PASSIONFRUIT MOOD

Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 01:31:00 +0000

Memorial day was our very last day in Utah. We spend the day over at Mimi and Amir's complex with lots of food and a nice cool pool for the hot day. It turned out to be a great farewell with lots of family and friends to say goodbye.

Diego started the day off playing his favorite sport (baseball if you didn't know) while we waited for everyone to show up. As soon as everyone got there we grilled some delicious meat, ate our hearts out and headed to the pool. The pool was Diego's absolute favorite. He probably spent 3 hours just swimming around. Every time I would ask him if he was hungry or if we wanted to get out he would just say; No, its ok I am swimming.

We loved spending our last day having a great time with our family. Definitely being apart from so many loved ones will be the hardest part.

Farewell UTAH

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:45:00 +0000

I never imagined what this day was going to be like, part of me always knew moving to a different place was a possibility, but I never bothered to think about it because it always seemed too distant in the future. This time actually came, and calling Utah our home has come to an end.

Leaving a place I was confortable with, where I had my dears sisters close by, and where I was happy and content with things all figured out was hard. This is not new to me, its been 8 years since I left the Dominican Republic. Much has changed since then, and even though I have faced struggles, and difficult times it has been 8 wonderful years of personal growth and great blessings.

It was in Utah where I learned how to grow up, how to rely on the Lord for guidance and strength. It was in Utah where I obtained a great education, but most importantly where I married my husband David and together started our family. 10 years ago I would have never imagined the things I would experienced, good thing the Lord always knew so I trusted Him. What a great life, what great lessons learned, how many blessings.

Yesterday I looked at those wonderful mountains that have been part of my view for the past 8 years, and I bid farewell to them. I thank them not only for their beauty, but also for what they represent. 8 years of my own personal mountains to climb, 8 years of growth, of sacrifice, of progress. They represent my own personal transformation into the person that I am today.

Today I can say goodbye with no regrets, and although its an end to a chapter in my life it only means its the start of a new one. but with my family by my side change is not too scary. I close my eyes and know I can do hard things because Christ is by my side and He makes it all better.

I know wherever we are its where the Lord wants us to be. I am excited for this new chapter in our lives, and for the things that will come. To all those we are leaving behind: I love you, you will always be in my heart, and for those family members whom I know I will be seeing although not so often, I will cherish every moment I spent with you, and I will forever be grateful for being with you during that time. Until next time!

Goodbye Utah, Hello Boston!

Crazy Month of May

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 May 2016 07:06:00 +0000

I wrote this a few weeks ago, and never actually posted it. This month is barely making its appearance, and we are already welcoming it with a full list of crazy events ALL happening at the same time. We are grateful David's graduation is already a reality, and its a thing of the past, not because it wasn't important (don't get me wrong, this is HUGE) but because its one more thing we made it through with flying colors.

Lots of fun/exciting/nerve-wrecking things are about to happen for the Valenzuela family, and will come in this order:

Thesis writing
Hawaii trip
Thesis Defense
Packing
Moving to Boston

People often ask me, how I have managed to be in school while my husband was in school, take care of kids and a home, fulfill church responsibilities, write thesis and still retain my sanity. All I have to say is that I have seen the Lord's hand reach out to me. There is no way, I have been able to do the things I have without his help, he is the reason why all of this is possible.

Dave's MBA Graduation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 May 2016 07:05:00 +0000

We are so proud of our Papa for graduation from BYU with his MBA. These two years have been years full of great sacrifice from his part, and as a family: giving up his job, leaving the confort of our home, spending countless hours away studying but at the same time it has been a period of time of great blessings for all of us.

He did a tremendous job balancing school and family time. Time seemed to fly both when there are lots of things to do, but also when you are having a good time. I know he had a good time, and I am happy he had a good time.

Papa you are our hero, thank you for your hard work and dedication, thank you for making your family your priority, because you did this for us. We will always be front seats to cheer for you, and give you all the encouragement and love you need to succeed.

We are ready to take on the next chapter in our lives.

Christmas Family Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 05:32:00 +0000

Christmas season is definitely my favorite one, I love spending time with family, and be reminded of the true reason we celebrate: The gift of our Savior Jesus Christ.

We had a great time getting family pictures this year! We love our Diego, and how outgoing he is, He cried about half of the time we took pictures, but he managed to showed that sweet smile every loves.

My life's turning point 10 years ago

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 14:08:00 +0000

This July marks 10 years since my AFS experience. For those of you who don't know what AFS is, it's a non-profit organization which offers intercultural exchange programs. It was the exchange program that allow me to spend 10 precious months of my life in a small town in the US called Burley, Idaho. You can learn more about AFS here.

