Dearest Haley Jo,

Words cannot express the sorrow I feel today and every day without you. I wish you were here this Christmas Day so we could enjoy the kids' excitement together. As you know I have always loved you and I will continue to love you forever. This is the worst nightmare and every single second that I'm not in your presence is torture. I love you and miss you sooooooo much.

Love,
JJ

My Dearest Sweetheart, 

I thought I'd write you a quick note on this late Friday night at the library and tell you what I think of you. I can't wait to see that beautiful smile of yours and feel the warm spirit you bring. I think you are so very talented and make me want to be my best when I'm around you so I don't feel so inferior. You make bad days seem good, good days seem great and great days seem like living in paradise. You mean a lot to me and words can't even begin to describe just how much I love you. Dec. 12 will be like heaven, even if you don't look your cutest which is understandable because of travel and Russia- you'll look as fine to me as any other day when I couldn't resist a tender kiss with you. Take care and make sure you write me at least a couple of times before you come home to make sure things are in order for your arrival in my arms.

Love you so much your no. 1 kissing partner J.J.

I wrote this for Haley in the back of her "fun idea" book years ago. It is titled "A Tribute to Haley Jo."

I have never met such a wonderful girl that can do so many things that brighten a person's day. Not only is she the most beautiful and cutest girl in the world, but also the sweetest and nicest person to ever walk into my life. Sometimes or even most of the time she doesn't get the respect that she deserves from others. Words can't express what a great person she is and how happy I am she walked into my life. I feel privileged to have the opportunity of spending everyday with her and most fortunate to be with her for the rest of my life and in eternity. -JJ Morales

I wrote this for Haley in a letter right before she left for Russia in 1995.

The Haley Jo Poem
There's a princess from Washington,
Haley Jo is her name.
Her best friend named J.J.
is her main claim to fame.

He treats her with respect
and he treats her right;
because everyone in the world
knows she's out of sight.

Her life is full of effort
and you see it in her eyes.
When she feels she hasn't succeeded
she gets discouraged and sometimes cries.

She's the girl when I'm tired
makes me feel alive.
She's the only one with whom;
I want to spend the rest of my life.

Haley Jo, you're simply the best
and you know I don't exaggerate.
Let's make plans for the temple
because you really are that great.

You're going somewhere in Russia
and on August 8th will depart.
It'll hurt because I'll miss you
and love you with all my heart.

Love,                

JJ

Grateful.

After arriving five weeks early (weighing in at three pounds six ounces),

two surgeries (one urgent),

two trips to the emergency room (one in the back of an ambulance and one in our speeding car),

and six weeks in the hospital (including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year) our little Sammy is home and doing well.

He's still under the care of a pulmonologist (for breathing issues) but other than that he is thriving, growing, and delighting.

And we are deeply, profoundly, eternally grateful. And still a little shaken.

Summer (three days after Thanksgiving)

You wouldn't know it to look at me, or talk to me, or even hang out with me but I am a perfectionist. Practically paralyzed with perfectionism. Thus, when I start to get behind I get really behind. I find it almost impossible to just go forward from where I am without trying to catch up on everything (I am referring to blogging here but it applies to so many other areas--for example I passed calculus but sometimes I still want to take an online course in algebra because I know in my heart that is where my understanding of math ended)(Also--I realize I've ranted about this before). However, I love blogging. So even though this is causing me agony and I have tossed and turned at night over the thought of not catching up all the way I am going to post. I know that I could just post and no one would even notice that I was missing a few months but it makes me feel better to write this out. So, here is my catch-up post. Sort of. It's not complete. But I'm letting that go...it doesn't bother me one bit. Not one little bit. Not at all. I am very unbothered by it. ;-).

Picture #1: Cutey-pie who discovered make-up a few months ago and can't seem to get enough.

Picture #2: Two more cutey-pies. The highlight of our summer was the visit from these two adorable love-birds. My brother and his wife--so fun to see them.

Picture #3: See how cute they are. We had tons of fun hanging out with them, playing volleyball with them, and doing the rapid NYC tour with them.

Picture #4: Evan coming to give us an update on the status of our pizza. There was a very long line at Grimaldi's and the women and children had decided to sit a spell while the men waited in line.

Pictue #5: Us sitting a spell. Notice the gorgeous wood storefronts in Brooklyn. These beautiful buildings were completely empty. It is so weird to me when I go into the city and there are so many quiet, empty portions.

Picture #6: See top picture of post. It used to be here but I accidentally deleted it and now I can't get it back in the right spot. I'm resisting the urge to start this post over. Claire is very intense when she plays volleyball. She doesn't want me to be on her team. Isn't that rude? And totally inexplicable? I've got game.

Picture #7&8: We went with some friends and Evan & Jen to see the fireworks on the Hudson. The fireworks were incredible. My pictures don't show at all how beautiful it was to watch the fireworks on the river with the city skyline in the background.

Picture # 8: A pensive Olivia with a pacifier.

Picture #9: Posing in front of the Statue of Liberty. I'll add this picture tomorrow...if I can find the right one.

Picture #10: Benjamin pointing to an ancestor on the wall at Ellis Island. I actually have no idea if it was an ancestor but it had the same last name of some of our ancestors so we pretended.

Picture #11: Hanging out at Ellis Island.Picture #12: JJ took the kids to the Little League World Series. They loved it.

Picture #13: Hiking with the scouts. They were inspecting a stream. It was way too soon after the bear incident for me to have any fun. Even though Thomas kept reassuring me that the animal tracks were too small to belong to a bear I felt a little sick the whole hike.

Picture #14: Benjamin jumping from rock to rock. I was able to briefly enjoy the fun and beauty of the hike while Benjamin jumped around...until we saw some more animal tracks.

Picture #15: We watched a lot of summer basketball. Claire, Thomas and Benjamin were all on teams. It was a nice way to spend summer evenings. Claire is the girl with the hair flowing behind her--for some reason she refused to wear a ponytail no matter how much I begged and pleaded.

Picture #16: JJ and Olivia watching the games.

Well, that's all for now.

Buckets of love from your friend who is totally unconcerned with the fact that this post is incomplete, out-of-order, and random,

Haley

Friday Funny

I am drowning in things I want to say. I keep writing blog posts in my head. I want to write about summer before it gets too cold. The kids all told me that it was "the best summer ever". Oh, those quotation marks just reminded me what I wanted to post about. I found this blog a while back that makes me choke laughing whenever I read it. It's the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks and it is so funny. So, if you want a good "laugh" click on over.