Summer Baseball...Gotta love it!!

Well.....the summer started with a bang. And I do mean a big one! All three boys were members of their baseball All-Star teams and Nicholas was also a member of his first travel team- the Clovis Outlaws. So, being on 4 baseball teams at once was quite a thrill. We had practice almost every night of the week and baseball tournaments every weekend. One weekend, we had all three boys playing in different cities- Sierra, Selma and Central!! Although it was quite busy, we had a blast watching our boys do what they love and making some great friends along the way.

Neil coached Nicholas's 11 year old all star team this year and they had a great season hanging with all of the hard hitting teams of the district. Nicholas spent a lot of time on the mound and was a great leader on the team.Cody played for Coach Don again and got to play in many different positions including catcher, pitcher, 2nd, short stop and center field.Brett played on the 8 year old team with Coach Budd and had fun with all of his buddies!
The last game was an Outlaws tournament played in Santa Maria and it was a blast for Nick and his friends to get to swim, boogie board and have lots of time to play together!

Nicholas with two of his best buds- Connor and Sawyer

Nicholas and Cody on the Track

Once again Nicholas and Cody ran track for Nelson this year. Nicholas competed in the 800, long jump and 4x100 relay. He placed 4th in the Clovis West section in the 800 and his relay team placed 2nd advancing them to the district finals. Cody competed in the 200, long jump and relay. He took 1st place in all three events at the sectionals qualifying him in all three for districts. There he places 5th in the relay and 6th in the 200 for the whole district!

Baseball 2011 Highlights

This year Brett played on the Rays with all of his buddies from Nelson and Coach Rush again. Once again they made it to the championship game and once again they took home the title!! They had a great year together and Brett played most of the year at pitcher or catcher.Cody played on the Mets once again for Coach Richardson. Although they did not make it to the championship game, they made a good run in the playoffs and Cody played catcher and pitcher most of the time this year as well....he even got his own catchers gear from Mimi and Papa this year for his birthday!

Nicholas moved up to the big boy field this year- the Majors. Playing with 11 and 12 year olds Nicholas held his own and led his team on the mound and at the plate. Although they did not win many games, Nicholas really improved his teamwork and leadership skills while on this team.

Spring Break in San Diego

This year we tagged along with Neil's team to San Diego during Easter Break. We got to stay in the Manchester Grand Hyatt on the 31st floor. It was a spectacular hotel and we had an amazing view. The boys got to play basketball on the roof, swim in the pool and soak in the jacuzzi. We watched them play at Point Loma and then hung out at the beach with our friend, Mike Lantis. The view from our room.....one side overlooked downtown and the other overlooked the water.The boys picked up a game of basketball on the roof with some kids they met on the court.

Cheering for the girls team at Point Loma...the boys helped them get warmed up for their match on the track.

We had lunch with Mike at a great restaurant right on the beach.

One night we even caught a Padres baseball game.

On the last day we visited Legoland and the boys had the most fun on the slides in their new waterpark. All in all we had a great time making great memories!

Castro Family Mission- Operation Water Well

Last summer, Neil and I both read a book that our church was going through together. It is called The Hole in Our Gospel and I think will change the life of anyone who reads it. At least that is what it did to us. It convicted us very deeply and left us asking, "God what can we do?"

We decided that one thing that we are going to do in response to that question is to do what we can to help build water wells in Africa. For those of you who don' t know, as many of 5 million people die every year of water-related illnesses. "A child dies every 15 seconds of a water-born illness which creates a no win sitution for millions of parents- they can watch helplessly as their children die for lack of water, or they can watch them die from diarrhea, because the only water they have is tainted." The Hole in Our Gospel

This left me with a haunting thought. What if I was not blessed to be born to Stan and Margo Papi? What if I had not been born in America, but in Africa?? What if I were the widowed mother of 3 boys living in Africa with no clean water, watching helplessly as my children kill themselves with the only water they have to drink while another mother of 3 boys in America wastes water getting the bath just the right temperature for her children? How can I sit by here in the comfort of my warm home with a water flowing freely from the faucets and not do anything for my sister who sits in agony in Africa??

The answer is: I cannot. I must do something. I know that I cannot provide clean drinking water for everyone in Africa, but I can for one woman, for one family, for one village at a time. So, Neil and I decided to make this our mission. We have decided to set aside a certain amount of money each month and put it toward the funding of a water well. When we get enough money, we will have a celebration, send in the money, and start over again.

Our desire is to build one water well a year for as many years as God allows. Did you know that one water well will provide clean drinking water (600 gallons a day) for an entire village (about 150 people) forever!!! The cost of a traditional well is $2,600.

Unfortunately, at this time, it is not within our means to be able to allot $200 a month to reach our goal of one well a year. But as Neil and I processed this, we realized that we know other people that are concerned about the same thing and that if 5 families decided to join us and set aside $40 each month (or $500 a year), then we could make one water well a year a reality. And if that number becomes more than 5, praise Jesus, we can help more communities!!

So, that is where we sit now. We have a jar above our computer that holds our monthly water well deposits and we pray that others would want to join us on our mission to build wells so that instead of it taking 3 1/2 years to reach our goal, we could have an annual celebration!!

Please join us in praying for those less fortunate than us who do not even have the luxuries that we take for granted daily. Or, you can join us in praying for 5 families to step up and join us in making our mission a reality.



God Bless!!

Matthew 25:

For I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

Lord, when did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink?

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,

you did for me.