During my sophomore year, I met lots of exchange students that attended my high school. I always wondered what it was like to leave your family, friends, and school behind for a whole year and live in a completely different culture. At the end of the school year, AFS was offering scholarships granting 4 students the opportunity to be an exchange student in the US with pretty much all costs covered. I applied for one and I was lucky enough to get it.

I was originally assigned to go to Anchorage, Alaska. What a contrast for a little island 16-year old girl to be sent to Alaska; nevertheless I was brave, and was willing to take on the challenge of embracing the cold weather even when I had never experienced it before. To make the story shorter, after exchanging emails and phone calls with my Alaskan host family, an getting super excited to meet them I was later told just a few weeks before departing that I couldn't go to Alaska anymore, instead I was now going to Burley, Idaho. I was a bit disappointed but didn't give the fact much thinking. I knew I was going, whether it was Alaska or Idaho it was happening.

I remember the first time I met the Morgans, we were all together at the AFS coordinator's home. Because I didn't receive any of their information prior to arriving, I had no idea who my host parents were. I remember looking around, and seeing all the parents who had arrived for the orientation, I was nervous. Roger passed me by as they were going to orientation and said: Hi Liz! At that moment I think I wasn't paying attention, when he left I started wondering if my mind made that greeting up or if it was real.

I left with the Morgans who by the way were super young, and already had 4 small children ages (7,5,2 and 22 months) I couldn't believe they were going to be host parents. We drove to Burley for about 3 hours, and we talked a lot, trying to get to know each other. I remember meeting the entire family, and feeling welcomed by all of them. Later that day I found out they were Mormons. I didn't really know much about their religion, except that I had seen men in black suits riding bikes everywhere in Santo Domingo. They invited me to go to church with them the next morning, and I accepted. Sunday at church set the stage for the rest of my stay in Burley, one of the counselors in the ward asked me to stand up in the congregation and personally welcomed me while speaking in Spanish. I must say that was very special, what a wonderful welcome for me, listening it in my own language. Everyone kept asking me later what he had said to me.

The first few weeks were difficult. I was homesick and I started asking myself why in the world I thought doing that was fun. I remember carrying around a tissue in order to hide the tears, but it was impossible. I cried and they saw me cry. My host parents, always tried to help, and I felt their love and support since day one. It took me about a month to get passed the homesickness, I started getting busy with school, had made new friends at church, and was pretty involved in all of the activities.

Those 10 months in Burley changed my life. I learned to love the Morgan family in a way I cant really express, it was as if all of a sudden they became part of my own family. Within the walls of their home I learned about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I saw their example, I saw them teach their children, I saw them teach me in ways words alone couldn't have done it. Something in my heart changed, all of my sudden the Lord was answering questions, and concerns I had long before I arrived to Idaho. I felt peace in their home, and I felt like finally the Lord was noticing me. (I had come from a devout catholic family, but had struggle to find a personal connection with God)

Returning home was difficult. I was afraid of loosing that feeling of peace and joy I had. I was afraid of never coming back, I was afraid of loosing the friendships I built with people from around the world. I was scared of going back to my normal life.

In July 2006 I returned home, I found the missionaries, and a few months later I joined the Church. I quickly resumed my live back in the island, attending school, and getting back on the routine of things back home. But I must say I was never the same again, I had changed, grown, learned about a different culture both geographically and spiritually, I had met great people from all over the world, I had gone to high school for one entire year all in english. A piece of me stayed in Burley Idaho with the Morgans. I thought of them often, and how grateful I was for being sent to Idaho instead of Alaska. I believe there are no coincides, the Lord knew me personally, he knew what I needed and answered a prayer I had long before. He gave me a new family and wonderful memories with them.

10 years have passed, and the Morgans have been close to me ever since. I moved to Utah after graduating from High School, I met my husband David, got married, graduated from BYU, had a baby and the Morgans have been there beside me. They are my family, and I am grateful for them everyday. How grateful I am today for a program like AFS, but above all I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who placed me in what might have been an odd place to be, so small and maybe remote from all the other exotic world destinations my friends were going. I am grateful for the path of life that he put me in, I would do it all over again. This is the life I dreamed and although is not always easy or perfect its the life I want to live.

I hope that from this story you realize that there is an all powerful being above, that if we let Him take us by the hand He will lead us in a path of life that will bring joy and happiness. He lives and love us.

