Hasta Luego Sitges!

Hola amigos!!!!!

We hope you are doing well!! We really miss everyone in Sitges and Barcelona. We're sending lots of hugs and kisses your way. I was hoping to post pictures of our hasta luego fiesta before leaving Sitges, but...here we are. We've now been back in the US 10 days and it's been a bit loco, to say the least! So anyway, for those of you who would like to see a few pictures from the past week: here is Caroline on her first day of pre-school, which was St. Patrick's day. She was thrilled to get a bag of sweeties! She told me tonight that she loves school, and her teacher said she is doing great!
When Luke came home from school we decided to go for a walk because it was the first day that it was sunny and warm! Luke is also doing SO WELL in school. He jumped right in and made friends, has a nice teacher, rides the bus, and really likes all of his classes. We really miss having him around during the day, but he seems to really enjoy school!
We were walking to a neighboring farm to see their pregnant sheep and some cows, and I got such a kick out of hearing Luke and Caroline talk about their days at school.
Okay, now back up a few weeks to our last week in Spain. Our pastor Dan and his wife Kathy from our church in BCN stopped by one day to bring Caroline home from a play date and take some filled suitcases for us!!! Their daughter lives about an hour from us in PA, and they were flying into Philadelphia the SAME day we were! How incredible. So they took 3 suitcases for us!
They're really great people...maybe a little goofy. :)
Taking pictures during dinner one night.
Other side of the table. I think Luke had already cleared his plate and gone to play.
When she wants her picture taken, we take it. :) Doesn't happen very often!
Luke went through a phase where he really didn't want to play in his futbol games, but the last few weeks we were there he really wanted to play, so we made sure that happened! His last game was the morning of our hasta luego fiesta.
After his game we went to the Palau del Rei Moro in old town Sitges to set up for the party. Miss Annette helped us to find this AMAZING place to have the fiesta!




Jackson LOVED the strawberries and cream.
People visiting in the outdoor courtyard.
This is the place where the castellers practice (the people towers). This net had a whole in the middle where the people climb up through to practice the towers.
Me, Ellen & Annette. Annette put us in contact with Ellen, Arthur & their boys when we first arrived, and they ended up being great friends of ours.
My American running friends - Ellen, Kim, and Suzanne, with Caroline and Kirsten peeking through.
Uncle Yves and Kim's husband Alvaro.
Jacqueline, Jim, Arthur, Daron & Nicole - their sons Dylan, Sean, Nathan, and Nil were all friends of Luke. They are from England, Australia and Germany - we just loved meeting people from all over the world.
Me, Lisaneas, Patricia and Brian - our wonderful small group leaders from Brazil.
Josep, Teresa, Miquel, Brian, Jackson and me - our special friends from Barcelona who taught us SO much about Catalonia and all of its history and festivals.
Miss Annette and her sweet little friend from Barcelona.
Annette made one of her amazing chocolate cakes complete with fireworks!!
Arthur & Ellen, great friends who were so easy to connect with. Their son Sean and Luke decided to have a sleep-over later this night, our last night in Sitges!!
Luke's friends Dylan and Nathan.
Pilar and Miquel - eating something good!
The kids had fun playing in all of the nets outside.
Me, Yves, and my Tarheel friend Sarah.
Around 5.30pm the castellers came to practice, and some of us stayed to watch - it was really interesting!
Some of the kids who climb up on the very top are really small. I didn't realize how much practice actually went into this.

Annette had also made cupcakes for the kids, which Luke was VERY excited about.

Jackson said "I wike these!!"

Miss Annette and Caroline.

So we will always remember!

Sunday morning we went to church in BCN to say hasta luego to more friends there. Miss Anca was the kids' teacher that morning.

We went out for lunch with Anca and Bogdan, our Romanian friends. Luke and Bogdan were playing futbol at the table. :) Every Sunday during the greeting time, Luke would say "Mom, I'm going to go find the futbol player!" He and Bogdan would talk about whether their teams won that week.

