Joshua Birthday Party!

The plan for the day was to go up to Tehachapi right after church, celebrate Joshua's 4th birthday and my niece Evelyn's 1st birthday, watch the Super Bowl, and then head home. I should have known things were going to turn out differently when my parents called to tell us that we needed to take the back road in. The normal route had flooded over. We made it with no problems and even got to watch as it started to snow. My sister, Amber, got there about an hour later but had to take the low (flooded way) because when it started to snow the back road is not very safe. After dropping Amber off, Andy hurried home because he did not want to get snowed in. At that point we figured that we were staying for the night.

Mom made us a great dinner then afterwards the kids got to eat yummy cake. I made a small cake for each birthday kid. Evelyn's was Elmo and Joshua's was Larry from Veggie Tale's. Both were so excited to see their cakes. Joshua already knew what his cake looked like because he helped me make it but Evelyn got really excited and kept saying Elmo over and over again.

Then we decided to watch the Super Bowl. Half time had just started when all of the sudden all the lights went out. No power! That okay! We still had fun anyway. We let the kids open their presents and spent the rest of the night talking. The power came on again just after midnight or so. During this whole time it continued to snow. I still don't know what caused it though!

When we woke up it felt like we were kids again looking out the window in the morning to see how much snow we got. Sure enough everything was completely covered and it was STILL snowing. We turned on the news to see if we could figure out the cause of the black out only to find that the freeway to get home was closed. So we bundled up the kids and took them outside to play in the snow. I was not prepared at all for playing in the snow though. Luckily Mom still had a bunch of old snow clothes and a box of clothes girl clothes someone had given Amber. We layered those kids with so many clothes and grocery sacks that they could hardly move. They loved the snow. Kory gave them all rides around the yard on a sled, Grandma Nani (G Grandma Dansby) taught them how to make snow angles and then we found a small hill in the empty lot next door to go sledding on. We played outside until the kids got cold and then went in for hot cocoa. James and I went home just after that because James had a list of things he wanted to do at home. It was a fun two days and to think that it all started out as a simple dinner, cakes, and presents.

I NEED SOME HELP PLEASE!

As most of you know Joshua, my 4 year old, is a very active boy. James and I have been debating putting him in preschool. We think that maybe it would help him get some of that energy out (which he usually takes out on the girls in a not so nice way), teach him things he will need to know for Kindergarten, and get him ready for school. I'm still not sure how I feel about preschool. I never went to one but my husband James did. And he is the smart one in the family. I wanted to know what everyone thought and recommended. Also those of you who live in Bakersfield is there any preschools that you recommend or have heard good things about. I need help I don't know what to do!

Just When I'm About to go Crazy....

Just when my kids are about to drive my crazy and I think that they will never again listen to me they surprise me. One day when I was on the phone with my sister I noticed that all of the sudden my kids were just too quiet. I went looking for them to see what trouble they were getting into. Usually quiet means trouble. What I found was a complete surprise! They were both in the kitchen working together to unload the dishwasher for me. My heart just melted and I about bursted into tears. They were not able to do it all by themselves but they were able to put all the silverwear away and stack on the counter what they could not put away. For those of you who do not believe me I have pictures to prove it.

LOOK AT MY NEW FORMAL DINING ROOM!

Okay so its not new its just updated a little. We went from brown paneling to white walls. It sure brightens up the room and makes it look really nice. There are still a few more things to do though but all of those things seem small after building a wall and painting a room.

Beloved Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley, Dies at 97

SALT LAKE CITY 27 January 2008 President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.

President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.

The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.

To read the full article go to:
LDS Newsroom
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All of us here at the Mansius home were sad to hear the news of President Hinckley's passing but we are glad that he will again be with his Heavenly Father and his wife Marjorie. He was a GREAT man and prophet and we will all miss him. We look forward to supporting the next prophet though it is hard to say good-bye to a president we've had so long. There are no better ways to express our gratitude to this wonderful man than just to quote the words of the song We Thank Thee, O God for a Prophet.

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
We thank thee for sending the gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.
We thank thee for every blessing
Bestowed by thy bounteous hand.
We fell it a pleasure to serve thee,
And love to obey thy command.

Eliza's 2 Birthday
I still have not gotten to writing a blog about Eliza's birthday and probably won't ever so I thought I would just post some pictures from her party. We had lots of fun! Thanks to all those that came and join in on the fun. Eliza loved all her presents. I still can't believe that she is already two.

