Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Love, Michelle

P.S. The Castillo Jr. Family got a yellow lab for Christmas (so cute!) and named her Cosmo, that is who I am holding ;)  Hope it was a happy holiday for all.  We had a great time!

this post is for my own benefit

I have often been thinking how I can't wait to graduate and get out of school.

I can't wait to get married and start a family.

I can't wait to get a project done.

I think about how I want a new car.

I want to live in Utah so I can be close to my family.

I want to live by myself so I wouldn't have to worry about the drama that can

be included in a 6-girl apartment.

Oh, how I wish that I could travel all over the world and not have to work.

I long to go back to the Philippines and be among those people and speak their language.

I wish the professors really understood me.

I wish that I could do things just right to make everyone happy.

But, oh, if I could just be DONE with school...life would be better.

...........................................................................

But then I remember how grateful I am for my education and that I AM almost done.

(3 MORE WEEKS!)

I love being single and having a ball with my friends and getting pedicures just for the heck of it.

Kids will come soon enough and I get to play with Easton and Averie.

I have a car the gets me from Idaho to Utah and back.

I get to be with my family for eternity.

Living with the girls that I do has been amazing and I truly love each one of them

and if there weren't of us it just wouldn't be as much fun.

I have been able to travel to incredible places and just went on a cruise.

I plan on going to the Philippines next year and speak to my friends there often.

I don't need my professors to understand me or make everyone happy,

I just need to do my best.

I am loved and life is good!

Savior of the World

At this holiday season there is nothing that I would have rather done than go to this musical production. Savior of the World is done at the Conference Center in the little theater and it is about the birth and resurrection of Christ. What a powerful experience this was to be with my family and to feel like I was witnessing some of the events that took place leading up to the birth of Christ. Made me so grateful for the knowledge that I have of the gospel and for this up coming Christmas season. It was amazing to hear the words of the Lord as if he was speaking. It truly increased my testimony and I am glad that we could all be together again as a family. What a great blessing it is to be with my family for a whole week during this Thanksgiving week! To find more information on Savior of the World go to lds.org.

"Welcome to Holland"

I just got off the phone with a friend from High School. I admire her and am grateful that I was able to talk about her experience with raising a daughter with Down Syndrome. Her daughter is 6 months old and I am anxious to be abe to meet her. Thanks, Christa for giving me so much insight as a soon to be professional in the world of working with children with disabilities (just 6 more weeks!). Below is a wonderful poem about having achild with a disability, I hope that it puts it into perspective for you. What a wonderful thing!

By Emily Perl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

HOW COULD YOU RESIST THESE SWEET FACES! Muah! I just love these kids to peices!

The Church is true!

I know that many of you are wanting to see pictures of the cruise...and don't you worry those are coming! I just wanted to share this picture and announce that the CHURCH IS TRUE! As many of you are aware there has been a Typhoon that passed through the Northern Philippines. Although I did not serve there, many friends and companions are now there. I was looking on line at all of the pictures and came accross this one...so fabulous! These are some missionaries helping the victims and people in the Philippines! What a great work...and hard, but this may be the way that some people will be more receptive to the Gospel! This storm has killed about 240 people and many are still missing. There is another storm southeast of the Philippines and the people in Cebu are preparing for the worst. Please pray for these people that they might find comfort in their time of trial!

Is it here yet?

Well, I am MORE than ready to leave for Miami and the cruise in the morning. And tonight just topped off my readiness...really, it did! I can't wait to be in the GORGEOUS Caribbean just soakin' up the sun...ahhh! Gotta love it!

7-week break...{Part one}

JACKSON HOLE!!!

Opal and I left Rexburg the Saturday after school got out to head to Driggs, Idaho. I was so excited to head out and CAMP...I had never camped with just friends so I was ready to have some serious fun! We met up with our friend Sara and her roommate Heather, went on a small walk in the Targhee National Forest and this is the beauty that we saw.

It was July 25th and the city of Driggs welcomed us with a parade (it reminded me of the Cedar Hills parade back in the day!), a picnic with fried chicken, rolls, water and watermelon. And finally we saw John Schmidt in concert...FANTASTIC!

We camped at the Mike Harris Camp ground on the way to Jackson with Opal, Heather, Sara, Shawn and Mike. It was a complete downpour during the concert so of course...the wood was wet. Hence the smokey little fire...thanks Shawn for building it!

So cute...I am the only smart one that brought a camping chair...it was well used!

Finally, this is how we slept...under the stars, well mostly under the tarp...cause it rained! But it was sure fun! Thanks Mike for making Opal and I into a cocoon! We definately stayed warm!

I would dare say that these are my favorite mountains...I love the Tetons! This was on our way up to a hike...it was an adventure!

WE HAVE ARRIVED! This is Phelps Lake behind us...so beautiful!

Looking happy...even though we got lost! Yeah...we got lost, and then it started raining on us...oh, it was so great!

Ahh! We made it back to the bottom and on our way down I met a lady from the Philippines. Opal teases me saying that where ever I go I can find someone who is Filipino...what can I say?

Such a great camping trip even though it was only 2 nights! Thanks for playing friends!