Pecos Bill

Mrs. Weber's class performed a reader's theater, "Pecos Bill". Luke was excited to be Pecos Bill. When Casey was in third grade, he was also Pecos Bill in a school play...like father, like son.


Pecos Bill was raised by a pack of wolves - Ahoooooo!


Pecos Bill and Slue Foot Sue got hitched! Oh, the funny, embarrassed look Luke had on his face! Luke was very animated and did great - it was fun to hear a little Texas talk again.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

Happy 7th Birthday Jordan!

You are a wonderful Gift from God, and I praise Him everyday for giving me my Jordie. Here are 7 things I love about you:

1. You love Jesus!
2. You genuinely pray for others.
3. You are a great friend to everyone.
4. You are silly and make me laugh everyday.
5. You work very hard at school and always try your best.
6. You are creative and imaginative.
7. You are sensitive and love others deeply.


Daddy made his famous chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.



The biggest chocolate chip pancake for the birthday boy!




For birthday lunch, Jordan picked his favorite place to eat - McDonald's!!!





For the final celebration of Jordan's birthday, we had the Casa Gabriel boys over for pizza and cupcakes!

Jordan, you are one special boy and I love you to the moon and back!

Casa G loves their new bikes!

Daniel and Gustavo

What color Boris?

SURPRISE Marcelo!!!

Alejandro was all smiles!!!

Alejandro at Carolina Park

Lisandro & Miguel

Jesus and Luke

Juan Miguel and Jordan

Thanks again to Grace Community for providing all of these great bikes!

A Very Special Christmas with Casa Gabriel

Not sure even where to start - Christmas Eve with Casa Gabriel was one of the most special nights of my life. We started the evening with a huge feast of turkey and all the delicious sides. After dinner, we had a special time of giving thanks to God. Phil Douce (the director of Casa G) asked everyone to say something they were thankful for this Christmas. I praise God that He helped me to understand what the boys were saying. One could not speak without crying, one was thankful to be off of the streets, one was thankful to now have a family with all of us...

Sometimes I forget the background of these boys and what difficult experiences they have endured. I am thankful to be a part of each one of these boys' lives. This ministry is a gift from God. After a time of thanksgiving and prayer, it was time for the gift exchange.

With two big brothers and now 11 more older brothers with Casa Gabriel, Molly loves to be with girls any time she can. She had so much fun with the Douce girls and their cousin, Becky. Danelle (in the middle) is precious with Molly. Every Sunday, Danelle eats lunch with Molly in her lap. Chelsea Douce (on the right) goes to college in Missouri, so it has been a treat to get to know her and her brother, Jordan. Jordan also goes to college in Missouri.

During our Christmas Eve feast, Jordan went around to everyone and asked what their favorite food was and charted their answers on his graph. Chocolate was the winner!

Molly was Juan Miguel's secret santa. We did have to help her a little because she wanted to get Juan Miguel a Strawberry Shortcake for his present. Molly thought he would love that!

Daniel was excited to have picked Jordan's name out of a hat - he got to buy cool toys for Jordan! My favorite part was watching the faces of the givers. Each boy from Casa G received ten dollars to buy a present for who they picked. It is always more fun to give than to receive!

Luke was Alejandro's secret santa and he had so much fun picking out just the right gift - a hat and a clock for his room.

We ended our evening with a very big surprise! Our church, Grace Community in Tyler, Texas, raised money to buy new bicycles for each of the boys at Casa G! Thanks to our Student Ministries at our church - they had a Gift a Bike drive for Tyler and included Ecuador, too. Our church is such a blessing to us - THANK YOU!!!

Meet Annie

This is Annie, Jordan's new dog. We went to the pet store to "look" at all of the dogs. Jordan instantly fell in love with this puppy. The next thing I knew, we had a new member of the family. Jordan named her and is taking great care of her. He is a very responsible pet owner!

Annie is a very sweet puppy. We do hope that she will get tougher when she gets bigger - she is supposed to be our guard dog.

Molly's new baby to love

Time for a bedtime story

Jordan had to take his new puppy to school for show & tell - Annie was a hit!

Annie is always with one of the kids. Jordan made a great selection at Mascotas. Annie is a great puppy and has brought a lot of fun into our home.

Birthday Weekend

Happy 9th Birthday Luke! You bring so much joy to our family. We appreciate your positivity and your compassion for others. Thanks for working so hard to learn Spanish. You are an encouragement to us all. We love you are proud to have you as our son.



Luke was excited that his birthday was on a Sunday. He told us that it was perfect because all of the boys at Casa Gabriel are who he wanted at his birthday party. Luke loves to go to Casa Gabriel and spend time with all of the boys there - they are the reason Luke works so hard to learn Spanish.


We celebrated Casey, Miguel, and Luke's birthdays last Sunday. Miguel is 16! He has only been living at Casa G since the summer. At the party, he shared his story and how thankful he was to be off the streets. This was his first birthday party and cake. Birthdays are a big deal at Casa G. The boys get lots of gifts and it is a time for everyone to encourage them and pray for them.



All three birthday boys sit in the middle of the room to be prayed over by us.

What a fun way to spend Luke and Casey's birthdays! Each one of these guys is a testimony of God's redeeming love. After the cake, gifts, sharing time, and prayers, they cranked up the music. What's a party without dancing? I forgot to mention that Juan Miguel rapped a special birthday song for Miguel, Casey, and Luke before they blew out their candles. There is never a dull moment at Casa Gabriel!

We're Here in Quito

Now that we have been in Quito for over a month, it is time to start blogging again. My goal is to update our blog weekly.

Quito is the capital of Ecuador, a big city high up in the mountains - elevation is about 9,500 feet. There are 2 million people who call Quito home. Because we are on the equator, the sun rises at 6:00 am and sets around 6:00 pm everyday. October marks the beginning of rainy season here. The sun usually shines brightly until about 1:00 in the afternoon - then comes the rain. It is very cold in our house. Our house has no central heat, and when the temperature drops to the 40-50's at night, it gets COLD!