The Passion of our Lord

Hey kids,
Daddy here. For the last few years, I've had the awesome opportunity to portray our Lord in St Joes Passion play. We do it the week before Easter Sunday, and I am honored and humbled to take part in it. Each year, it gets better and better. This year, Josh Warren played the Roman soldier, Mary Jo was Mary, Mrs Medina was Veronica and Mr Medina was Simon of Cyrene.

I think a lot about the walk that our Lord took for us, more during this time of Lent than any other. He loves us so much that he would endure all of this agony for us. His love is boundless and without condition. To have the opportunity to help people become closer to Him has been a wondrous part of my journey to Him as well. I hope when you look at the crucifix, you see his message of love and remember what he did for us all. When people make you mad, or when things are not going your way, try to think about His walk to Calvary.

We all have difficult times in our lives, and I will always be there for you guys. I love you guys,

Daddy

Garth!

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Recently, Mom and I had the opportunity to  Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood in concert with Patrick and Jane in Sacramento. They are some of our favorite  artists and Mom and I have wanted to see them for many years and finally had the opportunity to do so pretty close to home.

Gotta start our with the right food

We got to the show in plenty of time and had great seats, so before we get started, selfie!

We paid over $20 for 2 beers, but that's show prices for ya. Also, I elbowed this lady and she dropped her beer. I felt terrible, but she left before I could offer to replace it. Garth played for about 2 hours and did all of our favorites.

Those are all cell phones, haha

Garth & Trisha

The guy was absolutely awesome and can still bring the house down despite the fact that he's like 53 years old. Plus, he gets to travel around singing with his wife, how cool is that? Anyway, just another wonderful memory for Mom and I to share. I love you guys,

Daddy

New carpet!

Hey kids,
Daddy here. When we moved in to 3560 Mercury in 2002, we had this terrible, thin carpet. Mom and I decided to get new carpet and we've had the replacement for the last 13 years! There's been all manner of stains and spills on the carpet, so we've decided to get new carpet. We finally got the washer fixed so it was time. Papa stayed at our house all darn day waiting for the carpet guys to finish. I was the first one to get home and lay on the new carpet (and hook the WiFi back up, of course).

Mom has been pretty militant about not letting Rudy on the carpet so I've had to fireman carry him up the stairs. Also, there's no eating or drinking down stairs. I'm just wondering how long it will be before someone, and by that I mean Jake, spills on it. So far, so good. I love you guys,

Daddy

The French have got to go!

Hey kids,
Daddy here. The 5th grade play this year was all about American History. Jake got the best part in the whole thing as George Washington, and Haley Moore got the part of Martha Washington. How cute are they?!

They all worked so hard and practiced for weeks, so as you can imagine Mom and I have been singing the songs around the house for a month or more.

Sing that History song, ladies!

Uh Oh, History Police!

Sage as Ponce de Leon

Boogie with the Bill of Rights

I had "The French have got to go" stuck in my head for 2 weeks and when they sang it, I leaned over and said to Tia Donna, "I'm so happy right now."

The whole thing was super awesome to watch and be a part of. I know Mom had to work very hard and long to get it all up and running, so I hope she knows how awesome it was. You did such a great job Jake, I'm very proud of you. I love you guys,

Daddy

Izzy's Movie

Hey kids,
Daddy here. For Christmas Izzy got an American Girl doll, and the doll for 2014 was named Isabelle, and she's a dancer! How prefect is that?! Iz has been struggling a bit in school as of late and I told her that if she didn't change her card all week, we would get her the Isabel movie. Look how happy she is.

I'm so proud of you for focusing and doing well Izzy. I look forward to many more happy memories with you. I love you guys,

Daddy

Pilgrim Statue

Hey kids,
Daddy here. We were very fortunate this week to have the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima at church. Father George is awesome at getting this type of relics and such for us to see. It was sculpted in 1947 and has been traveling the world ever since. This is the first time she's been in Redding and we got to have Her at our church, how cool is that?! The Mass was awesome and we all stayed to pray with our lady for a few.

When Our lady appeared in Fatima in 1917 she told the seers to pray the rosary. We really need to try to do what our Lady asks of us, since we ask her to pray for us to Jesus. Our Lady loves us so much and I love you guys.,

Daddy

St Pats Day

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Today is Saint Patrick's Day. A great man. When he was young he was captured by Irish raiders and held captive. He escaped, and after returning to England he decided that the Celts and pagans in Ireland needed some Jesus in their lives. So he went back to Ireland and preached the Gospel of the Lord. He used the clover to illustrate the Holy Trinity. He is the patron Saint of Ireland and this day is one of my favorite holiday's on the calendar. What a great St Patrick can be in our own lives when we need to do our own parts to preach the Gospel to those who need it the most. Plus, mom and Izzy look adorable in their St Pats gear, lol.

