A Morales Minute

We rented a small car to drive to Rexburg to save on gas and wear and tear on our car. We stopped in Hermiston to pick up our car that was parked at Bel's house before dropping off the rental there in Hermiston. Bel and Chris weren't home but that was ok because we were just picking up the car.  When we got there Chris's mom just pulled up at the same time to check on their dog Mako and water plants. She asked if anyone wanted to go in to use the bathroom. Tyler said he wanted to go in and drop off some comic books he had borrowed from Chris. He went in while we were moving our things from the rental car to our car. Minutes later he came out to me and said Mako jumped up at him and accidentally head butted him and asked the cut on his lip was bad.  I looked at it and asked "Did he bite you!" He said he didn't think so. As he was talking his lip kept bursting open and I said it looked like it'd need stitches. I asked him again if he was bit. He was afraid t...

With the Juneteenth holiday Jaime didn't need to work on that Friday so we packed up and left at 5am Thursday morning for Rexburg! We made amazing good time and I had all my kids with me that evening!  They all miss each other. I loved seeing them spend little moments together laughing.  Chaz took a lot of time patiently showing Tyler how to play the guitar. Chaz has a pretty unique gift of being able to play the guitar just by hearing songs. Tyler had a great time learning from him because Tyler will be taking a beginning guitar class in school.  Saturday morning we got up early and went to the temple as a family to perform baptisms. Nothing better than being in the temple with your family.  Sunday was Father's Day. We attended church together in Olivia and Chaz's ward. Afterwards we changed and headed to the park to relax and visit. It was such a beautiful day. Both Koda and Milo had a lot of fun running around the large fields.  It was a perfect day! After th...

Tyler's last day of his Sophomore year.  Aidan's last day of 11th Grade.  Can you believe these boys both graduate in the next two years!? They will both be doing CBC running start classes this summer to continue with gettin their Associates when they graduate high school.  Let's bring on summer! We're ready for it to get warmer and to have some fun trips this summer.   

us closer to outdoor gatherings, flowers, and spring cleaning.  We celebrated Chris's birthday  I mean, Memorial Day by having a BBQ at their house. Chris doesn't like birthday attention on him so we had to be specific that this was a Memorial Day celebration and not a birthday party.  Flowers are looking so good in my yard! The peonies have bloomed and gone but the next round of flowers coming out are just beautiful! I love Cala Lillies and these are doing great. I had calla lillies in my bridal bouquet and I've loved them ever since,  Everything else is looking so beautiful. Chiawana had a free movie day so Bel came to join us to watch The Devil Wears Prada 2. It was great.  The freezer was turning in to a literal ice block and needed some defrosting. I was surprised to see how quickly the three of them jumped in to action to help me get food removed and placed somewhere to keep it frozen and then help boil water and remove the ice.  I forgot to take a be...

  Watched Lindsey on Whatnot again. She's so funny. Her co-worker James gets a kick out of her and they work great together.  Tyler usually doesn't like to go shopping but he asked me if I'd go to the store with him. I said sure since I had some stuff I needed to get anyway.  He's such a character and makes me laugh. This is how he shops at stores when he and his friends go together. He cracks me up.  Tyler had some money and wanted to buy a vinyl. He couldn't decide which one to get so I bought the Michael Jackson one because everyone loves his music. He was pretty excited to have two more albums to add to his collection to play on the record player in his room that Olivia left for him. 

I got to spend some time with ALL of my kids today! That's all I need on Mother's Day. Jaime and the boys were sweet to make me a yummy dinner but my favorite part is seeing these six wonderful faces all at the same time. It'd be better if it was in person but I'm so thankful for the technology that lets us spend some time together virtually. I'm blessed to be a mom and even more blessed to have been given these kids to have forever in my life.   

May is here so it's time for our famous themed May Days.  May the Fourth is always a favorite. I'm not sure the kids can say if they prefer the 4th or 5th. They love them both. It's fun to put on Star Wars movies to play all day and evening then have the foods to go with our Star Wars theme. I asked the boys if they still wanted to have these theme dinners since the girls were gone. I wasn't sure if they didn't like it as much with just Dad and I. But they said, very quickly, that they wanted to do it. So we did! And Cinco de Mayo is always a hit. I put the flag garland up. It really does make the space. And we put on  movies like The Book of Life, Coco, and Encanto.  I felt so proud! Lindsey and Olivia wanted to celebrate the 5th the way we do. Lindsey made enchiladas for not just the four of them but for other friends even. I told her how to make the Spanish rice. Everything turned out looking so good! Olivia learns in the kitchen from Lindsey. What a good example...