Caroline had fun hanging out with Anca.

Crazy pirates!

Sweet Jackson.

We had such a fun time, it was hard to say "hasta luego"! We then went back to Sitges to meet with our landlords, pack up the car, say a sad hasta luego to our neighbors, and head to Madrid for the night. Our flight was 11.30am out of Madrid on Monday the 9th.

We finally made it to Madrid around 2.30am! After a couple hours of sleep and a few issues at the airport, the kids and I finally got on the flight to Philadelphia. Brian wasn't able to get on our flight, but was able to get on a flight into NY 2 hours later, and we were all together in PA later that night.

Caroline reading the safety instructions. :)

Luke was happy to be going back to Pennsylvania to see his cousins...

but sad to leave his friends in Spain. :(

Amazing views of mountains as the plane left Madrid.

And more snow-capped mountains.

Now that we've been back in our house dealing with mice and their deposits, along with other difficult things in the house and yard, life in Sitges seems like it was a dream!!! We feel so blessed to have made so many amazing friends in the time we were there, and we really can't wait to come back and visit you all.

God bless you all!!

Con mucho amor,

Tonya

f

or

Last Visitors, Birthday Party & Carnival

Hola!!


We had a great time with our last visitors, my crazy aunt and uncle Toots & Dale. :) Here is my favorite group shot from their time here.
They returned from Italy late on February 18th, so on the 19th we had a relaxing day. We got ready for futbol at 5pm and went to the field, but there was no futbol that night! We don't always know what's going on. :) So we drove them up to the look-out point where the kids and I started our hike the other weekend to show them the views. It was a beautiful clear day.

View of Sitges at dusk.

Grown-ups and big boy Jackson.

Nice shot of Toots and Dale.

Family photo.

Brian saw where someone carved Caroline 2008 into the wall!

Since there was no futbol, we went home and made our paella and sangria dinner. After dinner we went into town to meet up with our friends Gina & Kathryn, and happened to be at Cap de la Vila when the parade announcing the arrival of the king of queen of carnival went by.

Jackson on Gina's shoulders. Gina also flies for Atlas with Brian, and lives here in Sitges.

Kathryn & Toots.

Dale got some pictures up close.

Queen's float.

Late night ice cream before heading home.

Friday morning we took them to the tour of Codorniu.

Painting from before the Frenchies made them change the name from champagne to cava.

Same tour guide we've had probably 10 times! He tells the same jokes every time. :)

Cutie-pie Jackson. He couldn't wait for the train ride.

Looking down a corridor of aging bottles.

The train ride through the "caves".

Sr. Codorniu's first grape vine covered in copper.

The next day was Caroline's 5th birthday party at the beach!! We had it at the same place as last year, and had another gorgeous day. What a lucky girl.

Two friends Molly & Mya.

Emily, Ruby & Caroline.

Sweet Caroline!

And her pirate brother Jackson. :)

Luke & Jack with their friends Gabriel & Sean. We'll miss their family a lot.

Birthday girl - she said it was the best birthday ever.

Teresa and Miquel sharing a piece of pizza.

Easy entertainment for a birthday party!

We had a treasure hunt for the kids, where they each had a treasure map and had to find their hidden treasure. Here Gabriel is finding his inside the wall. :)

Hunting more treasures.

Caroline's turn! The older kids helped the younger kids read the directions, it was very cute.

Caroline and Mya.

The Dads had to get involved because we couldn't find two of the treasures that we buried!

Miss Annette made an amazing pink cake just for Caroline - she loved it!!!

Yum, yum. It didn't take long until it was completely gone!

Caroline opening her pirate costume, how fun.

She received so many sweet and generous gifts.

Pinata time!! Dad didn't have time for a princess creation, so her art project from a few months ago had to do. :) He painted a princess on the other side which was beautiful.

Sweet picture of Emily and Caroline.

Toots, Dale, Yves and Brian.

Maresa trying to get some candy out of Jackson.

Hmmm...he's thinking about it!

Mya and Caroline reading a book while we were cleaning up.

