Post Ouchie Update

Dearest Castillo Children,

How are you my beauties? I hope you are well in the future. That you are loved and cared for. That your father and I were able to watch you married to wonderful men and perhaps get to see grandchildren. I know that none of that is certain, we may be taken at anytime, but know that I enjoy spending my days with you. I love laughing with you and playing. I may yell sometimes, oh man - I may yell, but you're fabulous little kids.

This week we all recovered from Nora's little trip down the stairs. Her face started to heal and that included some nice bruising around the nose.

 

Despite some bruises she was happy all week!

 

We didn't do much that was different than our usual week. Nora had preschool, we played in the backyard and enjoyed our time together as a family.

 

 

Todd and Annalise playing her favorite game of Catch the Moon.

 

Nora's new game of mail order rock delivery. Her "truck" needed work. :)

 

Running around with daddy.

 

Ta-Da!

 

More time in the backyard before the heats hits for the summer.

 

The growth of our garden. I LOVE having a garden!

 

My sunflowers. I can't wait for them to get huge!

 

Our herbs and some pumpkin.



I've been really enjoying playing in our backyard. I love having a garden and it's ten times more fun to do it with children. Annalise especially loves to water the plants. We fill up our watering cans and give them all drinks. It makes me laugh so hard how much joy she gets out of seeing them grow.

Nora is in her final weeks of Preschool. I can't believe a whole school year has already come and is almost gone. I'm looking forward to summer though: movies, swimming and long days without responsibilities!

 

Nora learned the letter "Z" this week.

 

 

Nora liked being a Zebra.

 

I put together this Christmas ornament puzzle that Nora and Annalise love.

 

I kind of love her outfit.

 

 

This weekend we traveled up to Phoenix to help my parent start moving stuff from their old house in Surprise to their new house in Peoria. They have plenty of time to get moved over to the new house but that almost seems worse. Something about dragging out the move might make it seem more difficult. The home is smaller and more manageable for the two of them instead of their larger house in Surprise. Also, they will be only 7 miles from the new temple being built in Phoenix. I am SO jealous they will be close to a temple. I hate driving so far to attend. Tucson is suppose to be getting one but it will probably take 5 years. I'm hoping we'll be out of Tucson by then. We'll see!

 

 

Helping people move with two small children really doesn't allow for me to be much help. My sister Kristine wasn't able to watch them since she was ill, so my mom and I paid Sabrina to watch them for a few hours so I could help them move some stuff. The girls wanted to be involved with everything! They wanted to help pack and then unpack and then pack again whatever we were touching. They were so happy to get to help. My parents loved being able to see them. When my mom is around I'm nothing special. :) I'm glad they love her and Grandpa so much. They keep asking when we'll get to see them again. I wish we lived closer. Annalise wanted to walk between the two of them and would have been happy to just go home with them as well.

 

 

Well, my little girls, I hope to be a little better this next week to remember all the cute stuff you do. Believe me, it's a ton! But there are also plenty of fit throwing, before you start to think you're perfect angels. :) LOVE YOU!

 

 

With All My Love,

 

 

Your Mother

5 Year Anniversary and.... CRASH!

Dearest Castillo Children,

Oh, it was a long week. Oh, such a long week! I heard cries for Grandma for a good 6 days after she left. Annalise would randomly say she missed Grandma and Nora would ask when she would get to see Grandma again. Geesh - love you too, kids. :)

Honestly, I'm grateful you girls loved having Grandma. Grandma said you didn't ask for me. I hope it was because I had prepared you for the fact I would be gone all week or if it's because you just like Grandma better. I guess Grandma took you to McDonalds, bought you presents and played with you a lot. Yeah, I'd probably prefer Grandma over me, too. :)

This week, the 3rd week in April, was full of melt downs and cries for Grandma. We tried really hard to get back into the swing of our normal life. I think we are finally there. It was a long week though!

