A Morales Minute

  I've enjoyed going to Olivia's softball games. She's on the JV team and sadly not many other schools have enough players to have a Varsity and JV team so Olivia doesn't get very many games to play this year. She's a great supporter of the Varsity team and goes with Jaime and I to watch their games. It's been a lot of fun. She's really improved on her hitting this year. We're hoping she will have a great year on Varsity next year. She's looking forward to it!

Summer's End Half Marathon September 24th, 2022 I finally signed up to run a half marathon! It was the Summer's End Half Marathon. Having friends to run it with makes a huge difference for me. I struggle doing something for the first time on my own. Just not knowing what to expect makes me anxious. I ran the Ragnar Rainier relay (another bucket list item checked off) with these girls so I appreciated their encouragement from the relay to the marathon.  When they asked if this is your first time running a half marathon. Haha, can't believe I ran my first one at 40. I should have done this years ago. Just didn't have enough faith in myself to do it.  And we're off! Jess and I ran the beginning of it together until she couldn't keep the pace anymore.  The photographer on the trail got this shot of me. I look like I'm walking but I'm not! I just try to run with my feet closer to the ground to use less energy and bounce in my step so he clicked at the time th

  Elizabeth and my parents have been working to lose weight and get in to better shape. They've done so well! Elizabeth has been trying to run and exercise more. She asked my parents and I if we'd do a 5K with her. It was cheaper with a team of 5 so we asked Jaime if he'd be interested in running it as well. Jaime and I both ran the entire thing. It's an easy run with it only being 3 miles. Jaime has been working his way up to running 3 miles so getting in a good time on his 5K is nice. Elizabeth ran and walked parts of it and made sure to run the end and cross the finish in the run. Mom and Dad walked the 5K and did a quick dash at the finish, it was fun.  I liked being able to do this with them.  I'm proud of them for being healthier by eating well and exercising more. Today was great. A short run on a Saturday morning along the river on a beautiful day was a great way to start my day! (P.S. I'm not trying to block Jaime's bib number, my elbow is holding t

Lindsey was so cute to send me her first day of school picture. I'm so excited for this new chapter in her life. I hope she enjoys her classes and professors and makes some fun friends and memories.   

 The day I always knew would come has finally arrived. It's still hard to believe and even harder to handle, taking Lindsey to BYU-Idaho.  Wednesday was a rough day. Lindsey and I worked on getting her things all packed. Multiple times we'd get teary eyed. Sometimes I'd have to make sure she wasn't around as I started to cry because I didn't want to make it harder on her when she'd see me cry. In the evening after we had family prayer, Jaime gave Lindsey a blessing with everyone around. He blessed her to be able to do well in school and have peace and comfort. Good health and not wear out. He blessed her to remember that she can always ask for any help she may need. It was a sweet prayer. Afterwards Lindsey cried and gave everyone hugs goodnight. Olivia was having the hardest time.  These two are thee best friends! My heart broke when I walked in to Olivia's room and saw these two like this. Olivia's face in her hands and Lindsey's arms around her. I

  Lindsey never ceases to amaze me. She can act so shy and timid and other times she can go way out of her comfort zone and try something new. She submitted a photo from Graceland in hopes to win a trip out there again. Her photo was super cute. The contest went through most of the summer and recently closed. She got plenty of votes but still was only a finalist and didn't win. I'm still so proud of her for trying for it. 

Our entire family of 6 has never been to the temple together. Tyler was old enough to go when Covid hit and the temples were shut down. It was a long time till they were open and when they did open we just never had the thought to take all the kids together. Usually I just think that the kids can do temple baptisms with the youth of the ward for mutual trips. The thought came to Jaime and I that we should go with all the kids. Somehow stars aligned to make it work. Olivia didn't have a game on Thursday so she could leave Wednesday's practice 15 minutes early. We picked her up at 4:45, she changed in the car on the way to the temple. We met my parents there just after 5pm. We were able to get in to the temple and enjoy our time there. Being together. Doing baptisms and confirmations for the dead. When we were all done we were able to sit down on a bench together. Being in that font room, looking at a picture of Jesus Christ while sitting there with my family felt so good.  I was

Today we celebrated Aidan's birthday with his Morales and Naylor Grandparents and Aunt Mel. Darin had already been taken to the airport this morning. I invited the others over for dinner. Aidan requested Zuppa Tuscana soup with salad and breadsticks. Since Grandpa Noble is no longer with Mom and Dad it was easy for them to come over and have dinner and join everyone.  This card from Aunt Mel is the best. He opens it and keeps pulling the top tab and it plays the music "tequila" but instead of shouting "Tequila!" it shouts "Tacos!" 😂 Right up our alley! Video games from Bel and Chris and Marcus, Aide, and Liandrew We got him the Marvel version of Splendor, and ear phones,  and legos. His grandparents all gave him either a gift card or money into his savings account.  Happy Birthday AIDAN! I think his choco brownie extreme blizzard cake was worth the wait for him.  After dinner Lindsey and Mom played the piano a little bit. Enjoying some time before she

 Having your birthday on the weekend we had funeral services kinda sets the celebrating on the back burner. However, Aidan is blessed with an easy going personality. He understood that even though we couldn't celebrate him today, he wasn't forgotten. Many family members were good to wish him a happy birthday and even sing to him a couple times through the day. 😀 After we got home from Sandpoint, we made açaí bowls for a celebratory snack.  Lindsey was so sweet to go get Aidan his favorite cookie from Crumbl, brownie batter. It made for a great "cake" to put a candle in and sing to him. Aidan has grown so much this year that tI actually feel like him turning 14 fits him.  We played one of his favorite games, Century. Darin was still at our house so he joined in. We enjoyed having Darin here with us this weekend. I loved having some time to talk with him and catch up. 

After the service everyone met at Uncle Franks lake house for a luncheon. It was very generous of their family to host us all. They did the same after Grandma's funeral.  Uncle Dave has a hard time getting around anymore. He wanted to go be with everyone so Frank offered to drive Dave down the steep driveway on his 4-wheeler. It was still very hard on Dave but he enjoyed visiting with everyone. I loved seeing Frank do what he could to help and care for Dave.  It wasn't super warm so the kids didn't swim and play in the water and no one got boat rides. The kids enjoyed talking and being on the dock anyway.  Jaime and I enjoyed visit with my cousins and aunts and uncles. It is sad that this is what brings us together. Many of them, the last time I saw them was at Grandma's funeral.    Everyone gathering the way they do really is a wonderful tribute to Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone loved them so much and wanted to pay respects and be at the funeral services. They were such

After the graveside service some of us stopped by the Noble homestead. All that's left of the property is the old barn. The garage, woodshop, and house are all gone. A bank now stands in place of the house.    You can see which side is the "newer" side that had to be rebuilt after it caught fire years ago.  This old barn is smaller than what we all remembered.  The inside still smells like a barn. Sounds odd but I kinda liked the smell of the old place.  Aidan, Lindsey, Olivia, Tyler Darin Darin, Emily, and I. We enjoyed reminiscing about the place.  Lindsey, Rachel, Olivia, and Emma My girls. Lindsey was given Grandpa's Mazda hat. It's come full circle. Jaime got the hat first when we got our first Mazda. Brian really liked it so Jaime gave it to him. Some how Grandpa really liked it and Brian gave it to him. Grandpa wore it a lot.  Emily's and my kids 💕 I loved being here with some of my siblings.  Being in a place full of childhood memories with those you