Weekend recap

Hey kids,
Daddy here. We had another great weekend with the Mansclan. Friday, Alex Jake and I all went to Chico to spend the night at the Clickners. I love that they live close enough for us to be able to drive down to hang on a Friday. It was a short trip, but a good trip. We hung out for a little bit on Saturday, had some lunch and headed home.  Izzy had a ballet performance on Saturday evening, so we had to be home in time for that. Al and Jake stayed home and I went to pick up Cory. We met Mom, Kristen, Izzy and Mackenzie at the event.

When it was time for is Iz and Mackenzie's part of the show I got very excited to watch her dance. I'm so proud of you for your dancing Iz, you do such a great job and I always love watching you.

  After the recital, I was starving and wanted to go get a cheeseburger. We dropped the girls off at home and went to CR Gibbs. Cory knew the manager so we got a big discount on a bill, which is always awesome. We stopped and got ice cream for you guys on the way home because the girls put on such a great performance. We got Al his very own pint of Ben and Jerry's for watching all the kids.

We decided it had been too long since we watch the movie Top Gun, so we fired up Netflix and watched. It's still just as awesome. The next day was the Taste of Redding, so Mom and I went to do a remote and enjoy some food and some beer.  Scott Schoffner was there so needless to say there was plenty of laughter. After a few hours in the hot sun, Mom and I decided we had enough. We lazed around the house until bedtime and it was awesome. A great way to finish the weekend. I love you guys,
Daddy

Craziness

Hey kids.
Daddy here. I don't think I've enjoyed a Monday as much as I do today in a long time. This weekend was insane!. Friday night, Alex, Jake, Doc, Nathan, & I all went to the XRyderz1 motocross event in Red Bluff. I love that we can hang out with those guys on such short notice now because they live so close. It was great.

The next morning, Jake's first soccer game in the tournament was scheduled for 8 a.m. at the Soccer Park. The game ended up being a tie. A tie is the most unsuccessful feeling ever. A tie is like kissing your sister. No closure, can't move on, a stinking tie. Anyway, after the game we headed home to clean the house since it was ransacked. After a bit, Alex and I had to head to Corpus Cristi practice at church. As it turned out, there was not a practice because the priests were in Sacramento watching the ordination of the new priests. Grrr. We went to get a cheeseburger and then headed home. A few hours later, we headed back to the Soccer Park for Jake's second game. They ended up losing, but Jake did very good as goalie. We then headed to Chico to visit my cousin Nancy, whom we hadn't seen in about 10 years. We met her and her husband Jeff at the racetrack and visited few minutes before heading to Chili's for lunch. Jake did not want to go to Chili's but we realized why when we got there. He thought you had to order chili. LOL.

We had an awesome visit with Nancy and took her back to the racetrack and headed out of town. On our way, we had to drive right by the street where the Clickners live, so we decided to stop in for an impromptu visit. Izzy went to the door, rang the doorbell and said,  "Girl Scout cookies for sale." Nathan stared at her with his mouth open and couldn't believe we had stopped in for a visit. We stayed for about an hour and then finally headed home. We got coverage for the 11:00 Mass since we had too much to do in the morning. By the time we got home, everyone was exhausted and crashed as soon as we got there.

Sunday morning started with Alex's canoe practice at 7:30 a.m. Jake's final soccer game of the tournament was at 10:30 and we had someone coming to look at the house at 10. Good thing we cleaned yesterday. I dropped Mom and Jake off at the Soccer Park and Izzy and I went to go get Alex. We picked up Alex at the boat ramp and headed back to the Soccer Park. The game that was to follow was the most epic goalie performance I have ever seen! Jacob, son, you blew me away with your skills and dedication. You are awesome! Unfortunately, your team scored exactly 0 goals and ended up losing 1-0. It was still pretty awesome to watch though. We got back to the van, and Moya wouldn't start. Mom and Jake got a ride home from Miss Mara and brought the red car back and picked us up. We went home and relaxed for about an hour before Mom had to take Jake and Iz to Sean's birthday party at Rare Air trampoline park. After the party, it was back home, showering, and getting dressed for church at 5:30. After church, we all went downstairs and had dinner with the youth group. Father George and  Father Lawrence also came down and have dinner with us. With our bellies full, we headed home. Everyone went to bed, wiped out from exhausting weekend. We'll see what adventures the following week brings. As Alex starts swim classes in the morning. Even with all this craziness and insanity, I'm glad to share my life with Mom and you guys. It'll all work out okay, I'm confident. I love you guys,

Daddy

Graduation?!

