Ragnar's Trip to Germany!

Surprise parties are the best parties!

About a year ago, the idea popped up to go visit my mom for her 69th birthday. It was short notice and for many reasons I wasn't able to make it work. But the idea stayed in my head and I decided to make it happen for her 70th birthday! For a while I stored the idea in the back of my head. But with about 6 months to go, I enlisted all my sisters to see if we can make it a little family reunion and all surprise our mom the weekend of her 70th birthday.

Daphne booked a flight from Houston to Frankfurt. Sandra ended up finding a flight from SLC to Duesseldorf and I booked a flight from Houston to Duesseldorf. Our layover was in Atlanta and Sandra and I had coordinated to take the same flight to Duesseldorf, while we would say good-bye to Daphne who was flying to Frankfurt and then meet us at the train station in Duesseldorf. Lots of moving parts. Daphne only had a 50 minute layover and in my mind leading up to the trip I thought, how cool would it be for her to miss the flight to Frankfurt and then just get rebooked on our flight to Duesseldorf. Sounds pretty simple, right?

Well, we left Houston 45 minutes late and then it took us a while to taxi from the runway to the gate. By the time we arrived at the gate her flight had left the gate and she officially missed her flight. Delta's computer automatically put her on a flight the next day. That wasn't going to work, so we had to go to a counter. While we were on our way to the counter, she was re-routed through London to Frankfurt. That wasn't really going to work either and as we got to the Delta counter the lady there was kind enough to book her on Sandra's and my flight to Duesseldorf. Everything was falling into place and we were all very excited.

After that everything went off without a hitch. Not only were we all on the same flight but there were 3 seats right by each other and since the flight wasn't full we were able to play musical chairs and sit by each other. Someone surely had a hand in all this happening. What are the odds of Daphne missing her flight and then getting on our flight and for all of us to sit together? And top it off, we arrived in Duesseldorf almost 90 minutes earlier than planned.

We hopped off the plane, went through customs and passport control and just had to take bus line 721 from the airport to our front door. The bus stop is literally only a 2 minute walk away from my parents' house. We were tired but then adrenaline set in as we arrived at the bus stop and I couldn't walk fast enough to the house.

Pamela and Belana had gotten to the house a day earlier to get everything ready for the visitors my mom knew about (Fingerle's and Martes' were planning on coming Friday evening). We kept them up to date on a group chat on where we were and the made sure they were in the kitchen, where they could see us walk up to the house. While we were walking up to the house they were also facetiming with Naomi. That way everyone was present during the surprise.

Our dad was on the second floor peaking out the window to see where we were and had a big grin on his face. I am still in shock he was able to keep it quiet. For 6 months we had all known that we would try to surprise her but we were all able to keep a lid on it.

Mom finally saw us and judging from her reaction, she really had no idea. It was so fun to see her so surprised and her laugh was so real and so happy it made for a great morning. The stress of traveling, coordinating and praying that Daphne would miss her flight was absolutely worth it. It was such a fun reunion that I wish we could go back in time and do it all over again. We even have a video of the moment we arrived. You'll just have to ask me for that.

Once the excitement died down a little bit we had plenty of things to do. Of course we went to Aldi .... twice that day to buy groceries and drinks for everyone and just enjoyed being with each other. It was just so relaxing and fun.

Even though this was a trip to surprise my mom I had to do something I hadn't done in 20+ years. It so happens, the day we arrived 1.FC Koeln had a home game and I hadn't been to the Muengersdorfer Stadion in a long time, so I was able to purchase a ticket through a friend and we went to the game. The game ended on a terrible officiating incident but it was so fun to be there and I wish I could bring the boys to a game there. Maybe one day we can make that happen.

The next day we went running around the Unterbacher See since we hadn't done that in a long time either. It was chilly and dark but very refreshing. I sure didn't miss the Houston heat.

The rest of Saturday was spent taking family pictures and going to lunch with everyone that was able to be in attendance. In the evening I was able to spend some time with my childhood friend Kris Heipke who I hadn't seen since the last time we were in Germany. It was great hanging out with him and chatting.

Sunday was a regional conference for our church which was exciting because I was able to see so many people I hadn't seen in many many years. Perfect timing and even though I was only able to talk to people for a short time it was great to catch up with them. Sunday afternoon we had people over for cake to celebrate mom's actual birthday. Many people came and celebrated her and celebrated with her. We are lucky to have so many friends that care for her and wanted to be there.

Monday was spent packing and buying some clothes and souvenirs for the kids. I wish they all could've been there. We had a great time walking the streets of oldtown Duesseldorf and walking down memory lane a little.

Tuesday morning came quickly and while it was sad to say good bye, it was such a great experience to surprise our mom. She is a gem and an angel. She never complains and always does what needs to be done while never forgetting someone else's needs. I am so lucky to have her as a mom and her example of Christ-like service will always be in my mind.

It took me a good 2 weeks to get over the jet-lag but it was absolutely worth it to surprise her. The whole trip exceeded my hopes and expectations and I was glad everyone was able to be there and be part of the surprise. I have amazing sisters and it was so fun to plan everything together and execute it the way we did.

Orchestra Bananza!

Cavin is in beginners orchestra at TMS this year and had his first concert last week. 

