Tipis on the Guadalupe River!

We got to spend Easter weekend with our friends in New Braunfels at the tipis on the Guadalupe river. We did this a few years ago and really enjoyed it so we went again. 

We had a tipi in the corner this time and the weather was nice. 

We went with the Browns, Hafens, Whartons, Mackays, Thomas', Armendariz, and Hatches. 

I have a great group of women to hang out with! 

We made smores and talked by the fire! 

One afternoon we went cliff jumping and it was a lot of fun! All the kids and I jumped! 

They played versions of volleyball and other fun games together. 

They also got to kayak and play in the river. 

I am grateful for good friends and wonderful families we get to associate with! 

We had a great weekend and I am grateful for fun getaways!

Cavin is 17!

Yesterday Cavin turned 17 years old! He had an early morning soccer game so we ate a donut quick and headed out the door. 

His team does fine but severely lack a goalie, so they should have won but ended up losing 4-3. He has an incredible kick on defense so he is always booting the ball down the field. We then watched Deacons team annihilate in their soccer game. 

After the games, we came home and watched more soccer! He is like Ragnar in that they love to watch soccer. His two favorite German teams were playing, so we watched that and got lunch from Whataburger. His grandparents and Natalie joined us also for the morning. 

That evening he didn't want to do much, so he played video games with his brother and we played 5 crowns. 

I can't believe he only has one more year of his childhood. He is smart and motivated at school. He just took his SAT and ACT and is preparing to apply for colleges in the Fall. His favorite candy is airheads, he still loves hamburgers and chips and wipes out our pantry often. He likes to play most sports but especially soccer and football. He is almost 6'4 and 215 pounds. He still loves music and plays the cello at church and school. He is always joking and tells me several times a day "Just be quiet mom" as a term of endearment ;) He is a homebody and wants to be home when he is not at a school or church event, he prefers hanging with his brother to hanging with his friends. He is a good kid and is easy going. He doesn't share a lot but I hope he knows we love him and are proud of who he is. 

Channing's Track Season

Channing participated in Track with her Timberwood Middle School. It wasn't her favorite season, but it I guess it is better than doing "off season". She is a long distance runner like me, so she ran the 1600 meter and the 2400 meter races. She did well and progressed her times throughout the short 5 meet season.

This was her first meet where she ran the 1600 meter.

She ended up making it to districts in the 2400 meter and she ran at the same high school track where I had all my meets growing up. 

I'm proud of her for conditioning, training, and improving even if it isn't her favorite sport. This was likely her last track meet ever. I'm afraid as of right now I have no children who enjoy running like I do, but I hope they know it will help them stay active and healthy and I love that they try new things.

Spring Break!

Spring break almost always falls on my birthday week each year! Sometimes I love that, sometimes I don't. It usually means a lot of people are out of town. This year Ella made it a special week and surprised us by coming home for Spring break. We got home from church on March 9th and she walked in the door a few minutes later. Deacon came running into our room saying, "mom I see Ellas face!" I was like ok.. is she face-timing on the phone? He said "No, like in our house!" So I came around the corner and there she was! Apparently her roommates surprised her and bought her a ticket home so she wouldn't have to be alone and could be here for my birthday and Ragnars citizenship celebration. That was so kind of them!! 

We went to Top Golf and Texas Roadhouse as a way to celebrate Spring break since I had to work the rest of the week. 

We had a nice time and it was beautiful weather! 

The rest of the week we just watched movies, went on a walk, played pickleball, played games, and the kids just hung out together.

My actual birthday was a little anti climatic as it was Sunday. We just went to church, played games, and had dessert. Ella had to fly home that morning to get back to college. I was so glad she got to come home for Spring break and the family could be all together. That time is precious. 

My friends, Jen, Kelsey, Becky, and Rachael came and played pickleball and get a treat the next night. I am very grateful for them!

UIL School Happenings

Channing and Cavin both participated in their schools UIL competitions. Channing for choir and Cavin for orchestra. We were lucky to be able to hear them both perform. 

Cavin is still in symphonic orchestra again this year which is the 2nd out of 5 orchestras. He can't be in the Chamber varsity orchestra because it is the same period as football. I am glad he still chooses to play. 

Channing has had an interesting experience in choir as her teacher is very eccentric. Thankfully she is almost finished with that program and gets to go to a program in high school which is much better.

They got the sweepstakes award and got all 1's in performance and a 1, 1, 2 in sight reading. 1 is the highest rating.

Her choir is small and she has to really be a leader. 

Deacon also had his 5th grade manners banquet at a famous Raffas restaurant. He said the food was delicious!

Im glad for their many events they get to participate in school.

Ragnar is Officially an American Citizen!

After 25 years in the United States Ragnar finally decided to become a citizen. I had been hoping for many years that he would become a citizen, but he didn't want to give up his German citizenship. I completely understood that, but was worried several times that something would happen in the country that would separate us and I would be left without him. I know it sounds silly, but it was a fear I've always had. A few years ago when they changed some of the laws and he could keep his citizenship to become a duel citizen, he started to consider it, and then since he has been here 20 years it made it even less paperwork and much easier to do. 

Usually they do a big ceremony in a stadium and celebrate. Unfortunately, due to the changes in immigration laws that people are afraid Trump is going to enact they are trying to cycle through as many immigrant applications as possible. They stated to Ragnar that he could only invite a few family and friends and to keep it small because there isn't a lot of room. They assigned him a date that happened to be a Saturday and we went to go cheer him on and see him be sworn in. 

Sadly, when we got there, they informed everyone that only the applicant was allowed to go in and that we could not watch the ceremony! I was SO SAD! After 20 years I had been waiting for this day for years and didn't even get to be a part of it!! His friends and family were so kind and decided to stay outside and wait for him to congratulate him when he came out. It was one of the coldest days we had all year, so we were freezing waiting outside. 

He has great men to support him!

He went in at 11:00 and was done about 12:30. He ended up being sworn in separately on the side as he mentioned it was his old coworkers funeral that day and he needed to be done in a timely manner. He wasn't actually going to be able to make it to the funeral due to soccer games, but didn't mention that to them. 

We were excited for him! 

Since the actual ceremony day ended up being a little bit of a disappointment, we decided to do an open house to celebrate with friends. 

We decorated the house full of American items!!

We tried to do American themed treats as well.

We commemorated his first trip to America in 1988 and him in American today.

We are so exited this day finally came and that all of our family are now officially Americans.