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.

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)!!