Count down till the empty nest!

MONDAY
Well, we are now starting our last week together before the boys leave for college. 
My husband at this time is in California preaching a youth conference for Pastor Jaime Morales' church, Iglesia Bautista La Gran Comision.
I guess I'm trying to fit in all the "lasts" before the boys leave. 
We started off with breakfast.  I made them breakfast burritos, one of their favorities.  We then left and did several errands. 

• Picked up a Chick fil A application for Andres.  (Praise the Lord!  David already has a job waiting for him.  He will be returning to his previous job at Cintas) 
• Went to the post office to mail Andres' application.
• Went to a few stores to try to find a few things for David for school. 
• Went to the grocery store for the last buying of junk food and fattening food.  Lol!
• Went to the bank.
• Went to the dry cleaners.
• Came home and started dinner.
• After dinner, we just relaxed and chatted while David was down loading some sermons into his laptop.

Tonight I made beef stew over white rice, one of their favorites! :)

TUESDAY
Today I went to work at church.  Andres has been doing some part-time work at church so he also worked.  David came along for the ride. 
After work we went to the post office to mail some things for the church & checked the churchs' p.o. box for any mail.  We then came home and the boys relaxed a little while I did some house work and started dinner. 
Later in the evening the boys met some old classmates from their school and played basketball.  It was their last time to get together before everyone left for college.

The requested meal for this evening was enchilada casserole, mexican rice and salad.

WEDNESDAY

Today I went on to work while the boys stayed home and began the process of packing.  I have lots to do at the church so it worked out great that we could all get our things started or at least try to!  :)

I came home for lunch and we all went back so I could finish my day of work and Andres could put in his last few hours of work.  He has been a blessing in helping with the load at church!  He is in charge of cleaning our 5 church vans inside and out plus the bus.  He also sets up the classrooms for Sunday school, or sets the rooms up for special meetings or showers, he keeps our offices and bookstore vacumed and other jobs that need to be done.  Today was his last day.  I'm going to miss him not being around not only at home but at work. 

We then came home to do a few things before we got ready for church.  (Their last Wednesday night service.) 

After church, we had a last get together at McDonalds before the kids leave for college.  Some are leaving tomorrow, Friday and next Monday so tonight was a good night for this.
I didn't do a requested meal tonight because they ate at McDonalds. 

 Back row:  David Ortiz (returning student), Nic Tamayo (new student), Andres Ortiz (new student), Ariana Ramirez (new student)

Front row:  Lilia Menjivar (new student), Diana Valencia (returning student) & Jazmin Rios (new student)

 

THURSDAY
This morning I made the boys one of the few homemade breakfast' left!  Fried eggs, sausage & fried potatoes.  They enjoyed it! :)   
While waiting for the air-condition repair man to arrive we continued packing and doing a deep cleaning to the boys room.  Our air has not been working since last Sunday and boy is it HOT!  The repairman did come and fixed it without any problem.   
The boys also got haircuts and picked up dry cleaning.
YAY!  My husband got home around 1:30 p.m.  We are glad to have him home again!  :)  The conference he preached in went great!  The Lord blessed!
We had an early dinner which the boys requested lasagna, salad and tostones (which is fried plantain).  I accidently deleted the picture.  :(
After dinner we got ready to leave and headed to Gainsville, TX where my husband preached a family conference in Pastor Omar Vera's church.  It will go till Saturday.
We had a busy but profitable day!  :)  I'm enjoying every minute with my boys till they leave.

FRIDAY
Today we had a "family day" or should I say a "family morning" out.  We went out for breakfast and did some more preparation for our boys. 
For each and every one of our kids when leaving for college their first year, we take them out and bought them a camera to have memories of college and for Elyssa a purity ring and the boys a purity watch. 
So we took Andres and bought him his.  We then did some last minute buying and then came home.
Their requested meal today was a cookout.  We had marinated fajita meat, italian sausage, hashbrown casserole, puerto rican rice and salad. 
We then got ready and left for the conference my husband was preaching in and left.

 

SATURDAY

We went soulwinning today then came home and ate a quick lunch so we could leave for the last night of the conference.  It's been a really busy past 3 days but it's been nice that we could be in a conference together before the boys leave. 

After the service Pastor Vera and his family took our family out to eat.  We enjoyed spending that time with them. 

We then came home and prepared for Sunday.

 



SUNDAY
Well, today was the last day before we leave and their last service in their home church. 
I have to be honest with you, I have tried to avoid too much thought on them leaving.  I don't know if that will or will not help me when I return home.  I'm just concentrating on the present memories!  :)
The last meal I made until they come home and visit is a mexican dish, mole.  (Not the animale mole.)  Lol!  With mexican rice and don't ask me why but mashed potatoes.  To each his own! :)

It was a good day in church.  They boys said good-bye to their bus kids and jr. church kids. They really got attached.  Yes, I was a little mellow but good things to come in the future!  I'm anxious to hear of their college experiences, dates, classes, ministries they will work in and so on. 

 



It is now 12:55 a.m. Monday morning.  I'm going to post this and go pack.  We are excited and anxious at the same time.  We need to leave for the airport at 4 so I probably will not go to sleep tonight.
Most likely I will not be posting until I return home but if you would like to keep up with the happenings of our trip you can follow me on instagram.  (gabriellasgrandmommy11)
Otherwise I will have plenty to post about when I return.

To all the moms out there that will have an empy nest this fall....it'll be fine!  We now have more time to spend with our husbands.  Remember all the times we had to leave him waiting for his dinner because we were tending to little ones crying or wanting to eat?  It's husband time now!  :)