The most notable day of the week was Thursday. It was Todd and my 5 year anniversary. We had already celebrated it with our cruise so I wanted to do some small for let him know how much I love him. I decided it would be fun to buy some dollar store balloons, get some local Mexican food (Rigobertos) and watch a movie. I decided on Life of Pi since that's what I read on the cruise ship and the movie just came out. I suggested that on facebook and Todd's mom said I should also get a pie for us to eat. Done! I was going to go after Annalise's nap to pick up all the stuff before Todd came home.

Sadly, the best laid plans are often broken. While Annalise was suppose to be napping I laid down for a little bit. I heard Nora playing in the playroom and then I heard her get Annalise up from her nap. I figured they could play while I laid in bed for a little longer. Nora comes running and says she wants to do a special surprise for me and Daddy. Sure, Nora, whatever. Yeah... a few minutes later I hear this HUGE bag and Nora scream out. WHAT?!? I get up and Annalise runs in saying Nora's hurt. Nora is right behind her and her nose is gushing blood. I grab her and I try to clean her up in the bathroom and I see a table on the stair's landing.

 

 

After Nora calmed down enough I asked her what happened. She tried to ride the table down the stairs. She wanted the little table downstairs so she could set up a surprise for Daddy and me. I had told her it was our anniversary, that is was special and that we were going to get balloons for Daddy and dinner. It was hard to be upset at her when she was trying to do something sweet. Why she wanted to ride on top of it, I'll never know. Geesh!

 

 

I checked her nose and it didn't seem broken. I felt her cheeks and she seemed fine except for the bloody nose and cuts under her nostrils. I cleaned her up, gave her a band aid and some medicine. I got some ice for her to hold on her face. She wanted band aids on her hands too, even though there was only blood on them for her wiping her face.

 

 

After the traumatic experience.

(such a mean mom to take this picture!)

 

There wasn't a surprise for Todd when he got home, well, not a pleasant one. He was sad to see his little girl so beat up. She felt fine that night after Todd got home, but she started swell pretty bad. She kept insisting that we got get dinner and balloons like I had said. Since we didn't have dinner ready we decided to go ahead with my original plans. We got some burritos, balloons at the dollar store and pie with a side of Life of Pi.

 

 

 

Todd with balloons, pie and Life of Pi

 

I got 2 dozen roses. One dozen for the our anniversary and the other for Todd's raise that he got this year from work.

 

Our Mexican Tangs to go with our meal.

 

After bath time we were able to see how the swelling was on Nora. She didn't even look like herself! She kept reminding me of a character from Jim Carrey's The Grinch That Stole Christmas. The Whos in Whoville had huge upper lips. Yep, poor Nora looked like Cindy Lou Who!

 

 

She looked so different! At least she was in good spirits.

 

We were tempted to draw a mustache on her band aid.

 

 

The next day we called our Home Teacher, James Hall, to come over and give Nora a blessing. She sat very still during the blessing and seemed really happy to get one. I was comforted that she would heal quickly. We also called our doctor friend in the ward, Ryan Workman, to come over and look at her just to make sure. He said it didn't look like she broke anything in her cheeks. Her bite is fine and she seems just fine when we push on her face and nose. He said she was just really swollen and would take some time to go down. Her swelling turned into bruises and she kind of looks like I beat her. Poor little thing! At least she's looking more like herself.

 

I also made 8 loafs of Zucchini bread throughout the week. 2 for the Ronald McDonald House, 1 for our family, 1 for Ryan Workman for looking at Nora, 1 for James for blessing Nora and another 2 for choir practice. Too bad I was only able to have one bite. Going gluten free is hard, but I am feeling so much better now. I even was mostly gluten free on the cruise. If I have a cookie or something I don't have a problem. Bread is not my friend anymore.

 

On Saturday I was able to go to a play with my friend Megan. We saw the play, The Mouse Trap. I LOVE that show and I was going to audition for it but I wanted to do the cruise instead so I didn't bother auditioning. After watching the show, I'm SO glad I went on the cruise. It was very amateur but I still think the part of Mollie is a really good part. I'm happy that Megan wants to be my play buddy, we're planning on seeing another show soon.

 

Quick thing, I was told by someone that in Primary on Sunday they were talking about the Priesthood. Nora said that her daddy can give blessing when you get ouchies, and pointed at her face. I'm glad she at least understands that the priesthood can help us feel better.

