Thankful

I got busy after Halloween and made this quilt 

 

 



Then I headed off to Seattle a week earlier that usual to meet our newest Grandbaby. Juniper Ava

 

 

Isn't she Gorgeous!

It was so fun to meet her and spend some time helping.

 

 

We had a good time with  the other kids too.

 

An unusual snack

having fun

Somebody is about ready to start piano lessons.   She picked up the basics very quickly!

Electronics win though.

 Aren't they beautiful!

So beautiful!

 

 This was the only photo I took of Thanksgiving Dinner.  I was delighted with how my little pumpkins turned out!  Dinner was delicious and Jaela did the pie crusts herself with Pop pop supervising.
 Uncle Jeff and his son have a business making these wooden puzzles and crafts.  They are Wonderful and were thoroughly enjoyed.

 

 We got the Christmas decorations up and then we built a gingerbread house.

The artists were very successful

 Elena and Aaron invited us to experience this Thai shave ice cream dessert with them and Geneva and John.  It was delicious, different and so much fun!

 We loved our visit.  It was a real treat to meet darling Juniper and be able to help Geneva, but it was also nice to get home to our own bed. 

We were out shopping and found this curiosity. It's a topsy turvy world.

One delight this year is that we get Elena and Aaron and family here.  Aaron's work sent him to Scottsdale to work for three whole months.  We are delighted!

Mom didn't like that she had curlers in her hair but I just had to take this photo anyway.

 We even got to do a gingerbread house at their new apartment.

 Then we had Ben's 6th birthday

The birthday cup cake Eevee turned out well.

We had some sad news though.  My brother Steven died.  He had a heart attack while working on his boat up in Anacortes.  It was a shock to us all and was very hard for Samantha, Barb and Janet.  Rather than a traditional funeral, they had a party in his honor.  I was glad to be able to go and remember fun times with him.  Alicia and Todd were able to be there.

Hard for Mom too. 

 

 We will miss my little brother. We are grateful for his beautiful addition to our family.

We love you Samantha

Fall Fun

Part of our trip to Utah included a visit with our Wells family.  We sure do love and enjoy them.

 

 We made a quick trip to Las Vegas to meet up with this young man and go to the temple with him and his fiancé.  Then went back for the wedding the end of October.  He is finding out why our young men won't stand next to Rod for a photo.  It was a delightful trip.

They had a beautiful wedding!

 Rod has been very much enjoying our missionaries ...the ones serving in our ward.  He has gotten very close to several of them.  He has sponsored several P-days, usually racquet ball and breakfast or hikes.  One of the current pair is district leader who wanted to do some team building and leadership activities so Rod obliged.  They were so well received that he was asked to do them for some of the other missionaries in the area.  Whenever dinner doesn't work out, they come here.  It has been a real blessing.  Rod derives great satisfaction from these relationships too.  He just needs to be around young people.
He has also been taking his watercolor painting class and enjoying it greatly.  He is improving a lot too.

 I continue to enjoy my ceramics classes and am producing some work I really like.

The leaves that I used for this platter are from my squash plants.

We are so blessed to be able to pursue our interests and grow in experience.  What a rich life we enjoy!

 

Bye to Bita

My beautiful and amazing sister Bonita and her wonderful husband Daniel are off to China.  They will teach English in a University in Jinan China.  She came for one last visit just before they left!  I had to get photos  at family dinner of course.

Cupcakes by Chris!  So delicious!  Thank you!

candid photos are so awkward.

Where did he learn to do things like this???  Makes a great smile though!

 I sure love My Mom and sisters!  I truly admire them too.  What a blessing.  Have a wonderful time on the other side of the world sister.  We will wait for photos and your calls.


We took a quick trip to Utah for this cute couple's wedding.  We are so happy for them and wish them the best! Mr and Mrs Lish

 

We got to have dinner with Elder Dansie and his cute wife.  The next day we enjoyed the wedding and a great dinner with the Lishes, Then went to the Brigham city temple for a session followed by dinner at Mattocks with Brandie and Riker Wells and family!  Sunday morning we visited with Sister Theobold and then spent the rest of the day with the Wells.  It was such a nice visit.  We are surrounded with such wonderful people.  We are truly blessed!

The Epic Castillo Family California Adventure Finale

Part of the family tradition was a yearly thematic family portrait.  This year Elena and Geneva carried through a previous portrait's motif "the Wild Coyote Clan" on matching shirts for the whole clan.  We donned these darling shirts and went to a stump we had found previously and took family photos. 

that's a crowd of kids.

My sister's family.  They are included with ours because her kids are the same ages as our grandkids.  It just works!

they are all just amazing!

After lunch we drove to Stout Grove.  My AMAZING  brother in law drove that huge RV on the dirt road to get to it.  He didn't turn a hair. We were behind him and I was having anxiety just watching.

 

 

 

 

 We made it and thoroughly enjoyed the walk in and around these breathtaking trees.  Perhaps you can get a little idea how huge they are.  I'm afraid we rather intimidated some of the other people there by our sheer numbers and the activity of our kids.  Keeping track of them was fun too.

How many kids will it take?

Grandma was a Trouper!

Those Dumdums sure make Uncle Keith popular!

Ring a ring?

The whole clan!

Poor Ellie's tummy hurt.  She hung in there though.

Getting to climb all over them was one of the best parts of these trees.

It doesn't even take any imagination to see a face here.

caves and hiding places!

Kelvin isn't enjoying it much yet.

Weston was fearless!

The parents were a little bit fearful but the kids did great.

Oh, so tall!

We all made it back to our campground safely.  Whew!
 We had  used the pick-up truck bed to store food and supplies, and the tailgate worked perfectly for a work surface and serving place.  Then, that evening it provided the 'stage' for a spontaneous talent show! The talents went from joke telling and math facts, to music and dance....oh and wood carving. We have a wonderful family!

 



Wesley and James did balance!

We sang songs for a long time doing requests from all genres.  What a talented sister I have.  They did 'You got a Friend' and I cried!  My cute hubby requested it....it's our song.

A gift for Alicia...who is soon to be a Bear!

 Rod got worst joke.....He's Pop pop to the grandkids....

Best sleeping baby!

 

 Friday morning we packed up and headed out.  We so enjoyed the time with our sweet kids and grandkids and family

 

 Several families went on to other adventures, and getting home was an unpleasant adventure for Todd and family...but that is their story!  We love them all!