Koda is extra  sleepy and groggy today. He needed to have some dental work done.  He's just been laying and sleeping all day. He had 4 teeth removed that were loose. So it's soft foods for this cutie for a week.  Being the last day of April, you know what happens next right?  

Tyler has been gone all week for another DECA conference. This time in Atlanta, GA They were lucky ducks and got to go to Six Flags, Coca Cola Museum, and Aquarium. The Atlanta aquarium is so neat. It felt enchanted when I was there about 8 years ago. Seeing those whale sharks and giant manta rays was incredible. I was sad to learn there's only one whale shark there now.  He enjoys this group and all the work and activities they do together.  The boy who hated dressing up now is eager to put on a suit and tie for DECA.   

Lindsey has been doing awesome at work. She does the marketing and streaming for the Top Notch Jerky company. I remember she was hesitant to take the job because it was a Jerky plant but with its location and wages it was a good job for her. Better yet, she's really enjoyed it! She does a lot of online streaming sales on live videos. I like to just watch it and hear her in the back round talking to James while he sells items. Every now and then she pops into frame and will talk. She's just so cute! She's had some opportunities to be front and center on the live stream. She gets so nervous but the people love her! She does so well. She's a brave cookie and I admire her for her ambition and doing things that are outside her comfort zone.  And tonight the girls FaceTimed me! It was so good to see them both and be able to laugh with them. I took this screenshot and I know Lindsey probably won't like it but I love it! Look how happy they are. That's what warms a momm...

Now that the wedding is over and I've gotten the house all put back together, laundry done, borrowed items returned, I can sit and back and relax. Enjoy that everything came together so well, enjoyed time with family and friends, and mostly...being in the temple with my family as my daughter was sealed to her one and only. It was such a great weekend. I've enjoyed remembering things about it. I'm tired but it was worth the work. So, no better way to sit and relax than with... my sweet pup! He was so eager to take a nap on the couch with me. No one else was around to take my attention from him.  While sitting Lindsey sent this cool link to the family to use google earth images that are similar to letters to spell your name. I thought it was so cool! We all enjoyed making our names out of these photos.   

Saturday afternoon Chaz and Olivia came over to open their gifts.  They got so many great gifts, gift cards, and money. They're so loved. It was fun to have them over for a while to eat and visit with. Then Olivia went and gathered some more of her things from her room. This girl just isn't quit ready to give up her room and childhood/teenage things. What she left behind we will just box up and get Tyler moved in to her room. She can go through the boxes when she has more time. I felt blessed she wanted to hang out with family before they headed back to Idaho. They left the same time as Lindsey and Isaac. They followed each other to Meridian. Isaac and Lindsey stayed at Isaac's parents and Olivia and Chaz had a night in a hotel. Sunday morning they will head on to Rexburg and get all their things moved in to their new apartment.  As excited as I am for these two, it was still so hard to say our goodbyes. I miss Lindsey and Olivia so much. They are my best friends! We've...

Paying other companies to do most of the set up and take down of the reception makes clean up easier! But it was still work for us to gather all of our things, ie yard toys, lights, fire pit, interior decor, and get the flowers and gifts all loaded up in multiple cars. You'd think we'd all want to go straight to bed at the end of it all. But just like we did after Lindsey's wedding, we stayed up even later just decompressing. Sitting and visiting. Going over the day and talking about all the good things and how much fun everyone had.  Lindsey was such a sweetheart and rubbed my feet for me.  We did it! Planned our second daughter's wedding. Only a year and a half after the first one!

After pictures we headed to the venue where they had begun serving drinks and had snacks bowls on tables while guests waited for the us and the bride and groom to get there after the picture session was done. We were blessed with a beautiful day so the outside patio and green yard were perfect for the kids to be out and play and guests could sit on the patio furniture with their drinks. I felt like it was just perfect! Chaz's Jeep is too high up for Olivia to step up into with her wedding dress on so he lifted her into it and out of it when they got to the venue.  It's not their home threshold but at least I know he will take care of her.  When you first walk in to the venue this is what you saw! The neon sign was a surprise for Olivia and Chaz. Well, Olivia mostly because when she showed me her inspiration photos of things she wanted for her wedding, the archway she wanted had a neon sign. She said she wanted that...well except that "I know we can't do the sign. But I...