 

I love you my darlings, even when you smash your face into the wall. :)

 

With All My Love,

 

Your Mother

 

 



 

 







Our Mexican Cruise Adventure Pt 2!

Dearest Castillo Children,

Sorry I had to stop midway through our adventure, but I was SO tired. Plus, I'm a little impressed that you're still reading. Let's get back into it!

On Wednesday we sailed towards Loreto so we spent the day on the ship. I got to sleep in since I was sick from all our walking in Puerto Vallarta. Todd, of course, played some more ping-pong. We also met up with our professional dancers to work on our dance routine for Dancing with the Stars performance. Todd worked with Lindsey and I worked for a guy named Ramone. He happened to grow up in the West side of Phoenix, like me. He went to Agua Fria High School. What a small world.

 

This was the Cha-Cha dance with other cruise members.

 

Getting scores from the "judges".

 

Todd with Lindsey and Ramone (I swear Todd was a giant on that boat!)

 

Me with our dancers backstage.



We went to dinner and I need to share how much I loved the formal dinning room. Every night was like going out dinner at a nice restaurant. They would seat you and place the napkin on your lap. I got to try Beef Wellington, caviar, duck and lobster tail. We even got to chat with this awesome Australian couple one night that are currently living on the Marshall Islands. He is in the Navy and they sent him there to keep an eye over their shores. They told us all about the islands, how poor the people are and how hard it is to grow food there. They have to ship everything in on boats because the soil is so sandy there that they can't grow things very easily. They were so excited for salads. I really liked them.

I have to admit that being on the ship really made me feel closer to my ancestors. They had to cross an ocean, and it was weird to have only water surrounding you. But they didn't get to have my fancy cruise, they probably didn't have comfortable circumstances at all. How grateful I am they made the journey, so I can enjoy feeling like a fat, rich American for a week. :) (a little rumor to lighten the post!)

That night we went line dancing and it was so fun. I really enjoyed dancing around with people. I just enjoy dancing in general! I wish we had go dancing more but we were usually pooped by the day's activities that we fell fast asleep.

The next day we reached Loreto. I was super excited for Loreto since it's suppose to me a little more authentic Mexico. It was still touristy but nothing like the other two cities we visited. We had to get on a tenure boat to be transported to the dock. They didn't tie the boat very well to the ship so it was jumping all over the place and had to climb aboard. I felt bad for some of the old people getting on. It was scary for me and I can easily jump.

 

On the boat heading toward Loreto

 

 

When we got off the boat there were all these little kids painting. The were painting the ship and the teachers had classical music playing for them. I was in love! I wished so badly that my girls were there to experience it.

 

 

The main town square area was lovely. Such a tourist trap with all the people selling stuff.

 

This hotel and spa had this beautiful courtyard in the center of it.

 

Where Todd was when he took the courtyard picture of me.

 

A neat church in Loreto

 

Inside the church.

 

I love yellow flowers!

 

We walked along the beach after we did some shopping.

 

 

Todd taught me how to skip rocks.

 

 

You can't see it but there is a large white crane in the background that I tried to get. It made me laugh since I have a picture of me doing that same thing with some bird in Hawaii for our Honeymoon.

 

 

I found their art studio and I started to make retirement plans. I could seriously retire there.

 

 

Part of the town center, where they were having a cultural celebration the day we came.

 

 

We only spent a few hours there but I really liked the city.



 

That night after dinner Todd and I did karaoke. I sang Carry On My Wayward Son (the FULL version which took for-ev-er! I did air guitar during the guitar solos) and Todd sang On the Street Where You Live. Then we saw an Elton John tribute act that was amazing.

 

 

That night we sailed to Cabo San Lucas. We decided to do snorkeling in Cabo so when we stepped over the tenure boat we found someone who would take us for a tour of Land's End and snorkeling equipment. We got on a small boat with two other girls and took a little tour. It was so neat!

 

 

 

A beautiful rock formation

 

Todd and some of the neat cliffs.

