Random shots

I have been terrible about blogging lately...sorry to the Grandmas and Grandpas especially! Here are some random shots that we took on Sunday.

One of the new dresses Elle got for her birthday

The new shoes that I just couldn't pass up....especially at less than $6!

I LOVE Ike's wink in this pic!

Joe enjoying a trip to our favorite park in Jubei

Noelle turns 3

On Monday we celebrated Noelle's 3rd birthday. It's hard to believe how quickly that came! We started the celebration on Sunday night with dinner at TGIFriday's where she got her free sundae...yummy! After Friday's we headed to the hospital (yes, the hospital) to have strawberry shortcake for Ellie and Hannah's birthday's (Hannah's was on Sunday). Great Uncle Mike was already checked in for the foot surgery he was having on Monday, but could eat until midnight, so the three mission families had a birthday celebration at Mackay Hospital...a first for us, I think. Then Monday afternoon she got to dig into her Dora cake along with a group from a church that we work with (Andy had been on an outing with them that day and invited them to come have birthday cake with us. It was lots of fun having them into our home). Thanks to everyone who sent gifts and cards, and for the skype calls from her grandmas and grandpas. You made her day extra special!

Digging into her sundae (which she didn't really eat much of, but the rest of us enjoyed)
We all had hats on at one point, but only the boys left their hats on!
The birthday girls
How many people can you fit on a hospital bed?
The Dora cake she WAITED for
The guests

Bedtime or Playtime???

Lately this is what bedtime looks like for the Larsen kids. It looks more like playtime. There was a time I would'nt let my kids have toys in bed...what happened to that time? Honestly, though, they really do go to sleep despite their beds being full of books or toys.

Honestly, where does she sleep? Usually this is also loaded with all of her purses in addition to books and Dora!

Ike loves reading his books while he's falling asleep. They kind of blend in, but there is a stack of blue books next to him.

Every night Joey searches for "Grandma and Grandpa". It's a little photo book from when he was a baby and in it is a picture of him with both Grandpas, both Grandmas, and Great Grandma. It's also the first thing he finds in the morning, quickly followed by the cars that are hidden in his blankets (the hat was a first and didn't stay on that long)!

Elle's had a fun week!

Elle was very lucky this week! She got to go to the horse farm two times this week! She has made great strides, too. Before we went to the US she was too scared to go close to the horses. Now she will even get on them. Thank you A Ba for taking her. She had a blast!

Thank you Patience!!!!

This week we had to say good-bye to our new friend, Patience. After spending a month with us, mostly watching our kids while we had meetings and I had class, she headed back home to her family. The kids miss her a lot and so do I. She did so much for us....watched our kids, folded laundry, cooked, made carmels....such a hard worker and so fun to talk with. She was also very brave...she ate a fish eyeball, stinky tofu, and do-hua (like a tofu jelly). Thank you so much, P. We can't wait until we can spend time with you again!!!

Dr. Seuss Day

A couple of years ago, my sister got me started "celebrating" Dr. Seuss Day. Ok, so we don't really celebrate, but we make a fun day of it and try to read LOTS of books, mostly Dr. Seuss books. Last year we made a Green Eggs and Ham cake on our reading day. This year we made Cat's Mac-n-cheese (from the Cat's Quizzer), Nook Hook Cook Book Dogs (from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish), and cupcakes stacked to look like the Cat in the Hat's hat (or attempted to make them look like that). It was a fun day, and we loved reading our Dr. Seuss books!

Joe being Joe

Daddy date

Saturday night Elle and Andy went out for dinner, a daddy-daughter date. Elle had a good time though I don't think she understands what a date is. On the way home she said, "Daddy, we didn't go on our date. We didn't go on the train." Apparently every date includes a train ride.

Ike's new bike

Ike's $15 bike finally "bit the dust" (even though Joey thinks it is still usable), so on Saturday he became the VERY proud owner of a new one (thanks Grandpa and Grandma L for the Christmas gift). It's hard to get him off of it! Now we have to work on getting rid of the training wheels...he has lazy parents that haven't taken time to help ride without them! There is one problem with the bike however, check out the flag on the bell. Ok, so I have nothing against Canadians, it's just that he is an American. Anyone have a spare American flag sticker sitting around???

Ready for a line-up?

Valentine's baking

So, this is pretty late, but here are Ike and Elle helping decorate our Valentine's cookies. I'm pretty sure that Ike likes sugar!

Stinky Tofu

Today we went up to Neiwan. It's feels like a mini State Fair...everything you can imagine on a stick. Anyways, for 3 years we have avoided stinky tofu like the plague! Let me tell you, the stuff lives up to it's name. We can't even begin to describe the smell! Well, today Andy was felling particularly brave and decided to try it for the first time. According to a friend of ours, "if you can get past the smell it is delicious". Andy did it. He got past the smell and tasted the stinky stuff. It was spicy (I took a VERY SMALL bite as well)! He also got our new friend, Patience, and my uncle (who has avoided it for 21 years) to try it. Now we can at least tell our friends here that we've tried it (though I'm not sure I'll try it again)!

Thanks Grandma!

For Valentine's Day this year Grandma K made the kids new jammies. They were a hit! The kids want to wear them every night and get a little upset when they are in the laundry. Thanks Grandma!!

Mom and Son Date

After bringing the W's to the airport on Tuesday, Ike and I went on a date to IKEA. This is a date Andy would HATE, but Ike had a blast. We tried out furniture, played on the slide, and most importantly, had dinner. He not only ate his kids meal of chicken nuggets, but ate a few of my meatballs, too. Then we finished the trip with ice cream (I got my free coffee thanks to the purchase of a much needed new soup pot). We had a blast and will definitely have to do it again soon!

Weekend Retreat

Our mission had a retreat with J&K this past weekend. We stayed at a retreat center near Taipei. It was a wonderful time to dig into God's Word, be renewed by it, and have fun with friends. What made this retreat especially nice was that 2 wonderful young ladies watched our kids so that I could sit in on the sessions without interruptions. Thanks so much P and H!!

Yep, these are the only pictures of Joey...he was on Andy's back the whole trip to Yangmingshan, and I had Ike and Elle with me. This means lots of pics of Ike and Elle, and very little of Joe. Sorry Joey!

The talented JW

That's Chaing Kai Shek in the background (well, a statue of him)

Our wonderful guests

My Fashion King

Here's Ike looking nice and spiffy after church. He was about to go outside to play and put these great shoes on with his outfit. Doesn't Diego go with everything?