Back to School 20-21

The kids started back to school on August 11, 2020. Due to the continuation of concerns for the coronavirus, they started back to school virtually for the first two weeks.

They were not super thrilled to go back virtually, but thanks to my parents, brother Corey, and sister in law Daphne they had the equipment needed to start. We got through the first two virtual weeks and then on August 24th they began in person!

Ella began high school at Atascocita High School and was nervous about navigating a very large school she hadn't ever been in, but she did great. 

Cavin is in 7th grade at TMS again and had a good first day as well.

Channing started 4th grade and was so excited to meet her teacher Mrs. Mitcham and be back with her friends.

Deacon started 1st grade and I am SO glad I had him go last year so I didn't have to send him in blind this year. He did well and loves his teacher Mrs. Rieves. 

He went upstairs at 5:45 p.m. to get clothes to take a shower and never came down so I went to check and he had fallen asleep! He slept for 13 hours. He was worn out after months of being home!

As in true 2020 fashion, they got to have school for 2 days and now it was cancelled because hurricane Laura was supposed to come through. Thankfully it has missed us and we were very blessed.

In other news. The NBA is doing fans virtually in Florida for the playoffs, so the kids were able to be on tv as fans cheering on the Rockets. 

Lastly, Ella did Literacy Girls this summer with friends and Jeri Wyn Mumford was her instructor. She does such an amazing job. They studied some classics like Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, 100 dresses, Sarah Plain and Tall and such. Ella who loves to read really loves it each summer. 

They did a skit on the book 100 dresses and did a good job. 

I am praying this year only goes up from here. We all could use some positive news!

Celebrating 16 years together!

This past weekend Ragnar and I were able to get away and spend a few nights in Austin, TX to celebrate our 16th anniversary. We dropped off the kids with my parents and headed over. We stopped at the famous Bucees to get gas and snacks and then we went to the outlet malls to shop. When we got to Austin we found a Cheesecake Factory and used our gift card to eat some delicious dinner and cheesecake. We stayed at a hotel and although it wasn't a glamorous place, it worked just fine.

I am not adventurous and always order the same thing at every restaurant. I figure if you know what you like, stick with it. However, in effort to try and be brave  (baby steps here ;))I ordered a different cheesecake. I always get the fresh strawberry, but I got the red velvet. It was good....but not as good as my original choice. haha I really want to try and get out of my comfort zone more and try different things. 

On the morning of our anniversary we headed to Lakeway Marina and tried out paddle boarding. I have been wanting to try and so it was a fun adventure. 

Balancing was a lot easier than I expected and I never fell. It was fun!

Ragnar did great as well. He only fell at the very beginning and then was a pro the rest of the time!

We then went over to Krause Springs as a recommendation from a friend. It was pretty, but a little too busy for us, so we didn't stay long. 

We tried a few hiking and swimming holes, but most are closed due to the virus. So that was disappointing. 

We went to Salt Grass for an anniversary dinner and got cheesecake again! Not as good as the cheesecake factory, but still yummy!

The next day we went shopping and then rented a tandem bike to tour downtown Austin. We had taken a tandem ride in San Francisco when we went and we wanted to try it again. 

We toured the Texas state capital and then University of Texas campus. Since so much is closed, it was perfect to bike around it and tour it. I really like tandem bike riding with Ragnar. Thankfully I know him well enough to anticipate his movements and we communicate well, so it is very fun. 

Ella always says cactus to us randomly...so I stopped for a picture for her ;)

We then tried out a hot spot called Gourdoughs big donuts. I love donuts, so I wanted to give it a try! My Miss Shortcake donut did not disappoint! It was delicious!

We had a wonderful few days together. I really do feel grateful everyday that I met Ragnar and took a chance on him. We had been friends for about 18 months before I finally let him take me out on a real date. I am grateful I was finally brave enough to let my best friend have a chance. It has been a wonderful 16 years. We may not have everything we thought we would or may not be where we expected we would be at this point, but we have each other. We have a great relationship where I know he always puts me first and I know he loves me and would do anything for me. Marital happiness and safety is a gift that is very precious to me. I love you Rags, Happy 16th anniversary! 

Deacon turns SIX!

July 30, 2020 Deacon turned 6 years old! He woke up to a decorated door and a decorated front yard!

He was pretty excited that I was able to put up a sign for him from the company I work for.  

He loved the sports graphics, but especially the pro controller remote ;) he loves the Nintendo Switch right now! 

We started the morning with traditional donuts! He loves the blue ones right now! 

He played some games and then we watched his favorite movie "Planes" in the afternoon. I think this picture depicts Cavin and his relationship perfectly. They are super close brothers, and I love it.  

Channing of course always has to snuggle with someone as well! 

Of course he wanted popcorn with his movie! 

Cavin was sweet and wanted to make him a birthday cake and cupcakes for his party with his grandparents and cousins. They all came over and we had pizza and they played a couple games outside and enjoyed playing together. Since we can't do a lot with friends right now, Deacon was super excited to have his cousins come.

Deacon thought it was pretty cool! 

He had been asking all day to open presents, so he was excited to do it with his cousins.  

He got a basketball, beanie boo, mini robot, fishing pole, squirt guns, clothes (which he was less than thrilled about..but hey they are necessary), pickle ball rackets, nerf guns, a pro remote controller, and a water bottle.  

