Cavin is growing up!

Cavin had the opportunity to go to young mens camp with our church Lakeshore ward the first week of June. They drove 9 hours to the Ozarks in Arkansas for their adventure. I was pretty nervous for him to go for several reasons, but in the end, he survived and had a great time. 

There were about 10 leaders and 30 boys who went. We have a great group of young men in our ward who I am grateful Cavin has the association with.

The first day they went for an 8 mile hike and it was hilly and green. Cavin said it was hard, but a good experience. The camp theme was "I can do all things through Christ." They were trying to do some hard experiences to show themselves that they can work hard. Unfortunately Cavin said he twisted his ankle that night and didn't go on the second hike which is disappointing. 

The last day they went canoeing down the Buffalo river. It was a long trip, but he said it was a lot of fun and they were the first ones to finish. 

It looked like he had a great experience and was glad he went. I am grateful for the leaders who sacrifice their time to create these experiences for the youth.

Right before he left, we got the chance to finally go back into the temple for baptisms. We took some friends along, and it was great to be able to be there. 

We started our running/exercising training program and the kids had a wet mile run to start. They did great. 

Finally, Cavin is officially a brace face. He got braces right after he got back from camp. He is excited for a flawless smile in a couple years. 

He has had an eventful start to the summer. I hope it is one to remember!

Ella is another year older!

Ella turned 15 on May 5, 2021. She is a great kid and we have fun watching her grow! We went on our one on one date to go shopping for some clothes, and of course to half price books, then we finished it off with Dirty Juicy Burger. I enjoyed hanging out with her, and I'm glad she still wants to hang out together!

On her birthday she had early morning seminary, so we took a picture bright and early!

There are 3 words she is always saying! When she doesn't know what to say, she says "cactus", when we ask her a question, her immediate response is "fine", and whenever we leave the house she always says "Don't die!"

Her birthday was simple. We ate culvers for dinner and then opened presents. She mostly got clothes, shoes, jewelry, money, beanie boos, art stuff, and a coupon for a haircut. 

She wanted a cookie cake, so we got her a small one, then we watched the Masked Singer, which she likes, and she went off to her church activity. 

                             

Ella is a great kid. She works so hard at school and is awesome about waking herself up for seminary every morning. She is prompt and responsible and she is a very obedient kid. She does what she's asked and is not afraid to be herself. She knows who she is and isn't swayed by other's opinions, which is hard as a teenager. She is still playing the cello in her school's orchestra and is a great player and even better when she practices ;) She loves music and has a natural talent for it. She likes to sing and play instruments. She loves the color black and wearing hoodies and jeans. She never wears a matching pair of earrings and likes to have one of each. She loves elephants and cookies and cream Hersey's bars. She reads books non stop and probably at least 10 books a week. She listens to all types of music, but never likes a song for very long. She likes to compose her own music and is still writing a novel. She is an intelligent girl and we love her! 

Channing is Double Digits!!

Channing entered double digits this weekend and is now officially 10!! She was so excited about her birthday!! The weekend before we went on our one on one date and she asked to do pedicures and ice cream. 

     

This was my first pedicure in over a year and it was great. It is fun to do girly things with her.

She got her fingers done as well. 

We went to get icecream, but the shop wasn't allowing you to eat inside, so we enjoyed it in the car. 

Afterward she really wanted to go with me to work to go set out yard signs. She had fun, but was so tired!

We curled our hair and listened to music and had a great time together. 

On her birthday morning, I put up a sign for her. She was excited about all the graphics and colors. She is such a fun girl, that there were too many to chose from!

We had our birthday breakfast donuts, and then since it was career day, she went to school as a baker. 

After school we had Chick Fil A as a family and opened presents. She was excited to get a kitchen for her American dolls and for some reason thrilled with these Hydoflasks ;) She also got polly pockets, jewlery, clothes, a karaoke microphone, beanie boos, art supplies, etc. 

Afterward she had a friend party. I let her invite 6 friends to come do a Painting With a Twist video and then karaoke and cake and ice-cream. 

The girls did a great job on the video and they had a fun time painting together. 

These were her friends, Sophia, Mallory, Ellie, Allie, Chloe, and Jane. 

They really did amazingly well and I was impressed by how they turned out!

Her A days group heart attacked our garage door which she loved as well. 

Finally, the next day we had a family party with the older three who have birthdays within a few weeks of each other. It is hard to find a time, so we had everyone come over to watch Channing and Deacon's soccer games, eat pizza, games and dessert. We had a fun couple weeks celebrating and now in just a week we will finish off this birthday season with Ella!

