THE STROM LIFE: August 2025

Monday, August 18, 2025

I'm Related to Harry Potter

My cousin (Tracy)'s son Caleb Hafen is the real deal. He's been living in NYC for the past several years trying to make it on Broadway and landed a role in the touring company of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child! They performed for several months in Chicago, followed by several months in LA and are now finishing up at the National Theatre in DC. So, of course we went to go see him!

Waiting for the show to start....

Caleb normally plays the parts of Cedric Diggory, James Potter Jr and James Potter Sr. He is also the understudy for the main role of Albus Potter. He texted me and told me there were four shows this past week in which he would play the lead role as Emmet Smith, who normally plays Albus is on vacation. So we made sure to get tickets to go for one of those shows. It was so fun seeing him play the main role and on stage most of the show. He did great!!

We went to the show with my other cousin's son Johnny and his wife Youngjin who live in Virginia.

Meeting up after the show. Caleb introduced us to his fellow castmates including his co-star Aidan Close who plays Scorpius Malfoy.

So fun catching up and to see Caleb perform on the big stage! What an exciting future ahead for him!

Introducing.....

Severna Park High School's new JV soccer goalie!

It's been a very intense week of try outs. The soccer team is one of the very hardest teams to make at our high school because they have so many kids try out. And every single one of them has been playing soccer since Age 3! So it's crazy competition. This year, there were 78 girls that tried out. After three days of try-outs, they called all the girls into the locker room on Friday and one by one pulled them out to talk to them and let them know whether or not they made the team. So nerve wracking (for kids and parents!). Riley was so happy and grateful to get the good news that she made the team and is so excited about making her very first high school team! ⚽

Kitten Update

Happy 5 weeks to our three foster kitties!

Ella's little wake up call

They're all now drinking water on their own, eating both wet food and hard kitten food on their own and getting much better using the litter box.

Tanner reunited with the foster kitties after his two week hiatus.

They're now getting more independent and playful and getting into the fun stage!

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Back from Guatamala!

Tanner just returned from a 15-day Humanitarian trip to Guatamala.

While there, he and his HXP (Humanitarian Experience) group finished building two classrooms and a bathroom for an underfunded, overcrowded school.

On the weekends, they got to explore this beautiful country!

On Sunday, they rested from their work and recreational activities and attended a local church.

This is a "screen-free, device-free" experience. None of the kids have their phones, so we have absolutely no contact with him the whole time he's gone. The parent leaders update the IG account, so we just check for IG posts every day and try to get proof that he is happy and healthy! But, towards the end of the trip, each kid writes their parents a letter and the trip leaders take a picture of the letter and send it to the parents. We were so excited to hear from him and loved what he wrote.

A little reflection time

Hard at work trying to finish up!

My Tan-Man

Taking a little break

Time for lunch!

Interviews at the work site - parents love this part where we get to see and hear about our kids 😊

Many hands make light work....

These hands who never knew each other prior to this experience.... now bonded.

They did it! They finished the school literally in the nick of time!

The community held a little ceremony for them, thanking them for their work and community service and friendship.

They made bracelets for each HXP member and presented it to them. Here is Tanner getting his.

Then they went to visit the Guatamala Temple.

Great way to end the trip!

Headed home!

They made it back to Miami! From here, they all parted ways and went home.

Coincidentally, Tanner and his trip leader Townsend were both coming back to Maryland (Tanner because he lives here and Townsend because he's doing an internship here) and were on the same flight! So that was super fun and I enjoyed meeting him when I picked up Tanner from BWI.

Welcome home, Tanner!

It was everything we hoped it would be for him and we're so grateful!

Update: Some extra pics that have trickled in over the last couple of weeks.....

Hershey Park!

We have an annual tradition of going to HersheyPark every year. This year, it was next to impossible to find a date that worked for all six of us, so Tanner gave us his blessing to go without him while he was in Guatamala. So, this past Monday (Aug 11th), we headed out to Hershey!

It's been so fun over the years to see what each kid is (the rides are all coded with different Hershey candies instead of traditional height charts). With Ella now being a Jolly Rancher, all four Strom kids have officially advanced through all the candy height levels!