Thanksgiving

Hey kids,
Daddy here. This year, I decided to take a long Thanksgiving break, so I was off Wednesday thru Sunday. Five days off for me is like a mini vacation. Al was off all week, and Jake and Iz had two half days Monday and Tuesday. Jake went down to the Clickner's on Monday after school, so it was pretty scattered for the first part of the week.
Wednesday, Alex and I had to go out and get some last minute things for Thanksgiving. We were almost done with our errands when I got the call. GG has been sick for a few months now and at 95 years old, I had a feeling she would not be going back home. I try to prepare you guys the best I can for the hard times in life, and I hope that I have. However, no matter how much preparation you have and no matter how much your logical mind knows what can and probably will happen, getting that call is always hard. Angie told me though tearful words that GG had passed on. She waited for Angie to get there and the Chaplain played "Somewhere over the Rainbow" on the ukulele. From what she described, it was a very calm and peaceful passing. I started to get choked up and thanked her for calling to let us know. I hung up the phone and started crying. Alex gave me a big hug and we just sat there for bit, hugging and crying. It was an awful, beautiful moment for me. While sad that GG was gone, I was so glad that I had Al there to literally be a shoulder to cry on. That would have been very hard to go though alone. Al suggested we skip our last errand and just head home. We got home and told Mom and we all just kind of sat there and cried a bit. I know it's dumb to say, but she's been there for me my whole life. When I was a younger man and I was going though hard times, I could always call and talk to her. She'd give me advice, send money, and sometimes just listen. Even if she wasn't my grandmother, she'd still be my friend. I love her so much, and I'm just sad that I won't be able to tell her all the great stuff you guys do. When someone we love passes away, we're only sad for ourselves. GG's knees don't hurt anymore, her hands don't hurt anymore. She's with her husband, her parents, her brothers, her son, and her grand daughter. I'm so happy that she had such a wonderful place to go but I'm a little sad for us, as our lives are a little less colorful without her.
Thursday, we all got up early for the Mansfield tradition of going to the Turkey Trot. Last year I had to miss it because our water heater had blown up the day before and Papa generously offered to help me put the new one in. This year, I was all in, but Jake was sick and didn't feel like going! So, Mom, Al, Iz and I all put on our 30th anniversary sweatshirts and headed out. It was quite a chilly morning so I'm glad we all bundled up.

Afterward, we headed home and got all our stuff together for Thanksgiving and headed to Grammie and Papa's. I always love hangin out with the family. We watched some football, Al and I checked out Uncle J's RAD drone and snacked a bit. When it was time to eat, we all gathered around the kitchen island and I said Grace for us all. We sat down at the table and enjoyed out Thanksgiving meal as a family. We have so many wonderful things to be thankful for this year. Our lives, our family, our home, that GG is not suffering, that we live is such a great state and nation. Too many to count. I am so glad I get to spend the holidays with you guys and Mom. I never get tired of just being around you. I love you so much.
Saturday, we went to Turtle Bay to check out the Get Animated exhibit. Mom and I got a coffee before we went in, so we took a little walk first. After coffee we headed in to Get Animated.

Sometimes I wish we could spend a little more time reading some of the neat information they have written on the cards and such, but Jake and Iz get bored when there's not stuff to do. We we hung out and played some of the games and had some fun.

Afterwards we walked over the bridge and went below to throw rocks. Al and Jake had some awesome skippers and we just enjoyed our time together.

