A Morales Minute

We spent Memorial Day at  Mom and Dad's with the rest of the family that lives near by for some swimming and a yummy barbecue.  It wasn't too hot outside but the pool was about 84 degrees so mostly everyone got in the water for a swim. The kids couldn't tell if the water was cool. They were swimming and that's all that mattered. :) We also celebrated Uncle Tim's birthday since they were visiting.  He needed a little help blowing out all the candles on his rice krispies watermelon cake.  Aunt Mel made it for him. He likes Rice Krispies treats so she found an idea to make it look like a watermelon. So we had slices of watermelon that were made out of rice krispies for his birthday cake. Wow, sounds like quite the treat...watermelon, rice krispies, AND cake for dessert.  I'm truly blessed to be in a wonderful country with men and women who have fought so tirelessly for our country. Happy Memorial Day and may we all remember

Tuesday May 24th was Lindsey's first temple trip. I was able to go with her and the other youth of our ward.  She was so excited to go! Jaime did the family history work and printed off the names of some of his relatives so their work could be done in the temple by the youth in our ward. One of those names was of his grandma Maria Sanchez Palacios. Lindsey was so excited to do the baptism for her great grandma. She was beaming with such good feelings as she came out to the font area all dressed in her white jumpsuit.  Each youth was given about 10 names to do. When it was Lindsey's turn to go in the water Bishop Justin Christensen, who was putting each person's card up on the camera for the priesthood holder performing the baptisms to read the name, called Lindsey over to the table. He said that he gave her great grandma's name to someone else by mistake. Lindsey's name was even written on the card!! He told Lindsey she could go do the confirmation fo

This Spring we've had many opportunities to do yard work for others in need for our FHE nights. We've been able to do each project with other families in the ward and that helps my kids enjoy the work they're doing because they're along side friends their age. It makes it more fun for the adults as well as we get to visit and work together. Tonight we worked in the yard for Brother and Sister Sickles. He had shoulder surgery and she recently broke a rib. Brother Sickles was out directing what needed to be done. Mow the lawn, trim trees and hedges and pull weeds. I think he enjoyed seeing so many families out helping. It was fun to visit with him as well. Jaime and others brought their power tools. They're pruning this tree that was growing through the fence. There was probably about 10 bushes that were pruned as well. Some were taller than Jaime and they needed to be pruned down to my height.  A snake was found by someone. Tyler was so pleased with

I wanted to document these wonderful people for my kids. Lindsey came into Young Women with some great Beehive leaders. All the girls love them and they have so much fun. Lindsey was so excited to be in their group.  Sister Cierra Owens (very top left) and Sister Sarah Ritchie (top right) love all these girls. You can imagine how sad the girls were when they found out Sister Ritchie was moving out of the ward. Just a neighborhood over from us but another ward. 😔 Shortly after that news Sister Owens announced that her husband would be starting work in Utah. The Beehive girls miss them so much. I'm truly grateful for these women who helped get my daughter excited about growing up and going to mutual. She fears the new and unknown so she was hesitant about going to Young Women but it only took the very first activity to quickly change Lindsey's mind.  Another couple wonderful people are Brother and Sister Salsbury. They have been primary teachers to both Aidan an

The kids had early release from school today. I just felt like getting them out and doing something fun with them so we went to the new park down the road from us. I took the Christensen kids and Emily Daw with us too.  Tyler liked this memory and reactions electronic game. When a color lights up you have to touch that button and it makes a sound when you hit the right one then another light will light up.  Daphne, Lindsey and Naomi atop the twirly ride. It was a feat for them to get up to the top.  Daphne, Tyler, and Emily Emily and Olivia This infant swing is attached to a regular swing so the baby can swing with the other child or parent. Pretty cool idea! These girls found different ways to utilize the swing for themselves.  And the others jumped on for a fun swinging picture. 

Today was baby day at my house. I watched Sarah's two month old for 5 hours today.  I loved getting to hold and cuddle a little one. He slept for most of the time. He was an easy watch. :) The kids were so excited to see he was still here after school. They each took their turn to hold Chase. Tyler still LOVES babies. He left at 3 but before that, at 2:45 Christy brought Makaela and Elise to stay here while she was doing Activity Day at the church. So we had two little babies at the same time for a bit. Baby heaven!         Olivia snuggled with Elise for a while. She was kind of tired so she was extra cuddly. It was a good day today. :) We love babies around here. 