 

This is called The Window to the Sea

 

Enjoying our boat ride and awesome orange life vests.

 

The famous arch at Land's End.

 

The two of us by the arch

 

Sea Lions were so close we could almost touch them.

 

Our boat had a glass bottom. On the other side of the land's end there were a ton of fish and our guide said they were barracudas.

 

This Sea Lion seemed happy to pose for the passing boats.

 

Our boat guide was awesome. He would get as close as he could to the wildlife.

 

 

Since we wanted to go snorkeling as well our driver dropped us off at a place called Lover's Beach. It was gorgeous with white, soft sands and large stone walls. Only problem, there wasn't a place for a boat to dock. If you want to get out of the boat and onto the beach you had to have the boat push up onto the sand as far as the tide would take you and jump out of the boat. It was not an easy thing, especially since we had our hands full with snorkeling equipment, towels, the camera and some extra clothes. Some random dude came to help us jump out. He held the boat when the tide was up and we did the best we could to get out without hurting ourselves. It was crazy!

 

 

Loved all the caves and little areas around the beach

 

Todd doing a cartwheel on the beach

 

This side of the beach wasn't for swimming that's to a strong current and mean fish.

 

I just loved the stone

 

The sandstone was so beautiful in its formation

 

Loved seeing our boat in the middle of the ocean.

 

 

After looking around the beach we decided to go snorkeling. I stayed with our stuff while Todd went out. He came back not too soon later and I was glad he did. There were a lot of flies on the beach because of those Sea Lions. Sitting on the beach relaxing was not fun because of that. We decided to just hide our stuff as best we could and go in the water together. I was scared it was going to be really cold water but it felt great. I got to see some really neat, big fish but they kept swimming away from me. I think my flippers made them think I was a Sea Lion. It was hard to swim in the waves. The only other time I have ever snorkeled in the ocean was in Hawaii in a bay. The water there was extremely calm though. The waves kept getting water in my snorkel that I couldn't quite clear. We honestly only snorkeled for about 15 - 20 minutes. We're so out of shape! We were tired and it was kind of difficult. While I was trying to get back to shore I got stuck trying to get my flippers off while the tide was going back out. It was so strong that I couldn't stand up and I got dragged along with it. I had a nice scrap on my backside from it. But we both were happy with little experience and felt it had been worth what we negotiated to pay.

 

 

 

Todd called me over after I dried off from snorkeling.

 

He had made this while we were on Lover's Beach

 

Sadly, it couldn't last :)





 

 

After that had to get back into the boat again. AHH! I had watched this older couple take about 5 minutes trying to get off the boat that was there to pick us up. Once again you have to run into the waves and when the boat was close  enough pull your body up onto it. The first time we through our stuff in, the second time Todd basically picked me up and put me in since I have no upper body strength, and then finally he go in himself. Then the same older couple decided to get back into the boat. Oh, man, that was going to be a challenge. Getting out was 10 times easier than getting back in. My sweet, wonderful husband jumped out of the boat and with the help of husband and mine were able to push her in when the boat came close enough. Then they both jumped in. Just as we were about to pull away some other people were stuck on the beach and we gave them a left. They had been scuba diving near the beach and had to leave since there were a bunch of jellyfish. I'm glad we didn't see any of those!

 

 

After the boat we went around the shops looking for gifts. I wanted a spoon holder for my oven and found on that had Cabo San Lucas on it. Todd found a dress for Nora (he found another one for Annalise in Loreto that had ladybugs on it) I found a pretty necklace that I really enjoy. Todd kept looking for some Old Man Mexican shirts but never found one for a good price. (except in Puerto Vallarta when we stopped by the Sam's Club - should have bought them there!) We walked around Cabo but it was very American-ized. It felt like we were walking around L.A.

 

 

Some pretty flowers

 

Todd picking out his future boat

 

Statue of the actual size of the largest fish caught in Cabo

 

Street performer and me

 

 

He was really good.

