Yeliou and Taipei Zoo

Last Tuesday we took a day trip up to Yeliou and the Taipei Zoo.  Thankfully the weather was PERFECT while at Yeliou (where we enjoyed looking out over the beautiful Pacific) but it POURED when we got to the zoo.  Not too worry, though, because there were plenty of indoor options at the zoo (though we did still end up getting soaked)!

Sanyi

We took Andy's parents to one of our favorite DIY places in Sanyi.  It was fun to watch everyone's creative side come out as they painted wooden figures!!  After they had tea with one of the owners while they waited for the rest of us to finish.

Grandma and Grandpa Larsen Are Here!!!

Andy's parents arrived a few days ago and we are LOVING having them here with us!!

Grandpa taking the kids to school his first morning here!
Grandma and Ellie working on a special project!
Ike enjoying time with Grandma and Grandpa WITHOUT Elle and Joe who were on a field trip. I think he liked having them all to himself!
Our Nanliao outing (looking out over the Taiwan Strait)

Kung Fu with A-Ba

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter! We pray that you are blessed in a rich way this Easter as you remember our that our Savior is indeed risen!!!

On the hunt....
Divvying up the treats!

Egg Saturday

The Saturday before Easter is known as "Egg Saturday" around here. Not that I'm all that creative with it, but we try to do lots of egg stuff. This year we had egg bake for brunch, decorated Easter eggs in the afternoon, and then the kids made their own egg shaped & "decorated" pizzas for dinner. Fun day!!

To the Petting Zoo!!

Saturday we met some friends at our favorite petting zoo!! As usual the kids had a blast and the parents had fun talking while trying to keep up with all the kids!

Birthday Party for Ellie

Saturday we invited some friends over to have cake and ice cream with Ellie for her birthday. What a fun time!!!

Ellie with her princess cake
Time to blow out the candles!
And a shot of all the kids at the party! Together they represented 3 different countries!

Happy 6th Birthday Noelle!!!

Happy Birthday to our spunky 6 year old!! We love you!

Elle started her day off with a phone call from Grandma and Grandpa K who sang "Happy Birthday" to her (carrying on the tradition started by my Grandma Bestemor every year on her grandchildren's birthdays)!
She was so excited to get a watch from Grandma and Grandpa L!!
Off to McDonalds for her birthday dinner (her choice).
I love this picture of her with her first real tea set! She can't wait to make some tea for Daddy tomorrow!!

Playing in the Mud

Ok, so he didn't quite play in the mud, but Ike spent the morning planting rice with his classmates in the muddy fields! He had lots of fun, but despite the smile on his face he couldn't get his brother and sister to join him! Maybe next year!

All the students did a little dance before the planting.
Then they took a picture with the mayor of Hsinchu County who had come to speak to the school.

Time to get to work. They had to go barefoot because the mud would pull any shoes or boots right off.

When he was done it looked like he was wearing boots! This was definitely a great opportunity for him to see how hard the farmers around here work!

Dr. Seuss' Birthday Party

We celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday today (a week late, I know)! The kids had a blast eating foods with fun names taken from Dr. Seuss' books, reading Dr. Seuss books, watching "Green Eggs and Ham" and other Dr. Seuss book videos, and of course eating birthday cake!

Our Dr. Seuss feast!
This year we had "Yertle the Turtle" birthday cake! White turtles really do look freaky!

Too Funny (or at least we think so)

Our puppy has to wear the "collar of shame" for a week and is not too happy about it! He was terrified of the thing at first. Thankfully that's changed and now it's just this annoying thing around his neck. We sure think he looks funny, though (funnier than normal, that is)!

A few days away!

Last week I was able to go south for a few days...without kids!! It was a wonderful time away with friends, learning about how faithfulness wins the showdown (from the life of Elijah) from author and speaker Cindy Sigler Dagnan! Here are a couple views of the beautiful Pacific from the southern part of Taiwan!

Family Fun Weekend

Last weekend marked the end of the kid's New Year's vacation, so we decided to do some "fun" stuff with them before getting back into the school routine!

We took a ride on the local train to downtown Hsinchu

Ate some yummy frozen yogurt!

Andy patiently played tennis with all the kids (the first time for Elle and Joe)

It was a beautifully sunny weekend! Warm even!!!

And a great big brother even took time to help Elle with her swing!!

Lantern Festival

The last official day of Chinese New Year is Lantern Festival. This year our neighbor gave our kids fun paper lanterns to light up for the holiday and did they ever have fun with them!

A girl and her pup!