Jackson playing dead in the sand. :)

Now Luke is reading to the girls.

Saturday night our sitter Gabriela came, and we went out for dinner at the port with Toots and Dale. We had a great time!

We ate at Laury's, which was recommended by Yves. The food was wonderful.

Sunday morning I realized I had my camera in my purse so I took some pictures at church. :) Here is the choir.

Moses leading a great song by Kirk Franklin.

Our favorite band member Bogdan, from Romania. He and his wife Anca always make a point to say hello to the kids, they're very sweet!

Bogdan with the crew.

Jackson teaching him how to make a good pirate face. :)

After church we went up to the castle/fort on Montjuic. Here crazy Dale is trying to keep the kids out of a watch tower. There is a funny video of this below.

The soldiers and the watchtower.

View of the city from the top of the castle. You can see La Sagrada Familia in the distance.

It was a bit windy up there!

Picnic lunch enjoying the sunshine!

We then hopped in the car and drove up to our favorite castle in La Bisbal, just off the Costa Brava. We had made reservations for Toots and Dale to stay there, so we hung out for a while and then went to find a hotel that was a bit more kid-friendly. :)

Jackson playing with Tootsie.

We climbed the tower at the castle and Caroline wanted to take a picture of her puppy up there.

Group photo on the top of the castle!

Brian had a liking for the stuffed antelope (actually, I don't really know what it was), and the kids thought this was hilarious.

Jackson was completely enamored with the soldiers in the display of the Battle of Waterloo. He kept asking which ones were the good guys, and which ones were the bad guys.

Toots and Dale in front of the castle.

We saw a gorgeous sunset from their terrace.

That's my boy, drinking his coffee!! We had a nice breakfast at our hotel in the morning.

View from the breakfast room.

This is actually Hotel Llafranc, which we had found and stayed in with the twins when they visited a year ago! It was fun to go back there.

We then drove back to Sitges, and Caroline had fun checking out all of her new birthday gifts. So cute!

Going to Spanish class later that day, now we have two pirate girls! Caroline wasn't really in the mood anymore. :)

While they were at Spanish class, Dale was chased around town by a lion. Toots and Dale stayed home with the kids that night so we could go to small group. The next morning they left for the US. They were able to take two checked bags and our two Sitges paintings for us, which was such a blessing. While they were at our house Brian and Dale got a lot of the painting done, and Toots was always cleaning up after us. Thank you guys SO much for what a huge help you were. We had a blast with you!

Later that day was the kids Carnival parade, so we took the crocodile, lion, and two pirate girls in town.

The kids had fun checking out all of the costumes.

Even Darth Vader was in the parade!

Jackson was more interested in fighting.

Caroline was busy throwing confetti.

Scary lion.

Cool pirate ship float.

Caroline loved all of the pretty costumes.

The parade is over, and the street is covered.

Brian's first carnival parade - he was thrilled. Ha ha.

Luke had missed a few weeks of futbol due to the flu and Caroline's birthday, and the time we went and there was no futbol - so he was really excited to play again!

Jackson was happy to be at futol again too. :)

Luke's team won, and they stood and clapped as the fans cheered for them. It was very cute.

I love how the boys help to clear the field after the game.

Yeah Luke! We are sooo proud of him. :)






I can't even believe it's our last week in Spain. We will really miss all of the wonderful friends we have made here. We are in the process of selling things, giving things away, and packing up. Our pastor and his wife are actually flying into PHL the SAME DAY we are to visit their daughter in Pottstown, and so they brought 3 suitcases over today for us to fill. What a blessing. Things are coming together! We just found out tonight that Annette was able to get us into the Palau del Rei Moro in Sitges for our Hasta Luego Fiesta this Saturday, so that will be a very special time I'm sure. Brian arrived today, so we're looking forward to doing a few more of our favorite things in Sitges this week. Have a great week!

Con mucho amor,

Tonya

Birthday, Hike & Basketball

Hola todos!!