I love you guys,

Daddy

Mom's bday

Hey kids,
Daddy here. March 11th, 2015. Mom turns.....40! Shhhhh! Don't tell her. I think she was afraid of it. As it turns out, she just as beautiful and wonderful as she's always been. I'm glad to have spent the 17 years with her and look forward to spent the rest of my life with her too. I asked her where she wanted to go for her birthday and she chose Mary's Pizza Shack.

Mom got pasta, Jake got a burger (much to Al's dismay) Al & Iz split a pizza and I got a meat Calzone. We all left very full and very happy.

But the night was not over yet., What would a birthday party be without ice cream, Mom's fav?! So we went to Sweetpot and had a little ice cream and then headed home. We had to keep this one brief, since Mom's real party will happen in a few weeks. That's gonna be a good party. I look forward to celebrating many more years with you guys and Mom. I hope when you get older, you'll remember to call Mom on her birthday, it's a big deal. She loves you so much. We both do. I love you guys,

Daddy

Mt Shasta

Hey kids,
Daddy here. A few months back the Reagans invited Mom and I to go to Mt Shasta with them for a couples weekend. For some reason , I could not remember that we were going to Mt Shasta and I kept saying, Tahoe, Ashland, Deluth and other wrong places. It was in fact Mt Shasta and when we got there we went to a place called the Goat Head Tavern where they had unused beer taps on the ceiling. It was awesome

Cory needed to get some stuff and after we were done shopping, we headed to our cabin. We had two cabins right next to each other, so we had some more food and laughs and relaxed for a few hours until it was time for dinner. By dinner time we were ready for more food and drinks and Cory and I both got Prime Rob and mashed potatoes and it was awesome! After dinner, we went back to the cabins for more laughing till way too late. Mom and Kristin got up really early and went for a walk, it was like 7 degrees, I'm out on that. When they got back, we went for a drive and a hike around some lake that I cant remember the name of.

Since we were up there, we decided to head to the Head waters of the Sacramento River.

We headed back down the road towards home, stopping off in Dunsmuir. I took a picture of a Church and a bar, yep that's about right. 

We had a great time with great friends. I say it often, but we are very blessed to have people like this in our lives. We are also blessed to have people to watch out for you guys. You all went to different houses for the weekend. Al went to Gabe's, Jake to Sage's and Izzy went to the Warrens. After 5:30 Mass, we picked up you guys and came home. Long weekend, but another great one for the MansClan. I love you guys,

Daddy

Jake goes to 11!

Hey kids,
Daddy here. 11 years ago, the good Lord blessed our family with Jake. B-Boy, Jakie, Steve, Stanley Steamer, Steven Tyler, you get the picture. Jake was the first one born who was by scheduled C-Section. So when it was getting close, the Dr just told us to be at the hospital and we'd have a baby about 8:30 a.m. When we got there, the anesthesiologist was running late, so Mom was all, "Oh, that's ok, I'll wait!" He showed up and everything went very smooth. When Tutu and Grandpa showed up and looked for him in the nursery, I pointed him out and said, "There he is. Jacob Albert Mansfield." and Grandpa got the biggest smile on his face. He loved you so much, Jake, right from the beginning. Someday, I hope you'll know the joy of being able to pass along the family name to your son.

Enough looking back, it's Jake's birthday, let's party! This year, Jake's birthday was on a Wednesday, so we had to save the party for the weekend. On the actual day though, we hit Red Robin and when the hostess asked how many kids menus, I said, "Just one."

Yondu, Yooondu

I figured you would not be able to eat all the burger you ordered and we'd have to take some home, but no! You ate it all, good job SteveO! When the ice cream came, we all got bites and went home and slept really good with our bellies all full.
When the weekend came, we decided to have Jack, Pat, & Sage come over for the festivities. We first headed to the park for some catch with Jake's new football gloves.

Sage and I in the apocalyptic future

After, it was off to bowling, where the competition was fierce.

