Thirty Five Roses!

 Some of you will already know what these 35 roses mean.  For those who haven't been around our house on the 30th of June,  I have gotten red roses every year on that day to celebrate the number of years I have been married to this amazing man, Rod Castillo!  He is always so thoughtful and gives me flowers and other gifts.  Normally, I have forgotten all about it, at least on the day itself, but he never has.  The smartest thing I have ever done in my life was to say 'Yes!' when he asked me to marry him 35 years ago last May first.  He promised me that he would try to make me laugh every day which I believe he has done admirably.  He promised me that our children would be amazing.  You will have to  judge that one for yourself but I count it as a fact. And finally, he committed that we would be together forever!!!   Thirty five years have not been nearly enough, so  I am holding him to that last one.  He constantly enjoys the moment, especially while we have been here in Spain.  He delights in serving others.  He is always sensitive to my and others needs, and constantly gives me praise and credit for the work I do.  He works to be cheerful, loves to serve, and always has a joke or a profound comment, which ever is appropriate. He is a wonderful story teller.  He can make even some of the traumatic experiences of his childhood light hearted learning opportunities for others.  He seems to always know the right thing to say, and you would not believe how often his calls to say 'I was thinking of you' come at just the right time to support, comfort or encourage our missionaries.    He was definitely worth waiting for!  Thank you my darling for 35 wonderful years and the hope of an eternity together!!!


Our sweet Sister Deere made a cake, half chocolate for Elder O's birthday, and half vanilla for our anniversary.  Our anniversary fell on mission council day.  We cooked  and served the food for the  35 people here for that meeting so it wasn't exactly a relaxing day, but it was gratifying as always to be around these superb young people. 

There is a 20 on his side and a 35 on ours. 
Behind us you can see the 'transfer board'.  The one in the mission home is used to plan transfers, this one is for us to keep track of what is going on.

Ole!

You can see in the background of this photo all the books and orders the missionaries have requested.  Filling those orders is part of our job.  We will be handing that part of our job over to the new couple that are coming in 2 weeks.  We will miss talking to everyone, but we are excited to get to work with the young single adults too.  Life is change!

Saturday we went up to Mijas Pueblo.  It is a very picturesque little town at the top of the mountain overlooking the coast.  The laborers used to ride their donkeys home from work.  The tourists would stop them to take photos and then tip them.  They found that the money from this was greater than their jobs, and thus was born the burro taxi service this town is known for.

 This sign tickled me.  The red circle with white dash means 'Do not enter'.  Above it is 'exit public parking.'  With the burros 'parked' there it just made me laugh.

We walked passed this grape arbor over some one's court yard.  There are actual grapes hanging down. Wow! It isn't just in paintings! You can see a large bunch in the middle at the very top.

I finally caught a photo of a 3 wheeled delivery truck.  They also have these tiny pick up trucks.  They almost seem toy size to me.

 We have picked a new apartment in Malaga and will see if the contract can be arranged.  If so, we will start moving next weekend.  Wish us luck.  Love you all and hope you had a wonderful July 4th!