Today's the big day! Getting the brackets off her teeth.           She hates this part. Having the mold made to make her retainers.  Before braces, braces, after braces Stunning! She's a beauty!

He did it! Marcus graduated. He received his Bachelor's in Mathematics Do you see him? :) Tearful hugs. Bel and Marcus were so sweet as they cried and hugged. You can see her there on the left. It made everyone a bit teary too I think. Marcus wasn't sure Bel was going to be able to make it because she'd been so sick after her surgery.  The kids were so excited for Marcus. They like the diploma cover. The boys were talking about how they want to get one. Good goal boys! Everyone was there!! After graduation we went to Zesta Cucina for dinner. We enjoyed delicious food and a fun time visiting. We're going to miss Marcus. He leaves in a few weeks for Chicago for the summer and then in August he leaves to New Mexico for his next adventure in college. He got a full ride scholarship, otherwise I don't think he'd go that far to school. He's smart to accept it though. He will have made it through 8 years of college without any student

This morning was a busy one. I went to Lindsey's school for Donuts with Mom and 8am. I took the boys with me so that I could go with them to their school afterwards.  They looked so cute eating their yummy Krispy Kreme donuts.  At 8:30 the boys and I left to their school.  Tyler made me this sweet card (in Spanish) and plant for me.  Aidan made me a poem and a start necklace with things he loves about me. All written in Spanish. Yeah I need him to translate it for me. :)

I just wanted to write about Aidan. This little gem of mine seems too good to be true. He LOVES the scriptures. If you give him a choice of something to read, the Book of Mormon is what he pics.  He likes to use the reading chart in the Friend Magazine still. He received a red scripture marking pencil from church and has begun learning how to mark his scriptures. I had to laugh, one night he collected all his scripture reading color pages from The Friend from the last few months. He wants to save them all so that he can take them with him on his mission. He wants to show them to other kids to help them learn to like reading the Book of Mormon. How cute is that! Aidan lost his right tooth a couple weeks ago, shortly after he lost the one on the left. I think he always loses his teeth in pairs. :)

The girls did the Allen Allen Volleyball camp. Allen Allen was a professional volleyball player, was on the US national volleyball team and has done a lot of clinics around the world.  I enjoy watching the girls learn to play. Lindsey is pretty good at setting. She did volleyball after school in the fall. I really hope she does it in middle school too.  All the girls.  Lindsey, Olivia, and Emily did it together. I was so busy watching and listening to the coach that I didn't take pictures of Olivia and Emily. ;)

At school Lindsey has been learning about nano technology and using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). They use it to magnify things up to 7500 times. They sixth graders set up their presentations and invited parents and the rest of the school to their "Nano de Mayo" event to come see their work. Lindsey was explaining to me and other adults what she had learned. Then each group did a powerpoint presentation and talked about nano technology. Lindsey kept telling me how nervous she was but when she was up there, she seemed like she was one of the few who knew what was going on. If someone seemed to not explain something well enough, Lindsey had no problem stepping in to clarify. And she even threw in a little joke at the end that everyone laughed at! She gets that from her Dad. :) She did a terrific job. This girl loves science!

Gearing up for Mother's Day the Beehives had a Mother Daughter Picnic for Mutual. We had a nice dinner with sandwiches, fruit, and veggies. While we ate each girl took a turn to tell about her mom and what she loved about her mom.  Then we did pictures and just visited with one another. It really was a fun activity.  Silly us Both Sister Cierra Owens and Sister Sarah Ritchie are now released because they're moving. Lindsey is bummed and will miss them. They were wonderful leaders and made good relationships with the girls.  They know how to have fun and be silly.

Olivia has been asking me for weeks to fill up our little pool. She saw it in the garage not too long ago and has been eager to fill it ever since. I bought it for $8 on clearance at Target at the end of last summer. It's not a big pool of course but I knew that my kids would have fun in it anyway.  Being in the high 80s the kids were hot enough and ready to get in the water. They weren't expecting it to be so cold out of the hose though. Hahahaha. I did boil some water and dump in it too but I don't think it really warmed it up that much.  Lindsey, Olivia, Emily They know how to make it look appealing though. But I know it's COLD!