He is playing the cello like Ragnar and Ella. He is really enjoying learning.

He did a good job and we had fun watching him. He is catching on quickly.

Also that same week Ella performed in the Region Orchestra concert. She tried out and made the region orchestra a few weeks ago and was pretty excited. All of the middle schools in the region try out and only a few are selected. I was so glad she was brave enough to try out.
Between Friday and Saturday, she played 10 hours of cello to prepare for the concert!!! It was so worth it when we heard them perform!

We got front row seats! 

The concert really was amazing!! It was short, but so good and I loved hearing the whole symphony!! The weekend didn't end as she had to play 3 more hours on Sunday for other performances she will be playing in! I am so proud of her for putting in hard work and for using her talents!! We love music in our home!

Grandpa Haws Turned 90!

A couple months ago I was talking to Ragnar and I mentioned wishing I could be there for my grandpa's 90th birthday as he is getting older and I don't know when I could get out to see him. Well, being the amazing husband he is, he called me a little later and said, you should go, it wouldn't be too many flight miles. So, I called my mom and dad who were already going and then got my sister Marisa on board and we went to Utah for his birthday.
I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah on his birthday, November 1, 2019. My cousin Ryan Jackson was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and let me ride with his family to Vernal. When we got there I first met up with my sisters and parents and Grandma Wall who is 94 and also lives there first. 

She still looks great! Unfortunately she is having some nerve pain in her leg so she was having a hard time walking for a couple days. 
We went over to see my grandpa and wish him a happy birthday that afternoon.

His house looks the same as I remember. 

After we checked in and said hello, we went to Don Pablos and had dinner with all the Jackson cousins. 

There was a big crew of them and it was fun to see them all.
On Saturday we did the big party celebration! Grandpa came in with this silly hat and wig! I love his sense of humor and was so glad that although he has been in a lot of pain, he was happy and in a good mood!

The party was put together by my mom and aunts.  

Both my Grandma Wall and Grandpa Haws were happy and well and it's fun that they live in the same town. 

Then my Aunt Laurie brought the cake to sing happy birthday and it slipped and almost landed in his lap ;) haha!! 

They had a slideshow and it was great to see Grandpas life and try and catch up with my cousins and Aunts and Uncles.  

At the party they had a lot of my grandpa's art work displayed, and he is a fantastic artist. 

After the party we took my Grandma to Cold Stone as she and my dad love ice cream! 

That evening my parents had a family meeting, so my sisters and I played games with Grandma and watched a Hallmark movie. She still loves games in her old age! It's been so cold in Utah, but it was not even a half mile to our hotel, so we walked home. I was definitely not in Texas anymore!

Sunday we went to church with Grandpa and then got to see my Uncle Randy and Aunt Jana. 

It was great to see Grandpa and hear him talk about his life and share some time with us.  

That night we went to the cemetery and visited my Grandma Haws and Grandpa Wall and other great grandparents.  

So many family members in that cemetery.

I had stayed the nights in the hotel with my sister Marisa and we had a great time catching up! I wish I got to see her more often!

Monday we drove back to Salt Lake and I got to see my friend Ashley for the day and we had a great time. I flew back that evening. It was a quick trip, but one that I will never forget. I am so grateful for the time I had with my grandparents. I don't know when we will be able to get back or how long they will make it, so I really was thankful I was able to sneak away and say hello! I am glad we have forever to work on family relationships. I wish we lived closer to my extended family, but am grateful for the family legacy we have. 

Halloween 2019!

This year we have been taking a personal finance class, so we we have been trying to budget and save in areas where we could. In effort to help with that resolve, we decided to try and make due with the costumes we had. The kids used costumes they had with the exception of Ella who we found something for. She had a youth party that she needed something for. Ella was a pirate, Cavin a basketball player, Channing a disco girl, and Deacon spiderman (we finally convinced him not to be a storm trooper for the 3rd year). 

We went to the Trunk or Treat for our ward and then a couple evenings later we went downtown for Trick or Treats in the suites.  

We got to take a locker room tour and they upped their game this year.  

The next night Ella and Cavin were trick or treating with their friends, and so I took the younger two with Channing's friend Mallory Tate to go out. We were only out for an hour and a half and they got tons of candy, so we called it good. 

It was a simple Halloween, but we had a good time.

Archery Date with Dad!

The past few years for my dad's birthday, I have been trying to give him a gift of an experience together. This year I gave him an archery package for two. I thought it would be fun for both of us to try it. It always takes a couple months to get to redeem the gift as he travels a lot and we usually wait for the kids to go back to school. Friday we were able to go and have a morning together.

We were lucky that when we got there right after it opened there was no one there, so we got to do our own thing for an hour.   

We didn't really know what we were doing at first, but we definitely got better and better and hit the target paper the majority of the time.  

I hit my forearm a few times when I would hold my arm too close to the bow, but I learned after a few bruises ;) 

We got pretty good at this distance.  

I had a couple bulls eyes and my dad did as well.  

 

It was a fun morning and I'm glad that my dad still has the desire to try new things and get out and use our bodies. I have fun hanging out with him. Afterward, we went to World Burgers and got lunch. It was a nice morning. Happy late birthday dad!