He says he had a fun day, and I am glad! I'm bummed all the kids' birthday's fell during the quarantine, but they took it in stride and did well despite them not being as exciting as they could be. 

Deacon really is a fun kid. He is so energetic and always moving. He loves sports, all of them! He especially loves soccer and basketball though. He is naturally very talented at them and so it is fun to watch him. He was born with a natural confidence about him and always walks with a swagger ;) He has always been mature for his age and wants to hang out with kids much older than him and do things they are doing. He is always up for a challenge, and if you can do it, he can to! He is sweet and will still give me lots of hugs. I always say to him "Hey Deacon do you know what?" and he will always say back "I know mom, you love me." He loves to play games with the family and is always asking to play. His favorites are UNO attack, Skipbo, and 5 Crowns. I think during the quarantine he has played 5 crowns almost everyday! He has gotten really good at math because we put him in charge of the score sheet and he has gotten good at adding all the points. He loves goldfish, fruit snacks, and vanilla wafers. He prefers vanilla and usually won't eat chocolate. His favorite color is red because he loves the Houston Rockets. He loves to do anything with his brother, but currently playing Minecraft on the Nintendo Switch is his favorite. He says "LETS GO!" often when he's excited. He also has an imaginary friend named Jeffey that he often refers to and sometimes when I go to sit down he will say Jeffey is sitting there. Currently Jeffey is 3 years old, 7 ft tall, and 635 pounds..he certainly is big enough to protect him ;) We sure love him and his personality. 

A Hartzheim Gathering to Commemorate 50 years!

This past week we were supposed to be celebrating Hellmut and Ursula's 50th anniversary on July 25, 2020 in Germany. Since Covid is spreading through the world, we were unable to travel and be there with them to celebrate. I was really sad we couldn't go and mark this big occasion with them and have a big celebration. In effort to still have us somehow get together, the sisters in Europe went to be with Ursula and Hellmut and the sisters in the United States came to our house for a couple days to be together. We had a good visit being together as best as we could, but we do hope we get a chance to celebrate in person with everyone sooner than later!

Happy 50th anniversary to Ursula and Hellmut. Here is a picture of them on their wedding day, and a picture of them now. Ursula is wearing her wedding dress from 50 years ago which I think is pretty amazing! That is a long life of commitment and love for one another!

Sandra flew in from Utah to New Orleans and she and Daphne drove to our house on Sunday to be with us. We had sacrament meeting together, had a BBQ, and they taught Ella and Cavin to play Settlers of Catan. They now say they really like the game! 

The kids even played again later. 

We enjoyed hamburgers and games! 

Monday Ragnar, Jonas, and Sandra went to Nasa and then walked along the Galveston beach.  

Afterward we met them at BrainFreeze to try their yummy treats! 

Some of the desserts were pretty impressive. Our kids were pretty modest in what they picked, so they didn't get anything grand, but the ones that did were pretty cool.  

That afternoon we got dinner and played more games.  

Channing and her aunts showing off their yoga and flexibility skills!
The siblings toasted with MezzoMix that is their favorite German drink.  

We had a nice time catching up and saying hi for a couple days. Hopefully next time we will be all together in Germany!

A Trip to Baton Rouge Lousiana

This week we were supposed to be leaving to Germany for our summer trip. Due to the corona virus and much of the world being shut down, we were unable to go. We are super disappointed to not be there to celebrate Ragnar's parents 50th anniversary. We were really looking forward to going. We decided to at least go on a little outing and visit Daphne in Baton Rouge as a small getaway. We always enjoy visiting her and Cortex.
She had a lot of fun activities planned for us. We started by making a sprinkler water toy for Cortex and the kids to play in. Cavin was a great engineer in figuring out a design, the measurements, and then executing it. 

He was excited to see if it worked. 

Drilling was a boys dream! 

It was a success and they had fun trying it out! Cortex wasn't as sure of it though. 

Our next project was making bottle cars. The boys both made one and raced them.  

Then we did marble art with shaving cream and their papers they made were pretty neat.  

We also did Elephant Toothpaste! 

It was a fun chemistry experiment.  

It was fun to watch it explode. 

We also put eggs in vinegar and waited a couple days and the shell dissolved and it was almost rubbery and the eggs would bounce until you dropped them from higher.

The boys were obviously excited about this one! Silly kids! 

They also made a few different treats like fruit ice cream and a German dessert that Cavin loved. Then they made lava lamps.  

These ones were my favorite ones to watch! So many fun activities that Daphne had for them and they loved it! 

On Wednesday we decided to try and do an outing and went to New Orleans to Mardi Gras World. It was basically just us there, so it was not hard to social distance.  

Pretty amazing how they construct all the decorations for the floats. 

Each of the kids picked their favorite thing to take a picture by. 

Naturally we were excited to see a German float in the making! 

God bless Texas! 

Deacon couldn't decide.

If only this hamburger was real!! So delicious!!

It was a fun outing and it started pouring before we walked to the car, so we got drenched. The kids thought that was the highlight of the day ;) haha 

We watched a couple movies and the kids each took several turns trying out her new treadmill and loved that. Ragnar and I even went for a nice run.  

Channing loves being with Daphne and enjoyed her yoga trapeze in her room!

We had to get beignets for breakfast one morning, and they are as delicious as always! 

Channing took an early morning walk with Daphne and Cortex. We had a great time visiting and being with Daphne for a couple days. We wish we were all in Germany together, but we did the best we could!