Christmas Morning

At the top of the stairs waiting to come down...the forever wait

After they looked through the stockings, it was time to open all of the presents from home.  Thank you family, friends, and Grace Community.  We love you and miss you!

Check out these smiles!

And screams of excitement!

Luke loved the gift Jordan gave him.

Even T-bone is showing off his new toy!

He preferred to play with the wrapping paper

Luke, Jordan & Molly used their money to buy gifts for one another.  Going to the toy store and picking out just the right gift is one of their favorite things to do and of course, watching one another open the perfect gift on Christmas morning.

Guess where we went after Christmas?

Special Gifts

My mom, Gran sent a special and wonderful gift for the kids on Christmas Eve.  It is the book The Night Before Christmas, but it is her voice reading the story.  When they opened the book they all yelled - IT´S GRAN!! 

Thanks to our church family at Grace for all the incredible Christmas gifts.  I think you will be able to tell that our kids loved their presents.

Thank you Grace Community Church for loving and supporting your missionaries around the world through your program, Christmas in July.

Sparkler Fun with our Neighbors

On Christmas Eve after our friends left, our neighbors shared their sparklers with us.  Our 3 houses are all behind one wall, and we share a common courtyard.  Our neighbors have become like family to us.  All 5 of these crazy kids play together everyday, and they love each other.  We could not be more thankful to live where we are. 

Lighting the sparklers!

Juan Martin

Marina

I told you our neighbors are more like family.  In October, Molly had grandparents day at her school and she decided to invite Jorge and Maggie.  They proudly went as her adopted grandparents.

Here is Santos, one of the guards on our street.  He takes such great care of the kids on our culdesac.  When the kids are riding their bicycles or scooters, he closes the gate.  If a car is coming, he blows his whistle until all the kids are on the sidewalk and then he lets the car in the gate.  Again, we are so thankful for where we live.  We have 24 hour security, a beautiful park where our kids can safely play, and wonderful neighbors who have welcomed us into their lives. 

Christmas Eve Progressive Dinner

For Christmas Eve we went to a Christmas church service (in english) with friends and then started our progressive dinner.  We shared a delicious dinner together at the Tassy's house.

The youngest guest and cutest Santa ever was Mateo.  He has a smile that will light up the room!

Who knows what these two guys were up to?

Molly and Jenna - they love each other so much!

Dessert was at our house and each family decorated a Christmas tree cake.

Selecting just the right candies and eating a few here and there.

Nick & Mikala with their beautifully decorated tree

I think Micah is ready to taste his pretty tree.

Stephen read the Christmas story from Luke.

Matt and his daughter led us in singing Silent Night.  We are so blessed to have wonderful friends here in Quito.  We shared a time of prayer together giving thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We also shared a special time together of playing Wii Just Dance!  The moms also danced and I don't like to brag, but we were way better than the dads.

Thankful for amazing friends in our lives!

Christmas with Casa G

We started our evening with dinner together and then Jose Luis read the Christmas story.  We shared a time of giving thanks to the Lord for what He has done in each one of our lives.  Casey misses spending time with these guys everyday, but our weekly times together are all the more sweeter.  Every one of these young men are a special part of our family and we love them very much.

Jesús and Luke

William, Juan Miguel and Jordan

Alejandro

Alejandro and Molly

Miguel

Lizandro

Gustavo

All of the boys love pictures and having them put on facebook, so this year I decided to give them each a photo album full of pictures of them.

Time for Wii Just Dance - thank you Shawn, Karen, Jake & Libby!  What a fun game to play together.  And yes, I have video.

Love all the big smiles!

She's Got the Moves

In November, Molly started dance classes.  She goes two afternoons a week - one class of ballet and one of hip-hop.  She is having so much fun!  Here she is at her Christmas program.  Not only did she get to dance, she also got to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" during the program. 

They danced and sang to many songs but here are two of my favorites.

And now for the hip-hop part:

Molly did great in her Christmas dance program.  This was a small program for families.  Her big recital will be in June at the Casa de la Cultura - so exciting!

Molly has watched countless soccer, baseball and basketball games.  Now it is Luke and Jordan's turn to support their sister, and they were so sweet.

Daddy's little girl