Round II at the Presley house goes to Bubba.....

Before I can play show and tell with our fun weekend, there is something I must do.


You see this weekend would not have happened with out my wonderful Mother in law.

Yes, Nana made our fun weekend possible.

The last time Jason and I got away for an entire weekend was when I was pregnant with Regan.

Ummm…. Six years ago.

Why did we wait so long in between trips, you ask.

Well, the answer is simple.

BUBBA

You see, our sweet little Bubba does NOT sleep.

Even with the large cocktail of medications we give him every night, he still manages to wake up in pain.

When we got back from our Sedona trip I walked in to find sweet, Nana in tears.

Bubba did her in!

Since then we have kept our trips to local {like Disneyland} over niters.

How in the world did we manage to get away for the weekend this time???

Well, first off…. It has been six years. So, I think MAYBE some of the memories from our last weekend getaway have faded. Wink!

Also, our wonderful evening nurse agreed to come every night while we were away.

She helped Nana give Bubba all of his medications, a bath, and hook him up to his machines.

I felt pretty hopeful that this time it would be different.

Then it happened.

I got a phone call from Nana, in this phone call she told me about her night with Bubba.

He was having a hard time and she was trying to comfort him….. When IT happened.

Bubba gave her a black eye.

Nope…. Not kidding one bit.

It was an accident of course.

His big head met with her eye and well.. You know the rest.

{I have had many black eyes and fat lips from our late night cuddle/ fight sessions but he hasn’t ever given anyone else one before.}

My heart dropped when I heard this.

Then Papa sent me a picture of the damage.

Oh, that poor Nana!!!!

The rest of the time went better….. Or at least that is what she is saying. Wink!

When they came to the airport to pick us up, I gasped when I saw that Nana had TWO black eyes!!!

{I thought I was going to cry}

Then I noticed that the second one was powdery…. Yes, makeup!

Woooohh…what a relief, only one black eye.

So, with all of this said I want to tell our Rocky Nana thank you so much for taking such good care of our babies while we were away. I know that Bubba can be very hard and I am so grateful that you love him enough to endure the hard nights and enjoy the fun days with him. We had so much fun, got SLEEP, and enjoyed being together just the two of us. None of this would have been possible with out you. Thank you again…. SO MUCH!!!!! I think when we go away again….{in six years }…… I will have boxing gloves, helmet, and any other protective gear you will need ready and waiting. Wink! I love you tons!!!! Thank you for loving my Babes so much!!!!

Oh, and I also wanted to say Thank you to Papa and Uncle Bryan for their help with the Babes as well!!! It really does take a village! Wink!

attitude of gratitude fridays

I am about to board an airplane with the Hubs....

 yes we are getting away for the weekend!!!!

So, with that said I am doing my attitude of gratitude a day early.

I am grateful to that awesome young man that made a bet with his buddies.

They each picked out the "hottest" girl at the dance and

challenged each other to get their numbers.

Jason picked me!

What started out as a bet

turned into a first date at Disneyland

{not joking}

that turned into a friendship like no other

that turned into a wedding day 11 years ago

 {tomorrow}

 that turned into Family!

Here's to an eternity with my best friend!!!!

 I love you so much!

and we celebrated...........

Jason does not like parties.

He does not like  us to make a big deal over it.

So, we kept it simple.

Regan and I decorated and blew up LOTS of balloons.

We ate his favorite football food for dinner....

I made all the fixins for ultimate nachos {or tacos}

We imvited our close friends over.

While the Dads played football games on

x-box the kids played in the backyard. 

Thysen pulled Bubba around and around.....

and he smiled :) 

I love that this friendship has turned into..... 

a new generation of buddies!!!!

I'm not THAT kind of Gal but if I were.............

I am not THAT kind of Gal that would take

 her kids out of school early to go to Disneyland

BUT if I were.............

I am not THAT kind of Gal but if were....

 I would tell you how much fun we had as a family!! 

If I were THAT kind of Gal I would tell you how excited we

are that Daddy has the week off from work!!!

 WAHOOO

{He works so hard and some weeks it feels like

we don't see him at all.}

If I were THAT kind of Gal than I

might just tell you how wonderful it was to

hold this sweet little girl's hand all afternoon. 

If I were THAT kind of Gal than I would tell you how

 excited Jason and I were when we talked Regan into

going on the Haunted Mansion. 

If I were THAT kind of Gal than I would tell you

how there is nothing like a Dinsey carmel apple in the fall. 

If I were THAT kind of Gal than I might just tell you how

Regan didn't have a chance to get her homework for the week

becuase she was pulled out early.... woops! 

If I were THAT kind of Gal than I would

 tell you that I LOVE all of the fun

 fall decorations at Disneyland!!!!!

 Oh, they are the best! 

If I were THAT kind of Gal that would

take her kids out of school early for

Disneyland BUT since I am NOT than I guess

there is nothing more to say here!!!

WINK!

LOTS of.......

