Happy Birthday Andy!

On Saturday we celebrated Andy's birthday with the traditional lemon cake with chocolate frosting. You know, after 7 years, the combo really starts to grow on you (especially because I use my Grandma Gladys chocolate frosting recipe...the yummiest around)! Happy Birthday! We love you!

Our "Adventure"

It has been two weeks since our "adventure" home. I think that we have finally recovered from the jet lag and the illnesses....well, Ike has a cold, but that is it. I just found some pics from our time in airports and on airplanes that I had promised some people I would show, so, here they are!

Here's the long line Andy stood in after our flight was canceled. We later found out that 50 flights were canceled out of Denver that day!

"Grandma Help!" Elle passed the time by using her Santa phone to call LOTS of people. It's a good thing she wasn't roaming!


Joe took a much needed nap in the stroller which is very rare for him. He must have been VERY tired!

Here's Ike sprinting back to us after he delivered our passports to Andy. Yes, I trusted a 4 year old with all 5 passports. Obviously I wasn't thinking clearly at that point!

Here we are enjoying good Chinese food, good cookies, good ice cream, and a great cup of Java at SFO thanks to United.

FINALLY we made it onto our international flight! We even got Economy Plus seating (that extra 5 inches is NICE)!

Here we are just a few minutes after take-off. It was a LONG 4 days but the kids were troopers!

Normality

Stirring up Trouble

Ike showcasing his Bopomofo skills (Chinese phonetic symbols)

It is not quite warm enough for flip flops, but that won't stop her

Ike's First Day Back at School

Today Ike arose at 6:30 and was ready to go to school. While we were stateside, he didn't go to preschool. His teacher said he forgot a lot of Chinese but it should come back quickly. He is learning the Chinese phonetic symbols and his teacher wanted to give me (Andy) the same book. It feels so good to be offered preschool material. I turned her down and said I would wait for Ike to teach me.

Today is a turning point in this blog. Above is the first picture posted that was taken in RAW format. What that means is from now on, only fine works of photographic art will be posted. It also means we will no longer be portrayed as pasty white folks.

Today so far so good!

Well, yesterday I only got puked on twice, though the kids each took their turn with the upchucking. Turns out I was wrong about Ike, he really was sick, too. Today there have been no puking episodes (it's 2pm), but the bug has "headed south". I think that means there is hope that it is almost over. Sadly, I have joined the ranks of the sick, but it isn't all that bad....I lost 5 pounds because of it. You always have to find the positive, right?!?!?


This was the scene on our couch two nights ago when the puking/jet lag began

The Longest Week of My Life...I Think!

The saga continues....After our long week of travel, we are finally home. It felt so good right away. Well, that feeling quickly passed when 36 hours after returning, all three kids started throwing up. First Joey. Then, while Andy cleaned that mess up, Elle tells me her "Tummy is so toll" (her tummy is full), then proceeds to throw up on my back. Ike sees it and then throws up all over my bed. Then Elle and Joe continue taking turns over the bucket. Yuck! Will this week ever end?!?!?!? Do you ever just ask God "why". Now, this is nothing serious, and I'm sure it will pass in a day or so, but really, why right now. Honestly, I know this happens to people all the time. This is just a little venting session while Elle and Joe take a break from puking and sleep a little.

Hope you and yours are doing better! Oh, and really, it is still nice to be home (even if it is starting to smell like puke)!

A Complete Waste of a Week

This look pretty much sums up everything

After 73.5 hours of layover and over 20 hours in the air and a 14 hour time change, we finally made it to our home in Taiwan.

Our week started as we left for Minneapolis airport at 4 AM on Monday. We made it to Denver just fine. Then the fun started. 50 flights were cancelled out of Denver that day. We tried every option to leave, but simply could not until Wednesday. United was kind enough to put us up for 2 nights. Tuesday was not a complete waste as we explored downtown Denver. We checked our coats so it made for a chilly day. Wednesday we made it to San Francisco, but were delayed because of lack of pilots so we missed our connection to Taipei. United was kind enough to put us up for a third night. Kris bought some diapers and other essentials as we had not planned for this trip to take a week. We had time Thursday morning to walk along San Francisco Bay and enjoy the morning. Our journey across the Pacific started that afternoon. The long flight was uneventful except for Joey breaking the third rule. Just before the International date line, he started coughing and we knew it would not end well, but most of it ended up in the proper receptacle. (The other two rules concerned crying and screaming and were obeyed)

We finally got to our home in Cyong Lin at 12:30 AM on Saturday morning.

At the Denver Children's Museum

On San Fran Bay

Stranded in Denver

We attempted to go back to Taiwan today. For our 6:10 AM departure, we woke up at 3 AM and we were excited to be on the way. Noelle cried for a while because she wanted to sit next to mom. I guess that is what 2 year olds do. The boys slept through the entire flight! We were patiently waiting in Denver for our flight to San Francisco. It was canceled. After standing in line for 2 1/2 hours at customer service we learned everything out of Denver is booked until Wednesday. We were willing to go to Seattle, LA, Hong Kong, Seoul, or Chicago, but there was no way out.

Our luggage is unavailable so we have no coats (or change of clothes for that matter), but the weather is quite mild so our sweatshirts and vests are working well. I (Andy) thought it would be fun to have a mini vacation, but without proper apparel, going into the mountains doesn't sound much fun. The kids just want to get home to see A Ba. Soon guys, very soon!

Breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa

While 4 of us went sledding, Joe got to go for breakfast with G&G Kvenild. Looks like he was having fun!

Snowblowing with Grandpa

Sledding with Uncle Kyle and Aunt Ellen

We had to go sledding at least once before we head back to the ROC. We left Joe-Joe with Grandma and Grandpa because it was too cold and he was getting over a cold. He had fun with them, too. Thanks K and E for inviting us!

A visit with the Elves

This week Mom and I braved the cold and took the kids downtown to Macy's 8th floor. This year it was something like a day in the life an elf. Anyways, we took the light rail down which was super convenient! The kids had a blast and so did we!

Grandma and the kiddos

See you next year Santa!

Afterward Grandma bought the kids gingerbread cookies. Ike started by chomping off the head of his!

Joey loved sharing his with Gamma

More Christmas pictures

Here are some more shots from our fun Christmas.

The ever-so-fun family shot

The also ever-so-fun grandparent/grandkid shot

Joey's cute outfit....he had a gagging leading to puking episode at dinner, and this was the only part of his outfit that didn't stink. Actually by the end of the night he only had the vest on because we realized his shirt stunk, too.

Elle shushed everyone on Christmas morning because her baby was sleeping
Handy Ike