 I love you guys,

Daddy

Weekend Recap

Hey kids,
Daddy here. This weekend we went to Chico to celebrate Yayas 40th birthday on Saturday. I first met Yaya when she was a freshman in high school and I was a sophomore. She was in a few of my classes and she sat next to me in Pre-Calculus. I used to copy off her all the time and she'd slide her paper over so i could see her answers. When Doc first told me he wanted to ask her out, I told him I'd put in a good word with her if he promised not to screw it up, as I needed her to pass. Well, they've been together ever since and I passed Pre-Calc so all is well, lol. When I first met Mom and was telling Doc and Yaya about her, Yaya said, "Oh, I know her. She's in my English class. She's super sweet, you should ask her out!" Well, you guys know how that's worked out so nedless to say Yaya's been around my life for a long time. We all headed to Chico and Mom got Yaya out of the house so we could decorate. We got everything set, gave her a big surprise, and had a really fun time. I love that they live so close that we can just go for the day and still make it home by a reasonable hour.
We've been busy as of late, so we opted for a lazy Sunday this week and went to the 5:30 Mass and the guest priest was from Buffalo. Afterward, Mom had an idea that we'd go to Mod Pizza. You guys and Mom have been there but I had not. It's like a build your won pizza place and they even have a few beers on tap. Izzy loves the Marionberry iced tea and there are lot of stickers on the wall of people who've been there. We saw a few people we know. It was totally awesome and we made plans to definitely come back to this awesome place. The circus starts again tomorrow. I love you guys,
Daddy

Weekend Recap

Hey kids,
Daddy here. A few years ago,  I took Alex to a church sponsored Father/Son program in Chico.  This time around we were fortunate to have the talk in the St Joseph gym. A few of your friends were there to get to talk as well. Mr Watkins hosted the event and hopefully you guys learned something. The birds and the bees talk is something I think every father dreads, but one that is sponsored by the church and taught by men we respect is about as good as it can get. It is my job to raise you guys to become men. So far, so good.
Saturday, after an awesome sleep in we had to get some chores done around the house while Mom got her nails done. After Mom got home, she took Izzy to Natalie's birthday party at the gymnastics place and the boys and I got to chill and watch Flash. We wrapped up our day by having our standard Cap'n Chad pizza and watching a movie. One of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world.
Sunday morning, the Mansfield men were scheduled to read at the 9 o'clock mass. I was Lector 1 and Alex was Lector 2. Starting at this Mass, Lector 2 was supposed to read the opening prayer. I have to tell you Al, seeing you stand up there with your shirt and tie and getting ready to lead us all in prayer made me very proud. I'm so proud of the man you're growing up to be, son. After Mass, it was time for the Knights of Columbus breakfast. A great way for us to help out the Knights and get a totally filling breakfast at the same time. I love you guys,

Daddy

Halloween

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Halloween this year so we participated in another Mansfield family tradition which is going over to the Fig's neighborhood to trick or treat there because they give out stock options and full candy bars and such. I brought some Not your Father's root beer for people to try and sat down to watch the World Series game with Dr Fig only to be informed by Mom that I would need to take the kids out. So Mr Palmer, Mr Medina and I took you guys out trick or treating.

Hammy!

After what seemed like forever and many bags overflowing with candy we headed back to the Figs. It was another successful Halloween. We have enough candy to last us the next two months although I expect it will last less than a week. I love you guys,

Daddy

Weekend Recap

Hey Kids,

Daddy here. Mom was out of town this weekend at Sara's 40th birthday party, so it was Daddy in charge (which is always a fun time). Friday night, we got the Mansfield standard, Cap'n Chad pizza from Papa Murphy's. We watched some of Edge of Tomorrow and after Jake and Iz went to bed, Al and I watched Mad Max. IT WAS AWESOME!!

On Saturday morning we went to pray the Rosary with some members of our church outside because father George always says public prayer is more powerful than private. We prayed the joyful mysteries and then the sorrowful mysteries and Jake even led us on one of the decades. I was so proud of you, SteveO. Leading all of us in prayer was very powerful for me and for others. At the end, Father George thanked us all for coming, especially the young and the old whom are the closest to God. I was glad to be considered part of the first group, lol.

We left St Joes and headed to Target to pick up a few things we needed. I owed Alex and Jake a Starbucks for an A they had gotten and Izzy agreed to keep her room clean so she got one too.

Later in the afternoon, we went to see Goosebumps the movie. On our way out the door, Izzy asked me if she looked good in her big sunglasses. I said, "You look like Audrey Hepburn." She spun around and yelled, "I'M NOT AUDREY HEPBURN!!" I told her that Audrey Hepburn was very pretty. She smiled, "I'm Audrey Hepburn."

