Sunday Drive

After Andy preached this morning we rushed home to change and grab a simple picnic lunch, then headed into the nearby mountains! What an adventure we had as we headed into the nearly 2000 meter peaks! The biggest adventure was probably the driving since the roads were narrow, sometimes only allowing for 1 car. We made it, though, and while we didn't end up where we planned, we made it to a great hiking trail and had a blast!

The view from our picnic spot
Enjoying our picnic
The waterfall we hiked LOTS of stairs to get to!
The rest of it (or what we could see, at least)

A Park to Ourselves

I took the kids to the park yesterday afternoon and to my surprise we were the only ones there!! I couldn't believe it, especially when it was an overcast day so it wasn't scorching hot! The kids had a blast and I had an extremely easy time keeping track of them!!

Swimming Time

Ike has been enjoying swimming lessons these past 2 weeks! I'm pretty sure he would live at Jhubei pool if I let him....he's a big fish!!

LOTS of kids!!

Practicing the back float

VBS

Ike attended VBS for the first time at our church. He loved it!

Here's a picture of all the kids and teachers for the week! A great group, especially when you consider where we live. I was so happy to see kids from the community who I know have no church background attending VBS!!

Ike and his class singing a song they learned and sharing some Bible verses that they memorized.

Tai-Da Program

Ellie and Joey's school had their end of the year program a couple of weeks ago (yes, I am very behind). While it was VERY long (3 hours), it was fun to watch the kids perform for their families! We were amazed that Joey actually danced up there!

Joey and his class singing and dancing to "The Wheels on the Bus"

Ellie in the costume she wore for one of her dances. Andy's camera battery died just as she was performing....thankfully we have it on video, though....lesson learned!
The kids with Ellie's teacher, Judy (Ike had her for kindergarten also)
Joey with one of his teachers, Wendy....
....and the other teacher, Peggy

Happy 7-11 Day (or Slurpee Day??)

The kids got to enjoy a slurpee today at one of the million 7-11's on the island (ok, exaggerating a bit, but they really are on every other corner)!

Ike had his in honor of his godfather who even has his own slurpee making machine!

BBQ Near the Cold Springs

Dr. Boe is here teaching a course at China Lutheran Seminary, so what better reason could there be to get a bunch of us together for a BBQ? :) Sunday we went up near some cold springs, parked the cars on a nearly never traveled road (we didn't see any cars that didn't belong to us....kind of strange on this very crowded island), and set up the grills! We had a great time hiking, BBQ-ing, and talking!

4 goofy Taiwan MK's!
The view from our site. I think they are orange trees, but I can't say for sure...I grew up in the city after all :)
The not-so-safe bridge that we crossed on our hike. Ethan went across first to check it out AFTER he pulled Ike back (apparently my oldest son has no fear)! Notice how excited the group on the other side is to cross it (note the sarcasm)!
The rock behind our hikers was the goal of our hike. It is a memorial of sorts to 5 kids that were killed during the Japanese occupation (though I didn't catch all the details of how they died).

No BBQ is complete without a marshmallow roast!

Dance Reciatl 2011

Elle is the happiest when she is dancing on a stage! So funny because she is shy everywhere but there! Here are some pics of a very happy little girl on the day of her 2nd dance recital.

Hair done and make-up on!
Posing!
Action shot!

Last day of 1st grade!!!

He did it!!! He survived 1st grade AND his first year of Chinese Elementary School!! Sounds dramatic, huh? It was actually a great year! Here are some of pictures from school....

Ike and his class at the flower show in Taipei
Reading a book that he wrote about his family
Ike and his best friend LiMo
Dancing at their end of the year program
With his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Zhong! We were so blessed to have her as his teacher! She was so incredibly patient with us as we struggled through all of the Chinese that we didn't know! Big bonus is that she'll be his teacher next year, too (which is why we decided to keep him in Chinese school for another year)!!

Just us!

Joey turns 4!!

Tuesday we celebrated Joey's 4th birthday! It's hard to believe that our baby is already 4! He had a fun first day as a 4 year old!

Smiling with his birthday cupcakes that he was taking to school for his friends.
Listening to his new music!
Lining up his new cars (like every good Larsen would do)!
Sharing his HUGE birthday dessert that he got free because it was his birthday!!

Birthday Boys!

The boy's birthdays are exactly a week apart so we had a little birthday party for them today. It worked out well that one wanted an ice cream cake and one wanted a "rocket ship" cake! Happy Birthday boys!

Brothers
Ike with his "Spiderman" cake (nice cheating on my part, thankfully he didn't care as long as the candle was there)
Joey and his "Buzz Lightyear" cake (cheating again....rocket ship cake with Buzz candle)

Fun with Chalk

Finding old chalk means having LOTS of quiet playtime for 3 kids! Who knew something so cheap could be so fun!

Happy 7th Birthday Ike!!

Ike turned 7 on Tuesday! Our "little boy" is turning into a big boy quickly! He had a great birthday and is looking forward to having ice cream cake this weekend with friends! Thanks everyone who called or sent cards or gifts! He felt very loved!

Birthday cupcakes to bring to school!
His choice for his birthday dinner was good old McDonald's! He wanted a McFlurry for his birthday treat!
All grown up!!