Merry Christmas

Welcome, friends and family to the Castro Family Blog. I started this blog this year as an attempt to chronicle our lives as the seasons seem to be changing ever so quickly. Now that all three boys are in school full time, I have become so much more aware at how fleeting the moments are that we have together and I try to cherish all of them. As life blazes by it is my desire to keep this online journal so that I don't forget all of the precious moments we are blessed with.

For those of you who we do not get to see or talk with as often as we would like, this is my way of sharing a bit of our year with you. It is more fun for me to do this than a Christmas letter, because I like to include pictures.

This year as I mentioned, we started a new chapter with all three boys in school full time. Nicholas is now in 4th grade, Cody in 3rd and Brett in 1st. They all love school and all of the activities that come with it!! The boys are all three very active in any sport that we will let them play. Nicholas even tried cross country this year and really enjoyed it! All three look forward to the day when they are old enough to play football, but daddy is still holding out on that one and making them wait until 5th grade.

Neil is in his 5th season as the head coach of the FPU Tennis teams and now has a National Championship ring to show for it. Last spring his mens team took the national title that had slipped through their fingers the previous 3 years. The women took 2nd once again but are looking forward to this year!

I am still working part time at Cooper Middle School and wake up every morning happy to go to work. I am blessed to work with a great staff and even better students!!

It is our desire that you all have a truly blessed and joyous holiday season as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. We also pray that in the chaos that this season can bring you take time to cherish the moments with family that can slip away so quickly and have time to reflect and appreciate the true meaning of the season!

Love always-

The Castro Family

Disneyland

This year we were very blessed to be able to take a family trip down to Disneyland. We love to go during the holidays to see all of the Christmas decorations and see it snow down Main Street. Although we had a great time together, Neil and I came back more exhausted than ever. The boys were ride maniacs. We were in the park for 8 1/2 hours on Sunday and almost 10 hours on Monday. They never slowed down and never wanted to stop going on the rides.....the scarier the better. Even Brett who is always up for Dumbo and the Merry go round traded them in for Matterhorn and Indiana Jones (but, he still holds out on the upside down roller coaster and often closes his eyes through most of the scary rides).

What happened to the days when we used to take pictures with the characters, stop to watch every parade, and go back to the hotel for lunch, a nap and swimming??

I did make the boys stop to watch one parade and two shows (which they enjoyed) and I refused to leave until we took a family picture with Mickey. They boys could not believe that we would wait in line for this!! Thank goodness the line was not long or I don't think my wish would have come true.

I must say the best part for me was having all three boys hold my hands as we walked down main street or back to the hotel. I very rarely had an empty hand and I cherished every moment of it. I hope they never outgrow that one!!!

Halloween

This year we had fun spending Halloween at the DeManby's. Although we missed Hannah because she got sick we still had fun and got lots of candy.

Nicholas dressed up as Tim Lincecum- complete with extensions glued to his hat.

Cody dressed up as Hip Hop Cody- he loves the show Hip Hop Harry, but we could not find one of those costumes.

Brett dressed up as his favorite football player- Troy Palomalu (you think Daddy had any influence on that one??) We even found a wig that looks a bit like Troy's.

Fall Birthdays- Nick 10; Brett 7

Well, Nicholas hit double digits this year!! To celebrate the momentous occasion, he invited some friends over for a swim BBQ. They played ping pong, swam, played football in the backyard and cheered on the Fresno State Bulldogs. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, watermelon and ice cream sundaes for dessert. It is pretty amazing how much 10 year old boys can eat!! We did not have any food left over!!
Brett had the same idea. He wanted to invite his friends over to play football as well. So, they got here at noon for pizza and then we went to the park for a real football game. They played for a while and then we returned home for chocolate chip cookie ice cream sundaes.

Nerd Day

I just had to post these pics because they make me laugh every time I look at them. Nelson had a Nerd Day during Red Ribbon Week and Cody and Brett played the parts perfectly. Nicholas had a great costume too but he got shy and took it off before leaving for school.

Soccer Season

Soccer season was exciting as always for the Castro household. Every Saturday this fall was filled with two soccer games. (God was very good to us this season by arranging for both teams games to be played each week at Dry Creek!! That means that mommy never had to miss any games since they were always at the same place on parallel fields.)

Nicholas and Cody were able to play on the same under 10 soccer team under Coach Rush while Brett played on an under 8 team under Coach Hall. The boys woke up every Saturday fired up for their games....often in their full uniforms by 6:30am despite what time their games were and never wanted to be late to practice. In fact, most days they begged me to take them to practice early.

Nicholas played every game as a midfielder. He was a tough defender and even scored 5 goals. He did not sit out one minute of any game and always made us proud by giving his full effort every minute of every game. We never have to tell Nicholas to try harder....he pushes himself harder than we ever would!!

Cody saw most of his minutes at the forward position. He loves to battle the opponent for the ball and loved the challenge of trying to score. My favorite part is watching Cody get a break away ball. He turns on the speed and gets that look in his eyes.

Brett played the majority of his games in the fullback position but would often get a few minutes at forward each game. Brett definately had the strongest foot on the team, but the softest heart. Any time Brett would get an open ball he could boot it half way down the field.....but if there was anyone from the opposite team approaching, he would only kick it half strength. When Nicholas asked him why he doesn't kick it his hardest, he replied, " I don't want the other players to get hurt." To which Nick answered,"Well, if you kick it hard they will be scared of you and won't get in your way."

It will be nice to have our Saturdays back, and our yard could definately use our attention, but Neil and I will both miss sitting on the sidelines and cheering them on....good thing there is next year!!

Run Nick, Run

Nicholas decided to go out for cross-country this year. Not because he loves to run, but because it is the only sport that 4th graders can compete in during the fall season in Clovis Unified. Wherever there is a competition, the Castro boys want to play!

The first race was held at Woodward Park with racers from all over the valley. Nicholas decided to wear his bright yellow Clovis West All Star hat although he was the only kid wearing a hat. This helped mommy a lot because it was much easier to spot him amidst the mass of running children. As the race began, our non-aggressive son ended up in the back 25% of the runners. I looked down at Cody and let him know that this did not look so good. All of the parents then jog over to the finish line as the kids run around the park. As I was sitting and talking with a friend, the first runnner came sprinting over the hill. As I was admiring his speed and his stamina, I looked back and there came the bright yellow hat emerging over the hill. Nicholas ended up taking 4th in his first race and it was very exciting!!

After that Nicholas wore his lucky hat for every race and ended up taking 3rd in the second race at Kastner against all of the kids in the Clovis West area. In the dual competitions he scored first or second in each race and was nomintated by his coach to compete in the district competition to race against the top three runners from every school in the district. Amid 109 other runners, Nicholas was able to earn a ribbon by placing 14th and so ended his running career. He has informed us that he wants to play football instead of running next year. Although his running career did not last long it was a blast for all of us. Every Friday I looked forward to cheering him on in his races and his brothers insisted on not missing one of his races!!

Nicholas coming over the hill at Woodward Park.