Weekend Recap

Hey kids,
Daddy here. This weekends activities included a whole lot of fun.

Friday, we headed out to Mason's Pizza in Bella Vista. It's owned by Mrs Woodfill's Brian and his wife Michelle. The service was a bit slow, but who cares when we're together with the family?!

Saturday, we had to clean the house and since we did such a great job, the boys and I went and got Fast Weenies for lunch. In the evening, Mom and I went to a crab feed at the fairgrounds with Grammie and Papa. We loaded up on crab and had a great time.

Sunday morning, Al and I were the readers at the 9am Mass. As much as I love doing my part to read and preach, I love just as much seeing you, Al, take such pride in yourself when you get up there. I'm so proud when I see you reading and serving your church. Jake noticed that there was lack of lead servers, so he stepped up and lead the others in what to do. SteveO, I'm also very proud of you for seeing that they needed servers and just jumping into the role. It fills me with joy to see you guys serve where your church needs you.  After church, we headed to Target for the weekly trip and to get the ingredients for the Buffalo chicken dip. We went home and Mom prepped the dip. We headed to Laird's for the MansClan tradition of watching the Super Bowl with those guys. The game was kinda boring, but the company was awesome so we had a great time. Final score on the Super Bowl 50 snooze fest was 24-10 Denver. I can't believe that Carolina only scored 10. Anyway, another great party was had, so we're calling it a success.
You guys have tomorrow off, but I gotta work. Enjoy your day with Mom. I love you guys,

Daddy

Weekend Recap

Hey kids,
Daddy here. This weekend was the annual Walk for Life in San Francisco. Alex has been to the Walk for Life a couple of times but the rest of us had never been. Father George called us on Friday and told us there were five seats left on the bus if we all wanted to go. It seems like it was destined. So, bright and early Saturday morning we got up headed to church and got on the bus. To say the seats were cramped, would be a massive understatement. To say the guy sitting in front of Mom was annoying, would be a monumental understatement but, we were there for the greater good so we forgive and move on. Be with a billion, really?! Ok, now I'm moving on. We arrived in San Francisco and went to our designated spot. I think the rough estimate put 55 thousand people there!

There were a few guest speakers but eventually we began walking. Father George had told us there would be many protesters and not to engage them. Alex, Veronica and a few others were hoping to see some crazies and we did. How about the lady screaming about her abortion? How about the "It's safe to leave the church" guy? One of the things I thought was neat was as we passed by a construction site all of the guys working on the site put their tools down and applauded us. That was awesome. It was also cool to see San Francisco all decorated up for the Super Bowl. We did however see a guy wearing all of his Seahawks gear. As I pointed out to Alex his team is watching from the same place that our team is, the couch. Alex got a little touchy because Brooklyn and Abeni Figueroa tried to monopolize my time, that is when mom wasn't physically having to restrain Ab from dealing with protesters. We eventually made it back to the bus and headed to get something to eat. Father George treated and we went to IHOP. We are so very blessed to have such a wonderful spiritual leader in Father George and I'm also proud to count him as a friend. We got back on the crowded bus and headed home. They decided to play a movie on the way home and that movie was Nacho Libre. I think it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but as I couldn't hear most of it it's hard to say. The only thing I know for sure is the only people laughing out loud was the guy in front of Alex and his kid who is sitting behind me. Ok, now I'm done. We eventually made it back home safe and sound. Hopefully, next year if we get to go will get a little bit bigger bus. If not, we will make it work. I'm glad we all got to go. I love you guys,

Daddy

Monterey Trip

Hey kids,
Daddy here. You guys get to go on so many great field trips every year, I wish I could go to all of them but alas I have to pick and choose carefully which ones I am able to attend. This year, mom and I made the decision that I would be attending and chaperoning the 6th grade field trip to Monterey. So after getting fingerprinted and taking an online test assuring that I wouldn't let any kid light himself on fire, I was ready to go. Wednesday night Jake and I packed up our stuff and set out early Thursday morning to begin our trek. We met the rest of the 6th grade class at the school at 6:15 and riding in Moya with Jake and I were Rudy and Patrick. We decided not to caravan and just let the chaperones find the quickest way to the aquarium on their own. Mike Palmer and I stayed fairly close on the trip down and decided to get gas and snacks at the same time. The right down was pretty uneventful because the boys just kept their nose in the iPad the entire time. Except one we went over the bridge near Benicia and they saw all the decommission warships. Then, as we got closer Patrick's excitedly said hey there is the ocean.

