Los cumpleanos de Luke!!

Hola!! Feliz cumpleanos a Luke!! We've had a great week: Grandma arrived on Wednesday, Brian arrived on Friday, and yesterday Luke had a special day turning 6! The morning started off with rain and his futbol match was cancelled. But by the time of the party the sun was shining and the kids could swim! We were so thankful. Here's a table full of boys having lunch.

Our friend Josep with baby Miquel.
The main event of the day: swimming! It was so fun to see the kids playing and having a blast. All of the parents ended up staying and we had a great time hanging out.
The birthday boy!!
May 24th is actually Miss Annette's birthday as well, so she and her friends came with lots of good food. We had chicken wings, home-made tortilla de patatas, guacamole dip, antipasto salsa, Catalan tomato bread, pasta salad, crab dip, green salad, pizza, dates wrapped in bacon and Annette's famous chocolate cake as well! Luke, Caroline and Jackson provided the sea animals for the cake.
Luke and Caroline posing by the cake.

"Happy Birthday to Luke!"
Luke and Miss Annette blew out the candles together.
Luke had painted a picture for Annette's present, it was very sweet.
Present time! After swimming, lunch, more swimming, and cake, it was finally time for presents. He got so many wonderful gifts, and was very thankful to everyone. He's so great at receiving gifts, he says "it's just what I wanted!!"
All the kids enjoyed watching and helping.

Here's Brian with baby Miquel!
Boys, boys and more boys.
And, once again, Brian pulled through with an amazing pinata! This time it was a shark, to go along with the sea animal theme. It was awesome!!!
Even Caroline got a turn.
The three two-year-old boys had a blast playing on the pool sharks!

Here's Luke taking a swing.
And after MANY hits, it finally broke!
Lots of candy for everyone.
I asked Luke today what the favorite part of his party was, and he said the pinata! I think it was a hit with everyone. A couple of the other Dad's told Brian he could go into business. :)
Everyone seemed to really have a nice time, we were so thankful for the great celebration for Luke and that God gave us a few hours of sunshine to enjoy the day! Even baby Miquel got some gummy bears, ha!

Michael & Julie arrived safely this morning, and after a big breakfast we headed back into Barcelona to church. They enjoyed seeing our church and meeting some of our friends there. We then drove around to show them some of the sights of the city; it was raining again. We ate lunch at Port Olympic, showed them the Montjuic area, and then headed home. Tomorrow we head to the south of France to celebrate our 10th anniversaries! Thanks to all of you who are helping to make this possible!! :)

Lots of love to everyone,

Tonya

Life Between Visitors

Hola Familia y Amigos!
We hope this finds you all doing well! Here's what we do between visitors, ha! Jackson fell asleep on the sofa and I thought it was so cute.
We went into town one day for the boys to get haircuts, and played at the pirate ship playground for a bit. Luke made a movie which is posted below. :)

Brian pushing Caroline on the swings.
After Nellie, Josh, Burnie & Brandon left, Brian got called out on a trip, and is gone until this Friday. Luke had a futbol match yesterday morning, and he did so great! I was SO proud of him! Then we watched Luke's friend Dylan overnight last night, and went to church today in Barcelona. We were looking for something sort of low key to do, and ended up at Catalunya en Miniatura again. It's such a cute place and the kids just love it. It was fun going back again after we had been to some of these places for real! :)
For those of you who have been to Sitges, here is the famous church by the sea, with the steps, and the old town behind it.
For the twins, here is the cathedral in Girona! The kids couldn't believe we were there. Ha!
Sorry, can't remember where this was...

Here is Parc Guell, which we have been to with Josep, Teresa, Joan & Miquel!
And of course, Sagrada Familia!
Here is Tibidabo, which the kids loved seeing. We were there with Josep, Teresa & Joan before Miquel was born.
Here are skiiers on the slopes of the Pyrenes mountains. Haven't been there yet.
The kids are watching the display of Montserrat. There are buttons you can push to animate some of the displays, and on this particular one you can watch the yellow cable car go up to Montserrat, and here the boys' choir sing.

Listening intently.
What a cutie!
Here is Montserrat!
This time the little train was working so we also got to go for a train ride. Always a hit.
This is the cathedral in Palma de Mallorca, which we saw when we went to Mallorca with Scott & Karen Hoober.

