The Hartzheim's

Pre-Christmas Celebration in Texas!

We traveled to Germany for Christmas, so we celebrated with Santa early in Texas with my parents and sister so we didn't have to bring everything with us.

We first made a trip down to the Giving Machine and picked some things to donate to others. Always a fun tradition.

We celebrated on Saturday, December 16th a couple days before we left for Germany.

Last year I hid the pickle too hard for them to find, and this year apparently too easy! Channing found it and opened her present first.

The older they get, the less fun it is to shop for them :) I miss buying fun toys for them! Ella got tickets to Les Miserables, a new coat, sweaters, boots, jewelry/jewelry box, journals etc. Cavin got kicking lessons, lots of clothes, a football, charger etc. Channing got a trip with me to Arkansas for my nieces baptism, a Lululemon belt bag, a Stanley cup, a mannequin, a dress and other things. Deacon got new soccer target goals, a soccer rebounder, shoes, books etc.

We enjoyed our traditional cinnamon rolls and then had turkey with my parents later.

Family morning selfie! I made Ragnar go on a scavenger hunt for his presents this year.

We had to stop the festivities for a couple hours and go to Cavins scrimmage game and then we came back to a nice meal.

Yummy turkey and potatoes!

I love Christmas and we are lucky enough to be able to celebrate with both parents this year!

Ella's Madrigal Group and more Music!

Ella had a season full of madrigal performances during the Christmas season. She had an event or performance almost every night for several weeks. I loved to watch her. They sound so beautiful.

One of their events was singing on the strand in Galveston.

One of her last performances was at the Atascocita Presbyterian church.

My mom came with me and we loved it! I love that she gets to sing in this select choir!

We also got to watch Ella and Cavin's orchestra concerts and Ella's holiday choir concert.

Then Channing's middle school choir concert. They sang The 12 Days of Christmas and she was one of the "7 swans a swimming". It was a unique concert for sure :)

We also participated in our stake fundraiser and sang there. Even Deacon sang in the children's choir and Ella did a cello quartet.

We also sang in the Stake Christmas Concert on Sunday. Everyone in the family participated. Channing, Deacon, and I sang and Ella, Cavin, and Ragnar played the cello!

We finished off the season with Channing and Ella singing "What Child Is This" in sacrament meeting on Christmas in Germany. I'm so grateful for the talents that were shared and for the love of music.

Channing's Snow Ball Dance!

Channing was asked to go with her friends to the Timberwood Middle School Snow Ball dance. She was excited to join them!

She looked beautiful in her maroon dress!

Watch out for the future Charlie's angels.

She has a cute group of friends and I'm glad she has them.

The girls sure loved to take pictures :)

They went out for ice cream afterwards!

Yay for her first dance of many!

Last Minute Decision!

Cavin played soccer for AHS last year and after a really long football season told us he wasn't going to try out for soccer. We love to watch him play, but knew he probably needed a break for his body! Well, the morning of tryouts he texts us and says he's staying after school and trying out! Typical teenage boy :) After 3 days of tryouts, he made the team. They kept him on the JV red team since he will stay in the football class and can't move to the soccer class, but he is happy to just play wherever.

We are excited to watch him play this season and improve. Never a break in sports around here!

Thanksgiving 2023!

This year for Thanksgiving my sister Marisa's family came into town and it was wonderful to see her! We got to spend the week with my parents and sisters and even got a glimpse of my brother.

We went and did baptisms at the temple to start out the week.

We went to see the Trolls Band Together movie together. On Thanksgiving it almost looks like we color coordinated. :)

We got to do a puzzle. It can't be a holiday without a puzzle at moms!

The girls went for a walk and had fun together!

Our favorite thing was keeping our tradition and going to the Nutcracker together. This year we got to have Marisa and her girls join us to!

I have a great mom and sisters and I'm so grateful my mom makes it happen each year.

My girls look forward to this ballet each year and play the music weeks before.

While we were out watching the ballet, Cavin was a few miles away at NRG stadium playing the an AHS playoff game! They boys went to go watch him!

He is the backup kicker on Varsity this year so he didn't play in this game, but was dressed and ready.

Deacon absolutely loves watching his brother's games.

We are grateful for family support. We had a great week with the Scharmans and my parents. We have much to be thankful for.

Channing's Basketball Season!

In October Channing told us she wanted to try out for the basketball team at her school. She has never played before, so we were a little surprised. Well, she woke up sick on the last day of tryouts, but didn't want to miss, so she went and tried out and made the team! She is playing on Timberwood's B team and is a starter. She has improved a lot this season and is getting more confident. She still isn't very aggressive, but she has so much fun being a part of a team.