Baby Tsunami

So a few months (approximately 9) ago I wrote about how my sister-in-law, my aunt and my friend were all expecting babies in July and I said it would be a baby tsunami. Well, Sarah mentioned that a baby tsunami could be pretty messy, but let me tell ya...it's actually really cute! ;)

All three of those babies were born within one week of each other, all were baby girls, and they are all absolutely precious!!!

First born was my gorgeous new niece...Averie Karren Castillo

July 16, 2008

Next...Calissa Beth Dalton

July 20, 2008

And finally...

Ella Ambrie Watt

July 23, 2008

Pretty adorable, eh?!?!!

Watt Reunion

At the end of June my family went camping for a Watt family (my mom's side) reunion at Payson Lakes. We used to go there every Memorial day with my dad's family, but I haven't been there in years and it was really fun to go back. We spent a lot of time at the lake playing in the water and laying out.

There are a ton of grandkids on the Watt side and since I am the oldest they are all pretty young. I feel more like their aunt a lot of times, especially since I have a niece and nephew that are the same age as some of my cousins.

The theme of our reunion was the Olympics and each individual family represented a country and made food from that country for the meal that they were in charge of. We learned facts about how many members of the Church live in that country and some general information regarding the country. We also had "olympic events" at the lake with some fun games. My uncle Marvin's favorite event was "flipping the raft when Jen is in it". Fun game for him. Not for me. The water was freezing!!

Filichia Fam

In my 4th of July post I mentioned that I got to spend that evening with the Filichia family. The best part was that it was actually just once of the many times that I got to hang out with the Filichia's over the 2 weeks leading up to the 4th.

Most of you probably don't know the Filichia's, but they are practically my second family. My friend Tim, who passed away last October, is their son. Tim and I spent a lot of time with his family in Arizona and whenever they would come to Provo. I am very lucky to have them in my life and feel like Tim is still around when I am with them.

About two weeks before the 4th I got a text from Lauren (little sis Filichia) saying that LIGHT (her dad's show choir) was going to be in Utah doing a couple shows. I was so excited and got to go see their incredible show in Spanish Fork. When I walked into the church I saw Big Tim (Papa Filichia) and he was so suprised to see me. I loved the look on his face. Then I went into the gym and found Cara (Mama Filichia). She was also shocked to see me. I sat with her through the show and enjoyed seeing the kids perform. It was a little bit hard to watch parts of the show because it was things that Tim had done and it was weird to see someone else doing his part. But it was a great show and I always love watching LIGHT perform. After the show I got to talk to Lauren for a couple minutes and then Cara and I found an empty room and ended up talking for two hours. We pretty much only talked about Tim, but Cara shared a lot of amazing things that happened before, during, and after the accident. We both cried a ton and I was able to share with her some experiences that I had before and after Tim died. It was so theraputic for both of us!

Lauren also was starting school at BYU the next monday, so she was going to be moving into her apartment and getting settled and Cara was going to stay with her for a couple weeks. But since she didn't have a car up here I got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Cara going to the grocery store and running errands and helping get Lauren settled at BYU. I loved spending so much time with the girls.

Then Big Tim and Matt (little bro Filichia) came up for a few days to spend the holiday and to take Cara back home. Matt is such a little Timmy and he is so much fun to hang out with. I loved being able to hang out with the whole family and be able to talk so openly with them about Tim and about how they are all doing. I love the Filichia family and hope that they will always be a part of my life!!

***sorry this is such a long and probably boring post for most of you, but this is kind of my journal, so if you don't like it, don't read it. just kidding.

4th of July

I LOVE the 4th of July. It is definitely my favorite holiday next to Christmas. We have so many traditions and I love spending the time with my whole family and being reminded of the wonderful blessing it is to live in this amazing country!

Each year we go to the Freedom Festival in Provo. The morning is spent getting up really early (4am) to get a good spot for the parade where we stake out enough space for both sides of my family. The parade is always so much fun (hot, but fun...) with all the floats, huge balloons, high school marching bands and color guards (go Lone Peak!!!!!) and the most loved entry in the parade...the Provo Utah Missionaries!!! I love going to the parade with the little kids. They are so cute waving to everyone and make it such a blast.

The whole gang (almost) watching the parade.
My trooper of a sister-in-law sat through the hot parade while 8 1/2 months pregnant!

Lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents....and my dad, the gimp. ;)

Easton used the spray bottle to make sure everyone stayed cool. He was a little too good at that job. The part of the parade that gets the biggest applause. Hmmm....I wonder why?

After the parade we walk around all the booths that are out around Center Street and enjoy blow up rides, snow cones, and funnel cake!

We normally spend the afternoon bbq-ing with both sides of our family, but this year just spent it with the Castillo's since my aunts from Texas and Washington were in town with their families. We spent the afternoon hanging out at grandma's house eating, playing games (Nertz and the Wii especially), chatting and napping. Good times.

