A Really Bad Average

The last 30 days have not been my favorite, because in that last 30 days Nathan and I have been apart for 24 of those day. And of the sparse 6 remaining days, 3 of those days Nathan left to teach early morning seminary and had late dinner meetings, leaving us with a total of 3 days together in the last 30. That is not a good average... It has been a long month...
But as always, we survive.
Tonight I got to thinking though, exactly how did we survive?
Our neighbors on the lane have become like family and during months like these, if my sanity stays intact it is only because of the service and friendship that they give so constantly and freely.
After a particularly long week with Nathan gone, Brandie thoughtfully dropped off my favorite take-out meal to me before she and her husband went out on a date. Later as I was in the thick of it finishing dinner for the kids but also trying to get them all bathed, my other neighbor Carrie popped in to bring us some specialty bread she'd found and then helped me clean up the kitchen and bathe the kids before she went home. These small acts of service have been my life line.

 (Me and Carrie)

This last weekend Nathan was gone again, or rather, it wasn't one of the lucky 3 days he was home ;) and I had made it home later than I would've liked with the groceries to make dinner. I got everything ready to go -two different pots on the stove top- and the flame wouldn't start. No gas. I couldn't believe it, we just had the tanks replaced a few months ago! It's Saturday night and no one would be delivering more until Monday.
I called down to Brandie to have her come check out the gas tanks with me and see if both were empty or if we could switch to the the back up one. They were of course, both empty. I was maybe starting to panic a little about not having gas to cook with or warm water to clean, until Brandie had Jeremiah come up.
Before I know it he has the propane tank from our BBQ hooked up to the line going into the kitchen. Who even knew you could do that? Better yet, who even knows how to do that?!

It was a small thing but such a relief! There are just so many things they have done to lend a hand: brought up their scooter so we could jump Nathan's car, took all 5 kids and fed them lunch so I could just shower in peace one day, man-handled Ander at church for me, grab essentials from the grocery store for me, the list goes on and on.

(Brandie and Jeremiah)

Living close to these two families has taught me so much about a principle that I now know wholeheartedly to be true: If you want to have love for someone, simply serve them.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve these friends and also receive their acts of service. I know this last month would have been beyond unbearable without the service that was given so freely to us.

Asia Women's Conf. 2013

Asia Women's Conference is the most amazing spiritual resource I have as an expat. I look forward to it every year. However due to our insane schedules as of late, I was so torn about whether or not to go. But dang, I am so glad that I did.
We were really excited to have Sister Julie B. Beck with us this year, among others.
I could write all about it and show you gobs of pictures but my dear friend Nicole who currently lives in HK, already wrote an awesome post, explaining some of the drama that comes with being a committee member as we both were again this year. She was in charge of the food this year and... well, you'll just have to click here and read more about it.
What you won't see on her blog is the story of when Brandie and I were at the hotel Nathan had booked for us using his Marriott points, we jumped in a taxi to head to the church, only to discover it was basically across the street. The taxi driver was not as amused as we were, haha! There was literally an overpass and elevated walkways connecting the church to the Marriott. That was a treat.
I took away lot's of gems from the weekend but one of my favorites was some advice one of the speakers shared that had been given to her as wedding advice:
Make your needs known or they can never be met. 
So simple but surprisingly unintuitive!
I came away with lot's of thoughts and ideas that inspired me to do better across the whole spectrum of my life. And that is really what Women's Conference is all about.

Scarlett at 18 months

 

Here is Scarlett at one of her first photo shoots. We had really burned out doing modeling over the last 3 + yrs and we are now much pickier about when and who we will do it for. So these were especially fun to see of mei mei.

I took these pictures in short succession one day and was amazed at the spectrum of emotions and faces she could display in about 12 seconds.

 Scarlett loves the pink silky blankets like her siblings before her, but specifically, she loves the soft tags. She has very specific self soothing techniques, as you can see.

But that's fine because it translates into more snuggles for us!

When Scarlett was playing in this box I thought, "Cute! I'll take a quick picture!" But the flash on my phone alerted her each time and she would make the strangest "cheese" face right at the last second.




 I had 22 pictures in varying degrees of this... I was having a pretty good laugh, and she just thought she was doing what she was supposed to.

I eventually turned the flash off and found the smile I had been looking for.

Kennedy likes to make a 'special bed' for Scarlett some nights, where she goes in before hand and spreads out all of her blankets just right, then lays her sister in bed and tucks her in using about five layers. Scarlett must love the ritual because she stays put, which she doesn't do under any other circumstances.

 I put these cute Chinese silk shoes on Scarlett for church one day and admired them in my mind each time I saw her scamper around in them. Later on after we got home,  I discovered Scarlett had dumped her shoes in the toilet. Apparently she did not think they were as adorable as I did! (For the record, I rinsed them off, set them under a fan and put them on her the next week!)

At 18 months old Scarlett is not speaking. Yet she manages to communicate plenty. She is the loudest little girl I have ever known. She actually knows quite a few words (Dad, more, drink, please, Aly, stop, sorry, bye, buhboo, peek a boo, uh oh) but she hoards them and refuses to use them when you ask her to. She will dole them out sparingly and only on her own terms. Let me put it this way, if she brings me the animal crackers and squawks at me to give her some, if I suggest for her to say More, or Please, or Eat, she often will be so stubborn that she would rather go without the crackers than use a word to ask for one. Not sure yet how to mold this trait into a positive quality...

Last but not least, my little mei mei has turned 18 months and gone to nursery. Someone make it stop! Time is stealing away my sweet baby...