Then, it was home for cake and ice cream and to play Disney Infinity for a few hours.  I hope you had a great day Jake. You are a great son & brother. We all love celebrating with you so much. I love you guys,

Daddy

Scary Stuff

Hey kids,

Daddy here. One of the reasons I write this blog is so that someday when you guys read it, you may get a little understanding in what I think and feel. I also write it for me, so that I can express my thoughts and feelings and explore the depth of my own mind. Some day I won't be here anymore to tell you that I love you or hold your hand or laugh and joke with you. I always want you to know that I love you guys more than any words I could type here. I think our journey together through this life has been the best part of being alive and I thank you for all the great memories we have shared. I look forward to may more years of memories with you.

Recently, I had had some chest pain and some breathing difficulties. On Feb 11th, it got really bad and I went to the ER. While I was there, they ran a bunch of tests on me and one of the things they thought was wrong with me was a Pulmonary Embolism. They needed to give me a chest CT to confirm. I know you guys don't remember, but that was the last thing that Grandpa ever did before he died. When they told me I'd have to get one done, I was really scared. Scared that I might have it, scared that I might just die right on the table, scared that I never got a chance to say goodbye to Mom and you. As you know by now, I didn't have that and the Pericarditis which I did have was taken care of. Your health is not something you should ever take for granted. Even though my fears were unsubstantiated and silly, it still made me think. I pray for courage to face my own death, we all will need to some day and I pray that God gives me courage to deal with what I must. I know in my heart that we're going to a better place, but it's still kind of scary to figure out what happens between here and there.

Just know that whatever happens to any of us, Jesus will help us though it. I love you guys,

Daddy

Red

Hey kids,
Daddy here. February already?! Yep, time waits for no man. Tonight, Jake had a birthday party to attend at Viking Skate Country, so Mom and I headed to a new pub in town called Woody's. It was sweet!

Afterwards, we decided to go for a walk on the Sundial Bridge. February is Go Red month, so they had the bridge lit up in red, I'd never seen it look like that and thought it was beautiful.

I have to tell you that I sure do love spending time with Mom. She's my best friend. I hope you guys get to experience that some day. Some day in the far, far future! I love you guys,

Daddy

3 Piggy Opera

Hey Kids,
Daddy here. One of the things I love to do is to watch you guys perform. Luckily for me at St Joe's , you do a lot of that. The 1st grade class does one of my favorites, the Three Piggy Opera. Izzy had been practicing so much for her role as the Stick Pig. As luck would have it, her best friend Mackenzie got the role of the Straw Pig.

Nice Picture

Silly Picture

I'm so proud of you Iz, you did a great job. All us parents had a blast and lots of laughs. Now I'm gonna have that song stuck in my head for a few days.

"Oink, Oink, dig-a-dee-dear, the three piggy opera you're now going to hear." lol

I love you guys,
Daddy

Holey Girl

Hey Kids,
Daddy here. Izzy has been loosing teeth right and left and this is her as of late.

I'm sure Maxine will take good care of her. I love you guys,

Daddy

2015 Kickoff

Hey kids,
Daddy here. 2014 was a great year for the MansClan, but it's time to say goodbye. What better a way to bid farewell that with a party?! The Reagans and the Palmers came over for food, drinks and laughs. We had a great time and everyone made it till midnight, haha. We are very fortunate to have such great friends. I look forward to ringing in many more years to come with you guys.
The next day we got up and headed to the Clickner's for a few days. There was bouncing and nerf wars abound. One night, Mom, Yaya, Doc and I went out to Benihana for an adults night. Mom and I had never been there so we didn't know what to expect.

There was a grill at our table so the guy cooked our meal right in front of us. It was awesome. Dude made fried rice right in front of me and it was the best I've ever had. The whole meal was not only entertaining,  but delicious.

I love you guys,

Daddy

Christmas 14

Hey kids,
Daddy here. It always seems to go too fast, yet here we are at Christmas time again. Before the fat man can show, we had Christmas Eve mass, which Papa had won a front row seat for at the musical!

Looking good, Daddy 

You guys served and Izzy was a little angel in the production. After Mass, we came back to the house for crab and pasta, our family tradition. We kept a close eye on Santa on the Norad tracker. It was a close call, but we managed to get everyone out and you guys in bed before midnight. The next morning, the big guy had once again taken care of the Mansfield clan.

That is one happy girl.  We had a great family Christmas and we all got something we loved. We wanted to stay and play,with our stuff, but another tradition dictated that we head to Grammie and Papa's house for round 2. We ate crab eggs benedict and sausage, sooooo good. We went through round 2, stayed for dinner and headed home. Another great holiday with our family. I hope when you guys get older, we will still celebrate together. I love you guys,

Daddy