Our November

I've come to the realization that I just can't manage to keep this thing updated as events happen in our lives, so instead I'll have to just write REALLY LONG posts with all of our updates.

So here was our November...

The Mangum Family says "Goodbye" to the Pulsar- FINALLY!

Nov 2nd

November 3rd my brother David got in a three car pile-up in front of Glendale Community College and totalled the car that my parents bought when I was only three years old. I just happened to be in town and was able to get there shortly after it happened to experience it first hand! My brother is fine- there was a minor scratch on his thumb at the time, and a little whiplash following, but no one involved suffered any major injuries. A word of advice though- don't get into an accident in Glendale- it took SOOO long for the police to get there and file their reports, etc etc. It was quite ridiculous! He actually ended up getting a decent amount of money from the other guys insurance and got a better car, so sometimes blessings come in odd ways!

Good Bye Jeep Grand Cherokee- Hello Honda Pilot!

Yes, another posting about vehicles!
November 10th

After spending thousands over the years on fixing one thing or another on our '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee, we have been less than impressed with that vehicle. So this time when it started spewing oil out the back, we said- that's it, we're through with this thing!

Then there was the internal struggle of whether we wanted the burden of a car payment (both of our vehicles have been paid off for almost a year now and it's been so nice!). Ultimately though, we bit the bullet and started the search for another vehicle.

After looking at many different small and mid-sized SUVs, we discovered the Pilot (I think Ryan just wanted it for the name), but we love it! It is everything that I wanted: foreign built, gets decent gas mileage, has a third row, I don't feel like I'm driving a tank, leather seats, a DVD player- which is so nice for Hailey! We've used a portable DVD in the past, but having a built-in with the loader and all the controls in the dash and no cords to deal with is SO much better!

Hailey's favorite part of the car buying experience was the bounce house they had set up (it was a big tent event sale). There were no other kids around (smart parents!) so she got to bounce her little heart out. Seriously though, if you're ever buying a car, no matter what- FIND A BABYSITTER!

Ryan and I still fight over who gets to drive it primarily. Because we equally drop off and pick up the kids from the babysitter- neither one of us has a better business case. One of his arguements is that the Accord still has my personlized plate- so that's "my car". Everyone (but Ryan) knows eventually I'll win though :-)


Ryan Graduates from Training at Lockheed Martin

November 14th

Doesn't he look excited about this? I asked him if he wanted me to take pictures and he said, "Not really." But I said- "How about just one for the blog?"

Actually he is really excited to have made it throguh the 10 week training. It was really just like being in college all over again. There were difficult exams and everything. He quickly discovered that trying to study for a test with two young children is A LOT more difficult then when he was in college and it was just the two of us.

He still has several more months of training time where he will be working with a trainer before he will be out on his own, but the hardest part has passed, and for that we are very glad! He has had an awesome schedule during training- 7am-3:30pm M-F, but this coming week we will get his schedule for the next few months. We're praying that it's a decent schedule. Because Lockheed Martin is the Flight Service Center for all private pilots, it's a 24/7 facility. He could end up with anything, including Sundays :( I'll keep you posted once we find out what he gets....

Lowry Family Thanksgiving

Nov 17th

It has become tradition to have Thanksgiving dinner with Ryan's family the weekend before Thanksgiving so that everyone can get together, and then be able to see their in-laws on Thanksgiving Day. We had everyone there (which means 13 grandkids!) and it was a lot of fun!

This is Ryan and his brother Daniel- can you see the family resemblence?

Thanksgiving Day

Nov 22

We spent Thanksgiving Day with my family in Phoenix. I was actually going to be brave and make dinner for everyone myself, but schedules changed and we went down there instead and I got to spend at least one more year of just kicking back and enjoying my mom's cooking expertise.

Hailey's favorite part of the day was getting to play with Tatum for about a couple of hours.