 

 

But the BEST part of Cabo, the part that made me whole day, or trip even, was the fund raiser the local zoo was going. You could hold a baby jaguar for 10 minutes with a picture. What?! I tried to talk them lower but they wouldn't budge. It was still cheaper than the $30 I was willing to do in Puerto Vallarta, plus Todd got to hold him too. It was THE BEST!

 

 

My sister Dianna said we should get a lion cub instead of having another baby.

 

Cute picture if Todd's head hadn't been cut off!

 

Seriously, I was in love.

 

Geneva said Todd should be called Diego since he is holding a baby jaguar.

 

He was so soft!

 

I was so excited I started to do my evil smile! That, or I was planning on stealing him. It was honestly a childhood dream come true!

 

 

After that we headed back to the ship and had lunch. We went to a trivia game that was happening right when the ship was sailing away from Cabo. It was a chocolate theme trivia and they had these amazing chocolates for people to eat. Well, since they picked a bad time to have the trivia only me, Todd and this older lady showed up to play. The older lady didn't like chocolate so the host placed the tray in front of me and Todd. It was DANGEROUS! Since it was only the three of us we did the trivia verbally. The winners got to have a free chocolate martini, and since there were only three of us we were all winners! We didn't do that well on the trivia, and we don't drink alcohol, but we got to have free virgin pina coladas - which were SO good and a lot of fun to drink on the deck.

 

 

Me enjoying my free drink!

 

Second formal night Todd brought his tux, he's kind of awesome like that. :)

 

And I may have ordered two lobster tails with my turf and surf... :)

 

 

That night we went to the dessert extravaganza and then watch the edited version of Argo in our room. Perfect day.

 

 

The final day was traveled back to San Diego. The ship was going really fast to get us back to San Diego in time for our docking. This was also the day that I felt the MOST sea sickness. We would go to the front of the ship where the stage was to rehearse our Dancing with the Stars routine and the stage was going all over the place! I thought I had a good chance of winning, until I saw one girl had changed her routine where the guy would pick her up and swing her around. What?! Craziness. Yeah - we're not going to win. Too bad I was feeling sick. I ended up sleeping most of the day since the sea sickness medicine they give you makes you sleepy. Todd missed the ping-pong tournament because of our rehearsal. Sorry, honey! We went to watch an ice carving show and I felt so horrible and was trying to eat but... it wasn't going to so well. After I napped I felt better for dinner - where Todd and I decided to order two meals each, and every dessert on the menu. Take that cruise! We went to play a game called Majority Rules where a question is asked that the most common answer, not the correct one, won you a point. We join Joel, Renee and their kids and it was a blast. Then we were off to do our dancing.

 

The other people we were competing against were super nice. We had a great time joking backstage and it was, honestly, nice to be on a stage again - even if it was rocking. Another couple was up there with us and they had been together for 7 years and not married yet. What, the what?! That's longer than Todd and I have known each other. Todd went first and he did so great! We need to video our dance and put it on here, but I'm not sure if that will ever happen. I was 4th to go and Todd and I tied on our score. What?! I think they did that on purpose so we wouldn't fight.Our cruise director Michael said that Todd had on a big smile the whole time I was out there dancing. Love that man! Out of six people Todd and I tied for 4&5 place. Oh, well. The girl who got picked up and twirled about only got 2nd. It was a tough crowd. I was a little made that the Cha-Cha guy one though - he wasn't nearly as good. Oh, well. Todd was happy it was over.

 

Sadly, that was our last day on our cruise. The next morning we got up, ate breakfast and got off the ship. We drove the 5 or so hours home to our beautiful babies and my parents. After some dinner with my parents they headed home and we gave the girls our gifts.

 

 

Nora got a little drum from Loreto

 

And a dress, that she told us she didn't like. :)

 

Annalise also got a drum

 

But she liked her dress.

 

At least one little girl was happy.

 

 

The other one...not so much. :)

 

Well, that's it my children. What we did while you were stuck at home. That's okay, Grandma said you never asked for us, so you really must not like us all that much. :) I'm so glad you were so good for Grandma and that you had so much fun with her. It meant so much to your dad and me to have some time just the two of us. We love you very much, but we need a break from time to time!

 

 

With All My Love,

 

 

Your Mother