A Visit From the Scharmans

My sister Marisa and her family came to Houston a couple weeks before our family reunion trip to hang out and celebrate Liam and my dad's birthday. Even though our kids are older and in a different phase of life, the cousins really love to be together and I always enjoy having my sisters around. 

We played at the pool and at grandma's several days. 

Cavin was our very own merman!

Gotta have the Uncle Ragnar cannonball!

Lots of cute girls!

We got to go do baptisms with the cousins and grandparents at the temple. 

We also had a big party and celebrated my dad's 70th birthday with lots of his friends!

We had SO much food and there were a lot of people who came to support my dad. I think it went really well, and I am so glad we could celebrate him!

Many of the grandchildren were able to be there and we were lucky to at least get 4 of the 5 kids to come. 

My dad is a great man and I'm grateful we have had 70 years of him! 

He loves food and especially chocolate cake!

We had a fun time having family in town. 

A Visit to Arkansas!

Last weekend we went to Bentonville, Arkansas to visit my sister Marisa and go to the temple open house. We have been waiting for years for it to be ready, and it finally is done! 

We drove up Friday and the drive went smoothly. It was a long drive, but the kids do great. 

Channing was making herself comfortable!

Saturday we went to the temple open house and it was a bright and sunny day!

Grateful for the gift of temples and that the kids were able to go inside to their first temple open house. 

I love this forever family of mine!

Ella took my phone and took lots of flower pictures. 

Afterward some of the kids stayed to play games and others went to the pool to play!

The men went to a movie Saturday night to celebrate Fathers day early. Marisa and I made dinner for them, she mostly made while I kept her company and did the dishes :) It was a nice Sunday and nice weather. I was glad we got to visit them and see their sweet family.

We hit 90,000 miles on the car and were reminded that Jesus is the answer. 

My sister will get to spend the next couple weeks with us as she comes to Houston for the family reunion cruise and our dads 70th birthday. I'm excited to spend more time with her family. 

The Beginnings of Summer!

This summer has been filled with appointments. I have literally been to at least one, two, or three appointments every day since summer began. Between my foot physical therapy, dentists, orthodontists, allergists, well checks, podiatrists, and drivers permits, I have been sitting in a waiting room all summer. Cavin has mostly been the one who has had to accompany me to so many, but I'm hoping the rest of the summer will be a little less busy. 

We first had to do a retest of Cavin's allergies since it has been 3 years since he has been tested. We were hoping he was less allergic to some things, but it turns out he is more allergic. 

He was pricked 72 times by allergens and was literally positive to every single allergen. The poor kid broke out pretty good. 4 is the highest and he has several 3 and 4's.

He also is having trouble snoring and breathing, so we had to do a CT scan and his adenoids are very enlarged, so we see an ENT next week and he may have to have them removed. 

The poor kid was so severely allergic to everything that the doctor couldn't figure out why he wasn't miserable. All his tests showed he was a severe case of everything, but nothing really bothers him, he is a tough kid and just rolls with it. We figure he has never felt "normal" so that's just his normal and he doesn't know any different. He wants to start him on allergy shots for immunotherapy, but we are still deciding what to do. 

He was able to get his drivers learners permit and started driving. That was exciting!

Channing and I broke away while the kids were at FSY and made a cute little octopus we painted together.

She has been practicing braids in my hair and is getting better and better. 

Ella has to get her wisdom teeth removed next week, so we were glad we could take a night for some more fun when we finally got to redeem Ella's Christmas present and take her to Wicked. 

Ragnar and I saw it in New York on Broadway and were afraid to see it again as we didn't think it could compare, but it was so good. 

The cast was great and we loved every minute! Such a fun night to remember. 

Deacon has been being a good sport as he is stuck at home a lot as we get all the other kids appointments taken care of. He is getting better and better at mowing the lawn and helping his dad and brother out.

We have several more appointments ahead of us and possibly two surgeries, but we hope to find some fun outings in the process! 

Ella and Cavin's FSY Experience

Ella and Cavin had the opportunity to go to Sam Houston State University for the For Strength of Youth camp for our church. It had been pushed back several years due to Covid, so they were so glad it was finally their turn. They went together and it was a great week.

Ella had 8 people in her group from our stake that she knew, and was one of the lucky groups that had 20 boys and 10 girls. 

She really liked her counselors and went with her best friend Katelyn as her roommate. 

She loved the classes and enjoyed her time. 

Cavin didn't go with a roommate for several reasons, one being that most of his friends are priests and he is still a teacher so he is in a different age group. 

His roommate Benu was a little strange he said, but he made it work. 

He enjoyed himself as well. 

They both came home wanting to be FSY counselors when they get back from their missions.:) I'm glad they had a chance to strengthen their testimonies and make new friends.