Kending

We took a trip to the southern tip of Taiwan this week. It is known as Taiwan's Hawaii. Well, it is beautiful, but we didn't get to enjoy walking around much. It rained the entire time we were there. Why you might ask??? There was a typhoon brewing in the Pacific. What is this with typhoons and our parents???? Andy's mom and dad brought a typhoon with them, and it seems my parents did the same. We still had fun being together though!!

Ike and Grandpa having fun

Elle and Grandpa

Just relaxing

Another unsuccessful attempt at a family picture

The cool house that we had for 2 nights

Dinner at Smokey Joe's...nummy!


A picture of the Pacific. The waves were huge and beautiful!

An Early Christmas

We decided to celebrate Christmas with Mom and Dad a little early. So, Saturday night we had the traditional meatballs with all the fixins (except lutefisk....that's where I draw the line). After we each got to open one gift. The McD toy is actually for both Ike and Elle, I just didn't get a picture until after Elle had gone to bed. Joey was here, too, but he was already asleep by the time we got to the gift opening. Sorry Joe!!

The Zoo....of course

Ike loves the zoo so much, and talks to his grandparents about it all the time. We went there last month with G&G Larsen, and had to go again last week with G&G Kvenild. We didn't get to take too many pics because it was raining most of the time we were there, but we got a few shots.

Thanksgiving

This year we have many things to be thankful for...healthy kids, visits from family, the list goes on and on. We have had to say good-bye to some family members who have gone home to be with the Lord, but we are even thankful that they are with their Heavenly Father. We pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from ours.

Nigh nigh time

Look what happens when G & G come!

When certain family members that live in Taiwan go home to America, something always breaks at my parents house (a/c, water heater, garage door, etc). Well, this time my parents came here and something broke at my house. Can you guess what???

Hopefully, by the mess in the kitchen you can see that it was our refrigerator. On the positive side, I got a new fridge out of the deal!

While Andy and I went shopping for a new fridge, G & G watched the kids. We were impressed! The kids were bathed, fed, and in bed before 8:45pm (not always the norm around here). Ike did, however, decide that he would sleep on Elle's floor instead of in his bed!

Grandma and Grandpa K are here!

Grandma and Grandpa are here for a couple weeks vacation. We haven't done too much exploring yet, but we've been enjoying spending time together.

Grandpa and Joey enjoying a donut and coffee

Grandpa going through jet lag

Ike and Elle blowing bubbles with Grandma

Nummy!

"Finally, they give me something good to eat!"

Joey's 1st Halloween

Pumpkins

This year we painted the pumpkins so that I could actually use the pumpkin inside for baking. They are small (Joey's), medium (Elle's), and large (Ike's).

Elle thought hers looked tasty!

Ike did his all by himself.

We also enjoyed pumpkin shaped Blonde Brownies!

Happy Halloween!

As many of you know, they don't really have Halloween here. Some schools will have costume parties, but that is about it. So, this year we didn't do much dressing up for the day. Because they have an uncreative mother, Ike and Elle were Vikings fans protesting that Taiwan's ESPN doesn't air American football.

A Bicycle Built for 4

We spent Sunday afternoon at the ocean. The guys decided to rent a bike and ride the boardwalk. What fun, but what hard work!! Ike and Elle had so much fun. Ike even saw his teacher while we were there.

Grandma and Grandpa's visit

Here are a few highlights from their trip...

Ike and Grandma had to see if they were short enough to ride free on the MRT in Taipei....Grandma didn't make the cut. Sorry!

Andy wanted a pic with his parents. They ignored him. Poor guy!!!

Hmmm.....

They got to meet our wonderful friends/neighbors and many of our other friends.

They had to figure out how to use chopsticks or go hungry. They got very good, very quickly!

Grandpa and Elle at the beach

Ike in his glory as we rode the train into downtown Taipei

Doing touristy stuff in Taipei

Stopping for a picture....it was VERY windy at the beach!

Grandma and Grandpa in front of the garbage incinerator building....doesn't it look too nice to be a place where they burn garbage?

The Larsen men/boys just relaxing

Grandpa and Joey.....Joey decided to take advantage of his time with G&G and show off while they were here. So, he started to roll from his tummy to his back. Now he just rolls around on the floor. It won't be long until he is getting into his brother and sister's things...look out!

Taipei Zoo

We've been keeping G&G very busy this week! They've met many of our friends, had lots of dinners out, and have been on the go a lot! Thursday we took them up to Taipei so we could go to the zoo. Andy's surprised that his mom hasn't worn a hole through the floor of the car while using her "brake" (driving is a little crazy here)! We had so much fun at the zoo. After we ventured into the city on the train....a first for all of us. We made it there and back!