CHRISTMAS

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We spend time with family, opened lots of presents, attended the church Christmas party, sang a ton of Christmas songs, and ate way too much food.

A couple of weeks before we had a great big meal at Grandma and Grandpa Dansby's home. We wanted to have a big family meal before we all scattered to go to different places for the holidays. Grandma and Grandpa went on a cruise to Hawaii and Amber and Andy went up to Utah to visit some more of the Waite family. Its always fun to get together at Grandma's house and she always has tons of food. If any of us where to ever go hungry it would be our own fault.

Uncle Russell and Aunt Joan were able to spend a few days with us this Christmas season. They flew in from Hilo to attend a memorial service of a good friend of Russell's and while they were here on the main land they decided to stop by and visit. They kids just loved them visiting and still every once in a while Eliza will go in the front bedroom, sit on the bed, and wait for Uncle Russell to come over. If someone drives by she gets excited and comes looking for me yelling, "Uncle Russell! Auntie Joan!"

Christmas morning we had at home with just the five of us. When Eliza first woke up and saw all the presents under the tree she said, "Christmas is here!" She was so excited. The kids had a blast opening all there presents. Joshua tried to open every single present whether it was his or not. He actually succeed in opening most of Aubrey's presents. Some of the things that the kids got this year were new Sunday shoes, a few outfits sent by Grandma Mansius, play food, chef's outfits, cars, and Aubrey got some new teething rings. I don't know where I'm going to put all the kids new toys. It was so much fun seeing them open up all there presents. I enjoyed watching them more than I enjoyed opening up my own.

Later that day we headed up to Tehachapi to have Christmas Lunch with Mom and Dad Fitzgerald. Mom made a great meal and I think everyone ate so much that we all about popped. Grandma and Grandpa Dansby, Kory, Scott and Tiffany, and Ashley were also there celebrating with us. No long after lunch Uncle Dennis, Aunt Maureen, Lindsey, David, Chelsea, and Brodi also arrived. We then exchanged presents with each other. The front room soon became a mad house. Everyone was opening gifts and there were presents, toys, and wrapping paper covering the floor. Lots of fun!

I LOVE Christmas because I get the chance to spend so much fun time with family. What I can't believe is that it has come and gone so fast. I barely blinked and now its 2008. I hope everyone had a Wonderful Christmas and is now ready for 2008.

CHRISTMAS LETTER(I was not able to get our Christmas letter to everyone so those who did have a chance to read it, enjoy!)

Dear Friends and Family,

This year has had a lot of major changes in the Mansius Family. We bought our first home, added a new addition to our family, taken many family trips, and even done some remodeling to our new home.

February 1 presented an exciting but tiring day. It was the day we moved into our very first home. We purchased a 2 bedroom 2 bath home from Grandma and Grandpa Dansby. We finally found a place near part of our family in which to settle down and raise our family. This house provided us with lots of room for the kids to run around in and even a nice little patio where the kids can ride their bikes and play in their play house. We are both very excited especially James. He was so excited that this would be the first time he got to put up Christmas lights on his very own home.

On April 26 Aubrey Fern Mansius was born. She was born at 12:18 AM. She was 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was named after her Great Grandmother Fern Viola Oviatt, who is James’ Grandmother on his Mother’s side. It was a wonderful day! When we got home Joshua and Eliza could not even wait for us to get her out of the car before they were holding their arms out and asking to hold her. Since that day their biggest arguments start out as who gets to hold Aubrey first. While Aubrey is just loving every minute of it.

This year has also been one of family exploration. We have been able to take trips to both Puerto Vallarta and Hawaii. We went to Mexico with the whole Fitzgerald family as a small family reunion. It was a well deserved break that everyone on the trip needed. Our trip to Hawaii was one to visit Uncle Russell and Aunt Joan. While there we tried to see as much as we could of the island of Hawaii in one week. Though we did make sure to leave some activities for the next trip to visit them.

James is still working for Progressive and has been there for over 2 years. He is also busy taking financial classes in Arizona. Some of his highlights in his week are the Mondays when he gets together with Dad Fitzgerald to work on our home. Not only have the added a wall but they have started making our old paneled walls look like real dry walls. They have also taken out the lowered ceiling in the kitchen and replaced a sliding door with new front double doors.