Happy 10 years as a family Morgan Family

October 2005 McCall Idaho

Garrett 7, Quinten 5, Izabell 3

On our wedding day, October 13th, 2011

BYU Graduation day April 2013

October 2013 Diego's birth day

I love you Mom and Dad

Madilyn

Izabell June 2014

Izabell and Diego

Half way

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 23:34:00 +0000

I can't believe we have been here for six weeks already, and we only have six more weeks left. Time sure flies when you are having a good time. I would have never thought that Nashville was such a gem, but I guess I already said this. During these past few weeks we continue to go to places, and discover the amazing places Nashville has.

Here are some of the things we have done: A few weeks ago, we went to an exhibition of exotic cars, I guess anyone who ownes an expensive car, can go and park their car for display. I guess it was every guys dream place to be. I must say it was pretty awesome to see these fancy cars from up close.

Diego also has a fancy car as you can see. Next time we will make sure his is on display

We also attended a fun church activity, with some yummy food at a beautiful ranch, just minutes away from the city. It amazes me that you can be so close to the city, and feel so secluded and at peace in a place like this. I guess they have the best of both worlds here.

We also went to OpryLand, a beatiful hotel here in Nashville with a beautiful indoor garden. One word: IMPRESSIVE!

For those of you that follow me on Instragram already heard about this, but if not here it goes: I am going to be graduate student this fall at BYU. I am soooooo excited!!! After a few months of long nights studying and then, waiting those dreadful weeks waiting for a response. I must say I am pretty happy. SO he had to celebrate this big accomplishment with Sushi and Ice Cream my two favorite things!

Splash Pad adventure: Its funny how kids find the weirdest things to entertain themselves. He hardly played in the water. He found more fascinating the lady with the green umbrella. Oh kids!

We had lunch at this burger joint, everyone says its the best. And according to David they were the best. I must say though they didnt do justice to the sweet potato fries, I still think Guru's hold the winning place for best sweet potato fries

Walking in Radnor Lake

We are looking forward to having David's parents come and visit us here. We have some fun things planned for them, and we hope they come to love this place like we have. Until next time! I hope you are all having a good summer as well.

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Nashville so far

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 18:52:00 +0000

It only took us a couple of days to fall in love with this place. We love Nashville! Our first few days here we decided to toured around and see what the city has to offer. One of the first places we visited was the Andrew Jackson Mansion Museum. That place was beautiful; the house it self has a lot of history, but just walking around the property is peaceful and very enjoyable. We also visited Downtown Nashville and decided to try some delicious Southern Food people recommended. We love all of the things this beautiful, green city has to offer.

We love the outdoor music, the good food, the warm humid weather (for now I like it, ask me again in a few months) and just simply learning about the Southern culture.
David is enjoying working for Nissan, and we certainly thank them for our sweet ride while we are here.

Howdy Summer!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 May 2015 04:16:00 +0000

As some of you know, we moved to Nashville for the Summer. My husband will be doing an Internship with Nissan, as part of the requirements of the MBA program at BYU. It is our first time being in this part of the country. We didn't really know what to expect, but everyone we talked to, who has been here had very nice things to say about Tennessee, so that helped us get really excited about our summer here. Let me tell you our adventure how we got here.

Our little family adventure started on Sunday, right after my cousins wedding day. You can imagine how crazy it was trying to pack, and helping out for the wedding. Our flight left Sunday early in the morning. It is a shame to say that we missed our flight, we got to the airport a bit too late, and the counter people took FOREVER to check us in. It was our first time EVER! And hopefully the only one. Tickets were too expensive to try to buy last minute, so we decided to waitlist in standby. The next flight that could take us to Nashville was through Chicago and left just 30 minutes later. But to make things more complicated, there was only one spot for one of us. We decided to have David leave first, since he was the one scheduled to start work the next day. He left on that flight, and we stayed.

Diego and I left on another flight shortly after, but ours was going to Phoenix. We got to Phoenix at 10 AM, the only nonstop flight to Nashville was leaving at 7 PM! The thought of being at the airport for 9 hours with a toddler was brutal. I remember a friend leaved in Arizona, so I decided to give it a try and call her to see if she could pick me up. It was a miracle. She was only 30 minutes away from the airport. We attended our church services, and had dinner with her family. Her husband then dropped us off at the airport, and we arrived in Nashville at almost 1:30 AM. David got here at 3 pm so he was in charge of getting us settle for the day.

We had a rough start, but we made it. I guess good stories are often full of the unexpected. We are excited for our 3 months here, and we look forward to getting to know this amazing place.