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That evening Michelle and I went and spent time with the Filichia's. It was so good to have them in town and get to hang out with them. Ward was also down from Salt Lake and we hung out at Lauren's apartment and then went up to the MTC fields to watch the Stadium of Fire firworks. The fireworks were great, but the best part was just chillin' with Big Tim, Cara, Lauren, Matt and Ward! I'm glad Shell got to meet them.

Me and Wardy. I think this is the first normal picture I've ever gotten of him. And of course, I'm being retarded!

Crazy kids! Lauren, Ward, me and Matt

My beautiful sister and I waiting for the fireworks to start.

It was such a wonderful day and I am so grateful for the blessing that we enjoy by living in the United States. I'm grateful for the freedoms we enjoy and the peace and happiness that is ours!

Playing catch up...

I have been horrible the last couple weeks at posting, but I'm going to catch up today! So much has happened the last few weeks and I'm excited to share it with you all!!! So get ready....here it goes...

Cousins

On the 3rd of July we had a reunion with the Gordon side of the family (my Grandma Castillo's family) at a park in Orem. I don't see many from the side of the family very often and it was really fun. I was really excited when I got there and saw that my aunt and her daughter that live in Washington were there and even more thrilled when i saw my aunt and her family who live in Texas. It was so good to have them here for a few days.

On the Castillo side of the family I have a ton of cousins and I am at the older end of everyone (4th out of 29) so it is really fun to watch the younger cousins all growing up. It does make me feel kind of old, but it makes it really fun to all hang out together.

This is a hysterical picture of 5 of the cousins (Brittany, Jason, Tyler, Camrie and Eric). They crack me up!! The boys all went shopping together and bought matching pink shirts. They thought they were hot stuff, and the girls really are hot stuff. ;) I love my cousins!

Addiction

I hate to admit it, but I have a major problem. Some people are addicted to drugs or alcohol (these are mostly the people I work with...well, not work WITH, but that I deal with at work...oh, I've dug myself a hole!). Some people are addicted to exercise (I wish!!!) or to plucking their eyebrows. My addiction definitely isn't quite as bad as drugs or alcohol, but it isn't great for my wallet.

I am addicted to Deseret Book. Seriously. I should just avoid it at all cost, but I can't. I'm even a platinum member because I spend so much money there. It is pretty ridiculous. This is the spoil I got on my last visit to Deseret Book last week. But I got a great deal on it all...these 6 books and CD only cost me $45. Only problem is that I do this once or twice a month.

And just in case you were wondering, no i have not read all the books I have bought. I wish I were a Maria Cutler and could read a 500 page book in 1 hour, but I'm not so I have a ton of unread books on my bookshelf. Someday I will read them all...

Steph's birthday!

My old roommate Stephanie turned the big 2-1 last week and I got invited to her birthday breakfast. It was so fun to go over to her apartment and wake her up early in the morning and take her to the best breakfast in Provo....Maglebys!!!! I love their french toast, but the best part of their breakfast is the syrup. It is seriously heaven on earth! If you have never had it, drop everything and do it now! ok, maybe not right this very minute, but don't go long without trying it. It will change your life. ;)

Anyway, back to Steph...she is one of the most amazing girls I know and I am so lucky to count her as a friend! She is so great to talk to and always lets me vent to her. She is from Tulsa which is a place close to my family's heart. She is hysterical and she is gorgeous!! Love you Steph! Hope you had a fantastic birthday!!!!This is right after we woke Steph up at 8am by pounding on her bedroom door. She was a little surprised. This is a picture of Steph with her roommates Amanda, Sun Hee, and Carolyn. Steph, Carolyn and I were all roommates last summer.

Me and Stephy at Magleby's. Not pretty so early in the morning!

Park City

So 2 weekends ago Kristin, Jessie, and I took a little weekend trip to Park City. We left on Saturday and went straight to our hotel. It was really nice and we spent a couple hours at the pool. It was fantastic aned I definitely got some sun!! I love being tan! haha. After time at the pool we went to Main Street and had dinner and walked around the cute shops. We then went back to the hotel and watched Felicity. We always seem to plan our vacations around Felicity. It just makes everything better. The next day we went to breakfast at the restaurant at the hotel (yummy!!!) and then went to the pool for some more sun. Seriously, it was the perfect little getaway. It is so nice to have somwhere as cool as Park City that is only an hour away, but makes you feel like a million miles away. It was exactly what I needed that weekend! Thanks for the fun weekend K & J!Hanging out on main street with J-Llo and K-Dub

Sorry 'bout that...

I kind of fell off the blogging wagon the last couple weeks. Things have been so busy!!! I went to Park City then came home and had to work like crazy for a couple days so I could go camping with my family. Then it was Steph's birthday, the 4th of July, more family reunions and through it all the Filichia's were in town and I spent a lot of time with them. So those are all the awesome things you have to look forward to reading about! How excited are you?!? Pretty dang...