Hope you all had a nice weekend! We had a gorgeous day on Saturday, so the kids and I took a hike. Here is a view of our town of Sitges from the trail. More on that later, I just had to start the blog with this photo. :)
Feliz Cumpleanos Caroline!! Caroline turned 5 on Thursday, February 12th. Brian wasn't home, but my aunt and uncle Toots & Dale arrived that morning, and we had Mya and her parents over to have a little party with Caroline's choice: donuts instead of cake!
Caroline opening ladybug tea set from Pop-pop and Grammy.
Great new clothes from Auntie Nellie and Uncle Josh.
A mermaid doll from Luke and Jackson.
And a jacket and make-over set from Auntie Tootsie and Uncle Dale! What fun gifts!!
Saying thank-you to Auntie Tootsie.
Saying thank-you to neighbor Maresa.
Having fun with the make-over gift from Auntie Tootsie, a nail/tattoo/sticker set!
Then on Saturday, the kids and I set off on a hike from the top of the neighborhood Llevantina to the Ermita de la Trinitat, a beautiful setting on the edge of the mountain where I had been to a birthday party.
View of the port from the trail.
View of Sitges from the hike - just beautiful.
Jackson did not want any help, since he's big and huge you know. :)
First lunch stop - Luke enjoying his sandwich along the trail.

Caroline with her favorite - jello.

Hiker Jackson eating his jelly sandwich, yep - just jelly.

Luke did a great job being the leader of the hike, and they all had fun looking for the red and white paint to make sure we were on the right path.

Second lunch stop.

Loved this sign in the middle of nowhere!

On the path to the Ermita. We thought it just HAD to be right over the hill. :)

We found it!!

At the very end of the path, right along the edge with views of the sea all around, was this great gazebo.

Lunch stop number 3. Finishing off the gummy bears!

Smiling Luke.

And smiling Caroline! I asked her why she didn't smile like that for her birthday pictures, and she said she didn't know she was supposed to. :)

Jackson running around the gazebo in circles.

Caroline taking a siesta and preparing for the return hike. I love this picture.

Group shot thanks to the self-timer.

Great places to explore and play at the Ermita.

Kids outside the Ermita.

Funny face picture.

Gorgeous day, pretty flowers.

Luke peeking through the stone hand-rail.

Caroline's turn.

Last but not least - Jackson with rabbit ears.

Beautiful spot with breath-taking views.

Caroline by the wall of seashells - still all smiles!

The walk home started off as a parade, which helped to distract them from the journey ahead.

Made it to the Sitges sign and stopped for a snack.

We found Sitges again!!

This is my favorite, they were saying "We made it!!" I was SO proud of them! They actually said the return trip wasn't so bad and went by really fast. :)

Incredible views of Sitges.

Then today, Brian arrived at the Girona airport at 8.30 in the morning, took a bus to BCN, and met us at church! The kids didn't know he was getting home today - so it was a great surprise. I then surprised all of them with tickets to the Barca basketball game. We went with Josep & Joan, and had a great time!

The player in blue & red near the middle of the picture is Daniel Santiago, who we had actually met at our church a few weeks ago. When he's in the off-season they have a place in Sarasota, small world!

There are also two videos posted below, one of Jackson showing his different pirate faces, and one of the kids at the Ermita on Saturday.

Toots and Dale left on Friday morning for Italy until Wednesday. When they return we will spend a few days around here, have Caroline's birthday party on the beach in town, and then take a short trip to the Costa Brava. We're looking forward to a fun time with them.

Take care and God bless you all -

Tonya

Time with Dad!

Hola!! It was so nice to have Brian home for a stretch, but it was much too short. Yesterday we had a really lovely day and the kids couldn't wait to show him the new castle by the sea that we found, so off we went. In case you think the scarves look a bit strange on a day of sun in the upper 50s...

this is how they looked for the past week - with the flu (luckily not the stomach kind). From the day Brian got home until yesterday, they were all fighting the flu and it was raining. This combination provides no real opportunity for taking any sort of decent photos. :)

He managed to get them off of the sofa long enough to try on their carnival costumes that he picked up at the Chinese market in Dubai.