Hey kids,
Daddy here. The time has come for a day I've been dreading for 9 years. Alex's graduation from St Joseph School. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago when Mom and I sat in the cafeteria at the ice cream social for new parents with students entering kindergarten. Yet here we are. Nine years later and Al is getting ready to graduate. It was an entire week of celebrations starting on Tuesday. We had graduation Mass at church and all the 8th graders were there in their cap and gown.

 Almost all the kids in the graduating class have been together since kindergarten. Will came in 5th grade, Grace came in 4th grade and I can't remember when Daisy arrived. But Alex, Adam, Ana, Ashley, Mary Smith, Mary Claire, Nancy, Skylar, Gabe, and Joe have been together the whole time. Lately, we've had excellent opportunities to hang out with a good portion of the class including our awesome trip to Great America. This group of kids and their parents are far and away my favorite class. Some of them still have younger siblings at St. Joe's so we'll get to see them for the next few years. But some we will only see at church from now on. As happy as I am and proud of Alex and all the graduates, I wish we would have had more time together with these kids and their families.  After Mass, it was time for the actual graduation ceremony and Alex got an award from the altar servers society. I love so much, Al, that you love serving so much. You make mom and I so proud and do such a great job up there. Academically speaking, I told Alex starting in the 6th grade that if he ever got a report card with straight A's he would get $100. I'm proud to say he's finished St Joe's with straight A's. Great job son. You earned it. With the ceremony complete and mom in tears, we headed over to the gym at the school for the 8th grade slideshow. Each one of the 8th graders had a placard with their name on it where people could write things about them. We were one of the first people there so none of them had any writing yet, but I noticed that Alex's had. It said, "Alex, you're the best brother anyone could wish for. I love you, Jacob" You guys just seem to fight so much and disagree and bicker so much, but when it really comes down to it Jacob loves you so much, Al. I'm proud of Jake for having the courage to be the first one to write and to write that on Alex's name sign. I sat down, and we began the slide show. For Alex's music, he picked Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" (the best music of the entire slideshow). Alex and I picked out a bunch of photos for him to have in the slideshow and it was great. During the slideshow, Papa tried to tickle Jake and he lurched forward and face planted on the table, cutting his eye and giving him a black eye. There always has to be something, doesn't there? It was about time to go until Alex and Jake wanted to ride with me and it Iz rode with mom. As we were walking to the car, we saw Mrs. Figueroa and she asked if we wanted to go to Red Lobster. Before I could even answer Alex, Jake, Ana and Abeni all started screaming "YES YES YES!" So I caved and said okay. We texted mom and Iz and they met the us and the Figs at Red Lobster. We had a giant dinner and I showed Alyssa Ellington how to crack crab. With our bellies full we headed home with our new graduate. People say all the time how fast the time seems to go watching your kids grow up and I'm here to tell you that it's totally true. The time itself didn't seem to go by very fast at the time, but the years just flew by. Whatever happened to my little guy who fell asleep with Spider-man? This wonderful, thoughtful, intelligent, caring, funny, young man has taken his place. I hope Alex that you and I will stay as close as we are today, forever. I love you son. so much. I'm proud of you and I can't wait to embark on the next stage of your journey with you. I love you guys,
 Daddy

Memorial Day

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Memorial Day weekend is upon us again. The Pros & Joes on Saturday was awesome, but I think I'm even more excited for what we did after church on Sunday, which was to head out to the houseboat! The weather wasn't too hot or too cold, it was just perfect. We did some swimming, we played some bolo (I lost every game I played), we ate some great houseboat food. It was awesome. I'm so glad Grammie and Papa have a houseboat that we get to enjoy too.

The next day was Memorial Day Monday and me and Mom were both off work. Memorial Day is a special holiday for us here in America. It's a day we celebrate all of our brothers and sisters in uniform that have paid the ultimate price for America's freedom. I hope you guys grow to appreciate the great sacrifice that so many men and women have given so that we can play bolo and enjoy burgers and hot dogs. They deserve our respect and our thanks. We had a nice long day at the houseboat, but eventually had to head home. At least the coming week will be a short week. Although there'll be a lot to accomplish this week, but we'll get to that later. I love you guys,

Daddy

Pros & Joes

Hey kids,

Daddy here. Every year, there's a BBQ competition in downtown Redding, called the Pro's and Joe's. The last few years, the boys have started to come with me and a new tradition has been born. It's a great opportunity for us to hang and have some great BBQ. Our favorite dish this year was the "Pig Shot" from the Grill-billy's.