The movie was good and we had a great time. We headed home to get all ready for the annual Fall Festival at school. We took a quick stop by the Reagan's house so Kristin could do Izzy's makeup first. Izzy went as a kitty cat, Jake went as Spider-man and Al went as the most terrifying thing of all, A TRUE 49ER FAN!!


 As I was not in the mood to get all the Halloween stuff down from the garage, I let you guys bring the recyclable grocery bags for candy bags, thinking they'd be waaay to big. Nope! I did not consider Al, who filled his almost a quarter of the way full and Jake and Iz had nearly as much as well. All told, we made it home with like 8 pounds of candy! It's not even Halloween yet! As the night drew to a close, we grabbed Mackenzie and swung into Little Caesars for some to go dinner and headed back home with the Reagans to hang for a bit. Alex fell asleep in our bed in about 5 minutes, Izzy and Mack played in her room, Cory fell asleep on the couch in 5 minutes and Kristin, Andrew and I watched the Nightmare Before Christmas. Once sleep started to get the better of all of us, I sent Jake and Al to their beds and Izzy to my bed, the Reagans headed home and I conked out finally after a long, awesome day.

Sunday morning the boys alter served and for the first time in a long time, I was able to just observe the Mass. Father George talked about the blind man Bartamaeus and his struck a chord with me as Father George often does. After Mass, we headed down to Chico to party with the Clickner's for Lily's 3rd birthday. Mom was supposed to meet us there, but she wasn't feeling well so she said she'd just meet us at home. Later in the day, Doc, Al, and I took a man break and went to the Graduate to grab a beer and chat for a few. I love, Al, that you come and hang with the men now. We stayed till about 7 and finally headed home. We got home and told mom all about our weekend and she told us about hers. We all crashed and prepared for another busy week the Mansfield house. I love you guys,

Daddy

Weekend Recap and River Bowl!

Hey Kids,

Daddy here. RIVER BOWL XIII!!! Every year Shasta High School and Enterprise High have a football game that for that last 23 years has been called the River Bowl. Mom and I have been talking about going for years, and now that we have a high school kid, we have to go. Fearing they would sell out, I went to Shasta on Friday and got our tickets.

There were 637532689 people at the game so there was nowhere for the 5 of us to sit so we stood. We saw Jessica and Jake and Iz sat with her for a bit. Alex went to sit with some of his friends and Mom and I talked to Kelly, the alter server. Izzy did not have too much interest in the game so she watched Netflix on Mom's phone while the game was going on.

Shasta had not won the River Bowl since 2011 so Al and I were a bit nervous after spending $24 for our shirts.

Oh, nm, lol. Final score 63-21. They let the 4th quarter run continuously due to the blowout. I can't wait till next years event which will be at Shasta.

Saturday, Mom, the Reagans, and I had tickets to see Zac Brown in Wheatland. I was totally excited! We stopped in Chico for dinner at Tres Hombres and had a fantastic meal. We had a laughter filled ride to the show and took our seats on the grass.

 Cory and I rented lawn chairs for all of us and paid $11.50 for one tall can. $11.50?! Well, I guess that's concert prices for ya. It was still a great show. We got back late, dropped the Reagans off and headed home to bed.

Sunday morning brings Mass. After which we headed home for a little football, a few cold ones and trying to wrap our head around next week. I love you guys.

Daddy

Communion Practice

Hey kids,

Daddy here. Tonight we had to go to church on a Tuesday because Izzy and the first Eucharist class had a practice and meeting for the parents. We sat with the Reagans and ate dinner in the basement. After dinner, the kids headed upstairs and Father George talked about how important the sacrament of Baptism is to us Catholics. I'm so glad we have such a strong faith family in our church. I'm also very thankful that we live in a country that we can freely celebrate our faith. After dinner, we headed upstairs and the kids sang us a few songs they had learned.

Father George showed us what a baptism would look like for the kids that are not baptized.

We had a nice prayer and headed home. I'm proud of you Izzy and I'm so glad to be taking this faith journey with you. I love you.

Daddy