On Sunday we had plans to meet up with Josep, Teresa, their boys, Teresa's brother and mother for a birthday lunch at a restaurant in Casteldefells called El Avion. We've been trying to schedule this for about 6 months, so we went thinking we have to eat anyway, right? :)

Miquel seemed to be the only one who was feeling okay!

Although they were troopers, they clearly weren't feeling well. And neither was Joan.

Carlos blowing out his birthday candles. We had a really nice lunch together, and then each headed home with our sick kids in the rain. :)

The sun is back! By yesterday it really seemed like the kids needed some sun and fresh air, and the afternoon out did us all good. We arrived at the castle and started on a hike along the coast, here's a little fort where we stopped for a snack.

Luke took some photos so that we actually have some of us together!

Now I know where the looney comes from. :)

Brian along the edge of the cliff.

View along the trail.

Cool rock formation in the sea.

Los ninos y yo.

Closer up, looks like Luke is about to sneeze - nasty!

Brian by the sea.

We hiked to a point where there was a small cove with lots of fun places to play.

Caroline in the sun.

Dad & kids.

Caroline had fun climbing all around.

Crashing waves.

Jackson found a little "pond" and was fishing with his stick. :)

Brian trying not to think about going back to work.

The trail looped back around toward the castle, and it went past this watch-tower with a fence around it and nice blue gate. It really looked like someone lived in there!

Back at the castle. By this point they had had enough and it was time to head home.

On the way out, a cool little archway of stones.

And a view through one of the outer gates.

This morning the kids and I drove Brian up to catch a flight out of Girona, which was a first. He usually flies out of BCN or Reus, which are much closer. But the views of the mountains were just beautiful on the drive. Here is a shot on the way home where you can see the snow off in the distance. Skiing is actually quite popular here, and there are many resorts on beautiful mountains within 2-3 hrs from where we live.





Next week is Caroline's 5th birthday, and my aunt and uncle Toots and Dale Smucker are coming for a visit! They're going to Italy for 6 days and will be here for 6 days. It will be fun to go around with them and do many of our favorite things for the "last" time. :( I can hardly believe our time is coming to an end in a few short weeks. It has been such an amazing experience that is almost hard to put into words, but I'd say it was life-changing for sure. More on that later, I'm trying not to think about leaving. :)

Hugs and kisses to you all!
Tonya

Castillo de Tamarit

Hola!!

Now that the holidays are over and Brian is away, we have been getting back into the routine of things. After a good week of home-school, Spanish class, gymnastics, and futbol, we decided to go castle hunting last Saturday. We had heard about a great castle about 40 minutes from our house, so we decided to pack a lunch and go find it. It was a gorgeous day, and we had SO much fun exploring. I skimmed over the directions on the computer before we left, figuring I knew the general direction and that surely there would be a sign. HA HA! Not so, but luckily we drove back a little side road through a campground and found this gorgeous spot!
This is Castillo de Tamarit, between Altafulla and Tarragona along the Mediterranean. And here is Flat Stacy posing with the kids - she has rabbit ears thanks to Luke. I think Jackson has already shifted into knight mode, which happens when we visit castles. :)
The castle wasn't actually open for tours, but it can be reserved for weddings and big events. There were some really nice trails, so we went on a little hike.

View of an interesting rock island that you could walk out onto from the beach by the castle.

Three nice kids on the island.

Three looney kids on the island. :)

While we were having lunch on the island we saw 2 people on horseback riding along the sea.

Horse and riders up close.

And off they go. So beautiful!

View of the castle by the sea from the island.

Three nice kids eating dessert.

Three looney kids eating dessert.

We then realized that you could see the Altafulla castle in the background, so I tried to get a picture of both of them.

Back toward the parking area there were lots of fun little caves and archways to walk through, stuff kids love.

We then walked around to the beach on the other side of the castle (where the horses were), and found some fun places to climb and play.

