Broncos Win Championship!!!

Milly's 6th grade school's basketball team had a tournament on Saturday. The picture above was taken right after they won the championship. They had to play four games and won them all to win the Middle School 6th grade Girls Championship. Milly played good and had a total of 8 points in the games. The picture below is of her scoring one of the baskets. She also played great defense and pulled down some important rebounds. Way to go Milly!!!

Wade Fractures Wrist!!!

Today at school, Wade was playing on the monkey bars and fell off. He took a nasty fall. He landed right smack on his face. After dusting himself off, he noticed that his wrist really hurt. So, we took him to the emergency room (there is a hospital right across the street from the school). At this hospital, the English is very limited but everyone was very kind and helpful. The x-rays showed that Wade fractured his wrist. He will be in a soft cast for about a month -- if Keith understood everything correctly. Wade was most upset that he will miss his last basketball game of the season. When we got home, he thought this meant he did not have to do his homework. However, his mom decided that he could learn to write with his left hand!

We Found a House in Taichung

We have found a place to live in Taichung. Thanks for your prayers. We will be moving on June 15!! We are excited about our new home and yet sad to be moving. We will all miss Taipei. We are going to Taichung on Friday and will stay through Saturday. Milly has a band concert at the Morrison campus and Keith has some meetings in Taichung on Friday. We will take some pictures of our new apartment and post them for you to see.

Exciting Sunday!!!

We had a very exciting day today. One of Page's language teachers, Jennifer, became a Christian a couple of weeks ago, and today she followed that commitment with baptism. Keith baptized her in a kiddie pool during our house church fellowship. Before she was baptized, she gave her testimony. She invited her family and friends. It was a great day of celebration!! In the above picture above, one of our Chinese friends is translating what was first said in English about baptism. The two children facing her are her children - Tracy and Felix - watching and listening intently as their mother is baptized. In the picture below, Jennifer is with us and her friends and family after her baptism.

Spring Basketball!!

Both Milly and Wade are playing hoops this spring. Milly (#22 in black) is playing for her 6th grade school team. Wade is playing for a rec. team each Saturday. They both have enjoyed playing. The season ends for both in mid-May.

Fun in Taipei

Will and Missy (Page's brother and wife) flew into Taipei last Sunday morning. We have had a great time showing them and Page's parents the sights of Taipei. It has been great seeing all of them. They all head back to the States tomorrow and we will miss them greatly but are so thankful that we were able to spend some time with them. The picture above was taken at Taipei 101 while we were enjoying dessert and tea after our meal.

Wade and Hunter Baptized!!!

Happy Easter eveyone!!! Our Easter this year was very special. Page's parents are here and both Wade and Hunter were baptized by Keith. As you can see by the pictures, they were both baptized outside in a kiddy pool in front of our house church membership. Both had accepted Christ earlier but both decided it was time to follow the Lord in believer's baptism. It was a great day of celebration here in Taipei!!!

Nana and Papa are Here!

Nana and Papa (Page's parents) arrived safely here last night. It was so good to see them. They will be staying here for about two weeks. Next Sunday, Page's brother and wife (Will and Missy) will also come and see our home here in Taiwan. We will keep you updated in all of our travels with everyone.

Exciting Day!!!

It is a very rainy day, as it has been through most of March and early April, but we are still excited. Page's parents will be landing tonight for about a two week visit. Also, Page's brother and wife (Will and Missy) will be coming next Sunday. We are looking forward to seeing everyone and showing them the sites of Taipei. We will post some pictures soon.

Easter Party!!!

Last week we hosted a Easter Party for our English Bible students. We had a great time dying Easter eggs(See picture), eating pizza, and talking about some of our Easter family traditions. The students had never dyed Easter eggs before. Keith, with help from Milly and Hunter, told the Easter story. This was the first time many of these students had heard the full story. They asked some great questions. Please continue to pray for these students.

Keith -- Home alone with the kids!!!

Page went on a women's retreat this past weekend for a couple of days of relaxation. Page had a great time enjoying other women's company, shopping, eating, and not having to worry about kids, the home, etc.

I (Keith) did ok with all the kids. On Thursday night, one of Milly's friends spent the night -- so I had 5 kids that night. We ordered pizza on Thursday night and on Friday night all but Levi were invited to eat with friends. Levi and I ended up eating at KFC with the superintendent of Morrison Academy.

Page came home on Saturday and we were all excited to see her, especially me!!!

Field Day Results!!!

Milly concentrates before she throws the shot put

Wade crosses the finish 1st in the 200 meter race.
Hunter clears the high jump bar.
Levi in action running in the sibling race.

Today Milly, Wade, and Hunter had their annual field day. Below are their results and above some pictures of the action. Levi even got into the action as they had a 3, 4, and 5 year old sibling race. Levi won this event. As you can see by the results our kids did well. They also had a great time enjoying the day with their friends.