They also had a "Moink" which is a bacon wrapped meatball and we got a koozie too. We had pork sliders, ribs, chicken and a bunch of combinations of all of those things and more. It was  awesome to hang out and have some great BBQ. We took a photo at the photo booth, and got a funnel cake to take home for Mom. I'm proud to say it made it all the way home intact!. I love you guys,

Daddy

Grouchy Ladybug

Hey kids,

Daddy here. In addition to the awesome musical that the school puts on each year, the individual classes also put on a little musicals and celebrations. Mrs. Thornton's class has been performing the Grouchy Ladybug for many years. I believe when Alex did it he was the stag beetle and his friend Luis was the grouchy ladybug. When Jake did it, HE was the grouchy ladybug and stole the show. Now it's Izzy's turn and she is the Sun and Moon and one of the times on the clock, I can't remember which. Her best friend Mackenzie is the friendly ladybug and Ben Richards was the grouchy ladybug.

It was a great presentation, We all loved it. I'm always so proud of your ability to be up in front of people and act and sing. It takes a real courage to do that and you guys always do it so well. I love you guys,

Daddy

Pancake Breakfast

Hey kids,

Daddy here. After the rodeo last night, we were all pretty tired this morning. But, tired couldn't mask our excitement for the annual pancake breakfast. They close off the streets in downtown Redding and serve about 10,000 people breakfast.

It's been said that this is the largest outdoor pancake breakfast in the world! The lines are crazy long, but usually move pretty fast considering how many people they serve. We stood in line got our pancakes and sausage got some milk and ate up.

We always see a bunch of people we know at the pancake breakfast as practically the whole town is there. Jake and Izzy had a chance to pet a Clydesdale and we all had a great time. I love you guys,

Daddy

Redding Rodeo

Hey kids,


Daddy here.There a lot of great events we do here in Redding every year and one of my ultimate favorites is the Redding rodeo. This year, the radio station got a box, so Jake and Izzy sat in the box and Cagle, Alex and I sat behind.

Cagle went and got some garlic fries and shared them with us. However, it was not enough and we needed some real dinner. Luckily for us, I knew a lady at the Famous Dave's booth and she gave us a full rack of ribs for half price! We had to also get some Kettle Corn for us and enough to take home for Mom.

There were some great bull rides and great calf roping but my favorite thing that happened all night was when a barrel rider rode around a barrel and knocked it over but before it fell to the ground she caught it with her hand and tipped it back up right as she rode around it! It was unreal and we all screamed. We ended up staying till almost 10 p.m. It was another great night hanging out with you guys, I love you guys,

Daddy

Joanna's Confirmation

Hey kids,

Daddy here. This weekend, Joanna Warren made her First Communion at the 11 o'clock Mass. I always loved the First Communion Masses because the kids always end up doing something funny, but more importantly, we are welcoming new members to our Church. When Jesus broke the bread and instituted the Eucharist, it was a gift for all mankind. Being able to share in the divinity of that with new members in our parish community is truly special.  After Mass, we headed back to the Warrens for a big party.

We had a great time hanging out and celebrating our newest member of the church. Father George and Father Lawrence both made an appearance and we had a great day. Next year, Izzy will make her First Communion, and I'm sure we'll party then too. I love you guys,

Daddy

Aladdin

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Every year Saint Joseph school does a musical and every year you guys take part in it and it's awesome. Over the last few years as Alex is gotten older he's gotten bigger and better parts in the musical. This year's musical was Aladdin and Al got the part of the Sultan.

At first he was disappointed that he didn't get Aladdin or the Genie, but he made his peace with it because he wanted to be in the musical. Jake decided not to do the musical this year and Izzy got the part of a dancer along with Mackenzie. The musical has shows on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Friday night show is the one we usually attend because there is a dinner, auction and all sorts of revelry. Grammie and Papa and Great-grandma Dorothy sat with Mom and I and watched the show. Once again, Alex showed off his acting chops and was fantastic. Izzy and Mackenzie were adorable as the dancers and it was another great performance all around. I wasn't actually counting but I think Al may have had more lines than Aladdin. It was a great show and I will miss seeing Alex in the school's musical from now on. I sure hope, Alex, that you continue your acting in plays and musicals at Shasta high next year. I love you guys,

Daddy