Jackson went to peak in the little "house", and he said it was a "trashy house" - I guess there was glass and litter in there.

Picture of the bell tower from the beach.

Another view from the other side.

There's nothing like a wide open beach that will make the shoes and socks come off, and the kids run wild.

Oh yeah, Flat Stacy! Caroline thought she might like to play in the sand.

Woohoo! I'm making a sand angel!

Caroline liked being in charge of her.

I love pictures of the three of them playing by the sea.

Caroline practiced writing her name.

More playing.

Luke drew our family, complete with rocks for eyes and noses.

As you can see, they were completely covered in sand from head to toe by the time we left! This spot was such a fun and surprising find. We all said we definitely want to go back, and it ranks up there as one of our favorite sea-side spots.

I posted two movies below - one from when we were having lunch on the island, and one of the kids playing in the sand.

Hope you are having a great week - Happy 40th Birthday this week to my old sister Tina!! :) Love to you all,

Tonya

Parade, Dia de Reyes, and Sitges Half-Marathon

Hola!! While the rest of you went back to work last week, Spain was still celebrating. :) On Tuesday night there was a really nice parade in town to show the arrival of the Three Kings. They were all on camel-back, and the parade also included some horses, and floats of Disney characters. As we were walking in to meet with friends before the parade started, we passed by where they were trying to get the camels up and cooperating. Ha ha!

Luke with friends Adam and Sean posing nicely.

Luke with friends Adam, Sean, and Nil in the background, posing not-so-nicely! Ha ha.

And the parade finally started. Not sure what they're doing here, but Caroline liked this picture.

Drummers.

One of the royal post-ladies who was collecting letters for the Three Kings - same idea as letters to Santa I think.

Caroline loved this princess.

Donald, Minnie, & Mickey.

The next day - which was a holiday to celebrate the Three Kings Day - we were invited by our friends Josep & Teresa to celebrate with their families at their house. Here is Miquel playing with a toy we got for him at Montserrat.

Josep made a great treasure hunt for the kids to find their gifts! They loved it! Caroline's gift was outside on a terrace by his bike, and was a pink Barbie suitcase!! Inside the suitcase was a jewelry-making kit, which is right up her alley!

Luke found his shooting Spiderman gift behind the coffee maker - and we were all getting shot at the rest of the day.

After patiently waiting for his turn, Jackson found his gift in the dishwasher!

His was a Playmobile pirate ship, complete with pirates, treasure, palm trees, and sea animals. Could not have been more perfect for him! We hardly saw him the rest of the day. :)

Josep's mother Montse and his son Joan.

The first course of dinner was small bites of olives, dates wrapped in bacon, chips, and tortilla de patata. The second course was Catalan cannelonis - YUM. The third course was fruit. The fourth course was cake. The fifth course was coffee. What a great way to spend the afternoon!

They have a special cake that they only serve on this day, and it comes with a crown which Caroline thought I should wear. Inside the cake are hidden 2 things: a bean and a small king. Whoever gets the piece of cake with the bean inside has to pay for the cake, and whoever gets the piece of cake with the king inside gets to keep the crown.

The cake is served - and look inside Caroline's piece! It was the king.

Josep with baby Miquel.

Caroline was soon busy making jewelry. She made necklaces for Teresa, Teresa's mother, Josep's mother, herself, and me.

Also during dessert there was a plate of coal for all of the kids who had been bad. :) It was basically solid sugar - ha.

Josep & Teresa's mothers wearing their necklaces from Caroline.

Caroline posing with her crown and the king that had been in her piece of cake. Teresa had the bean in her piece. :)

What a fun day!!














