A Morales Minute

Storm has gotten up in age and gotten slower in his old age. He just kept getting sick and in pain. He was put to sleep today. Rough news for my kids. They will really miss him, especially during their Oregon Coast trips.  

I love having Christmas break to play with the gifts everyone received. The kids have been having fun.  Aidan has been working on building this robotic car Tyler and Olivia worked on Tyler's lego robotics set building a guitar and even playing music on it.  It's really turned out to be a fun activity. He can even take it apart and build a cat that has some moving parts and he can program it to make sounds.   

Christmas Morning at our house.  I love that the girls like to show each other what they get. It makes everything so much more exciting when you can share with someone who gets just as excited about it as you.  Aidan and robotics...battle bots are kinda up his ally.  Tyler loves dinosaurs so the lego Dinos are pretty fun for him.  Time to get right to work and play with their new things! Gravitrax is a fun marble run that Aidan can create different routes over and over.  Olivia and Tyler putting together Legos. I think they like these battlebots.  In the afternoon we headed to mom's for dinner and gifts.  Everyone likes to gather around to see what all the gifts are.  Happy faces when people open gifts are kinda the best part of giving. :) As evening draws in we usually have leftovers and time to sit and visit. This picture is so fun because it shows so many of us working with electronics like phones and smart watches as we help others with their new gadgets.  I got a few snuggles

Christmas Eve Tradition...gifts at Grandma and Grandpa Morales's home.  Tamales for dinner! Aidan, Tyler, and Liandrew waiting until it's time to open gifts.  Jaime has taken on the role of handing out the gifts to everyone. I guess Marty has passed the torch. He likes to sit back and watch everyone...and help gather the trash wrapping paper.  Lindsey got this super cute jacket from Bel and Chris. More dinosaur things for Tyler! Thanks Bel and Chris! Olivia has been asking for a large Hydroflask.  Liandrew still takes his time opening gifts so carefully.  The boys in their Christmas jammies.  Merry Christmas!  

Time to celebrate Jaime turning 40!! Jaime was celebrated all week.  Wednesday we played Volleyball.  Everyone (well almost everyone) dressed up in black for our weekly game.  Volleyball is still a highlight of our week. I can't believe it's been going on for so long.  Silly Shot! Thursday we went out to dinner with friends then watched the new Star Wars movie. Friday Jaime came to work with quite the birthday set up! The school staff came up with all sorts of creative ways to say he was 40. :) Friday night we went out to dinner with Jaime's family to celebrate both Bel and him.  And let's not forget that it was Tyler's birthday on Monday :) The birthday kids! The Morales kids Saturday, Jaime's birthday, he played church basketball. He had a good time being able to play with friends in a good competition.  Happy Birthday Jaime! You are way younger than 40 in my eyes. I love you.   

 Tyler's 10th birthday! I made his favorite for breakfast. Over easy eggs on top of toast.  Dinner was Mac and cheese, mini tacos, and veggies.  Olivia was so kind to make a little video of photos of Tyler. She does a good job setting music to it. We all enjoyed watching it.  We had a simple cake and friends over to celebrate.  Happy 10th Birthday Tyler! I hope your wishes come true and you have an awesome year.