By Travis Sloat

Whatever the athletics team at Kapaun Mt. Carmel, there’s a good chance you’re going to find the last name Thengvall on the roster. The three boys, Henry (Sr.), Nathan (So.), and William (So.) play football, basketball, and track.

Emily Thengvall, the boys’ mother, said even though the young men are super competitive on the fields and courts of their choosing, that competitiveness usually gets left on the front porch when they come home. “Honestly, we’re pretty fortunate, because of the three boys competing for the same team or at least at similar competitive levels, we see more strengthened bonds of loyalty and brotherhood at home rather than the opposite,” Thengvall said. “That’s not to say that everyone is on their best behavior here…there are times at dinner they’re dissecting each other’s decision in a play or a crucial moment of a game that things get heated around the dinner table, but all in all in makes life more fun to play and compete together.”

The Thengvall family does have a younger sibling, a daughter named Ellie, who the family recently discovered was a little put out by those conversations. “One of my favorite conversations with Ellie recently was about our dinnertime discussion where we found out that Ellie was fed up with the conversations surrounding Kapaun football, Thengvall laughed.

Thengvall said in their free time, the boys not only relax, but also manage to work together running their own business.

“The boys love to travel, eat a great meal, hike when we’re in Arizona, and play golf in the summer,” she said. “Henry loves a good book. The three boys own and operate a lawn care business from early spring through the late fall. It may not be something they totally enjoy in their free time, but outside of sports and classwork, it occupies a lot of their free time.”