Christmas & New Year 2015/2016

Hey kids,
Daddy here. The past couple of weeks has been super crazy, what with the holidays and such.

It started on Christmas Eve. I took the day off and had to wrap up some last minute shopping (get it, wrap up!? lol). In the evening, we headed to the Christmas Eve vigil Mass at church. Alex was one of the lead servers and Jake served as well. Izzy was a little angel (literally, not just sitting there quiet). Grammie, Papa, Jula, and Violet joined us for the Mass. We get so tied up in all the gifts that sometimes we forget the greatest gift of all, God's love. Always remember that God loved us so much that He sent us a savior in Jesus and that is what this special time of year is all about.  After Mass, we headed home for our annual Christmas Eve dinner at our house. This year we had a full house with the five of us, Grammie, Papa, Tia, Uncle PP, Great-grandma Dorthy, Jula, Violet, Uncle J, Henry and even cousin Josh! Sadly, we did not have our traditional crab this year, due to the drought. Rest assured, Mom and Grammie made sure we still had plenty of good stuff to eat. We did have one brand new thing at this years dinner. Jake set his fabric napkin on fire. I certainly hope this will not become a new trend. Later in the evening, Mr Brace came by to pick up Al so he could be an angel at the 10 p.m. Mass. I'm so proud of you, Al for being there when your church needed you, even though you didn't want to. That shows such strength of character. Mom and I got all the dishes cleaned up and made it to bed before Santa showed up.

The next morning, I think you guys woke us up about 3:18 yelling and screaming that once again, Santa had paid us a visit. Mom made a pot of coffee and we headed downstairs to see what the big guy left us.



Everyone seemed very happy with their haul. Al's final gift was a Drone! Sadly, it was coming from China and would not be here till the 8th of January. Jake got a fitbit and Izzy got Gracie and an EZ Bake Oven. I got a bag of Mom's underwear, oops! In reality I got the Star Wars book, Aftermath. Mom got some kitchen stuff and some gift certificates from you guys. It was another great Christmas with the MansClan. We  had a few minutes to look over our stuff and then had to head out for the second part of our Christmas day celebration. We got dressed and headed over to Grammie & Papa's house. Papa made Mom and I his famous Bloody Mary's and Jake and Izzy passed out the gifts. The party continued all day and well into the evening. We watched some football, had dinner and decided to spend the night.

The next morning, we had a nice slow morning and watched some movies. We eventually headed home to play with our new stuff. A nice, relaxing, easy day. Is it only Saturday?!

Sunday morning brought us to Church and back home for another lazy, totally awesome day.

Monday we got a few surprises. First of all, Al's drone got here, weeks ahead of schedule! So we flew it around the house for a bit to try to get a feel for it. I tell ya, that thing is harder to fly than it looks. The second of the awesome surprises was that Becky & Eric were coming to Redding to drop off David and wanted to know if Alex could come back with them and spend a week at their house. We debated it for a bit, but Mom and I decided to let you go, Al. I can tell you now that as much as you wanted to see your friend, I really wanted you to stay with us since I don't get enough time to spend with you guys. One day you'll be grown and gone and I just want to make sure we have enough time together while you're still under our roof. I often lament about how little time there is and how quickly it goes, but I truly love spending time with Mom and you guys more than anything else in the world.

Anyway, Al left for a week in Danville and Jake, Iz, Mom and I had a great time too. On Tuesday, we went to see the movie, The Good Dinosaur. It was another awesome Pixar flick, and of course, a little sad. We went shopping at JC Penny for Jake.

Christmas Light Tour

Hey kids,
Daddy here. One of my favorite things to do every year is drive around Redding and look at the Christmas lights. This year the Mansfield clan finally decided to try something new, a Christmas tree light tour in a limo with our friends the Reagans and the Larsons. We met up at the Reagan's house and had some appetizers and then loaded everybody onto the limo. We drove all around Redding and even met Santa!

 After the tour was over, we headed back to the Mansfield abode and had some dessert. There was a lot of eating, talking, playing and laughing. Just another great adventure in our lives. I'm glad to have been able to share it with the Reagans and the Larsons. I love you guys,

Daddy

STAR WARS!!

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Ever since I was a kid, the Star Wars saga have been some of my favorite movies of all time and when I heard they were adding on to that saga with Star Wars Episode VII:The Force Awakens, I was totally excited albeit a little cautious. After watching a preview I became totally hooked and you guys did too. We started talking about when we would have the possibility to go see it knowing that it would be hard if not impossible to get tickets the day of or even the weekend of. 