Birthday fun over the weekend.

Our first party was for this special little girl who turned 3!

This is Jason's sisters daughter, Andrea.

She is such a little cutie and LOVED a day all about her!!!

When I found out that she was having a Tinker Bell party

I HAD to get her a Tink costume......

I mean come on what kind of Aunt would I be if I didn't! wink! 

I was so happy to have my partner in crime with

 me even if he did have to run off to work later.

Bubba was so excited to have his BUDDY Uncle Bryan there to play with. 

These two were together the whole time.

:) 

Then it was time for a water balloon toss.

Note to Aunt CC..... ummmm.... if you want the

balloons to break dont use regular balloons. wink!! 

It quickly went from a water balloon toss to grown men trying to

see who could get them to break. :)

Then it was piniata time!!!

Much to the mens disapointment the kids

 did not need help with this one. wink!!

After this wonderful party to celebrate Andrea we quickly headed

 home where we grabbed two gifts and

Mommy changed her clothing and pulled her hair back.

Then we were off to this fun place to celebrate

with two of Regan's best buddies! 

Bubba did NOT want to miss out on all of the fun.

So, I would take him in and jump with him.

He, like most all of the kids, only wanted to do one thing...

the BIG slide.

{I mean seriously.... look at the picture

it was like rock climbing WHILE

HOLDING BUBBA}

BUT he LOVED it..... so we did it OVER and OVER.

{now you understand the outfit change and hair pulling back.

I knew that I was going to get a good work out! wink!}

We had so much fun celebrating these two special boys. 

I think my favorite part was that rather than blow the candles

out they decided to karate chop the air trying to put them out!

TOO FUNNY!!!!

It was a wonderful weekend.

What did you enjoy this weekend?????

Attitude of Gratitude Fridays

During General Conference this past weekend several talks spoke to me personally. One of them was THIS talk given by President Monson. What a wonderful talk about having a constant attitude of gratitude in our lives. So, with his talk in mind I have decided to start my Attitude of Gratitude Fridays posts. I wasn’t sure where I would begin. I mean really, there are so many wonderful people that have blessed my life past and present.


Then at lunch with Regan today it hit me. I brought her lunch to school today and ate with her and her friends. Regan has a sweet best friend; the two of them are inseparable. This friend carefully took each item out of her lunch box and smiled when she saw a note. I asked her who had packed her lunch. She then told me with a HUGE smile that her sister had packed her lunch. You see, this friend’s older brother and sister pick her up every day from school and are a very important part of her upbringing. As I sat and watched her happily eat her peanut butter and Jelly sandwich lovingly made by her sister, I started to think of my own older siblings.


My sister would fix my hair before school and knew just how to tease my bangs to get them nice and high. She would often time pick me up from school and watch me until my parents came home. My own Big Bubba would also pick me up from school in his old beat up pickup truck that we lovingly nicknamed “spot”. I will never forget the night that he was watching us young kids and he did not want to cook. We all wanted pizza for dinner. So, he brought out my parent’s HUGE penny jar that they kept in their closet. He told us that if we wanted pizza we had to starting rolling pennies. I will never forget the look on that poor delivery boy’s face when my brother handed him around twenty dollars in pennies. Oh, it was priceless!!! It was primarily the two oldest out of the five children that were responsible for the rest of us while our parents were working or while my mother was at school. They were at times unhappy about the tasks that they were given BUT they took care of us. They loved me enough to make sure that I had food to eat, got home safely from school, and started my homework.


I am so grateful for their loving acts of kindness to me as a child. I am grateful that I never had to sit outside of the school crying because no one loved me enough to pick me up. {Ok, maybe one time.. wink!} I am grateful that pizza was ordered, macaroni was made, or left overs were reheated so that I wouldn’t go hungry. I am grateful that despite not always loving the demanding task of being an older sibling they always stepped up and did what needed to be done. At times doing what needed to be done meant that they missed out on something fun with their friends.


So, with all of this said…… I want to say Thank you to my wonderful older sister Michelle and BIG Bubba Mark for all that they did for me while I was growing up. I did not realize at the time what sacrifice and love it took to do the things that you were asked to do. THANK YOU!!!

{Oh, and to my sisters Nancy and Karen…. You are pretty OK too.. wink!}

{Skee Ball}

Last week was brutal with the heat and Bubba was a trooper.

We wanted to do something fun with the kids on Saturday

BUT with the heat Disney was out of the question.

So, we decided on another mouse.

Yes, we went to Chuck E Cheese.

Bubba was OBSESSED with the skee ball.

He had us all cracking up.

He would laugh so hard as the balls rolled down the lane.

We each took turns helping him. 

I would go to take him away and he would have a fit!

His usual faves were no longer..... Skee Ball!!!!!

We did manage to get away for a bit to play some other games..... 

and win some tickets. 

BUT we would ALWAYS end up back at Skee Ball!!! 

It was a good day filled with laughs

and

LOTS of Skee Ball