Friday, January 31, 2014

flip flops


This is a regular occurrence.
I don't know how Lydia does it. She consistently loses her flip flops. It's almost like she hasn't lived each day to the fullest until one or both flip flops are missing by bedtime. Well, today we were rushing go to our neighbor's (who kindly invited us for a Chinese New Year feast for the second year in a row) house on time, when we discovered that Lydia's flip flops were lost once again. Fine, go barefoot, was my immediate response. Anna's immediate response was to take off one of hers, and give it to Lydia. The problem was solved, and off they went, both happy and content. 
I need to be more like Anna. 
Her heart has always been very big and very soft. She loves to take care of Lydia. Maybe God hides Lydia's flip flops just to give these two sisters a chance to share a sweet memory.


Thursday, January 30, 2014

Thursdays


The birthday season has passed, my computer is fixed, so now it's time to update. 
This is our favorite place to go in Taidong city. 
On Thursdays, after shopping, we come here to slide, then go to the Story House nearby to read books in the cozy tatami-covered English book room. Then it's off to ballet class for the girls. Thursday is one of our favorite days of the week. This picture was taken on Sunday. We also fit a few slides in after church. That day, the kids were sliding with the older sister of the girls' ballet classmate, who Ken and I affectionately call our daughter-in-law (not to her, of course). We just happened to bump into her and her mother at the noodle shop, and decided to play together a little.


Friday, January 10, 2014

Our first strawberry!

...and only strawberry so far...


It was perfect in every way. Thank you, Lord, for the harvest!



(A quick, random side note: Is there anything more entertaining that watching a small child's reaction to suspense? This was their first exposure to Bugs Bunny)



ha!


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Vessel Roasted Chicken

I'm not exactly sure how to translate tong shr ji (Melody?).



Anyway, we finally succeeded in roasting up a succulent, crispy skinned chicken. After several failures, we discovered that it can't be frozen first.
 The chicken is suspended in that iron vessel. We had to keep the fire going for ten to fifteen minutes, then gradually let it peter out until only the heat from the embers penetrates to the bone.
Thoughtful Anna decided to build a separate fire to feed the main one in case in went out.


 It's not important that Joseph kept on borrowing flames from my fire to feed the helper fire. :)


 We have come full circle. We raised this chicken from a tiny puff to this. We did mourn briefly for her, as she was our only all-black hen; a beauty.


There is something so satisfying about ripping meat off a bone.




 This part of the chicken is a delicacy for Ken. Yup, it's the bum. Lydia begged for a bite. I will never try to understand.


I just had to add this one. One of our dogs Rhino, has perfected the art of begging. He places his paw firmly on the food possessor's knee and fixes his stare right at the morsel. Still as a statue. 



By the way, anyone who is dealing with gluten intolerance - cubed, fried eggplant with salt and pepper is a delicious base for almost anything.