything right and allow forgiveness and hope. My brother Chris' family we haven't seen since last year as we have been told we are unable to contact them. It has been very difficult and even harder on the kids as days like Easter they desperately want to be with their cousins. I miss my brother and I miss who he was to me. I pray that the Easter feeling won't be forgotten and I can keep that hope that someday our family will reunite, truth will be restored, and we can be a whole family again. I am grateful the Christ gave His all for that to be possible. I love Him and am forever grateful for that gift. 

Cavin's 14th Birthday!

Cavin turned 14 this past week. He is getting so grown up and is towering over me. It's so sad! The night before his actual birthday he played his first Timberwood soccer game of the season. They played their rival West Lake who is typically really hard to beat. They won and we were all super excited!

He played great defense and his grandparents and Aunt Natalie got to come and support him and take him out to ice cream for an early birthday treat after.

On his birthday morning he got the pleasure of going to school :) He likes school and so I don't think it was too bad.

We had a birthday donut and I brought him lunch to school.

After school it had been raining, so all the soccer practices for all the kids were cancelled. We were able to eat dinner together, play games, and open presents. 

He got a phone which he was excited about. 

Some games, a couple Nintendo games, and a few board games. 

He got an FC Koln jersey from his grandparents in Germany, and soccer shin guards and cleats from his other grandparents. 

We ate his favorite red velvet bundt cake.

Then we played games. 

Cavin is a good kid! He is now 5'9 1/2 and 150 pounds. He has grown a lot this past year, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. He is a lot more confident and not afraid to speak up or make people laugh. He has a very funny sense of humor and we loves his comments or jokes. He is the top student at TMS and if he gets below a 98 he redoes his work or test :) haha. He is very intelligent and has become a hard worker. He practices his cello often and just loves to sit and play. He is still in the chamber orchestra and plans on playing in high school. He is reffing soccer for money and playing for the school. His favorite color is orange, his favorite food is white macaroni and cheese or cheeseburgers. He loves Fanta or Flirt drinks and loves to sneak snacks from the pantry ;) He is still best buddies with his little brother and I love watching them together. He has a good testimony and works hard to fulfill his calling. He is thoughtful of others and kind, and his interest in girls and being social has definitely increased this year! We love Cavin and are so proud of who he is and who he is becoming! We hope it's an awesome year for him!

A quick visit with Daphne!!

This past weekend Daphne was able to fly in from Utah and spend a crazy, busy weekend with us. We sure miss having her live so close, and were so glad to have her around. She was a good sport and joined us on many of the events we had for the weekend. 

Friday she and I went shopping and visited Ragnar at work. She got to meet a couple of his coworkers and their dogs and even brought treats for them! We brought her to Hippo burger after for lunch. That evening Ragnar, Cavin, and I had stake soccer so she came and cheered us on as we played.

Saturday we started the morning with our traditional donuts! 

They got in a few games, then we headed to Cavin's solo and ensemble performance. He did awesome and it was a tender mercy that he was able to be moved up so we could all watch him before the soccer games.  He ended up scoring a 1 which is the highest. His judge told him that his piece was very difficult and she didn't even get to play it until college. He is a great cellist and practices a lot. 

After his performance, we hurried over to the fields to watch Deacon and Channing play. They both played well and won their games.

Deacon scored 3 goals and Daphne took some fun pictures. 

Ella painted a gift for a friend and chatted with us, then we went to Sharky's for dinner. 

Finally, Daphne went to watch the dress rehearsal of the "Lamb of God" that Ragnar, Ella, and Cavin were in. 

We got to see it the next day and it was beautiful! I am so glad that Ragnar's love of music has filtered down to our kids and they love to play as well. 

It was a great way to get into the Easter spirit. 

Daphne left early Sunday morning. I wish we had had more time, but it was nice to see her. We sure miss her and wish she was still 4 hours away. We are so grateful for an amazingly supportive aunt and sister/in law.