A Wedding Celebration!

This past Sunday our neighbors son was married. Ellie and Isaak had the privilege of being part of the days festivities! It was so fun to watch this couple and their families celebrate!

The beautiful couple
The kids after getting ready for the wedding feast
Ike and Elle looking all snazzy
Grandpa and Ike at the feast
Grandma and Elle checking out her rose petals
The kids with our neighbor (A-Ba)

2 weeks with Grandma and Grandpa K!!

We just spent 2 GREAT weeks with Grandma and Grandpa! We wish it could have been longer, but we'll take what we can get! The kids had so much fun with them (and so did Andy and I) and can't wait until our next visitors arrive (though we don't know when that will be)! Here's a little review of the past 2 weeks.....

There was Christmas baking with Grandma
There were games to play and puzzles to make with Grandpa
We took a day trip up to Yeliou where we saw some cool rock formations "carved" by the wind and the waves
We took Father/Daughter pics with the North China Sea in the background
We took a picture of the 3 generations of girls also with the North China Sea in the background (or Pacific Ocean if you like that better)
We went to the Ocean Park where Ike and Grandpa got up close and personal with the dolphins
Ferb got LOTS of attention from G & G (probably because they were missing Kramer)
We went to a wedding feast where Grandpa got his first taste of sashimi (and liked it)...
And Grandma got to figure out how to eat these massive prawns
But most of all we just enjoyed spending time together as a family!

Grandma and Grandpa K are here!!!

We are currently enjoying having G & G with us for a couple of weeks! The kids are soaking in the time with them (so is Ferb)! More pics to come.....

The Kids Love Their Ferb!

 Joe loves Ferb

 Ike loves Ferb

Amazingly enough, even Elle loves Ferb

Halloween Fun

We celebrated Halloween a day early this year (since there really isn't trick-or-treating here, anyways).  The kids had fun, as usual, dressing up and being with some of their friends! 

Cinderella

Our Race Car Driver

Mr. Skeleton

Group shot with their friend N.  Do you like all the sandals?  It's still in the 70's to 80's here!

 Even the parents dressed up somewhat...

I think these two look like they belong at the Mad Hatter tea party!

Decorating Pumpkins

I was so thankful that Ike said, "Mom, I want to paint pumpkins this year because I don't want to touch that disgusting stuff inside!"  Now I get to enjoy LOTS of pumpkin/squash starting November 1st (I figure I can chop up their pumpkins then)!!

 

 Joey once again layering the paint on his pumpkin!

 Definitely having fun!

 Ike's been listening to Brad Paisley's "Camouflage" a little too much, I think, and painted his pumpkin camouflage!

 

And an attempt at a picture of the kids.....

Buddies!!!

Ferb

Today (despite still being in shock that my husband wanted a dog), Andy, Elle, and Joe picked up our little puppy from the train station (Ike and I were in class still). After not so much discussion we decided to call him "Ferb" (from the Disney show "Phineas and Ferb"). We are having too much fun playing with him and TRYING to train him (I should cut him some slack since he's been with us less than 12 hours)!

First Day of School

I was so thankful that the kids were so excited to go back to school!!! They were actually bummed that their first day was canceled because of a typhoon!

Ike was off to his first day of 2nd grade at 7:30am (now he leaves at 6:50am so he can play tennis before school)!
Elle off to her first day as a kindergartner!!
Joey all ready for his 2nd year of preschool!!

Astromnomical Museum

Friday we ventured up to Taipei to visit a kid friendly (though for adults very boring) museum. The kids had a blast and even got to enjoy their first 3D movie!

Hualien

Last week we spent a few days in Hualien County with some of our Chinese pastors and their families. It was a "go, go, go" kind of a trip (ie ride the bus, get off and hike, get back on, ride somewhere else, etc), but lots of fun! We came back tired but so thankful for the time to get to know the pastors and evangelists in our synod and thankful for the new relationships that were formed with them!

Beautiful Taroko Gorge!! My favorite spot on the island (that I've been to, at least)!
A shrine in the gorge.
Most of the group that went on the trip.
Our kids were pretty much glued to these wonderful girls! They are the daughters of our mission's administrative assistant and our kids just loved being with them!
Don't worry, these tracks aren't in use anymore!
Some of our coworkers (our pastor and his wife are the ones directly behind Ike and Ellie, the other couples pastor churches in Taipei, Yangmei, and Hsinchu).

Fun with Paint

Since it's summer break I decided to take the kids to do something fun. Friends told us about this place where they could pick out a wood object and paint it. It was fun to watch the kids work on their projects.

Joey's definitely had the most colors on it!
Ellie worked hard on hers!
Ike was the most careful about where his paint went and getting the colors just right (for a 7 year old, at least)!
The finished products.