THE MANGUM FAMILY: February 2012 Recap

For having an extra day this year, February sure did seem to fly by faster than ever. The month was filled with wacky weather, play dates, service projects, surprise visitors, mystery dinners, new beginnings and sad good-byes. We learned, played, danced, cried and laughed as we grew closer together this month.

Houston weather in February is usually fantastic. This year threw us a few curve balls. We had really hot days, really cool days, really rainy days and everything in between. There was some flooding and fun puddle hoppin' to be had...I guess it is all a matter of perspective. After everyone got home safe one day, the fun began.

We sure love our friends & family. This month we had a chance to play with good friends a few times more than normal and have Don's brother Adam visit for a week-end. It was so great to have him here & can't wait to see the whole gang next month for a mini-Mangum family reunion!

This month we said good-bye to our good friend Babatunde, who passed away on Valentine's Day of heart problems. He is the dad of one of Michael's best friend's Ade, who is really like another brother to all of the kids. Ade eats, plays and works with us everyday, and the loss of his father is tough. Ade continues to come laugh and eat with us and over the last few months, we have gained a new life friend in his sweet mother Yeni as well. Through this all we have grown together & are so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the peace it grants each of us.

Jake was awarded Character Star of the Week in February for the 1st grade, nominated by his teacher for being "Curious and Responsible". That does sum up Jake most days, especially the curious part!

The end of the month brought another UIL tournament and another trophy and medal for Hayley. She is really excelling and becoming a confident public speaker. Michael and Ade whooped up on a basketball team in preparation for the upcoming Stake Young Men's tournament. We got a fantastic new Bishop at church who didn't waste much time in putting some of us to work. I miss working with the Young Women but Relief Society is great too...even if it does keep me from having time to blog on a regular basis :)

For FHE the last Monday of the month, we finally had our mystery menu dinner, originally slated for Valentine's Day. I got the idea from here. I changed it up a little and made it more of a Rodeo Theme since we just had Go Texan Day at school the previous Friday.

Here is how it works: Each person fills out a menu with their mystery choices and the meal is served in several courses. Examples of the mystery menu they had to choose from included Cheap Gas, Farmer’s Alarm Clock, Hay Stacker, Shovel, Splinter, Tractor Wheels etc. They pick 3 or 4 mystery items for each course, everyone having all items by the end of the 3rd course.

Don helped me serve it up and it was a hilarious meal. It was fun to see the reactions as their mystery choices became unveiled and they were left to eat "Texas Best" (Blue Bell Ice Cream) without any utensils because they didn't request a "Shovel" with that course or eat "Cheap Gas" (beans) with a Splinter (toothpick). It is definitely a new family tradition that will pop up every few months to spice up dinnertime!