School Year 2023-2024

We are sad to see the summer come and go. The kids began a new school year on Wednesday, August 9th. They were ready to start and thankfully they tolerate school fine enough, so they don't mind. 

Ella began her Senior year at Atascocita High School :'( She is doing two varsity choirs, Acapella Choir & Madrigals. She also is in the top Chamber orchestra, so she has three periods of music in a row!! That's a lot of music! She loves it though. The rest of her classes are all AP classes, so she has a full schedule! Music is where she shines, so I am excited to see her progress this year! She and Cavin both attend early morning seminary at 5:50 with our church, so they are gone all day!

Cavin began his Sophomore year at Atascocita High School. He is doing football for Fall semester and also is in the second highest orchestra. He and Ella both play the cello. He spends literally 6 hours at football practice! It is ridiculous! He loves it though. He is taking all AP classes as well and is a very bright kid!

Channing just makes everyone smile! She is the sweetest! She began 7th grade at Timberwood Middle School. She is doing athletics and is trying out for all the sports. She also is in the varsity choir and loves to sing. She is in the STEAM academy at school and is in all advanced classes. She loves being at school and being with friends all day! 

Deacon began his 4th grade year at Eagle Springs Elementary! His teacher is Mrs. Edwards. He is a smart kid and loves math. He doesn't have any friends in his class this year, but got a great teacher, and loves to see everyone together at recess where they play soccer. He lives for recess everyday! 

I am so grateful we have bright, driven, motivated children. They work hard at school and succeed and we are so proud of them! I pray they can be a light to those around them and influence their friends for good. 

A Visit From Oma and Opa!

This past week Hellmut and Ursula came to Texas to spend a few days with us. They came here last year also for Deacon's birthday, and unfortunately it is the hottest time to be in Texas so it is limited on what we can do!

We played lots of card games and taught them "Trash"

We went to the temple to do baptisms with the kids. 

We went bowling.

Surprisingly, we sat outside many evenings and didn't melt!

For Deacon's birthday since it was Sunday, we celebrated on Saturday and went to play foot golf. 

It was hot, even how early we went!

He also chose Culvers for dinner!

Deacon's 9th Birthday we celebrated with donuts, games, church, dinner, water balloons, and family!

Deacon and his grandpa!

An after church picture. Cavin spoke on his birthday for sacrament today and did a great job! He also spoke the exact same day at his baptism last year!

He got a ping pong table, a banana chair, switch remote, beanie boo, reusable water balloons, and a wiffle ball set. 

Channing made his cake and made it a switch remote in his favorite color. 

The kids played a game with all the balloons my parents brought over. 

I'm grateful he has the support of both grandparents! 

When they left the kids played outside with the water balloons! 

Deacon still loves all things related to sports. His favorite color is still red and goldfish is still his favorite snack. He still loves soccer best. He says bozo a lot and always jokes he's going to "rage quit" when he's losing a card game with the family ;) He wakes up first thing in the morning to ESPN and wants to watch sports all day. If he's not playing them, he wants to be watching other people play them! He loves math and still hates anything to do with arts/crafts. He grew 4.5 inches this year and gained 30 pounds! He is growing and is still a sweet kid!

We had a nice time with Ragnar's parents and are grateful that they take the time to visit.

Channing's Cooking Class

Channing loves to bake and for Christmas we got her a few lessons. Our friend Kim who sells sugar cookies was finally able to set up a time to teach her. We spent a few hours at her home learning how to bake sugar cookies and then decorate them.

She was excited!

It was fun to be able to go with her and learn. 

We took some extra dough home to finish with some shapes. 

She came home and even taught her siblings and they had a fun time! They were delicious!

Ella's Utah College Tour

Ella and Ragnar went to Utah to tour colleges that Ella is considering. They flew into Salt Lake City and drove to Logan, Utah.  

They met Daphne who lives there and went to church and on a walk to see the beautiful area. 

There is still snow in some areas!

They toured Utah State University and Ella said she liked the size of the campus. 

It is beautiful this time of year.

They finished the tour with Aggie Ice cream!

They also got to see my Aunt Jana and Uncle Randy who both work there. 

It could be a good choice for her.

Then they went to Provo and toured BYU. Ella said the campus was really large and wasn't sure she loved the vibe there. 

My nephew John and his wife met them for dinner there in Provo.

The last stop was in Cedar City where they saw Southern Utah University. First, Ella wanted to go to the Utah Shakespeare festival since that is totally her thing!

They went to the play "Romeo and Juliet" which they both said was great! She was shocked by how small this city and campus are. 

Finally they went back to the Salt Lake area and stayed with Ragnars old mission companion Ryan. They had a great time talking and discussing life on the drives and flights. I think it was a valuable experience for their relationship and for Ella to get an idea of where she might like to go.

Speers Family Reunion Cruise 2023!

Since covid our extended family has really struggled. It has been heartbreaking to me as I don't understand why and how certain family members have chosen to distance themselves or remove themselves from our family. Due to that, we weren't sure if a family reunion would happen this year. We try and do one every other year, but my mom's heart has been pretty shattered and she didn't know if she could make it happen. Through it all, we encouraged her to continue on the tradition and continue to make memories for those who wanted to participate. We hoped to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and do the reunion all in one on a Royal Caribbean cruise. My parents booked the trip and although it wasn't the same and you can feel the hole in our family, half of us were able to come and we did our best to make memories, celebrate my dad, and create a memory that my mom loves to continue. Family is everything and even though we are through a trying phase, I have hope that we can all be a whole family again.

Our family reunion theme this year was "Anchored in Christ"

We went on a 5 day cruise on the Voyager of the Seas to Cozumel. 

The kids have never been on a cruise, so they were excited to explore the ship when we got on. 

Naturally, Ella went straight for a chair where she read!

Liam, Cavin, and Deacon did most everything together. They played a lot of basketball, golf, and soccer. 

We enjoyed the breeze and relaxing on the boat. 

Channing and Deacon tried out the pool, but quickly decided they did not enjoy the salt water, or how many people were in the small pool with them!

They opted for ice cream instead ;)

That night we had "formal" night at dinner and had a nice time. Mario and Tia were our servers and they were great. Tia adored Deacon and called him "Dimple" and would always say smile for me Dimple ;) haha.

The next morning we docked in Cozumel and went out for an adventure! We ended up switching from the underground caves and cenotes excursion to a snorkeling/beach excursion.

The crew we had was fun and we had a nice ride!

Deacon didn't really want to try snorkeling, but when he decided to and got the hang of it after about 10 minutes he loved it and said he wanted to do it again! We got to see a lot of fish!

We relaxed and played on the blow up slides at the beach, and I paddle boarded. 

We brought home a lot of sand in our suits!

It was pretty, clear water which was nice. 

The kids loved coming back each day to the towel animals! 

Each night we would cram into my parents room and do a devotional. It was a nice highlight of the day. 

We enjoyed eating together in the dining room and on this breakfast morning, the big kids got to enjoy breakfast alone together. 

We had a small "church meeting" Sunday morning. Here is our "half" family reunion crew. 

Channing and Aubrey went iceskating together. 

Deacon won his soccer tournament and Ragnar won the ping pong tournament. Fun to watch them play!

The last night they sang to my dad!

Despite it only being half of our family, I think we made good memories and the kids got to spend time with their extended family. I do not know what the future of our family will look like, but I sure love them all and pray we can all come back together again.