A Morales Minute

Family Home Evening outside. This is probably one of my favorites in a long time. The beauty and ambiance just adds to this precious time with my family.

Lindsey and Olivia went with Bel and Diana to Aide's sister, Fatima's quinceanera.  They had a great time spending time with Liandrew as well has enjoy the good Mexican food and music. Lindsey has been in a couple quinceaneras and has learned the dances. So she jumped right up and danced the night away.   They have so much fun together. Best friends right here.   

Lindsey and Ben have gotten to know each other through tennis. She asked him to Morp. It worked out great that they were going together because they had a tennis match that went long so if Lindsey had gone with someone else she wouldn't have been back in time to go to dinner with a group.  These two both played three sets (and won!) at their tennis match today barely giving them time to get ready to go to the dance.  It was neat Grandma and Grandpa Morales could be here to see her off.  Picture for the journal! Who would have thought we'd have to wear masks to go to a dance. That's life right now, living during a pandemic.   

  After a lot of prayer and consideration Jaime has accepted the position as the new Chiawana High School principal. It's the largest high school in the state. He had a big job ahead of him. New levels of stress but also new levels of fun. Assemblies and sports are just a couple.  Today he was graciously welcomed with a load of school swag for both him and me. My girls are already confiscating the shirts they want. haha  I have no doubt Jaime will be missed at McClintock Stem Elementary but I also know that he will rock it at Chiawana. He has a lot of goals and vision for this school. It'll be exciting to see them implemented and how things can change to be in line with what he sees for the school's future. 

Olivia was so excited that Emily stopped by for a short visit.  They have grown apart since she's moved to Idaho but I know that Emily will always have a special place in Olivia's heart. Once Olivia makes a good friend she's one who holds on.   

We've been enjoying our new outdoor living space. Tonight felt like a great night to have dinner outside.  Then time for visiting on the couches. I'm happy with the result of this space, especially that it's a space my family wants to be in.   

Jaime was on the news to talk about the recent changes the governor  has announced will be coming to schools. They will no longer have A and B cohorts. Kids are returning to school full time, every day. I'm so grateful they are! There will still be a lot of things different like wearing masks and staying distanced at lunch and not facing each other while eating. All things that are sad situations for schools and I only hope next year these restrictions will be gone.   

Nights like this make my momma heart happy. How'd I get so lucky to have these kids? For the most part they all get along really well. When they are all so happy snacking and singing to music I feel like moments like these really strengthen their friendships with each other. They're all happy to be around each other and singing just lifts the moment up even more! And Disney sing a longs like tonight are the best. :)  

The next day we filled the day with some shopping at the mall. Having lunch at Cafe Rio Food was meant to be enjoyed with people you love to be with.  We went to the Kroc Center to play and go rock climbing. It's a fun recreational center and gym. We played basketball for a while as we waited our turn to climb. After climbing we played some foosball and kids played on the video Game Center.  Tyler's working his way up. Lindsey's quite the natural at it.  Aidan Olivia Me I love doing this. Working my way up to the top. Then trying again with certain color holds to make it a bit more challenging.  Lindsey's at the top! Not sure how many times I went up on the different "courses." Jaime's a great sport. He doesn't like heights and climbing with one hand I'm sure isn't easy. He works his way up a ways that he's comfortable with and then comes back down. Repelling down is pretty fun for everyone.  After leaving the Kroc Center we went out for di

  We got away for a short trip during spring break! We took the kids to eat dinner at Dockside at the CDA Resort. It was fun letting them see the resort Jaime and I go to so often.  These giant fish tanks were fun for the kids to see. We had a scrumptious dinner... and then took a walk along the boardwalk. These silly girls. They're so much fun. They're best friends. They're sisters. They're wonderful.  After our walk we met up with Carina and her kids at the Raptor Reef Water park at Triple Play. Sadly I didn't get one picture of that but the good thing is I didn't take any because I was out having fun going down the slides and swimming with the kids. They all had a great time. We stayed till closing time. Went back to the hotel and the kids hung out while Carina and I played card games and visited.  If there's a pool my kids will swim. In the morning they were quick to have breakfast and then head on to the pool to swim. 

The patio is done and new furniture is taking it's place in the new outdoor living space.  I really like the table and chairs I found online. The chairs are really comfortable and even stackable! So in the winter it'll be nice to be able to stack and put them away and cover them to keep them shielded from the cold and wind blowing wind and snow.    I found a conversation set someone was selling about 2 miles from us. They're practically brand new and the perfect size for us and what we needed. The fire pit table is ordered and on it's way! In the meantime we've enjoyed our time sitting out in the evenings and using the patio heater that we got during Christmas. It's short so it helps blow heat at the same height as the sofas making the heat directed right at me to keep me warm. :)