Kennedy's Choice

Recently Kennedy had a really tough decision to make. 

She still struggles to make close and lasting friends at school. It had been more than a year since she had been invited to a birthday party so when she read the invitation from a friend she was jumping up and down, so excited!... Until she read that it was on a Sunday. She totally crumpled up in tears, and my heart was in shreds just seeing her. We stick to family stuff on Sundays, and have always declined to attend birthday parties on that day. Generally, it's a family day and the day we go to church, a day of rest.

Nathan and I spent several days discussing and praying and thinking with Kennedy about whether or not she should go. As we watched her agonize over what she should do, we were sorely tempted to just send her on her way and tell her to have a great time. But we knew it was important that Kennedy make the choice, and more importantly, be comfortable with whatever choice she made. 

I was so proud of her honesty with her feelings and her courage to do what she knew was the right choice for her (because let's face it, there are a lot worse ways to spend a Sunday other than celebrating your friends Birthday!). But she believed that the principle of keeping the Sabbath day holy was important.

In the end she decided she wouldn't go, but was still heartbroken to be left out of the fun. So Nathan came up with the idea for an outdoor movie night where she could be proactive about making friends. The offer sealed the deal, Kenna was suddenly inspired and excited. 

It was so fun to watch her make her list of who she would invite, and sweet too, as she explained to me that two of the girls she didn't really know but had noticed that they didn't have many friends either. Who is this child? And how was I so blessed to have her?!

Seven out of eight girls were able to come and thanks to our unusual but wonderfully mild winter, it was actually one of the first days where it hit 70*. It was truly a perfect night for an outdoor movie . 

Mirror Mirror was the movie of the night and a giant hit. An impromptu dance party ensued when the credits rolled, the perfect finale.
I am so proud that Kennedy chose to keep the Sabbath day holy. I'm grateful that she used faith in making a decision that was difficult. I am humbled that she recognizes that she kept her promise regarding Sunday, and she was not penalized for it. The chance to make friends and have fun might not have happened how she first expected it, but turned out even better than she had hoped.
Of all the "parenting" and interactions that go on between us and our children, the clear successes seem somewhat non-existent elusive. I was grateful Kennedy threw us a bone on this one. Love that girl.

CNY with Pixie & Papa John and a trip to Toroko

 My parents came for a visit over Chinese New Year! What a way to welcome in the year of the Snake!  It was the perfect time because our kids were out of school for a week and ready to play.
First we went shrimping! We did it once before two years ago but with Gma and Gpa we had much better luck. Kennedy was our shrimp whisperer this day, catching 6 or 7 shrimp!

 But everyone had some luck which makes for a better time.

 The chinese guy running the place turned on the basketball game for Ander and stood him up there. Ander wasn't at all excited when he made a basket...

 Papa John with one of his shrimp.

 My parents have come over several times but hadn't yet made the trek down to Toroko gorge. So this was the trip to make it happen. Traveling with all of us is always an ordeal but they didn't seem too much worse for the wear. We grabbed some food in Hualien before heading towards the gorge.

 My dad loved this guy, mobile produce section all on one scooter!

 The silt in the water makes for this beautiful color, we all just stood there looking at it in awe. Beautiful.

Kennedy was excited because she finally got to stay up to see the traditional dancers with Papa John. She even got to get up and dance at one point, and she was thrilled about it. 

Kennedy also had a memorable sleep walking episode one night where she jumped out of bed and ran out the door of the hotel room before my parents could catch her. They immediately looked for her but she was gone. 

After chasing Ander through the halls in her dream, Kennedy finally came to, after running a full lap around to the lobby (it would take several minutes to do if running). Confused, she went back to the room and reported she thought she had just been sleep walking... technically it would have to be classified as sleep running I think! Needless to say, my poor, freaked out parents bolted the door after that!

 This picture is to show you some perspective of how giant the marble boulders are everywhere in the gorge. Incredible, right? We went on a little hike in a dark and drippy tunnel through a mountain, that opened up into a beautiful area.

 It didn't take but a minute before Ander was getting ready to go swimming!

 Grandma Pixie and Papa John

 Our Traveling Circus

 The gorge from above

 This is the Martyr's shrine, but there are 3 temples as part of it, you can barely see the third at the top left of the picture. So, we figured out how to hike up there...

 Pixie stayed in the car with Scarlett (thank you mom!) but the rest of us climbed a bunch of stairs and were rewarded with quite the view.

You could see the middle temple below

A different crazy suspension bridge then we've been on before, makes me nervous just looking at it!

 Remember how giant the boulders are? The ones above are the size of a small house. Such a gorgeous gorge!

Back at Silks they had a bunch of free activities set up for the kids to do for CNY. They were awesome, lanterns that work, leather working, clay making, traditional Taiwanese candy making (not sure what it means that I am starting to kind of like the taste of that stuff...).

Not sure what was with Kohen's side ways hat wearing but my hope was that if I ignored it, it would go away, I think my plan might've worked.

 When the kids went swimming Papa John tried to keep Scarlett distracted from the pool by taking her on little walks, but eventually...

 She won.

 We survived the trip and when we got home it was Papa John's birthday. Scarlett thought we were noisy so she was experimenting with covering her ears... if only that actually helped.

 I made a cake but I am seriously only now realizing that we didn't even have one gift for him to open... that's lame of us! Ah well. The cake was delish which helps everything right? Happy Birthday to my dear Dad who is a really good sport about coming a long way to roughhouse with his grandkids! Thanks for coming Mom and Dad, it was so wonderful to have you!!!