Isaak turns 4

My how time flies by! Today Isaak turned 4. I still remember how he seemed so little when he came home from the hospital. Now he seems like a giant! Here are a few pictures from his birthday. Last year he got a baseball cookie. This year he wanted a baseball again, so he got cake. Happy Birthday, Ike!!

New "Toys"

We picked up some VERY CHEAP sleeping bags for Ike and Elle. I'm not sure they had ever seen a sleeping bag before this, so they were very excited to try them out, and the sleeping bags became more like toys to them.

Celebrating

Friday we went to TGI Friday's to celebrate Mother's Day and Ike's 4th birthday. On Mother's Day Ike was in the hospital still, so we didn't do anything and decided to celebrate the two days together. Ike even got a free ice cream sundae out of the meal.

Enjoying His Food

Joey's been enjoying more table food lately. It seems his horrible gag reflex is finally getting better....yeh! Sadly, he is now feeding himself more of his food. I'm not sad that he is becoming more independent. I'm sad because it means I am now cleaning up messes on the table, and even more so on the floor, made by 3 kids. Thank goodness for the Shark Sweeper!

Another Winner

Wednesday night we had our good friends and neighbors, the Zhap's, over for supper. Of course Andy's favorite game, "Larsen", came out again. Mr. Zhap got the only Larsen of the night. Way to go!

A night with the Shyu's

Friday night we had our friend's the Shyu's over for dinner. We decided to teach them how to play Larsen (Andy's version of Yatzee). Wouldn't you know it, Principal Shyu got the only "Larsen" of the night.

Syttende Mai

Who would have thought that our family, all of us 3/4 Norwegian, would be celebrating our first Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence/Constitution Day) in Taiwan. Anna, a true Norwegian, invited some of us "almost" Norwegians over to her apartment to celebrate. It was so fun! We had traditional open faced sandwiches, salads, Norwegian cheese, cakes, ice cream, coffee, and tea. The kids had a blast! We learned lots of fun facts about Norway and about how to celebrate the day in true Norwegian fashion.

Joey's first taste of lefse...he ate 3 pieces. Yummy!

Elle and Ike had orange races. I guess they are usually done with raw eggs, but Anna decided that since the party was inside, the oranges were safer. Good thinking!

Ike did a great job, especially since he is right handed and can only use his left hand right now!

Slowed down, but not stopped!

Tonight was our first trip to the park with the "pinned" boy. He had fun despite his mom constantly saying things like "be careful", "watch your arm", "don't climb up that slide", and other various things that this paranoid mom says.

More hospital pics

Here are just a couple more pictures from the hospital. Ike is now home and adjusting to life with one usable arm. He doesn't seem to be bothered too much by it, he just doesn't like to change shirts. I think that he is a little scared it will hurt....can't blame him.

Enjoying some Looney Tunes thanks to our friends James and Shu-Yao who lent us the DVD player. Thanks!

Everyone visiting Ike

Ike's Big Ordeal

Saturday afternoon Ike and Joey were supposed to be napping....instead they were playing. Somehow Ike fell off the ladder of his bunk bed and broke his arm. The only one who saw it was Joey, and he's not saying how it happened! The bottom of the humerus completely broke off. They had to do surgery last night. He had to sit around in the ER for 5 hours because he had just eaten before it happened and he needed to be put under general anesthesia. He was a super brave kid, no tears until just before surgery when he told me "I'm better, Mom. Let's go home!" He said that when he hadn't even had any pain medication yet.

He is much better, and has 2 pins in his arm and a soft cast on for about 6 weeks.

Here are some pictures we took so hopefully he'll remember not to play on the ladder again!

Self explanatory

Andy looking like he was sleeping while we waited. We were the only ones in the waiting room. Ike's surgery only took about 45min, but then he was observed for a little over an hour while he came out of the anesthesia.

Still a little groggy!

Getting up for the first time.

Finally, a smile!

Tired Elle

The past few days we have found Elle sleeping in the oddest places.

This first one is at the top of the steps (real safe, I know). She was supposed to be in her bed, but apparently thought the wood floor was more comfortable!


This one was taken in the garage. She, Ike, and Andy had just hiked at FeiFong Mtn (about a 3 mile hike). She got out of the car and put her head down on our back bench that isn't in the car right now.

Grandpa Glenn, Check this Out!

Grandpa, guess what treat Mom pulled out of the freezer this week....

Yep, marshmallows! She and Dad say that they are one of your favorites, too!
Can we have some when I come to visit? Please?

All Smiles

Joey has this great smile that I tried to capture but of course couldn't. He'll squint his eyes shut really tight and have a HUGE grin on his face. I was successful in getting lots of shots of his smile, though. Here's a few of them.

I think that when he smiles he looks just like my dad (minus the food all over his face). What do you think?

Here's Ike showing you what Joey's smile looks like

Last trip to the zoo

Saturday we went with the C's to the Taipei Zoo. Probably the last time until summer is over because it is getting TOO HOT to walk around the zoo. We also went on the new gondola...FUN!

The view of the BUSY freeway from the gondola

Our attempt at a family picture

Andy's interpretation of his favorite animal at the zoo, the bison

Could it be?

Could it be? Could all three kids be playing together? Is that normal? Actually, they will play together once in awhile, but it isn't the norm. It usually happens at 6:15am when Ike wakes up and decides Joey should wake up, too. He then proceeds to jump into Joey's crib and I hear lots of laughing in the monitor from both boys. The laughter then wakes up their sister, who immediately joins them in the crib. A funny site, but not one I'm going to get up to take a picture of that early in the morning!

Sunday Drive

This afternoon we went on a "short" drive into the nearby mountains. We just started to drive on a road to see where it would take us. We ended up spending more than 1 1/2 hours going into the mountains (it was a lot quicker coming down and out of them) and we had no idea where we were. The view was BEAUTIFUL! Here is a picture of the view and a video of this incredibly scary tunnel we had to go through!

Mother's Day Cooking

Last week I went to my first Chinese cooking class since moving here. It was so fun! We were taught how to make a five dish Mother's Day meal in about 30min...fast if you have the right set of pots and pans. The pumpkin rice was so nummy!

So, Mom, even though you didn't get to try the food, I learned how to make it just for you! Happy Early Mother's Day!

Joey's first haircut

Friday Joey got his first haircut because we had a lot of people calling him MeiMei (little sister) instead of DeeDee (little brother). We didn't want him to develop a complex before he was even 1 year old. Don't be fooled by the pictures....the smiling only lasted for about 2 minutes and then the wailing began!

A top view of the new cut

A Day for Bugs

This is what we saw on the tile outside our house when Andy went to pick Ike up from school on Friday...yuck! I'm sure glad he was dead!

Just a few hours later we found this Praying Mantis in Elle's hair. How did it get there?