Monster Attack!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

I found this monster in the backyard while I was trying to tame the jungle back there. He was hanging out in a little hole next to the stream. I put a stick in his claws and once he clamped down I pulled him out. Christy seemed completely disgusted by him but when it came time to dispose of him, Christy took the high road and saved his life. So I put him back in his hole and wished him luck.

Christy's industrious Farmer

Sunday, April 5, 2009

For any of you who play Carcassonne, you'll notice Christy's little yellow farmer in an awesome spot. He's farming in the middle of a loop.

If you don't know this game, give us a call and we'll introduce you.

Persistence pays off

Saturday, March 21, 2009

So I decided last fall that when it got nice enough in the spring I would start trying to tame my yard. The first project was to tear out a random tree that had grown between the canal and the fence. I thought it would be a simple project that might take an afternoon. I was so wrong! It had roots made of steel and after digging and cutting for a week I finally got the bulk of the stump out. I was so proud of myself I had to take a picture. Next is digging out the canal before they turn the water back on so I can pipe it off and cover the canal. We'll see how well that goes.

Here is the stump next to my chainsaw.

Our 'NEW' car

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

So our NEW (I guess I should say newer) car hit 100,000 miles. I hope it can hang in there for a little longer. Compared to Christy's car, my car is just getting started. The Civic has nearly 160,000 miles on it.

Breckyn Ann

Friday, March 6, 2009

My sister, Kelly, had her beautiful baby on February 17th. Breckyn Ann Neeley was born at 8:22 in the morning weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches long. Kate and I were able to go spend some time with them. Breckyn is such a good baby, and already has so much personality!

Just to give you an idea of how little Breckyn is next to Kate.

Breckyn's first experience in her swing.

Breckyn, Kate, and I

Not trying to toot my own horn, but I made this adorable bow!

Congrats Kelly and Bryce! She is one good looking girl!

Kate's Disney dreams come TRUE!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

As you all know this November Kate will be going to Disneyland for THE FIRST TIME! We are so excited for her to experience the magic of the Happiest Place on Earth and so we entered her in the Disney Dreams contest and SHE WON!!! This year the entire park is dedicated to Kate. A local news station ran the report yesterday and I was able to get a copy. Check it out!

(Make sure you MUTE the music at the bottom before you click on Play)

The PiCkLe that lived!

Monday, February 2, 2009

I'm dedicating this post to Jen Mangum

When I was putting up our Christmas tree, there were a few ornaments that I unfortunately dropped. The first one I dropped was one we got in DiSnEyLaNd. I got sick to my stomach when I saw all the pieces scattered on the floor. You see, most of our Christmas ornaments have some story or memory behind it. When I broke that ornament I thought to myself, "Oh well. I guess I've been doing pretty good if that's the first one I break in 3 years." I cursed myself the second I thought that. The next ornament to go down was this wonderful PiCkLe. I have to admit, I think I said a naughty word under my breath. I was so upset. I thought, of all the ornaments to break, why couldn't it have been the dinky ones I purchased at Target. Why were they the ones that had stories behind it? After that, I was determined to make this pickle last. I picked up all the pieces that I could, and did some intense surgery! There were a few tiny pieces that I couldn't find, but I figured some pickle is better than no pickle. It took me about two hours to put it all together. It was two hours well spent. I saved the pickle! (Well. . . for the most part.)

The story behind the pickle? One fine Saturday morning Ryan and I woke up to a pickle on our car with a note that looked like a four year old wrote. I can't remember what the note said, but I think it was something like, "Here's a pickle to brighten your day". We thought it was pretty gross. We thought it was a neighbor kid trying to be funny. The next day we found out that more pickles had been put on cars through out the extended family. The Mangum's got busted!

Now, this is just the beginning of the pickle story.

Later on Jen, Matt, and Amanda decided to show me the ropes of how you pickle people. We started putting pickles on cars then decided what's the fun in that if you can throw them at people?! Terrible I know. We figured if people are crazy enough to be walking the streets at two in the morning, then they will be crazy enough to enjoy a pickle being thrown at them. (We didn't throw hard!) I thought it was fun until I got a phone call from Ryan at 3 am wondering why I wasn't home yet. I then had to explain myself and that wasn't fun at all. Ryan didn't think there was anything funny about what we had done. Some of you are probably shocked beyond belief that I would do such a thing. Yes, I did do it. I will never do it again, but it's fun to look back at that night and reminisce.

For my birthday later that year, Jen gave me a pickle ornament. When it fell and broke, I couldn't just throw it away. The story behind it is just too funny!