Joe being Joe

Daddy date

Saturday night Elle and Andy went out for dinner, a daddy-daughter date. Elle had a good time though I don't think she understands what a date is. On the way home she said, "Daddy, we didn't go on our date. We didn't go on the train." Apparently every date includes a train ride.

Ike's new bike

Ike's $15 bike finally "bit the dust" (even though Joey thinks it is still usable), so on Saturday he became the VERY proud owner of a new one (thanks Grandpa and Grandma L for the Christmas gift). It's hard to get him off of it! Now we have to work on getting rid of the training wheels...he has lazy parents that haven't taken time to help ride without them! There is one problem with the bike however, check out the flag on the bell. Ok, so I have nothing against Canadians, it's just that he is an American. Anyone have a spare American flag sticker sitting around???

Ready for a line-up?

Valentine's baking

So, this is pretty late, but here are Ike and Elle helping decorate our Valentine's cookies. I'm pretty sure that Ike likes sugar!

Stinky Tofu

Today we went up to Neiwan. It's feels like a mini State Fair...everything you can imagine on a stick. Anyways, for 3 years we have avoided stinky tofu like the plague! Let me tell you, the stuff lives up to it's name. We can't even begin to describe the smell! Well, today Andy was felling particularly brave and decided to try it for the first time. According to a friend of ours, "if you can get past the smell it is delicious". Andy did it. He got past the smell and tasted the stinky stuff. It was spicy (I took a VERY SMALL bite as well)! He also got our new friend, Patience, and my uncle (who has avoided it for 21 years) to try it. Now we can at least tell our friends here that we've tried it (though I'm not sure I'll try it again)!

Thanks Grandma!

For Valentine's Day this year Grandma K made the kids new jammies. They were a hit! The kids want to wear them every night and get a little upset when they are in the laundry. Thanks Grandma!!

Mom and Son Date

After bringing the W's to the airport on Tuesday, Ike and I went on a date to IKEA. This is a date Andy would HATE, but Ike had a blast. We tried out furniture, played on the slide, and most importantly, had dinner. He not only ate his kids meal of chicken nuggets, but ate a few of my meatballs, too. Then we finished the trip with ice cream (I got my free coffee thanks to the purchase of a much needed new soup pot). We had a blast and will definitely have to do it again soon!

Weekend Retreat

Our mission had a retreat with J&K this past weekend. We stayed at a retreat center near Taipei. It was a wonderful time to dig into God's Word, be renewed by it, and have fun with friends. What made this retreat especially nice was that 2 wonderful young ladies watched our kids so that I could sit in on the sessions without interruptions. Thanks so much P and H!!

Yep, these are the only pictures of Joey...he was on Andy's back the whole trip to Yangmingshan, and I had Ike and Elle with me. This means lots of pics of Ike and Elle, and very little of Joe. Sorry Joey!

The talented JW

That's Chaing Kai Shek in the background (well, a statue of him)

Our wonderful guests

My Fashion King

Here's Ike looking nice and spiffy after church. He was about to go outside to play and put these great shoes on with his outfit. Doesn't Diego go with everything?