The Support of Family

When triplets Avery, Cash and Adyson Casteel were scouting colleges to attend, 他们得出了同样的结论:他们想一起上欧文的康考迪亚大学.

“We were thrilled because, if we could have picked one, we would have picked CUI,” says Gary Casteel, the kids’ grandfather-father. “当我们参观校园时，我和学生们交谈，就像，‘哇.’ We had these great conversations. 我看着(我的妻子)克劳迪娅说，‘你相信这些孩子吗?’ It says it all when you meet the students.”

克劳迪娅·卡斯蒂尔也认为，自从他们的三胞胎入学以来，康考迪亚大学欧文分校在两年多的时间里“证明了自己”.

克劳迪娅说:“这向我们证明，他们在康科迪亚得到了多么美妙的教育。. “The school is directing their talent well. They are achieving great results.”

加里和克劳迪娅以孩子母亲的名字抚养并合法收养了他们的三胞胎孙子, Alayne, passed away when they were young. 加里说，他们很幸运能有抚养孩子的特权.

“能成为像我们这样两个家庭的父母真是个奇迹，”加里说. “We have traveled with all our kids, always been very family-oriented, played with them, enjoyed them and taken trips together. We’ve had so much fun.”

加里和克劳迪娅拥有并经营着位于太浩湖著名滑雪胜地天堂村的商店, close to where they have lived for 50 years. 他们的私人关系可以追溯到沿海城市尤凯亚，这对情侣在高中时就是在那里认识的.

“I ran into Claudia at a locker. We were both late for class,” Gary remembers. “I thought, ‘Wow, what a looker!’ I never let her out of my sight after that.”

这向我们证实了他们在康科迪亚得到了多么美好的教育，”克劳迪娅说. “The school is directing their talent well.

他们毕业后结婚，并在旧金山湾区工作. There, Gary learned to appraise single-family homes, small apartment buildings and pre-construction projects, which became the key to his career.

“I thought, gosh, I love real estate,” he says, 于是，他辞去了一家储贷分行的经理一职，投身于太浩湖的建筑行业, a place he and Claudia adored. Back then, 太浩湖全年只有几百名居民，“甚至不耕地。,” Gary recalls.

“我以为我已经走到了地球的尽头，”克劳迪娅笑着补充道. 卡斯蒂尔一家认为这是一次伟大的冒险，并开始在茵克莱村投机建造小木屋和房屋. 然后，他们进入商业房地产，买下了一家经营了35年的购物中心.

1988年，他们在太浩湖建立了加州第二家工厂直销店. 一直以来，他们的家都在明登，距离内华达州的太浩湖12英里. They had two children, Gary, Jr., and Alayne, the mother of the triplets.

“Alayne是一个了不起的女人，令人震惊，”Gary这样评价他已故的女儿.

Alayne worked in education, 教授专业人士通过多种类型的沟通有效地展示自己. 是阿莱恩让她的父母参与了路德教的教育. When the triplets were two years old, Alayne secured spots for them in the best preschool in town, at the Lutheran church in Minden. After she went to be with the Lord, 卡斯泰尔一家加入了教堂，孩子们也在那里受洗.

“我们失去了女儿，又有了这些孩子，这一切都让我们回到了家，”加里说. “We had tried other churches and they didn’t fit us. 我们走进了路德教会，见了牧师，一切都很正常. It’s been terrific.”

“It was just right,” Claudia adds. “It was where we were meant to be. We wanted to raise our children in church, 我们觉得路德教会满足了我们所有的需求，而且有一个非常棒的牧师.”

From that point on, 这个家庭强烈支持路德教会在太浩湖及其周围的教育和事工, 包括卡森市的伯利恒路德教会中学和明登的塞拉路德教会高中, schools the triplets attended. (这三胞胎从学前班一直到大学都在接受路德教会的教育.) In the past two years, 作为支持路德教教育的更广泛目标的一部分，casteel夫妇还与尔湾康考迪亚大学(Concordia University Irvine)进行了合作.

加里和克劳迪娅现在的主要业务是“天堂村的商店”, a retail center with an ice rink, a cinema and dozens of shops. The Casteels developed and own the center, and son Gary, Jr., left his own career to manage it with them.

“That was our crown jewel,” Gary says. “Several million people a year go through the Village.”

The family also loves hot rods, 在很小的时候，三胞胎也参与了家庭爱好. 加里在阿纳海姆买了一辆定制车从著名的飙车爱好者博伊德·科丁顿那里. 这种关系让这对三胞胎出现在探索频道的“美国飙车”系列节目中. They helped build a 1936 Ford and a 1959 Corvette.

“While Gary and I could chat about muscle cars for days, 卡斯蒂尔兄弟对我们使命的热情是一件很棒的事情. 他们一直支持校园内的多个项目，他们真正理解成为康考迪亚大家庭的一员意味着什么,” says Eron Jacobson ’94, executive director for university advancement.

At Concordia, Adyson works with Rev. Quinton Anderson in abbeywest, the campus ministry. Avery works in the School of Business and Economics with Dean George Wright. 卡什在15岁时开始了自己的dj事业，现在担任许多校园活动的dj, as well as major events in Lake Tahoe.

我们很高兴看到家长们参与到学校中来，并希望与学校建立联系，”耶格说. “我非常钦佩卡斯蒂尔兄弟对我们使命的低调和谦逊的支持. They believe in what we’re doing.

Recently, 这对三胞胎从欧文的康考迪亚大学带了六个朋友回家庆祝他们的21岁生日.

“Everyone who met these kids was amazed,” Claudia exclaims. “They kept saying, ‘What great kids!我把这归功于康考迪亚大学和他们培养出来的优秀学生. It’s fantastic.”

“有人说，‘它恢复了我对这一代人的信心，’”加里说. “康考迪亚大学欧文分校教授的素质对我们来说意义重大. 在商学院，大多数教授在现实世界中都有工作.”

蒂姆·耶格称学生和家长成为康考迪亚欧文大家庭的一员是双赢的.

耶格尔说:“我们很高兴看到家长们参与到学校中来，并希望与学校建立联系。. “我非常钦佩卡斯蒂尔兄弟对我们使命的低调和谦逊的支持. They believe in what we’re doing.”

卡斯蒂尔夫妇很高兴知道他们的三胞胎正在学习“传播主的话语，在成长的过程中分享他们的成功——成为好的教会成员。, working in their community, doing a good job for whoever employs them,” says Gary.

“我觉得康考迪亚教会了他们走向世界，能够表达他们对上帝的价值观,” Claudia adds.