Then this past Sunday I ran in the 26th annual Sitges half-marathon! It was a great experience. I ran it with my friend Kim and our friend Suzanne's husband, which made it much more enjoyable. Brian and the kids did a great job getting to spots where they could cheer us on, I think we saw them 5 times! For those of you who have been here, the route consisted of 3 different loops, each one with a leg on the paseo which was beautiful. The longest loop included a leg which went over toward the next town of Villanova. There were 2500 participants! My goal was to run it in 2 hrs, and we did it in 1hr and 55min. We've already made plans to come back and do it again next year. :)
Just a few other shots from around home last week. I went out one day for something and came back to find this scene on the sofa. I think Jackson came over to tell Brian something, and the next thing Brian knew he was fast asleep. :)









One of our neighbors in Landisville sent over a school project - Flat Stacy! She came to visit Spain! So far she's only been playing with the kids Christmas gifts, but we're planning to get her in town soon. Here she is visiting Caroline's castle.








Visiting the nativity scene.

Visiting Jackson's castle.

And she even was allowed onto the aircraft carrier!












Our other big news is that Tarheel went back to the US yesterday! It all came together somewhat quickly, and we didn't know for sure that they would let her on until the morning of Brian's flight due to the weather in NY and her weight. He had a meeting in Miami, and Atlas allowed him to fly through NY - but they only bought his ticket last Wednesday. So I took her to the vet Thursday and got all of her paperwork together. We scrambled around the house over the weekend looking for all of the parts to her crate, and now all of a sudden she's gone! But she made it fine on the plane and is having a great time at my parents house. :)

We hope the New Year is off to a great start for all of you! Wishing you lots of love -

Tonya

Celebrating with Friends

Hola y Feliz Ano Nuevo!!

On December 27th we were invited to the Barcelona home of our Landisville neighbors Henry & Maite for a WONDERFUL Catalan lunch. We had such a fun time visiting with them and celebrating the holidays. Henry was great at entertaining the kids (even played chess with Luke) so that Maite and I could catch up! We really enjoyed our time with them. We left their house and drove straight to the BCN airport to pick Brian up.

The next day we were invited to a Christmas tea at the home of our friend Miss Annette. The kids loved her tree which was covered with little wooden German figures.

Miss Annette with the kids.

Caroline wanted to take a group photo.

Caroline was "reading" the pirate book that Miss Annette gave Luke for Christmas.

That night Tarheel finally showed interest in the pink pig we had gotten her for Christmas - a little too much interest! She went over and dug it out of the toybox, it was hilarious.

Poor pig.

Snout-less pig! The kids got the biggest kick out of it.

Also on the 28th, our friends Chad & Lisa Groff arrived from the US for a birthday, anniversary, New Years celebration! I took them to Sagrada Familia on Monday, and as we were walking around the cathedral I saw these snails on the exterior for the first time. There is always something new to discover on this amazing piece of architecture.

From Sagrada Familia we went to Parc Guell (sorry, don't know where those pictures went!), and then down to Placa Catalunya to see the beautiful lights.

Lights on La Rambla.

Lights on El Corte Ingles.

We walked through the Barri Gotic and were able to go inside the Barcelona Cathedral.

These peaks were on the back of each chair of the choir members.

From the Cathedral we went to Placa Sant Jaume to see the nativity scene there.

We then walked to Calle Petrixtol for Maite's recommended xocolata amb xurros stop! YUM YUM.

I think they liked it. :)

Back out on the street we saw more pretty lights.

The next day (30th) we took a walk into Sitges.

We walked in town and the entire way down the paseo to my favorite spot to have lunch in the sun. :)

Lisa ordered what we thought was a provolone and herb sandwich, which turned out to be a bowl full of provolone cheese with bread to dip in it! She loved it.

Thought my goat cheese salad was worthy of a picture too. :)

After lunch we ran into neighbor Mya on the paseo, who was trying out her new rollerblades that she got for Christmas.

She took the kids for a stroll.

On down the paseo the lights came on and it was very pretty. Luke had fun picking on Chad.

And Chad & Lisa had fun picking on Luke!

Chad & Lisa by the church.

The following day (31st), I took Chad & Lisa into BCN again to show them the Montjuic and Port Vell areas. We first stopped at the National Museum of Art.

And then stopped at the Olympic ring.

