I want to Blog...no, really

Dearest Castillo Children,

Wow. I am horrible at blogging. I want to be better at it, I promise. I really want to have this blog that is full of pictures and enjoyable moments captured that so easily can be disregarded through the hubbub of daily life. My biggest question is: do I write about the last couple of months or only focus on this last week? Since this last week both of you were sick and unbelievable whinny. (I'm looking at you Nora.) I will instead talk about the Christmas season.

What a special Christmas season this was for me. Especially getting to see my two girls just amazed by the lights and music of the season. It was a time of service also for me, which always brings in the Christmas Spirit. Always remember that the spirit of Christmas is the love of Christ. And that pure love is charity- giving service to all around us. My favorite thing I got to be a part of was a huge garage sale for my friend who lost her 16 month old son very unexpectately. It was so heart-wrenching but there has been so much peace that I can't help but feel like his little life accomplished more than most people who live to be 80. With a sudden lose of a child there are financial costs that are difficult on top of an emotional one. I couldn't help her with the pain and loss, only our Savior is really capable of helping with that, but I could help with the funeral costs and medical bills. We asked people to donate items to sell at a garage sale and it was HUGE. We had 3 garages full of stuff, plus my front room. We had to turn people away because we had SO much stuff. We filled three driveways and yards with the amount of stuff we had. I had to ask my neighbors if we could use their driveways, too. It was hard work and I asked people in the ward to help run it and it ran so smoothly. I feel so humbled by how well it ran. I was worried there won't be enough people to set up - there was a small army there to help. I was worried about not having people there to run the sell - when people had to leave others showed up to help. When it came time to clean up there were people there to clean and trailers there to take things away. It was beautiful. It's what I imagine Zion to be like. Everytime during the week when I would look at how messy and crazy everything in my house was I would start to have anxiety. I felt like a crazy hoarder! But then a feeling of peace would just wash over me and I knew it would be fine. We were able to raise about $4,000 that day and an extra $1,000. That is HUGE. I'm so happy we were able to do that for the Hunt Family. They have always been an example of service to me and I'm grateful I was able to serve them, even just a little bit.

Christmas was fun this year. We decided to have Christmas morning in our own home before heading up to Phx to spend time with family. Since it was Sunday we went to church first before opening up presents. 7:30am church is pretty brutal. At least we all look cute in our Christmas morning pictures. :) We spent time with my family and Todd's. We went to the Zoo with my family and had the Castillo lunch with his side. The girls got lots of princess toys and Annalise didn't seem to understand what was going on. Nora really like Santa and enjoyed his image on toys and in person - but she still didn't seem to understand what the whole point of him way just yet. Oh, next year that'll change I'm sure.

As I said, I'm hoping to be better about blogging. I want to be able tp print this blog out as a record of my family. I think that is such a beautiful way to journal about the everyday happening. Because, before I know it my girls will be grown and gone and I'll have are my words and pictures of there short, precious years. How I love my girls!

With Love,
Your Mother