Sam the Man

Happy Birthday Sambo, Sammy J, Sambolino, Sam the Man, Sammy Davis Jr, Sam4. I love you so much!

"I can't go to bed because I'm happy."

"Leah is MEAN!"
"Can we plant candycorn?"
"Dad, I'm gonna tell you a story..."
"NO mo' fidideedee!"
"Hop it!"
"Grandpa, You're Annoying!"
"...for a little-bit while"
"Good-Morning Time"
"Engine Turtle"
"Mom, these stairs are heavy."
"Leah should go to jail!"
"Mom! There's a PINK shirt in my closet!"

Graduation

Sam has had a very busy week. Last Thursday, May 22nd he graduated from Ms. Tina's preschool. It was a great little ceremony with the kids showing off their musicality with songs like "I'm Bringing Home My Baby Bumble Bee", "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "The Rainbow Song." Sam was well prepared and excited to graduate. Well, until he got there. Once again, my little Sam was hit with a severe case of anxiety. He wouldn't move up to the front and take his place with his classmates. I tried to bribe him with McDonald's, a new bike that we could go get right after the program, a new toy, ANYTHING. The kid was seriously scared to death! You could tell when he would get in his mind that he wanted to go up, but then he would look at the people and close up. I really felt bad for him. Here are some pictures of the night. Overall, he did pretty well. At the end he did go up and take his "diploma" and he did stand by Ms. Tina as she handed out diplomas to the other kids.

These two little boys LOVED the swing at the park. Markmus, below, laughed the whole time and Troyboy really loved it once he got used to it. By the way, don't you LOVE their ears!

'Nessa and Leah Lou getting ready for their ride to the park.

TroyBoy and Markmus are sooooo excited to sleep on their way to the park.

May is

CyStiC fIBrOsiS AWaRenESs MoNtH

In this picture are two beautiful, fun, imaginative children. They are the children of my good friend, April. They have Cystic Fibrosis. Please check out my link below and see what you didn't know about this disease. The more you know, the more you can help. Thanks.

www.cff.org

Superman and the Big Truck

It must be part of the make up of little boys (and big boys) to want a truck. Sam was playing with is toy cars today when he asked me if Dad could "get a big truck just like this one." I told him that he could get one if he wanted, but big trucks for daddy's cost lots of money. He asked "It would take all of OUR moneys?" When I told him it would he quickly told me that he didn't want Dad to get a big truck anymore. A little too late I realized that when he referred to "OUR moneys" he was including the "moneys" in his Superman piggy bank. He didn't want Dad to get a truck that badly.

Crap

I had to get this down somewhere before I forgot. I asked Leah to go downstairs and grab Troy's bear blanket so I could put Troy down to bed. She told me she couldn't because she was "scared of all the crap down there." When I asked what she was scared of she looked up like she was deep in thought at said "Umm, I, ummm, Crap!. I'm scared of all the crap." After discussing it I realized that she was really scared of a dead cockroach that had been behind the couch. I think it is definately a toss up with me, which is worse, crap or cockroaches?

Look Carefully...

Ok, I thought this would be fun. I have noticed Leah doing to Troy the same things that Shaunie did to Sam. I guess big sisters just have so much love to give. One of these pictures is Leah looking at Troy and one of them is Shaunie looking at Sam. Can you guess which one is which? Look very carefully!

Handsome Boys

I love my boys and they love each other. I really like this picture. Can you tell that Troy has a cold and he is teething? He was still happy despite all that.

Toxic Audio in Las Vegas

If you have ever been to, or live in Las Vegas, and you hear about something being "toxic", it probably is something that should be avoided, if you have any morals. So when we were presented with the chance to go see Toxic Audio at the Planet Hollywood Hotel we were a little skeptical about its quality. Needless to say we researched it out, went, and really enjoyed it. If you like 'a capela' groups who use their voices to make all the instrument sounds while singing and acting, you'd probably like this show too. Good times!

New Flooring

There is nothing out there that my wife cannot do. When it comes to the house, she has really done some amazing things. She does most of the physical labor herself, but most of all she has the ability to see things as a final product before she even starts the work. I often question it in the beginning, but it ALWAYS turns out great in the end. Rachel has been wanting to get rid of the old carpet in our bedroom for some time now. We went and bought some discounted laminate flooring, just the one she wanted, and got to work ripping out the old carpet and padding. The next day she started the flooring while I was at work, and together we finished it later that evening. It is now so much easier to take care of and I think it will stay cooler during our incredibly hot summers. It turned out to be really nice, once again. . . my amazing wife.

Tortoises are so much fun

Taylor and Russell came to play for a few days. The kids had so much fun, especially Sam. It was so good to have more boys around that Samuel could play with; and they played nonstop.

Taylor finally built up the courage to pick up his new found friend.

Taylor and Samuel spent a lot of time following the tortoises around and feeding them. I think those tortoises ate more food in the last 3 days than they did in the last 3 weeks combined

The end of a busy day!

This is what happens when cousins come from out-of-state. A lot of playing and partying makes everyone a little tired!

Ward BBQ

The High Priests in the ward sponsored a BBQ cook-off. Everyone was invited and those that wanted to cook were encouraged to bring their favorite meat in their favorite marinade. There was a big variety of meat available to all who came. Brother Silveira even got daring and brought a few skewers of chicken hearts, a delicacy in his homeland, Brasil.

Troy REALLY enjoyed the food. I think he'll be back for next year's cook-off.

The Annual Egg Hunt

The Mangum family gets together every year for our annual Saturday Easter egg hunt and breakfast at a local park. Samuel and some of the girls discovered a neighbor with horses and couldn't resist sneaking off to get a peak. Good food and great times! The following Sunday, Easter Sunday, we sit down together for a real nice meal and discuss a little about the true meaning of Easter.

Easter Eggs

We colored Easter Eggs this afternoon. It was a messy job but it was really fun. We ended up with a bunch of very bright eggs.

The Natives are OUT!

Here is one of our tortoises after he came out of hibernation recently. I found him under the BBQ cover. I hope he hasn't been trapped under there for too long. He was really hungry after he came out. The big tortoise is also out. He was lurking around the backyard eating random plants. He wouldn't eat the petunias I planted just for him to eat. I think he is a food snob. He did like the broccoli I gave him, though. I hope they will be sure to eat all the weeds I have let grow for them. I have been keeping myself from spraying them so that the tortoises could have them. I am happy they survived the winter and are now ready to eat my weeds and trim my lawn.

Troy Boy...

Here are a few pictures of our favorite little 7 month old.

Wearin 'o' the Green

We had a leprechaun visit us on St. Patrick's Day. He turned our milk and toilet water green and during the day would leave little paper clovers with candy around the house as a surprise. The kids really got into it. Later in the evening he left lots more candy with little gifts for each kid. Leah got a princess watch, Sam got Nerf guns, and Shaunie got bubble bath with a bath sponge. They loved it! My favorite comment of the day was when Sam came and asked us if the leprechaun also turned thePublish Post toilet water yellow.

St. Patty's Day

Here is a picture of our Sunday Feast the day before St. Patrick's day. It was my first attempt at making brisket with cabbage and potatoes. I think it turned out pretty good. It wasn't really fancy but I liked it and so did Jeremy and the kids. As you can see below, Leah really liked it. She was worn out from a long day of church and just couldn't wait until bedtime.