Grandpa Arturo Castro

My grandfather passed away on Memorial day. He had been struggling to breathe because he had fibrosis in the lungs. He was on an oxygen machine for about a month. He was surrounded by loved ones in his last few moments. His services will be on Friday night and Saturday morning. The family is working together to get everything done. I don't think I need to say much more other than that he will be missed.

Golden anniversary

Arthur's HS Graduation

In my mom and dad's backyard

Claudia and Mike's College Graduation

At my cousin's wedding

More photos to come....

Hawkins-Castro Wedding

So here are a few pics of my brother Arthur's wedding.

I made their cake and their bouquet and boutonnière. Thanks to Claudia and Randy for the help in making the bouquet and boutonnière! Thanks to the internet for all the great ideas too! Hee hee :)

The cake was covered in Marshmallow Fondant that my sis-in-law, Fawn pointed out to me (thanks so much, the substitutions for the cake mix also turned out great!). It was a white cake with a whipped chocolate ganache filling.

The cupcakes were made of chocolate and white cake, with buttercream frosting. They were all decorated differently but had the whole brown and green color scheme incorporated. I made an extra cake to try out after and it was delicious...yum.

Sean's 2nd Birthday

Here's the pics I promised...no need for explanation right?

It was a Cars theme party, Sean was very insistent on that, even with other choices given to him.

Thanks to everyone who came and to those who wished Sean well. We are grateful for such awesome family and friends! It was fun doing a mini-party for the boys, Evans family :)

p.s. Can someone tell me how to upload photos faster??!! I am so frustrated and don't have time to sit and wait for it to "load" to only have it say ERROR. Arrgh.

Sean Eighteen Months

So Sean is past eighteen months, but I thought I would do a run down anyway. The photos are from the day after he turned 18months, he went to Nursery for the first time on this day. A plane caught his attention.

Weight: 25 lbs.

Height: 35 inches

Shoe Size: 5-6

Clothes: 24 months, 2t

Favorite Foods: Chicken nuggets, Pastas (with or without sauce), Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, PB and Jelly Sandwiches, Strawberries, Bananas, Oranges (sometimes), Grapes, baked potatoes, churros (from Disneyland), ice cream, black olives, quesadillas, yogurt, fish, rice, cereal, milk, apple juice, pizza, turkey wraps, cheese, french fries, it goes on and on...

Favorite Things: Remote control Train set, trains in general, planes, cars, helicopters, space shuttles, rockets,coloring, Fire and Trash Trucks, drawing, things that explode, music, playdoh, drums, Disneyland (especially the Trains) harmonica, phones, Dad's PDA, Jake the dog, playing with Jake the dog, animals, Nursery, his friends, cooking, helping with cleaning, singing, running, cutting things with scissors, his stuffed animals.

Favorite Songs: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Nap Time

Favorite Shows: Yo Gabba Gabba, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, Wow Wow Wubbzy, The Upside Down Show, watching YouTube videos on trains, planes, rocket launches, and animals. Here's one of his favorite animal videos that he likes to laugh at: Baby Panda Sneezing

Words: Horse, Milk, Ven (Spanish for come), stop, go, wait, daddy, momma, doggy, puppy, duck, he makes various animal sounds instead of saying their name, cheese, Jake, shoes, socks, water, juice, cracker, and the word "tchee-tchee" which means an assorment of foods, pasta, train, train track, choo choo train, up, down, help, thank you and please (and he actually uses these correctly, most of the time without us reminding him to), nose, belly button (bun), feet, hurt, ow, phone, hi, hello, draw, red, blue, plane, fish, All Done!, Ooh, wow, heart, star, high, lift off, one two (he will count backwards also), vroom (car), trash, eww, boogie, Oh no!, Oh man!, chicken (chichen), play, slide, wee, stuck, outside, poo poo, pee pee and so forth. He knows other words in sign language too and some of these words he signs in sign language while saying the word.

It's hard to sum up a person by their likes, but it gives a little glimpse into his world. Sean is a little independent boy. He loves to do everything for himself if he can. He doesn't cry when we leave him in the Nursery, and is usually very happy and energetic. He is very easygoing, but can be stubborn at times. Sean is a very intelligent little boy. He is curious about things and sometimes it can get him into trouble. He tries very hard to communicate his needs through sign language or by speaking. He loves to be with people, but can also play by himself very well. He makes us laugh often, and reminds us that life does not have to be complicated when simple things are fun and exciting. We love you, Sean!

Some Old Photos...

I found some photos of my sister and I when I was looking through a memory box. I'm not too sure of the ages...

Sean Killing a Strawberry

Child labor is great ;) He made the mess, he should clean it up. I still ended up having to do it myself, but its fun to see him try. He is so serious about it, too.
He will be 18 months on the 23rd of January.

Looking Back: Sean's 1st B-day