The Middle

I'm sure gonna miss that pork fried rice and banana mango juice for the rest of my life. But this blasted humidity, this I won't miss. Although I will admit it is doing pretty great things for my eyelashes. Or maybe that's just the lack of make-up these days.

Waiting for the End

I miss my girls.

Carries On

New this week--the 6 year old girls all decided they wanted to change their names. It all started when Gini wrote her name down as GG. Here are some of the results:

Gini=GG
Coco=CC
Eva=EE
Joy=OO
Rachel=RayRay
Brittany=BriBri
Katherine=KK
Claire=Chocolate

Which one of these names is not like the others??

Lesson from Asia: #4

1. Having the kids do the macarena was probably the best idea I've had all week. It was so cute. 
2. Listening to them trying to sing along with the Spanish was even better. 
3. We'll definitely be doing this again.

Simple Song

Lucky for us the new Elder that joined us this transfer will translate for us during church, we know what is going on again! Well, for the most part. It always makes for an interesting experience.

Yesterday the Branch President was telling about his conversion story, in which his job played a big part of.

Elder: So then he came back for his ding-dong.
Elder: And he was looking for his ding-dong.
Elder: And something else about his ding-dong. I have no idea what this ding-dong is that he is talking about, but it is the only thing it can mean!
Taiwanese Sister: That word means animate.
Me to Ashley: Animation?
Elder: He is still talking about his ding-dong.
Taiwanese Sister: Animate in Japan.
Me to Ashley and the Elder: Japanese animation?
Taiwanese Sister: Like Spongebob in Japan.
Me (completely confused) to Ashley and the Elder: The Japanese Spongebob? Oh. A cartoon in Japan?
Elder: Yeah, that makes sense. But I still have no idea what his job is.

Mountain Sound

I'd like to tell everyone that we had a successful Tomb Sweeping Day last Wednesday. Aaron and Michael came for the day, and of course we had to hit up Taroko again. But this time with awesome tour guides! And on bicycles. (Don't worry, we were able to rent some fully functioning bikes, unlike the ones we use every other day. The brakes actually work.)

 

Maybe I stole this from Aaron. It was just too great not to include.

Now, you may be confused on how we became friends with these two young lads, "I thought your only friends were the missionaries and those two girls who lead you into the woods." Well, see, Aaron and Michael teach with the same program as Natalie and Lauren do, but we did not meet them through that connection. While walking through the streets of Pingxi I recognized them from photos I came across in my Facebook stalking. So obviously, I ran down the street after them, with Ashley running behind me in confusion. And I said, "Excuse me, is your name Aaron?" And that is how we became friends with them. In case you were wondering. Doesn't everyone run after people they recognize from their Facebook stalking? I know you all do the stalking, why not just put it out there?

Happy Birthday Mommy!

These pictures were taken in rapid succession, and believe me when I say that neither of these were planned...but for this reason we know we've been living together too long. 

Happy 3 Months!!

Making Our Hearts Happy

I fear I am becoming predictable. In the photos below, the one on the left was taken a year ago this week when I met my family in California for their Spring Break. The picture on the right was taken today. Yep. Exact same outfit. I guess things really don't change all that much in a year. 

I Would Do Anything for You

For some strange reason whenever we are with Natalie and Lauren we end up walking up some windy road that leads to an unknown destination. While on these roads we seem to find these trails that branch off from the main windy road. So obviously we must see where they lead to.

Our first foray through the woods was in Kenting National Recreation Area, which led us down a cool little trail, that I personally could've walked down for hours...until we unexpectedly heard a growl. And then another. And another. Apparently we were unaware that wild boar roam those same woods.

Two Saturdays ago was no exception. We were on a mountainside in Taipei, just looking for "the tea house." (which turned out to be not one tea house, but seriously a hundred.)  We spotted a cool paved trail that went further up. Soon we found ourselves in the middle of a mountain top neighborhood. With no visible way out. In the picture I am literally standing on someone's "front porch" looking right into three other people's "backyards."

Hopefully there will be more trail adventures coming soon!