New Friends

One man and his daughter were always there when we got to the beach. So we became friends. He even taught Joseph how to surf. This picture almost looks real. :) I think it lasted about two seconds.

We had them over for tea (thanks to Mom for her lemon sponge pie recipe! I got a little wild and added a cashew-based cream on top. delicious!), but everyone was having so much fun, it turned into supper as well.

Wa-wa loved making cookies. This simple, delicious recipe is from a cookbook I bought from smittenkitchen.com. Buy one.

Seven hours of pure, unadultered play. I checked in every now and then to see how things were going, but I just couldn't keep up with all the role playing. I think they are all good guys in this picture. Maybe.

New Home

The beach. We can't get enough of it.

Boggle

I'm set for life. My kids like boggle! I was impressed by how many words they found. Anna found "lie" and got one point because Joseph and I didn't see it. Joseph got two points for "holt". "What's that?", I asked. "You know, homes that otters build." No, I didn't know. Two points for Joseph. I'm making them use notebooks to play, so they can track their progress. It's bound to make for many happy memories in 10 to 20 years. I hope I don't lose them.

Lydia can even join in with her own version of the game.

Dream come true

I'm still reeling from the picture loss, but since we have already garnered a few new memories, it's time to forge on. As a kid, vacations at the beach were nothing less than paradise. To imagine someday living so close to it was too much paradise for my little mind to comprehend. Yet here we are. I think God enjoys fulfilling dreams of children. So if it is sunny, at about 4 to 5 in the evening, we head to the beach. The weather remains comfortably warm until we leave at around 7pm. This has become our standard form of entertainment for visitors. We serve them afternoon tea, then head to the beach. A few days ago, friends from our church in Taipei came to visit. Good times all around. ...hmmm, having trouble with spacing and paragraphs. I can only write in HTML. What to do...

A few fun things on Saturday

 What a blow. This morning, we discovered that all the pictures we took since coming to Taitung eight months ago have evaporated into thin air. The external drive is empty. These are the last I have that I happened to save two days ago. Ken took the drive to a computer store and they said it would cost about a thousand US dollars to try to retrieve them. We will check another place to make sure. Does anyone know what may have happened? Starting the computer that morning was a little strange. It said press DEL to run setup. So I did. I wonder if that was wrong. I clicked on save changes. But it said nothing about deleting anything. Or was I foolish in not guessing what DEL really means?

Oh well.

We're still praying for a miracle. So many memories!

Anyway, here are a few fun things from last Saturday:

Before we left for the organic farmer's market that happens twice a year, Joseph said he wanted to buy a rubik's cube. He remembered from six months ago, the fun he had playing with them at the stand beside the pineapples. So he brought some of his hard earned money along, hoping that the teacher would be there this time too.

Sure enough, there he was. Joseph parked himself in front of the table, and didn't leave until we were almost ready to go about two hours later.

His sisters joined in for a while. Anna got into a four blocked rubik's and managed to complete the colors of one side by herself. When Joseph bought his, the teacher gave that one to Anna. They have been fiddling with them ever since. The teacher taught Joseph how to complete a side of the traditional rubik's, so he's been doing it over and over.

Every now and then it happens; he stumbles into a new passion.

At the end, a performer sang some songs. I asked Lydia if she wanted to dance. For some reason, she was not inhibited by shyness that day. Despite a crowd of people sitting on the pavement all around her, she let loose! For some reason, I couldn't upload the last picture of Lydia dancing (got it!), which shows more fully all that she did. I'm so proud of her. I never would have done that at her age.

What a milestone today! Lovely little Anna has been going through a clingy stage these past few weeks. She has been afraid to be too far away from me in public. I have tried to talk to her about it gently to figure out what caused this change. I have a few ideas, but am not 100% certain. So I was surprised when, that evening after the farmer's market, when we were finishing up supper at our favorite vegetarian buffet, Anna asked if she could get her rubik's cube from the car (parked right outside). I gave the keys and off she went. I had to see this for myself, so I hid in the corner and peaked out the glass doors. Sure enough, she did it! A little nervous, and going at record speed, but she did it! Good job, Anna!

The Cross

A few month ago, Joseph made a cross, and set it up by the side of our driveway. He said that way, when visitors drive up and they see it, they will know what we believe. We are all very proud of its rugged beauty. But it was always falling down. Joseph stuck it around two inches into the ground with a few stones surrounding it in a feeble attempt at support....

....so when we saw it still standing after a night of fierce typhoon winds, we were amazed.

Thank You for the cross!

Lydia

 I wish everyone could fly over here and watch Lydia's lips move. Sometimes when she is talking, I get up real close just to watch them flap all around her bright white pebble teeth. And then there's her voice - so chirpy! These past few days, she has been puzzling over the concept of love (...or death...or both). She has created her own litmus test. Her little lips have already asked me over seven times, "Mommy, you don't want me to die?"  

"No, my cute girl, I don't want you to die!"

"Ow" (which really means "oh", but maybe her lips just can't contain themselves, and must open wider)

 Then it extended out to the aunts, "So Sara Ayi doesn't want me to die?" ..."Laura Ayi doesn't want me to die?"  By this time, it became a game, and she mentioned any name she could think of. Today, she reciprocated the love, "Mommy, I don't want you to die."

"Thank you, lovely lady! I don't want you to die either!"

I love her!