Back in the land of the living

So my friendly blogger peeps, I've been out of the game for some time...stupid laptop breaking...I am back, and I will be posting my Happy Halloween blog soon with pics of the monkeys...and of course the punkins too!!

Happy Birthday Baby Brother

Today my baby brother would have been 29 years old. Its hard to fathom he's been gone 8 1/2 years. My brother was beyond a shadow of a doubt the life of every party! He was an endless ray of sunshine with a goofy lopsided grin, and great laugh. He brought joy and happiness with him where-ever he went! Derek was a lover of life. You know the type. Enjoying every minute to its full capacity. To spend a day with Derek was to come to love the boy! I don't know that ever there was, or if there ever will be another human being that was as much fun as Derek. To say he was a thrill seeking adrenaline junkie doesn't quite say it right.

Derek has a little girl. JoAn Renee. She wasn't quite 3 years old when he died. Oh, Lord...He loved her so much. I don't think you've ever seen a face light up the way that little girl's did when she laid eyes on her Daddy! She was such a cutie pie baby, and has turned into a beautiful little girl. She is full of piss and vinegar just like her Daddy! Derek would be so proud of the bright, cheerful, beauty she has become. She misses him so.

Derek was the baby in our family, and to say that we all 'babied' him....well talk about understatements! That boy was just plum spoiled. He could smile his way into just about anything. And, God Forbid, he call me Lala.....for if he did I would, and did do whatever he requested. I remember visiting my Mom's house on a Friday night after I married Willie. Derek was getting ready to go on a date, and was naturally running late...he asked me to iron his red shirt. I gave him the spill about being a grown up and and ironing his own dang shirt. I came to visit Mom and Dad not iron his shirt! He looked at me with those big blue eyes, and said 'please Lala'.......and you guessed it...I ironed that damn shirt. Just in time for him to throw it on as his buddy Tim walked into the house.

I said that right...as Tim WALKED into the house. Derek's buddies were all family to us. They called me Big Sister, and my parents Mom and Dad. So, for one of them to just walk in, and grab a bite of whatever was on the stove was nothing out of the ordinary. Derek tucked in his red shirt still warm from the ironing, and thanked me with a quick kiss on the cheek and off he went!

Happy Birthday Baby Brother....I love you, and miss you more every moment that passes!

Home with my sick puppies!

Well, I thought my kiddos would be ready to go back to school today, but alas, they still have fevers and Kyla's head hurts, and Derek's tummy troubles are back with a vengeance. Mommy sits in the recliner with a bum shoulder, and stays on Facebook (there needs to be a 12 step program for FB) while the Disney Channel runs NONSTOP all day long...no seriously ALL DAY LONG!!! Carol brought soup and 7up, and medicine to the kids today, so I didn't have to drag them out into the world with their germs and vulnerable immune systems! Very helpful!!! Thanks Grandma!!!

12 years!! Thats right 12 years!!!!

Willie and I just celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary!!! I know, right!! So, I figured it out...We have known each other since we were 12 years old...thats 20 years people!!! We've been together for 13 years...and marital bliss for 12 years!!!

For a combined Sharla birthday and anniversary trip we spent a weekend together in Boise. In a lame hotel that was suppose to be really nice....but wasn't. Had a dinner that was suppose to be great and on the terrace...but they forgot about a wedding reception they were having so we didn't get that either! But, we did have an amazing time!!! We laughed and laughed....My gift from my WONDERFUL husband was a tattoo...something I have ALWAYS wanted....and it is a tribute of sorts to my baby brother!

Take a look at some of the pictures.....

What Sharla has to say at 1:30 am...

As anyone who has access to this blog knows I recently had shoulder surgery. Turns out shoulder surgery is relatively painful, AND when it is your dominant hand it is really inconvenient! Its been 2 weeks, and my doctor said I could work 4 hours a day, but my company said until the doc gives me a 100% release to resume duty I can't come back! This sucks, because we are a dual-income family, and without the 2nd income this can pose some, oh...issues...But, what do ya do....turns out I'm not super sure I could have really worked anyway...but, as He always has the Lord will see us through this too!!!

On another note. This Friday, October 9, is my baby brothers birthday. He would have been 29 years old. It has been 8 1/2 years since Derek's tragic death. It sees crazy to me it seems forever and yesterday since Derek died. But, since the very first birthday we had to celebrate Derek without his physical presence my family has chosen to CELEBRATE the day of his birth. No matter when or how my brother died, the day he was BORN will always be a good day! We have a wonderful birthday party for him every year. We go to the river (if you don't know, my brother was fishing fool, hence the river), then we throw flowers into the river. It goes like this: we each throw a flower into the river for the "man he was" and tell a memory of we have of him. Next, we throw a flower into the river for the ''man he would have been'' and say something we think he'd love about whats going on NOW. Then we keep a flower to remember him all day long. We also write a message on a balloon, tell him we love and miss him and release our balloons. It pales in comparison to celebrating with his goofy smile, and funny laugh as he reeked of too much cologne on his way to drink too much and party too hard, but it is still a celebration of who he was, and we rejoice in the fact he was born. My Momma, JoAn, Willie, Kyla, Derek, Aunt Cathy, myself, and sometimes my Daddy (its different for Daddy, and what makes it better or easier for us, doesn't for him)....afterwards we go to the Pumpkin Patch on Star Rd and the kids and Willie spend a fortune on pumpkins. All in all, as hard as it is...it is a good day. The day my little brother Derek Wayne Presley was born...will ALWAYS be a good day!

Another Day in Paradise

Yay! I'm a blogger! Hayley will be so proud!

So, home still post-shoulder surgery. Today the kids had fevers, head-aches and tummy troubles....but seem to be feeling better now. I think I may have been duped....But, its nice to lay around with the monkey-faces.

So, thats all I can think of for now.
God Bless Us Everyone