Spring Break & Easter

This year the kids were out for Spring Break the same week that Easter came.
We went to see a few movies to start it off,
then the next week I loaded up the group and
drove a short 8 hours to our closes Med-school friends
The Crooks. (shawn stayed home to pay for it)
They recently moved into their fancy Dr. house and we were
dying to see it, and help them break it in.
Jayne (crook) has 5 kids & so each child had a buddy to
play with.
The weather was great, the food was yummy, conversation
started just like the good ol' days and we didn't skip a beat.
Jayne bought me a drink :) And we went running one morning and fought the wind both ways.
They had planned an Easter Egg Hunt and the kids made jelly bean bracelets.
A BIG Thanks for inviting us down for a fun vacay.

Seeing RED on April 1st

My mind has been dreaming up April fools jokes to play on Shawn for the past couple weeks. After many ideas, I came up with one that would have him seeing RED.
The timing of him being post-call worked out just right, so as he was dreaming away,
the kids and I drove to the clinic and hijacked his office.
Maddie and her mad skills of hacking was able to come up with the pass word and
we successful in changing his screen saver.
When Shawn left for work the next day, he called us and I had given instructions to the kids
to answer with the UTE fight song. Then the 2nd and 3rd time we gave out indian whoop cries.
I better start now, working on next years idea......any thoughts?

Celebrate the Irish

With a name like McManus you are sure to have Irish heritage. We couldn't let the day go by with out flair.
Shawn was on call so we nixed a Big Green dinner, but that didn't stop us from....
* Making Shirts....nobody wants to get pinched!
Freezer paper and a cricut....(I am addicted)
* Eating green shamrock pancakes ( they looked more like blobs )
* Making and eating rainbow cupcakes ( such and ez delight )
* Waiting for Dad to come home cause he for sure won't have
any green on and we get to Pinch him. ( mom didn't put any green on till 10 so the Reds could get their pinch fest in. who came up with this idea of pinching? )
* Playing with play dough and cutting out Shamrocks

Jolly Ol' Saint Nicholas

Lastnight for FHE we (I, Shawn was on-call)the kids and GrandFryers went out on the town.
We made our first stop at the North Pole, which is just east of Fred Meyers Jewelry store at our local Mall.
Maddie and Kennedy were not to happy to be doing this. Kennedy asked me why I was making them sit on a strangers lap, who is dressed like some weirdo.
Hmmmm...good question.
"Because, he reports back to the "real" Santa and besides it's Tradition"
We all got in the spirit of Christmas after seeing the jolly ol' fellow, and not a tear was shed in fear over this oddly dressed man.
GrandFryers took us out to eat, and Kennedy chose
Famous Daves with the finger lick'n ribs.
Surprisingly ALL the kids behaved very well and we even got
yummy ice cream sundays to celebrate our Birthdays.

Spooky Halloween Season

What a fun Halloween we had this year. I feel like we celebrated all month long, and now we are

suffering from Candy hangovers. We hope that cavities pass us by this year.

Every year I have a vision of what our family will look like come the grand night. But with a family that ranges from teenagers to newborns nobody wants to participate in my matchy family costumes. So everyone comes up with their own and surprisingly each of them looked Fabulously good.

Maddie went as a 50's girl. Use your imagination....She looked GOOD!

Kennedy was a Biker chick.

Maverick was Bumblebee from Transformers.

Finley was a Pink Princess.

Taylor he was a baby in a carrier.

We were invited to the Winders for a Halloween FHE, where they had a dougnut eating contest, pumpkin carving, cookie decorating good time planned.

Our church Ward put on a Halloween party, yet with Minnesota weather being unpredictable and rainy the Trunk or Treat turned into a Hallway of treating.

After collecting the goods, Kennedy had a circle of friends and she had her own auction going on. She may have a future in trades.

Maddie was MIA during Halloween, cause she was getting her groove on at the school Dance.
To top it off we have too many sweets now laying around the house.

We were Boo'd twice, and a good friend brought a plate of Carmeled chocolate Apples by.

We had a spooky movie night, and ate carmeled popcorn and enjoyed all that the season brings.

I have no doubt that November will follow suit and be just as if not more busy.

I am already planning table decor, making napkins, and planning for Grandma & Grandpa Fryer to come out for a 2 week visit. Plus celebrating MY birthday!

Bring on the Holidays we are ready!

What we've been up to

Last week we loaded up our belongings and moved yet again. (Our landlords went into foreclosure so we were out of luck.)

This little guy started to smile and coo at us and we can't get enough of what he has to say.

Maddie, (the happy girl) turned 12 and is thrilled to be a "pre" teen.

Shawn & I celebrated our 15th year of marriage by going to one of our Favorite spots in town. Last week was extremely warm in the 90's and so we spent a few days swimming and cooling off.

We celebrated the 4th of July with a church picnic, and then topped it off with a night picnic with friends and a few illegal fireworks....not to mention the yummy icecream sandies.

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail...

Trick or Treat

Our kids always like to surprise us with what they are going to end up as on Halloween.
Maverick was originally going to be Spiderman/cowboy. He came up dressed in all his Batman attire. (Thanks to Aunt Sharon for the chest costume.)
Finley, was a clown. Except she got to excited and wanted to get out Trick or Treating, so all she put on was her collar and wig.
Maddie is a BIG baby.
Kennedy is a Mime.
The weather was surprisingly warm, and we all had a great night.

Let Freedom Ring

We had a fun 4th. We decided to hit the church ward function, and we were so glad we did. That was the hi-light of the whole day. The kids were entertained, and fed. That is worth a nickel.

The Frei's had a water park set up in their backyard. Big visqueen slip-n-slide, mini pools, zip line, a trampoline, and tables full of yummy food.

We were semi- invited to a neighbor firework show, but we ended up going to the city to watch the Big show. Maybe we would have reconsidered, cause apparently dusk here in Minnesota is 10:15 pm.

I still have to say, there is NOTHING like a 4th in Utah! Happy 4th everyone, celebrate your freedom!

My favorite hoiday and it's time to celebrate!!!

Fathers Day

Maverick in charge of buttering the pancakes

The Girls crisped the Bacon, and scrambled the Eggs to perfection.


"Dad are you going to eat that all by yourself?"


We had a great Fathers day. It all started off with a Bang...clatter, and a fight about who was going to deliver the Breakfast in Bed. I was a bit nervous about this, I am not a big advocate for Breakfast in Bed for fear something was going to be spilt all over my new comforter set, but lack for a better planning this was HIS big gift. The kids did a great job, and the bed went unscathed.


Happy Fathers day to a great Husband who makes being a Mom a bit easier.