My Parents Came to Town!!

 Hollywood Studios with my mom...and a child that didn't want to take a picture.  Hahaha!

 My boys teaching my dad how to play Madden on the Play Station. Hahaha!

We have been traveling so much lately that my parents decided to come see us for Christmas; their timing couldn't have been any better- they arrived just a few hours after Tyson left for Colorado- right about the time I was in full meltdown mode. :(

The weather was pretty nasty all week, so we spent way too much time inside for my kiddos' sakes, We did get out and go to Hollywood Studios one day, though.  I've been wanting to see the Osborne family lights since we moved here, and since this will be our last Christmas in Orlando, we had to go.  Here is a funny story- our babysitter is Ariel at the Magic Kingdom, but she often fills in for other characters (i.e. Pluto, the green army men, etc).  Well, we knew she had to work New Year's Eve, so the boys were on look out for "Miss Cassidy" every time we saw a character.  Low and behold, Jake went to take a picture with Ferb, and Ferb ran over to Jake as soon as soon as he saw him and almost tackled Jake with excitement. Jake was carrying a Perry the Platypus stuffed animal, so I think that is what it was, but Jake exclaimed as he was walking away, "I think that was Miss Cassidy!"  Hahaha!  (For the record, Miss Cassidy told me that she was not dressed as Ferb that day).  Hehehe.

Anyways, we had a good time with my parents.  Their stay could not have come at a better time- life sure is lonely with Tyson gone. :(  I don't know how we're going to make it til June. :(

Our New Adventure

This past Monday, Tyson boarded a plane headed for Denver, Colorado for our latest adventure (click here).  Yep, Tyson is going to be the defensive coordinator at Colorado State for our good friend, Coach Mike Bobo.

What a whirlwind it was- we got home from the bowl game on Saturday afternoon, the talks began, and by Sunday, Tyson was packing his bags.  Now mind you, other than a few hours here and there, Tyson hasn't really been around much these past 5 months, and we were really looking forward to some much-needed family time this week.  I was really sad to see him go so soon, but that is the world that we live in.  The boys and I will stay in Orlando until school is out in June; Tyson really wants us there sooner, but I'm being "mama bear" (as Tyson calls it) and not moving the boys mid-year.  I did that when we moved to Orlando in 2012, and I swore I'd never do it again...it was so hard.  Plus, I really want to stick around so that I can be closer to my mom during her surgery and recovery.

When we first told the boys, Walker was fine and so innocently asked, "Is Dalton going too?"  Jake, on the other hand, started crying before Tyson could even finish his sentence.  He said he didn't want to leave his school and his friends. :(  Tyson ended up having to to take Jake for a walk to talk to him and calm him down.  By the time they got back, Jake was fine, though, and excited about the snow and living near the Denver Broncos.  Hahaha.

These are definitely going to be a hard 5 months, so we would appreciate any prayers you could send this way.  Thanks so much and Go Rams!

Christmas Day

 Walker ran by too quickly for me to catch his first glimpse expression

 Figuring out that they got a Playstation and Madden 15

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

 Sweet brothers

 Sweet brothers laughing at a non compliant 1 year old who refused to sit still for me.

 He is kind of cute, though...even being non compliant.

 But this isn't cute.

Santa came!

Because the bowl game was played the day after Christmas, Tyson was tied up all day Christmas working.  We had a long discussion with the boys, and we decided to send Santa a letter explaining him the situation and asking him if he could come on Dec. 27th instead.  It was torture for the boys having to hear about and see that Santa had come to visit their friends and family, but they had to wait a few extra days.  They survived, though, and we had a nice family Christmas at home a few days late. :)

I mentioned in a previous post that I only let the boys ask Santa for 4 things - something you want, something you need, something you wear, something you read, and low and behold, Santa didn't stick to that list and brought way more than that!  I'll save that for the next post, though.  Merry belated Christmas!

Bitcoin St. Pete Bowl

 Here we are Christmas Eve heading to the Beach Bash.  Unfortunately, there was a torrential downpour shortly after arriving at the beach, so we had to cut the trip short.

 Sandcastles outside of our hotel.

 The boys with one of their favorite linebackers, Willie Mitchell.

 Coaches kids. :)

 Jake with Chris Robinson, Speedy, Willie Mitchell, and Troy Gray taking shelter during the monsoon.

 Christmas Day looked a lot like this- a lot of sitting around while mama had pink eye.

 The day of the game, we hung out in the game room with the GAs.

 The boys were in heaven- football coaches and playstation!

 Jake and Walker making a wish.

 Loading the bus for the game!

 Tailgating with our friends the Hendersons.

 Almost game time!!

 My eyes were so irritated and swollen that I could hardly see the field. :(

The third quarter was a little slow, so....

Our rivals guy got this shot of Tyson.  :)

Back tracking a bit, this is the team, coaches, and the coaches' wives all singing Christmas carols at the banquet on Christmas Eve.  Good times. :)


 We just got back from UCF's bowl game in St. Pete where our Knights lost 34-27 to NC State. It was a heartbreaking loss to say the least.

We had a pretty good time this past week in St. Pete; we left Orlando on the 23 and stayed until the 27th, so we did miss Christmas at home.  And my two little boys were both sick when we left Orlando (Walker had pink eye and a cough and Anderson had the crud), so it made for a low key week with lots of time spent in the hotel room. :( Luckily, Tyson's mom was able to come and help me, and thank goodness for that because I came down with a terrible case of pink eye on Christmas Eve.  I mean, my eyes were swollen (as well as my face), red as fire, oozing like crazy, and very painful.  It was AWFUL!!

Ok, so I'm trying to be positive, but let's be honest- between having pink eye, losing the game, having sick kids, having husband that had to work all week while we were there, and not being home for Christmas- this wasn't one of my favorite weeks ever.  I hate to sound that way because I'm very thankful that we got to go to a bowl, but I just wish we could've had a do-over on this past week.

Anyways, we got home yesterday and Santa came last night!  Pictures from that to come soon.