A little bit about Channing-

She loves the colors coral, light blue, and teal. She loves takis and Cheese Itzs. She still loves Disney's Descendants movies, High School Muscial, Teen Beach Movie, Zombies, and any singing type movie. She loves to sing and is singing all day. She is a creative artist and loves to paint or make popup books or cards. She is a very helpful kid and so thoughtful. She writes the sweetest notes and is always thinking about others. She loves jewelry, makeup, and scrunchies. She never wants to throw anything away, she loves to keep everything. She is an early riser and has loved learning soccer this year. She is a great student and friend. She loves to snuggle and be right by you. She enjoys baking and trying new recipes. She is all around a great kid and our favorite red head! (or orange head as she still affectionally calls her hair color) Happy Birthday Channing!!

Cavin is a TEENAGER!

Last week Cavin reached the ripe old age of 13 and entered his teenage years! He's never really had a friend party and this year he asked to do one. The Saturday before his birthday, Ragnar took him and 9 other boys to Gotcha paintball and they had a blast playing together. 

The weather was beautiful and for whatever reason Cavin loves to play paintball. Not sure why boys think this is fun. 

He had a good group of boys who indulged him and played together with him. 

All the boys were injury free...minus a few bruises, so that was a success. 

His actual birthday was on a Monday, so he went to school and we had dinner at Culvers with my parents and Natalie after school and then we had cake and icecream.

The perks of working for a sign greeting company, is the kids get fun signs in the yard.

Cavin has this saying right now where he says "man" in a Jamaican voice after everything ;) haha

Morning birthday donuts are the best!

He really wanted clothes for his birthday, so we went shopping and to dinner the week before and got clothes and shoes. He also got a switch remote, money, a remote control car, games, and a suit. You know you are entering teenage years when you want clothes and money ;)

Cavin is a good kid. He has incredible grades and works hard at school. He is in National Junior Honor Society. He is becoming a more dedicated and confident athlete and still plays soccer. This year he plays for TMS which he likes. He still loves math and figuring things out. He is very innovative and creative. He is thoughtful and kind and still pretty gentle. He is becoming more confident in being vocal with peers and is officially taller than me at 5'7. He is very funny, and now other people besides are family are getting to learn his personality. His favorite color is orange. He loves snapped Cheese It'z and Hersey's cookies and cream bars. He doesn't watch very much tv unless it's sports, but enjoys playing Minecraft on the Nintendo Switch. He is often outside playing basketball or soccer or some made up game with Deacon and they are the best of friends. We sure love Cavin!

Tipis on the Guadalupe

We had a great Easter weekend. Our friends invited us to the tipis on the Guadalupe river in New Braunfels, TX about 3.5 hours from our home. We went up Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. 

I am not a huge camper, so these were perfect for us to experience the outdoors with some commodities to make us comfortable as well. There was ac/heat, a tv, a mini kitchen to cook, and our own bathroom/showers. It was a cute little tipi with 2 queen beds and a sofa bed. 

There was a swing overlooking the river and it was such beautiful weather all weekend. 

The grounds had ping pong, volleyball, corn hole, and tetherball which the kids enjoyed playing. They also played a lot of football. 

These cute girls had a fun time together. Channing, Jane, and Cheyanne. 

The first day we went kayaking and tried to swim, but only the kids were brave enough. The water was SO cold!!

Channing was not very confident her first ride in the kayak alone, but she finally made it back and did great after that. 

Our friends brought this lily pad float that the kids loved playing on. 

We went for a short hike to canyon lake and we spent a while skipping rocks together. Danny won the skipping contest. 

These 3 ladies are some of my favorite people and I am lucky to have them as friends. Becky Brown, Rachael Wharton, and Sharlene Hatch are the wonderful women and their great families we got to spend the weekend with.

Such a fun group of families. 

We went over to the Gristmill for dinner after our "hike". We had to wait a while so the kids occupied themselves playing duck duck goose. 

All the kids had great friends there. I'm so glad they have great youth to hang out with! Deacon's 3 best friends were there to, but naturally he was too busy running around to get a picture :)

We made dinners and each night we built a fire and made s'mores. 

They even bought some fancy thing to make the flames change colors. 

The kids enjoyed the s'mores!

The last night we had an Easter egg hunt on the property and it was fun to hide the eggs. One of the women bought these cute cookies to give the kids. I thought they were adorable!

We had listened to conference in the tipi, had a morning Easter devotional, listened to more conference on the drive back and then watched the last session at my parents home. Ella had her patriarchal blessing that my father, Kerry Speers, was able to give her, as he is a patriarch. It was a special blessing and I am so glad she was able to receive it and recognize all the wonderful things Heavenly Father has in store for her. 

We finished off Easter with a wonderful dinner and dessert with my parents, Natalie, and Chris' family. We have so many things to be grateful for. The atonement of Jesus Christ is at the front. I am so grateful for all He did and to know that He lives. It was wonderful weekend.