Levi -- 50 meter (1st place)

Hunter -- Baseball throw (3rd place); High Jump (1st place); 100 meter (3rd place); 200 meter (3rd place)

Wade -- High Jump (1st place); 200 meter (1st place); 400 meter (2nd place); Long Jump (1st place)

Milly -- Shot put (3rd place); Long Jump (TBD); 50 meter (2nd place); 100 meter (3rd place)

Page and Keith even ran in the parent fun run. Keith finished in the middle of the pack and Page did pretty good too!!!

English Bible Study

We have begun an English Bible study at a local university close to our house. We had our first lesson today and we had 13 students. We had a great time talking through one of Jesus' parables and look forward to 9 more sessions over the next couple of months. Above are our students and Keith teaching them. Please pray that God will continue to reveal Himself to these students. Thanks.

Hunter turns 7!!!

Today, Hunter turned 7!!! He had a big day today. He celebrated his birthday at school and his Mom fixed cupcakes for all of his classmates. Everyone in his class made him a card and they sang happy birthday to him in English and in Chinese!! After school, he came home and opened up his presents (see picture -- present was from his Aunt Carrie and card with money from his Aunt Lissa). Tonight for dinner, Hunter picked McDonalds. On Friday, Hunter will have his "official" birthday party. He has decided to invite a few friends over to eat pizza and play Game Cube.

Hunter's tooth

Finally, Hunter lost a front tooth. We have all been waiting for weeks for one of his front teeth to come out. It seems it has been loose for months. His other front tooth is a little loose so it might not be long before he is snaggle toothed 7 year old. We will celebrate his birthday next week.

Pictures of our trip!!!

This really was taken by our camera. Beautiful view.

Picture outside our hotel room.

This was a real sign posted near the pool.

More pics!!!

Keith and Page enjoying each other's company at dinner.

Milly reading yet another book in the hotel room.

Wade at the beach making a couple of his "famous" sand balls.

Hunter enjoying some candy he won at the carnival.

Levi, pictured with a couple of his teachers, is performing on stage.

"Home Sweet Home"

We made back to Taiwan safely. We left our hotel at 8:00am and stepped into our apartment at 8:00pm. So, not too bad. As we were flying back, Levi turned to Keith and said, "I can't wait until we get back to Taiwan. When we get back I am going to say - Home Sweet Home." Later we found out the real reason he likes Taiwan so much is that he loves his brother's Game Cube that Gommy bought for Christmas. He says that is his favorite thing about Taiwan.

Fun in the Sun

We are currently staying in another EA country attending meetings. While we (Keith and Page) go to these meetings our kids are having fun in a VBS like meeting. Each afternoon they get to go swimming in one of the three pools here in the resort. The weather here has been great - sunny and 90+ degrees. We have enjoyed our meetings and have learned a lot but the best part has been seeing many of our friends that we have come to know these past couple of years.

We will post some pictures when we get back. We are scheduled to arrive back in Taipei on March 1.

Chinese New Year Rush

We found that during Christmas time here in Taiwan, it in a way was nice because there were no shopping crowds, the traffic was normal, etc.

However, as Chinese New Year approaches - the crowds are unbelieveable!

Also, prices change during this time. The other night, Keith and Wade went to get their haircut. It usually costs them $450 together, but because of Chinese New Year the costs was $600. $600 is about $19 US dollars -- so still not too bad. We heard that the taxis next week will be double their usual price. The reason for these price increases is that this is their way of getting their yearly "salary bonus." People that work for others are given a red envelope at New Year that contains money. These red envelopes are everywhere! Parents give them to children, husbands to wives, bosses to employees, the list goes on and on.

The pictures above were taken at Carrefor. This is sort of like a Wal-Mart. The crowds weren't too bad the day we went there to buy Levi a bicycle helmet. However, I went yesterday and it was packed! There were salespeople everywhere too. It reminds me of being at Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve (which I always avoid at all costs)! I was looking at stirfry pans, and the lady talked me into a really nice one big enough for our large family. She told me it would last 20 years - we'll see!

We Are Moving -- Again!!!

As many of you know, we will be moving again this summer. Counting our time spent in Virginia for our training this will be our 4th move in the last year and a half. Wow!! We have mixed feelings about it really. We have come to really like Taipei. We have met many good friends here and finally are finding our way around after about a year. However, we are excited for Keith to have a "real job" once again. We say this in jest because he has been learning Chinese full time for the last year -- and that is really difficult. Also, the campus in Taichung is really nice and the kids will have access to a pool on campus and also a lot of "green" space which we do not have here in Taipei. Also, the people here tell us that the weather in Taichung is the best on the island. We have included a map so you can see where we live now (Taipei) and where we will move (Taichung). The other two cities highlighted on the map are other campuses of Morrison Christian Academy. Morrison Christian Academy is where Milly, Wade, and Hunter go to school and where Keith will work.

