Wow....this year has flown by...I am having a hard time believing Christmas is in only 3 weeks!! This year our family could be characterized by the saying, "Get in, sit down, shut up and hold on!" With three active boys we are never bored, and at night we often fall into bed exhausted. But, we wouldn't change a thing, because there is nothing better than watching your kids do what they love. Also, we know in a few short years, we will look back on these days with great reminiscences and longing. This spring started with all three boys playing on three different baseball teams and ended with three different all-star teams and a travel team. Neil and I figured out that in one week we watched 16 games and had 5 practices.....CRAZY!! I know, but so fun to cheer them on when they are at the plate or on the mound!!
In May, Neil's mens team took another national title for Fresno Pacific University. That is Neil's third national title in 6 years at Fresno Pacific. I don't mean to brag, but my man can coach! We are looking forward to another exciting year cheering on the Sunbirds and hoping they can take both titles this year...their last as an NAIA school. Next year they will be switching over to NCAA Division 2.
We are enjoying this last year of all three boys being at Nelson Elementary School together. We are cherishing the moments, realizing that they will not be together at the same school again until Nicholas is a senior in high school!! Nicholas is in 6th grade and Cody is in 5th grade which means they get to play all of the school sports together on the same team this year. It was fun watching them play football together.....in fact, for Nicholas's first touchdown of the year, Cody was blocking and made a huge block to allow Nicholas the room to score. They both did well and had fun on the field helping the Nelson football team to an area championship title!! Brett loves the fact that he gets to get out of school early on Fridays for away games to watch the games and play with his friends and he cannot wait until he can get out there and play as well!
This year also added more to my plate....going back to teaching full time in Selma. I haven't worked full time or been in the classroom since before Nicholas was born. Although this was quite an adjustment for our family, I am happy to report that I am LOVING being in the classroom again and it is not as hard as I was fearing. I work with a great staff in Selma and have an AMAZING class!
This fall all three boys again played soccer....Nicholas and Cody for a Clovis Crossfire team and Brett for the Nelson Zombie Ninjas again. Nicholas has given us fair warning that he will not be playing soccer at Kastner next year, so we enjoyed this season realizing it was probably his last. This made mommy sad because he is a very talented soccer player and has become a lot more aggressive the last couple of years. Thank goodness we still have a couple of soccer seasons left with Cody and Brett.
Lastly, this year we have also been blessed to work together with five other families to build a water well in Africa. It has been our goal this year to not be "polluted by the world" but to instead realize and appreciate all that we have been given. When you realize that children are dying daily because they do not even have clean drinking water, it quickly puts into perspective all that we have to be grateful for. It is our prayer that in this season, we would not be dismayed or distracted and that we would remember to be grateful for all we have been given.....the greatest of those gifts, a little baby born in a manger who came to give his life for you and me.
May you and your family have a truly blessed Christmas season!
The Castro's
Neil, Ann, Nicholas, Cody and Brett
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