A few months ago, Cagle had the bright idea to rent out an entire theater and give tickets away on the radio to be a part of this massive event. The theater agreed and decided to sell us an entire showing at 7 p.m. the night before the movie was to be released. I asked Cagle then if there was any possibility that I could get in to see the showing and he said only if I agreed to work it. Which of course I did. I began to beg more and more for tickets so you guys could join me, but Cagle said the tickets were very limited and I probably wouldn't be able to bring anyone let alone two other people. On Monday of this week that rule was still in effect, but Cagle said I could have one extra ticket. With the impossible choice of having to pick between Alex and Jacob I couldn't choose one of you over the other so I decided to take Mom. However, after a major plot twist, Cagle  came up with a third ticket so that all three of us could go.

I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get home and tell you guys and your reaction was everything I thought it would be.

So, Alex had to get through one day of finals and Jake had to get through one day at school. Last night, after I got off work I headed home and pick you up and we turned right back around and headed to the theater, tickets in hand excitement in head and ready to go.  When we got there, we saw a huge, gigantic long line leading out of the theater Alex asked me, "Dad do we have to wait in that line?" I said, "No, we're with the radio station." We walked right up to the ticket counter and Emily, our promotions director, walked us right into the theater.  We got some great seats. Before the movie, Billy and Patrick, Jake Easy and I all got up in front of the crowd to thank them for joining us and I did my stupid Wookie roar. I sat down with you guys and we prepared ourselves for episode VII.

It was awesome! It was epic! It was, dare I say, legendary! Too much to recap in the blog and by the time you read this you probably will have seen it 246 times. But never forget the first time: in the theater with me. I know I won't. It was a tremendous experience and I love that we all got to see it together for the first time. I love you guys,

Daddy

Madrigal

Hey kids,
Daddy here. As Alex is in High School now, he's had an awesome opportunity to take part in the Shasta High presentation of Madrigal. Since Al made it in as a freshman, I sure hope that he'll do it all four years. There are four performances during the week, but Mom and I decided the best for us was to go on Friday. So, we sent Jake and Iz to the Reagans and met Grammie, Papa, Tia, Uncle PP, and Great grandma Dorthy at the event. I was the last to get there, so when I entered they asked me how I wanted to be introduced and I said, "Uhh, Mr. Mansfield." They asked, "Lord Mansfield?" to which I was all, "ABSOLUTELY!!" That has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?! Anyway, I had the privilege to enter with Duchess Moty so there was a big fanfare when we walked in. I sat down next to Mom and the night got under way.
I'm not usually a fan of dinner theater type of stuff, but this was outstanding! I mean, I don't think I can even express how proud, impressed, and flat out blown away I was by the presentation, charisma, and overall professionalism of the entire thing. Al, Arjan and our other table servers were helpful, charming, funny and kept us entertained during the times when the performance was not happening.

When it was, the singing was awesome, I loved how the voices melded beautifully together. I loved how they'd sing strong, then soft and back and forth. The different bands sounded great & the dancers were majestic. The actors were all very impressive. My favorite was the Jester, she was incredible. Mertinsire was also very funny and really sold his part. The Wassail was tasty and the gummie worms in our salad was funny (and tasty). The Cornish game hen was cooked perfectly and was delicious. When the figgy pudding came, I was told to wait for the caramel sauce. I'm glad I did, as OMG that sauce! Per Al's instruction, I HAD to put it on a roll and try that too. I actually thought it was better on the figgy pudding, but that darn sauce would make packing peanuts taste good so it was still good. Mom got an after dinner tea, and I got a coffee.
The Jester's story changes from night to night, so she had to be good at improv, which she was. So our story called for her to rap and she killed it! When the story had concluded I was a bit sad, as everything was done so well, I didn't want the night to end. But eventually, they bid us all adieu and we had to head home. We all took a few moments to thank the different people we thought did such a great job.
Our family headed out and Mom went to get Jake and Iz from the Reagan's. I took Al home and I hope I was able to convey my immense pride. I was completely astounded by how good it was. I told Mom later that if we had paid $100 for that and gone to see grown adults do it, that's the kind of quality I'd expect. I'm so proud of you Alex. I know how hard you worked the last month with all the practices and having to stay up late to get all you homework done. I hope you feel like it was all worth it, because that was a very special night for Mom and I to see you involved in something that great. I love you guys,

Daddy