A Morales Minute

Since today was the first day of school for the three younger kids so I wanted time with Lindsey. Time to talk, hang out, eat, and love on her before she goes to BYUI. I took her out to lunch today. We had a good time talking and laughing. She's so funny and so sweet. I'm going to miss her so much when she's gone. I'm excited for this new chapter in her life but it'll be so weird at home without her. She's willing to help when I ask for it. She loves her siblings. She loves hanging out with her family. She's been such good teenager. I truly was blessed to have someone like this to raise. I've never felt "I can hardly wait for her to graduate and move out." like some parents have felt about their teenagers. As close as we are, I'm excited to see how much we grow together as she gets older and hits new phases of life. I wish her luck in everything she does. She's beautiful inside and out and will bring a ray of sunshine to BYUI.   

Back to school! 2022-2023 School's in session without masks and temperature checks and no social distancing. Let's hope we can make it through this school year without any of that! Tyler has gotten so much taller over the summer.  He's excited for football. The kid never seems nervous for school to start up. He's such a rock.  Talk about a growth spurt. This boy has shot up and is now the tallest of all four kids.  I'm excited to see how he does this year.  Olivia gets to drive herself to school every day. No more sharing the car with Lindsey.  It's hard to believe she's junior. She's such a funny girl still. She can be so witty and funny.  Seeing her drive off to school still tugs at my heart.  Just Lindsey and I home alone during the day for the next week. I'm not ready to take let her go off on her own. 😢 I know that'll be hard.   

 I was just writing about how it was our temple anniversary. I was in the kitchen getting dinner on when Jaime got home and walked in with these beautiful flowers! Not only that but he made the sweetest post on Facebook about us. He's not one to take the time to post much, so when he does I know there's effort made. He wants people to know how much he loves me. 😍 And the sweetest card! Jaime is very sentimental. When he thinks about what he's wants to surprise me with, he does it very well. I love him so much and am so blessed to have this man in my life, by my side, my best friend. 

 It's happening all too soon. My kids are just growing up! Today I stood in the garage watching both Lindsey and Olivia pull out in separate cars to drive off to either work or softball. They're becoming more independent and able to go about their day without much help from me. It's an odd feeling and one that made me stand in the garage fighting back tears.  We take Lindsey to Rexburg next week and our home will no longer house 6 people on the daily. Lindsey is really a wonderful friend of mine. We get along so well as mother and daughter as well as friend to friend. She's not over eager to leave the house and go to college and live on her own. She knows she will miss hanging out with all of us. Just as she's been packing up her room she's had moments of tears because the day is coming up when she will be going.  Just a brief post to document how I'm feeling right now.  On a more up beat note...today is the 20th anniversary of when Jaime asked me to marry h

Ragnar  This weekend I ran my first trail Ragnar at Crystal Mountain Resort. The best decision we made was this team.  It was comprised of 8 amazing, strong, talented and supportive women (not to mention fun and really funny).  Our second best decision was to stay in a condo rather than camp in the provided area.  . The race is made up of 3 loops: green loop is around 3 miles long and is ranked the easiest. Yellow loop is 4.8 miles and was all up hill. It was the hardest loop for everyone on our team. The last mile felt like 3 miles as it was such a steep hill. Yellow loop was basically a 5 mile hike and very little running. It tested my grit, endurance and mental and emotional strength.  I did this just as the sun was beginning to go down and I could feel the temperature drop. My hands were numb by the time I finished the run.  Red loop is just over 7 miles and was downhill for 5 miles with some very intricate terrain but beautiful views, but the 2 miles of uphill at the end was chall