Noelle's 4th Birthday

Last Tuesday Noelle turned 4! Lucky her got to have 2 birthday cakes this year...one when Kyle and Ellen were here and one on the day of her birthday! It was so fun to have family here this year to help her celebrate (a first for her since we have always been in Taiwan on her birthdays)! Happy Birthday Noelle! We love you!

Cake #1, a pink basketball (it's what she wanted)
Flowers from Daddy on her birthday
Cake #2, a princess cake
I had to put this picture in, too. I just love the expression on her face!

Jump

Taroko and Hualien

We spent a few days this week on the east coast playing in the ocean and hiking in Taroko Gorge. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!

One of the many beautiful sights in Taroko
Helmets were required on this path because of "falling rocks." We found out our favorite trail was closed because the entrance to it collapsed in an earthquake! So sad!

One of the SCARY suspension bridges that we crossed (well, part of us did....Ellie got a few steps into it and turned around)
Another view of the scary bridge

Kyle took a turn carrying Joey around. We didn't trust Joe on this particular trail. There were lots of steep cliffs and not much to stop someone from falling over them.
Playing by the Pacific
....and in it!


We really took this picture so that Kyle could get a shot of the huge fishing poles in the back
Ellen and her "shadow"
Trying unsuccessfully to get a shot of all 3 kids

Hiking 5 Finger Mountain

After church Sunday, A, K, E, and I hiked 5 Finger Mountain. Must have been a good time because they all came back tired and dirty!

Saturday Night Fun

After a day of shopping and birthday celebrations (it was Ellen's birthday), the real fun began in the Larsen house! That's right....I got to take Kyle's stitches out for him (he "stabbed" himself a couple days before they came to visit us)! Now that was what I call fun!

Kyle and Ellen are here!

Uncle Kyle and Aunt Ellen arrived late on Wednesday night!! What a weird night....their airline's website said their flight was cancelled, but the airport said it was on-time. Hmmm...what do you do?? We decided I would still head to the airport and wait to see what happened, luckily, because it turned out that they were actually early and waiting for me to get there. I felt awful for "being late", but had no idea because of all the conflicting info. We are having a blast with them, and the kids are definitely loving having them around!! Today we got into a local amusement park for FREE!!! It was a fun, fun day! Here are some pics....

Joe and the monkey

Day Trip to Taipei

Today we went to Taipei to renew Ike's passport and then headed to our favorite zoo, Taipei Zoo. It was a great day to go....cloudy, cool, and not crowded at all!!!

This was the top attraction in "Andy's World"....the American Bison (I don't understand why....)
A closer look at the lonely fellow
Final stop...the Pandas!