It was a very nice day! This week Grandma Siegrist arrives on Wednesday, Brian on Friday, SATURDAY IS LUKE'S BIRTHDAY, and then our friends Michael & Julie Carr arrive on Sunday! We are traveling with them to the south of France to celebrate our 10th anniversaries together, and we absolutely can't wait. We know the kids will have fun with Grandma too. :)

Lots of love to you all, have a great week!
Tonya

Familia!

Hola Familia y Amigos!
My sister Nellie and her husband Josh, and two of my cousins Burnie & Brandon arrived safely last Friday after a long night with USAirways. Ha! Here you can see Brandon, Nellie and Burnie crashed out by the pool while the kids are playing loudly around them. :)
No rest for the weary! We walked into the beach, along the paseo, and then to the miniature golf course.
Jackson jumped on the trampoline by himself this time!
Jumping is still Caroline's favorite activity.

"That guy fall down!" He says that all the time.
This time Luke rode the little four-wheeler around the track and actually did really well! Only went over the tires a couple of times. :)
Saturday we showed them around Sitges, here's a shot of the four of them in the old town near the church by the sea.
Josh and Nellie on a cute street off of Caroline's favorite street.
Me and Nellie on Caroline's favorite street!

Taking a break by the beach.
We just couldn't keep Jackson out of the sand!
Jackson discovered a fun ride on Josh's legs, and wanted to do it over and over and over again. :)
Brandon decided to take a nap in the shade and it wasn't long before he had some company.
Jackson was so funny pretending he was sleeping!

The kids just loved the extra hands to hold!
Brian told Josh that the trimmed trees looked like his nub finger, so he made him pose for a picture! Nice glasses, huh! :)
Josh, Nellie, Caroline and I posing by the tree by the church by the sea.
Group photo at the base of the church steps.
A pretty walkway in old town Sitges.

Nellie getting her feet wet in the Mediterranean.
On Sunday we took them to our church, and then rode the metro to La Sagrada Familia.
We then rode the metro to Placa Espanya, and walked up the hill toward the National Museum of Art.
We stopped on the way up for a picnic lunch in the shade.
Jackson was all full of "cheeses"!

Once we got up to the museum we sat out front and listened to some nice live music.
Jackson trying on Brian's sunglasses.
From the National Museum of Art we continued up the hill and walked around the Olympic Ring.
After walking around the Olympic area, we took the cable cars up to the Montjuic castle. Here's Burnie, Josh & Nellie enjoying the views.
Boys by the olympic stadium (taken by Luke).

Girls by the olympic stadium (taken by Luke).
View from the cable car overlooking the city with a view of La Sagrada Familia in the distance.
View of inside the cable car: Brandon, Burnie, Luke.
View of the other cable car!
Luke and Josh playing by a cannon up at the castle.

Luke and Burnie playing by another cannon up at the castle. Can you guess who we couldn't get off the cannons?
Caroline and Jackson on the ride back down.
We then walked up Las Ramblas and found this beautiful plaza that I had actually been looking for previously and hadn't found: Placa Reial. It was very beautiful!
Monday morning we went for a tour of Codorniu winery, and everyone enjoyed the train ride through the 30 kilometers of underground caves! Okay, maybe Burnie got a little train-sick. Ha!
Caroline said "oh good, it's cracker time!" They give a basket of crackers for the cava tasting and they remembered that from last time!

We then took the train into Barcelona, and walked around the Barri Gothic old town area. There are so many beautiful old churches.
Luke having fun with Burnie.
Stopping for a rest in old town.
Josh and Caroline having a conversation - well sort of! It's kind of like talking to an old Roman wall. :)
The gang in front of one of the churches, I think it was Placa del Pi.

We showed them La Boqueria market and then headed to Port Vell for a ride on a golondrina.
Everyone enjoyed a little relaxation!
Josh and Nellie enjoying the ride!
Burnie with his cool shades.
We then walked across the bridge over to the Mare Magnum area, and Burnie looked so funny wearing a kids' backpack and pushing an empty stroller with a big pink balloon stuffed in the back!

We had such a fun time with the Bare's and Smucker's, and are so, so glad they came to visit! What great memories! They are touring around Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy now and we look forward to seeing them again on Saturday night. Caroline peeks in their room each morning to see if they are back yet. :)

Hugs and kisses to all!
Tonya