Creature Day at School

Today was creature day at school. As you can see in the first picture above, Hunter was a white tiger and Wade was a cardinal. Milly was a cat but decided to dress at school, so no picture of her dressed up. In the afteroon, Hunter had a field trip to a local park. Page helped chaperone so Levi tagged along.

Milly's band class happened to join the 1st graders at the park because it was such a beautiful day.

Saturday Fun!!

Yesterday we had a real fun day. Janet, one of our Chinese friends, first took us to Riverside Park where we rented bikes and then met with some of Janet's friends and chatted some -- mostly in Chinese. After that we ate dinner (see picture; our family, Janet, and another missionary -- Julie). After our dinner we rode one of the biggest ferris wheels in the world. The view was magnificent although the pictures did not turn out from inside the ferris wheel seats because they were enclosed in glass.

Saturday was also great as Keith learned that State whipped the Tar Heels in basketball. Go Pack!!!

Chinese New Year is Approaching

Here in Taiwan they celebrate Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, so the exact date changes each year. This year it falls in the middle of February. Because Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday of the year here, the Chinese students have almost a month off of school. Also the people have many New Year traditions similar to our Christmas traditions. One of those traditions is to clean out your home and put red signs on the door frames of your front door. The Chinese church that we attend gave us one of those signs. (See sign on the right of Hunter). The sign says, "The Lord gives peace." What a true statement!!! Please join us in praying that the Chinese here in Taiwan will come to understand that true peace and joy can only come from the one and true God. The yellow and red sign to the left of Hunter was made by Milly in her Chinese paper-cutting class at school -- her new elective class. The Chinese character means "spring." At Chinese New Year, people hang this character upside down. The reason -- the words for "spring is arriving" and "spring is upside down" sound alike!

Becoming Chinese??

Well, not really. But look at Page in the picture. Do you see how she is sitting? Chinese sit in this position all the time. Page claims that is really pretty comfortable but you will never find Keith sitting like this. If he did, he would never be able to get back up!!

Page is actually talking with a mother at the seminary we visited last weekend. She is a mother of five and her husband is enrolled in the seminary.

A Visit to Taiwan Baptist Seminary

Last weekend we were privledged to visit Taiwan Baptist Seminary. Linda Phillips ("Aunt Linda "- to our kids), who you see pictured above, has been the librarian at the seminary for the past 31 years!!! We figured that she began her ministry here in Taiwan when Keith was 10 and Page was 8! We had a great time walking around the campus and hearing all about the history and stories of how the seminary began. The campus is very pretty and even has an amazing view of the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 (See picture). When the seminary began it was way out in the country. Now it is surrounded by high rise apartment buildings and businesses! It was awesome to hear how God has been using men and women who graduated from the seminary to spread His Word across the nations. Linda is the last missionary working at the seminary, and she plans on retiring in August. We feel blessed to have spent some time with her before she goes back to the States to live.

Hiking Trip

One neat thing about living in Taipei is within a matter of 30 to 45 minutes you can get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and really enjoy the beautiful scenery that God created. Last Sunday, Wade, Hunter, and Keith went hiking with several other Cub Scouts and their parents. They had a great time and hiked up a mountain and when they came back down they enjoyed eating hotdogs and roasting smores.

House Church Baptism!!!

We have mentioned before that we go to a house church on Sunday afternoons. The house church is made up of missionaries, a few Chinese families, and even a few youth whose parents don't attend. This past Saturday, we were honored to watch Cathy (one of those youth) become baptized by one of her former teachers at Bethany (the school where our kids go). Cathy is a former Bethany student, and the teacher you see baptizing her was instrumental in leading her to Christ. Cathy was so excited, and it was a blessing to see her follow Christ. By the way, the baptism was done on the deck of a house overlooking Taipei. It was a beautiful view.

Gommy, Gompy Visit and Wade turns 10!!!

We had a great visit with Gommy and Gompy (Keith's mom and step-dad). They arrived on December 30 and left on January 10. We went on several fun outings, but the best part of their visit was just to be able to spend some time with both of them. In the above picture Gommy is enjoying reading a bedtime story to Hunter and Levi. Another neat part of their trip was that they were here to celebrate Wade's 10th birthday on January 9th.

Happy New Year

We had a great New Year's celebration this year. Keith's mom and step-dad (also known as Gommy and Gompy) came to visit us on December 30. On New Year's Eve we spent the evening with the members of our house church playing games, eating, and visiting. However, Gommy and Gompy did not last long at this party as they were worn out. On New Year's day, we went with another missionary family to do some sightseeing on a famous mountain. The picture above is us in front of a smoking, sulfuric open volcano.