Nichole LOVES being a stay at home mom! When she has free time she loves to read and crochet. Some of the crochet projects that she finished this year are Aubrey’s baby blessing dress, a couple pair of baby booties, and a stripped baby blanket. Her greatest goal this year was to work on family history. When she gets the chance she helps Grandpa Nelson with family history.

This year Joshua is learning his colors, shapes, counting to ten, dressing himself, saying the alphabet and tracing lines. We will soon begin to teach him to write his name by tracing it. One of his favorite activities is playing soccer and he loves to go and watch his Uncle Kory’s games. We have plans on putting him in Soccer next year.

Eliza started Nursery this year and loves it. She had started to become very clingy just before she hit 18 months and we were a little worried that she would not want to go. The first week that we took her she saw all the other kids and all the toys and was off, never to look back. Nursery is now one of her favorite times of the week. Her supply of words has also grown and she is now talking up a storm. She can almost say as many things as Joshua can and it never ceases to amaze us what new words she picks up from those around her. Also within the past few months she has begun the process that every parent dreads. POTTY TRAINING! Actually it has gone a lot better then expected. She started on her own by watching her brother and now can ‘almost’ make it through the day. All in all she has come along way. She is a cutie who on some days is the girliest of girls and on other is very much a tom boy.

All of our kids have never been ones to be content to stay in one place for very long and Aubrey has proven that she fits right in. At about 4 ½ months she had learned to pull her knees underneath her. It didn’t take her long after that to figure out how to crawl and get from one place to another very quickly. She now has to be in the middle of everything that is going on. Currently she is learning to pull herself up to her feet using the furniture and to get around by walking. It won’t be long before I have three kids running around the house in three different directions.

We hope that everyone had as great a year as we did. We send our love with lots of hugs and kisses. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,

The Mansius Family

MY WONDERFUL SISTER

If I have not told everyone how wonderful my little sister is I am doing so now. I have the most wonderful sister. I can always count on her, she is always there when I need a baby sitter, I can talk to her for hours even though I may have just talked to her a few days earlier, I love bouncing new ideas off of her to find out what she thinks, and she will even take family pictures for me even though I asked her at the last minute. Of course we have had our share of tears and arguments but if you know of an sisters that have not please I would like to meet them. As teenagers I think we were closer than a lot of other siblings were. We even hung out in the same group of friends where most people would not even be caught dead with one of their siblings at school. As we have gotten older, gotten married, and had children that are within months of each other we have become even closer as we face similar challenges (like potty training) and situations. Not only is my sister wonderful but she has found a wonderful eternal companion who is one of the smartest guys I know. He is also talented, handsome, and loves his family. Together they have two of the cutest children in the world. Even though I am partial because they are my only niece and nephew. Evelyn is almost 2 and is on her way to becoming diaper free. GOOD JOB Evelyn! Your Auntie is very proud of you! She is also very cute and has so much hair. (At least compared to my kids) I love it when her hair is up in two pig tails. Preston is a very calm baby. Last time I was at the Waite home he was just sitting on the couch smiling away at everyone. He is 4 months younger than my youngest, Aubrey, yet he is just about as big and weights at least a pound more. Last time we compared their feet together we would have had to cut off his toes in order to get them to be the same size. Though as Evelyn looks like her Mommy, Preston definitely takes after his Daddy. Together the four of them make up a fun, happy family. Those kids will be some of the smartest kids ever. And I know my sister does not like getting thanks you notes so I hope she does not look at this as one. I still have to tell her THANK YOU for everything you have done for my family and I hope our kids continue to grow up together and become even closer. I LOVE YOU!

P.S. Don't worry Amber I am still planning on getting to my tag blog in sometime soon.

I just want to say

CONGRATULATIONS
to my grandparents, Paul and Maryann Dansby, and my SIL, Tiffany. Recently, my Grandfather became a 32 degree Master Mason and Grandma and Tiffany became the star points, Adah and Martha, in Order of the Easter Star. (A branch of the Freemasons much like the Relief Society of the LDS church.)

DAY 3, 4, 5, 6

DAY 3 & 4:

The walls in our home are completely covered in the brown paneling that is very common in mobile home. In order to make the hallway match the new wall that we just put in we needed to fill in all the lines. To get it smooth we had to do 3 layers of joint compound, which needed 24 hours each to dry before you could do another layer.

