4th of July Week-end

Nothing says America like baseball so Michael took in 2 Astros games the week-end of the 4th, both when the Red Sox were in town.  Friday night we all went and Saturday night Michael got to go with one of his oldest friend's Will, who was in town for the week-end visiting (along with his sweet sister Emily and his mom, one of my dearest friends).  They had a great time.

Emily, Michael and Will


My parents came into town for the long week-end and were such a great help.  One of my sweet friends had passed away earlier in the week after a courageous battle with with ovarian cancer, and her funeral was on Saturday.  So Mom and Dad took over with the younger kids while Don, Michael, Trevor and I attended the funeral and helped with some other things for the family.  It was such a blessing to not worry about my kids during everything.  I knew they were in excellent hands - Thank You!!

The 4th of July kicked off with our annual 4th of July Flag Ceremony and breakfast at the church.  Michael and Trevor were involved with their Scout troop in the Flag Ceremony and did a great job.  Afterwards it was a fun breakfast with a few games.  One game included getting signatures of different people at the breakfast who had been to a list of important American places and other fun facts.  Trevor surprised us all and won one of the 3 awards for getting a completed paper first, so he came home with some great candy to share with us!




Happy 4th of July!

 

Loving the donuts!

Enjoying the breakfast with Grandpa

Hayley has been wanting a bike for years, so Grandpa and Grandmommie surprised her with her early birthday present and took her bike shopping.  She was so excited to find a new bike.  Since it has been several years since she had a bike, this is her first bike without training wheels, so Grandpa and Dad spent some time out in the 100+degree weather teaching her to ride.  Grandpa also fixed up Michael's old bike and spent some time working with Trevor before hitting the road to return home.  Thanks for the great week-end!

Birthday Bike



Look at that smile!

Trevor and Grandpa



A&Wesome Dads!

Father's Day was a extra fun day, celebrating Don and all the great fathers in our lives, as well as celebrating Don's dad's birthday the same day.

A great Dad with his kids

We started off with a fun breakfast in bed.

Enjoying a yummy breakfast

Luke serving some bagels

After a great day at church, we gave Don his Father's Day gifts, which included some A&W root beer for our A&Wesome Pop!  Everyone loved the reading of the questionaires, similar to the ones we did for Mother's Day. Favorites included If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? and What was dad like as a kid? The responses had us laughing so hard. 

After going to a wonderful baptism for a sweet friend, we went home and had some more family fun.  Grammy and Grandaddy came to celebrate the day and have dinner with us.  We celebrated Grandaddy's birthday with a delicious Texas Sheet Cake.  He had plenty of help with his candles.

Happy Day!!

Root, Root Root for the Home Team...or Not!

In July the Boston Red Sox came to town to play the Houston Astros, our two favorite baseball teams.  Grammy and Grandaddy surprised us all with tickets and we had a great time together.

Hayley having fun

Jake and Luke enjoying the popcorn

We were a split family, cheering on our teams.  The best was singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas" during the 7th inning stretch.  

Fun with Grandaddy

Talking during the game

It was a fun night - thanks Grammy & Grandaddy!! 

Luke enjoying the game

Easter Dinner at Grammy's

After church we headed to Grammy and Grandaddy's for a wonderful afternoon.  We had a delicious Easter dinner together.  Michael helped Grammy by hiding some eggs out in the backyard for the younger kids to hunt after dinner. 

 

 

Michael did such a good job, he had to come out again when they were done to make sure they didn't miss finding any.  The other kids were so funny following him around the yard in case he spotted any.

One of Luke's favorite things in the backyard was playing in the fun grass.

 

Jake was excited to see the contents of the prize egg!

Once the excitement of the egg hunt had worn down a little, Grammy gathered all the grandchildren together to give them each a special gift, a picture of the temple.  She talked for a few minutes and told them some great stories.  It was a special treat for all of us.

 

Then at 6 pm we all gathered together in the kitchen for another wonderful Easter treat.  Don's nephew, David (who just finished his first year at BYU!), had submitted his mission request paperwork to serve a full-time mission for the LDS church.  Friends and family from across the country called in together on a conference call and were able to hear David open his mission call and read outloud that in August, he will be going to the Colorado Denver North mission for 2 years!  It was really exciting to be together and to be a part of that call.  David is the oldest cousin/grandson on the Mangum side and we are so proud of him.  We know he will be an amazing missionary!  To learn more about what David will be doing the next 2 years as a missionary,click here.

The Conference Call

Listening to David

We ended the evening together eating some delicious desserts and then heading home.  It was a great Easter week-end!

Rockin' at the Rodeo

We had a blast at the rodeo last week during spring break!

We went with Don's parents and were able to do most of our favorite things, plus adding a few new things. The first ride of the day is the good ole' Metro park & ride, always a crowd favorite!

Then it was on to the Farm where the kids planted & harvested vegetables, milked a fake cow, and cashed in our earnings all in at the end for a treat.

This year we took in a magic show & both Trevor & Don were picked to help with the magic tricks.

Luke took advantage of the show and caught a few winks.

After that we headed inside to see the animals & tractors.

Who can resist getting a chocolate milk after visiting Borden's Bessie the Cow?

And of course, we had to stop at the largest fake green hill in Houston for the traditional roll.

All that walking left us needing some good tasting vittles to eat, so we headed outside to get some of our favorite rodeo food. Nothing says rodeo like sausage on a stick!




Then it was off to the carnival rides. Jake wanted to ride the teacups & the guy let me ride for free. Who could turn down that? I should have...we were spinning so fast & I couldn't even keep my head up & barely kept my lunch down. And I thought I had the easy job, sticking with the younger kids & grandparents while Don took the oldest 3 on the bigger rides. After that I stuck to the ground and just took pictures.

We all met up at the end for the kids to go through the bubble house together.







And what better way to soothe those upside down stomaches than hitting the fried food for dessert. This year we just stuck to the fried cookie dough & deep fried oreos, and even Luke tried to get into the action. The wind was crazy and we were all covered with powdered sugar by the end.





We barely missed getting into seeing the pig races, so settled for another trip around the farm & a brief stint in the petting zoo before heading home.

Enjoying the ride home in style.

Thanks for such a "sweet" time Grammy & Grandaddy!