On down the hill we hopped on the cable car up to the Montjuic Castle. It was a bit hazy, but I was struck by the view of the city with Sagrada Familia standing tall and a view of snow-capped mountains in the far distance.

The castle moat looked very pretty filled with gardens.

Cool design made by flowers.

Inside the castle we saw this knight helmet that I had to take a picture of for Jackson.

From the very top of the castle you can see an outdoor cafe in the courtyard and a view of the city in the background.

Chad & Lisa looking out over the city.

Chad in the look-out tower watching for bad guys.

From Montjuic we went down to the Port Vell area, and into the El Born district looking for a place for lunch. After Lisa's provolone lunch in Sitges it was really funny that we ended up at a restaurant called "Cheese Me".

From there we walked by the Santa Maria del Mar cathedral, and since it was open we took a peak inside. We then headed back to Sitges to get ready for New Years Eve!

There really wasn't much going on in town (we were told that it's more common for people to have house parties or go to hotel galas), so we made reservations for us, Chad & Lisa, and our neighbors Mark, Maresa & Mya to have dinner at La Nina and then meet up with other friends on the paseo by the church at midnight. Happy New Year!

Our German friends had some fireworks and sparklers that the boys LOVED.

The one tradition that we heard about was that you were supposed to eat one grape with each ring of the bell at midnight. So I had plastic cava glasses with grapes for the grown-ups and plastic cava glasses with sweeties for the kids. The funniest part of this whole night was that our dinner was so late and the service was so poor (although the food was great!) that we were running down the paseo putting our hats on, throwing confetti and passing out our plastic cava glasses right at midnight. So we were late for New Years and didn't even get to do the grape thing. HA HA!!

On New Years Day we all took a trip to Montserrat. We rode the yellow cable car and tried to catch the boys' choir, but found out they were off for Christmas holiday. Here's a view inside the cathedral.

Jackson and I sat in the back of the cathedral while the others took the tour up through the area where the statue of Mary and Jesus is displayed. Here you can kind of see Luke, Lisa, Brian and Caroline.

Kids posing, and Jackson wearing my scarf. :)

View of cathedral entrance and twelve disciples with Jesus.

Group photo outside of the Abbey.

We stopped at the cafe for lunch, and Chad had fun teasing Caroline.

Jackson was happy to chill out for a while.

We then headed up the trail to the big cross. Here's a nice view across the way, with the kids posing with their toys. Caroline got a stuffed duck there that she named "Quackie".

She wanted to take a close-up of her new friend Quackie.

Going on a hike! Jackson pretended to be a toll booth and we had to pay him euros in order to pass.

Along the path is a gate that you actually have to go around.

Luke & Caroline showing the way.

Caroline and Jackson got tired, so I sat with them while the others continued on to the cross. We could see them when they got there.

Here they are waving to us!!

The morning of their flight we did some last minute shopping in town at the Barca store. :) I'm sure their kids were thrilled with their gifts!

While Caroline, Jackson and I were waiting for the rest on the hike at Montserrat, we made up a new 12 days of Christmas song:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me: a Savior born in a manger (Lisa thought it should be "a monastery on a hill" since that is where this song was created. But Luke fought for his choice, since it WAS Christmas he said. :))

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me: 2 Jacksons jousting and a Savior born in a manger.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me: 3 soldiers fighting, 2 Jacksons jousting, and a Savior born in a manger.

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me: 4 Quackies quacking, 3 soldiers fighting, 2 Jacksons jousting, and a Savior born in a manger.

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me: FIVE CHEESE BALLS! etc.

The following refrains involved:

6 Carolines dancing

7 Chads teasing kids

8 Lukes setting off fireworks

9 Daddies flying

10 Moms going to the beach

11 Tarheels howling

12 Trips to the bathroom :)

It was a memorable week!!! We had a great time catching up with Chad & Lisa, and it was nice for Brian and the kids to get to know them better. Happy New Year to all of you and many warm wishes for a memorable 2009!

Con mucho amor,

Tonya