Great Fun at Christmas

We had a very good first Christmas here in Taiwan. Besides missing our extended family that we usually see during the Christmas season, we really enjoyed our time together as a family. On Christmas day all the kids got up around 7:00am (well, we had to wake Wade up) and we opened all the many presents that "Santa" left and those that were sent to us by family and friends. This picture above was taken right before the kids opened up all the presents. In the afternoon, we just relaxed and the kids played with the new toys that they received.

On the 26th we went on a two night mini-vacation (thanks to Michael Gay's SS class and Keith's dad for the donation!!). We had a blast staying at a really nice hotel with an indoor swimming pool, outside hot tub, and even a game room. The top picture above is a view from our balcony, and Levi took the picture of Keith and Page. On Wednesday, we went to Leo Fu village -- which is a theme park here in Taiwan. The picture below was taken at Leo Fu. The kids had a great time - and so did the adults.

On Thursday, we headed back to Taipei and Page took down all the Christmas decorations that she put up after Thanksgiving. Overall, it was a very nice Christmas. Thanks for thinking of us during this time.

Saturday Night -- Family Night

For the past several months we have declared Saturday nights as our "family fun night". We usually go to the night market near our house or play a board game as a family. However, for the past four Saturdays we have been lighting our advent wreath and having a short devotion to remind ourselves the true meaning of Christmas. Last week we cut out a cross and all in our family wrote some sins they had committed during the week and then we wrote "Jesus" across the cross to symoblize that Jesus was born in order to die for these sins. By the way, some of those sins were complaining, impatience, disobedience toward parents, etc. (I know it is hard for you to believe all of this happens in the Curlee household :)). After our devotion we each open one present. Here is a picture of Hunter and Levi tearing into their present last night. The other picture is the result -- thanks to Nana and Papa.

Precious Blood Christmas Party

Levi's preschool, called Precious Blood Kindergarten, had a Christmas party/program last night. Many people in Taiwan don't celebrate Christmas, but his preschool is Catholic - so they celebrate it. The public schools here don't even have a holiday on Christmas Day! Anyway, Levi's party was a lot of fun. We first had a "potluck" dinner with some interesting food (see picture) and some foods that we were used to -- pizza, rice, fruit, etc. We had the opportunity to meet Levi's best preschool buddy, Jien Wu (see picture). For the program the kids sang one group song in Chinese, Away in a Manger, and Levi knew every word! You can see Levi in the huge group of Chinese kids if you look for the blond! The song was beautiful. Then they sang and danced to some songs in English. Levi did great! At the very end a Chinese Santa came and gave gifts to all the children.

A Visit from Papa!!!

Page's Dad, otherwise known as Papa, stayed with us from Thursday to Saturday. He was on business in China and decided to come see us on the way back home. Despite the terrible weather -- it has been raining constantly for several days -- we had a great visit. Page had a list of "projects" around the house for him to complete, and we went out to eat Mexican on Friday night. He brought us several Christmas presents, and everyone decided to open one present each. Hunter and Levi both received "armor of God" dress-ups. After opening, they quickly put on the outfits and have been playing with them ever since. Although the time was short we feel very blessed to have a special visit with Papa.

Christmas Party at our House

Tonight we hosted a Christmas party at our apartment with another couple in our language school. We cooked several different American foods and shared with our language teachers and Levi's preschool teachers some of our traditions in celebrating Christmas. Page shared -- in Chinese -- how our family each year makes a birthday cake for Jesus and sings happy birthday to Him so we will not forget the reason we celebrate Christmas. Keith also shared in Chinese the story of the candy cane and how it can relate to the Christmas story. The other couple shared some Christmas traditions from their families and read the Christmas story from the Bible. Our spiritual language teacher, Teacher Lu, shared a true story about God's love as compared to human love. She is a wonderful story-teller, and the teachers couldn't take their eyes off of her when she spoke. Everything was wonderful. Milly and Wade helped with the party, and Wade even taught one of the preschool teachers some words in English! We were able to give each teacher a Chinese Bible and a candy cane with the printed candy cane story. Please pray God will use words shared at the party and His printed Word to draw these precious people to Himself and that they will come to know Jesus, the reason we celebrate this special season.

As for the pictures, the one of both of us is with Levi's two preschool teachers, Teacher Nancy and Teacher Esther. The one of Keith is with two of his teachers, Teacher Shu and Teacher Wang. The one of Page is with her two teachers, Teacher Xiao and Teacher Lu (who told the story and teaches us spiritual langauge). These ladies are very precious to us - now you can remember them in prayer by name! Thank you for holding the rope for us!

Wade and his Webelos Den

This year, the kid's school began for the first time a cub scout troop. Wade is one of four Webelos that you see pictured. Keith is their den leader!!! For those of you who know Keith, you know he certainly does not fit the typical cub scout leader. However, he does have another father helping him who is more of an outdoorsman type. So far they have had a good time and Keith is especially looking forward to the camp out that they will do in the spring :).

6th Grade Girls Christmas Party

Milly decided to host a 6th grade girls Christmas party on Friday night. All 13 girls from her class came. They played "Dirty Santa", ate a lot of pizza, and then went to the night market to do some shopping and drink Milly's favorite -- pearl milk tea. It was a fun night. As you see from the pictures, Levi also had a good time being in the middle of all the cute girls. We had a house full as you can see by all the shoes outside our door.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas....

Even though there is no official holiday here in Taiwan for Christmas, many stores sell Christmas tress, ornaments, etc. I (Keith) was sitting in Starbucks today studying Chinese, and they were playing English Christmas songs. The weather has even turned much cooler within the past few days to put us in the Christmas mood. The pictures you see are Christmas decorations in our apartment. Our stockings are hanging off of a shelf since we have no mantle (family members - notice Page finally finished Levi's stocking after 5 years!! :)), and we even have a tree donated to us from a journeyman who left in May (thanks, Sarah -- it looks nice). We have a couple of outreach events going on during this Christmas season, and it is our prayer that our friends and teachers who do not know Jesus will come to know the true meaning behind Christmas and accept Him as Savior and Lord in their lives.