DAY 5 :

Not only are we going to paint the walls but we decided to put texture on the new wall and on the hallway walls. First we needed to apply primer in order to get the texture and paint to stick on to the smooth paneling. Later on in the week Dad also came by to put in the door to the new room. Now its officially a separate room!

DAY 6:
ARE WALLS ALMOST LOOK LIKE REGULAR WALLS!!!

Today, Dad, James, and Kory applied texture of the walls. Now you can't tell where the new wall comes together with the paneling of the hallway. They did a GREAT job. Also while James and Dad prepared to put on the texture by covering everything that we didn't want textured Kory and I took down the lowered ceiling in the kitchen. That was tough!!!! It had been put in kind of funny so it was hard to get out but it makes the kitchen look huge and VERY bright. It will look nice after we get new light fixtures and hide the octopus wiring that's in the middle of the kitchen ceiling.

THANK YOU DAD AND KORY FOR ALL THE HELP. THANK YOU GRANDPA AND GRANDMA FOR TAKING PICTURES. THANK YOU MOM FOR LOANING US DAD.

NEW CHURCH CALLING

Heavenly Father has decided that it is time for me to take a step out of my comfort zone. For the past couple of years I have always been given callings in church that seemed very easy. I was on the Relief Society Enrichment Committee where we planned 4 activities a year. I was first counselor in a Primary Presidency that was over 3 nursery age kids (18mo to 3 years) and 2 sunbeams (3 to 4 year olds). There were more adults than kids. And my last calling that only lasted for a few months was Achievement Day Leader. (Activities for 8 to 11 year old girls similar to Cub Scouts). My new calling will be Primary pianist. I can play the piano but I have only played a few times with people were singing along. It has also been a while since I have practiced. Not only is my piano at home badly out of tune but every time I do sit down I have two kidos banging at the keys on each side of me. Its hard to tell if I'm playing the song correctly when all I hear is banging from them. On the plus side I am playing for a group of kids and not for adults. Kids won't notice when I mess up. I am thankful for this calling because it is pushing me out of my comfort zone and it gives me a reason, no matter what happens, to practice. I love playing the piano. This will be a fun calling.

MY FAVORITE PRIMARY SONGS ARE: A Child's Prayer; I am a Child of God; I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ; I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; Scripture Power

OFF TO NEVERLAND!!!

For Halloween our family chose to take a trip to Neverland. We all went as characters from Disney's Peter Pan movie.

Joshua (Peter Pan) Eliza (Princess Tiger Lilly)
Aubrey (Tinker Bell) James (Pirate) Nichole (Wendy)

In order to get ready for Halloween we bought the movie and started watching it almost everyday for about a week before Halloween and I had been working on creating the costumes for the past month. On top of that James taught Joshua to say "Off to Neverland!" and Eliza to say "HOW!"instead of "Trick of Treat." Joshua was so exciting about being Peter Pan that he wore his costume for three days. Not only on Halloween but on the day before and the day after. The night before we went to a Trunk or Treat put on by our church. Joshua knew exactly what to do and Eliza tagged along behind. After getting her first piece of candy she was ready to stop right there and eat it. Then she realized that she got more as she went along.

On the day of Halloween I took the kids to the historical Fox Theater for a showing of Pooh's Heffalump Halloween movie and they got to wear their costumes. It was packed but the kids loved the movie. The only thing that upset them was that their Daddy was not there so I decided to take the kids over to the Progressive office to go Trick or Treating. His coworkers just loved it and the kids loved showing off their costumes. Later that night we all dressed up again in our costumes and took the kids trick or treating at a nearby neighborhood. Unfortunately, there was only one family giving out treats on our block so we packed the kids in the car and headed to a friends street. We started on one side and worked our way back to their house where they were holding a spooky Halloween party. We had lots of fun. The kids were so hyped up on candy that it took a while before we got them to sleep but you only have Halloween once a year so we let they have fun.

The next morning the first thing Joshua did was put on his Peter Pan costume and was asking to watch Peter Pan again. That was when my Mom and Dad came to save the day. Not only did they let me put off watching Peter Pan but my Mom took pictures of the kids in their costumes. So now I have some great pictures to show off.

!!!!!THANKS MOM!!!!!

This year we had a great Halloween. I love making costumes for my kids especially when they never want to take it off and wear it three days in a row. Actually he would have worn it even longer if I didn't throw it in the wash. I hope that everyone's Halloween was as SPOOKY and FUN FILLED as ours was.