2014 Christmas Greeting..... it's been a long time but here's a short review of this year

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Spring Break 2012

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The Frog Song!

 

A big part of scouting is giving back. Here's the first eagle scout of our family "giving back" by teaching the Cub Scout Pack "We All Know Frogs"

Christmas Time Is Here

For the past eleven years Taipei English Ward (Taipei 7th) has put on a Christmas Pageant as a gift to expat as well as local friends. It began as a simple production in the park in Tienmu. But last year the park was in the midst of renovation and construction in December (as it was this year also) and so we moved the pageant to the Temple grounds between the chapel and the temple.

This year the stage was built on top of the fountains, which were turned off for the occasion, and the Temple was used as a backdrop for the town of Bethlehem. We have many people participate in the music, on stage and behind the scenes.

From the stage being put together, dress rehearsal, three shows and set break down, the pageant only lasts for one weekend. Preparation for choir begin in November. The cast is put together in the last week or two. Time passes quickly and the process is all part of our big build up to Christmas.

11 years ago when we lived in Taiwan we were a part of the pageant and we are grateful to be a part of the great tradition now that we have returned. The sound of the first few notes of our opening Silent Night fills my heart with joy and wonderful memories.


This year Brian conducted the choir, Audrey and Nadine sang in the choir, Rebecca was an angel and Jeffrey got to be the innkeeper's son for a couple of shows. An important part since he is the one who gives his father the idea of the stable.

We love pageant. It's a great way for us all to remember what the season is really about. The gift of a child, Jesus Christ, from our loving Heavenly Father, given that we might all be saved from the bonds of death and sin. Because of this sacred gift, we can enjoy the blessings of eternal salvation.

Family Fitness Fun

Taroko Gorge Marathon was a great time for our family

We went with about 24 people from church. arrived Friday Sept 3 and 5am Saturday morning we all hopped on a bus to the starting line.






The weather was perfect. Blue sky with a bit of Fall coolness.




The kids all ran/walk the 5K and Brian and I did the 1/2 marathon. You would never know it in the pictures, but Brian is very ill. He couldn't run the whole 22K but Nadine did!!








We all finished the race!!!








Taroko Gorge is a gorgeous tourist site on Taiwan's East Coast with lovely hiking trails and roads for car/bus tourists.
Check it out on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taroko_National_Park


After the marathon we experienced the local culture and ate at a famous baodz (steamed dumpling) shop.







It was very busy and very yummy.



Our ride home was beautiful.

Here's a slide show of our adventures sailing.

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SNAKE IN THE HOUSE!!!!

About a month ago as we were sitting and enjoying a leisurely Saturday morning, Jeffrey stopped playing the drums for a moment and heard a thud. He followed the sound with his eyes and then exclaimed, "Oh cool. Mom look! Woah that's really cool" I looked over about five feet from where i was sitting at the computer and saw a snake slithering my way. My response differed some from Jeffrey's, "A SNAKE!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!" I popped up from my chair. Brian came over to check it out. By that time the snake had crawled into the piano books.

There are guards outside our house and one of their responsibilities is to get rid of unwanted creatures in our house. So we called the guard and he came in with snake catching equipment - a long armed gripper and a large water bottle (like the Culligan Man used to deliver). Brian used tongs to move the piano books out of the way and Mr Chiu used the gripper to grab the snake and lower him into the water bottle.
Once captured we were able to identify the snake as a Taiwan Beauty Snake. To our relief and Jeffrey's elation, he is not poisonous.



So now we have a pet snake. THUD.




He eats "pinkies" AKA baby mice.

Thud is about 20 inches long presently. Last week he shed his skin and so he's growing bigger. According to information on line, the Taiwan Beauty Snake is a type of rat snake, a type of constrictor that grows to be 8 to 9 feet long. Watch for bigger pictures in the future.