Two More with Chicken Pox!!

Wade and Levi woke up today with chicken pox. It has been exactly two weeks since Hunter came down with them. Hunter is now doing much better. Right now, Wade's case seems a little worse. We will keep you updated. Thanks for praying for a quick recovery.

Interesting Field Trip

Yesterday, I (Page) went on an optional Saturday field trip with Levi's preschool. We went on a chartered bus to an organic farm way out in the country. The first activity of the day was building an unusual fire. We piled some special rocks into the shape of an igloo and lit a fire inside it. After the rocks were hot enough, we placed a whole chicken wrapped in a foil bag and several sweet potatoes inside the fire, then covered the entire fire with dirt until a small mountain was formed. Then we were told we had to wait 4-5 hours.

In the meantime, we had a delicious snack of seaweed wrapped like a taco filled with shredded cabbage, cucumbers, bean sprouts, carrots and salad dressing. Next, we had some free time. The kids mostly jumped on the trampolines. We had a Chinese barbeque for lunch and then had a tour of the vegetable-growing greenhouse areas. This was followed by river raft rides. Next we made scarecrows and painted our own corn-husk Chinese farmers' hat. Finally, we came back to where we started and ate our delicious chicken and sweet potatoes followed by Chinese dessert of this gelatin-rice gooey stuff dipped in crushed peanuts.

The day was a full immersion into Chinese langauge and culture. The other parents were very nice and helpful, and some knew some English. Levi and I were the only foreigners on the entire farm. One of Levi's friends really liked me a lot for some reason. He tried to talk with me all day. I couldn't understand a lot of what he said, but I could understand, "I am talking with Levi's mom...I am talking with Levi's mom..." It was lots of fun.

Our First Thanksgiving in Taiwan

We have had a nice week celebrating our first Thanksgiving here in Taiwan. The kids' school had a big feast for the elementary students (see Hunter's picture), and then on Thanksgiving Day we celebrated with several families here in Taipei. The food and fellowship were great!!!

We sure did miss all of our family and friends this Thanksgiving, but we are so thankful to the Lord for providing a very strong support system here in Taiwan. The picture of Levi is an action shot of the wishbone-breaking ceremony - I think Levi lost!

Fun Day at School

Friday was a fun day at school. In the secondary school, each student had to dress up as a super hero. As you can see by the picture, Milly makes a GREAT super woman, thanks to her brothers' dress-up clothes. Of course, Wade is being his normal goofy self in the background. On Friday evening, the elementary school had their Thanksgiving concert. Wade participated, but sad Hunter was still out with the chicken pox. By the way, Hunter is doing much better now and should be able to go back to school on Monday.

Hunter has the Chicken Pox!!!

Well, that is what we think anyway! He was vaccinated as a baby, but he woke up this morning not feeling well and with a lot of red bumps all over his body. We first thought that he had been attacked by a major mosquito last night (mosquitos are pretty bad here), but after looking at the bumps decided to keep him home. Page stayed home today from language and took him to a doctor. The doctor could not say for sure but thinks it is some kind of virus. Later today we found out there were 3 more cases of chicken pox at school. Hunter is doing ok, but a little upset about missing school. He loves school.

Dinner with Teacher Tsai

Pictured above is one of five teachers that teach Page Chinese. She is by far the youngest teacher that either one of us has, but she is a very good teacher and is also very nice. We had her over for dinner recently. We had Italian noodles (spaghetti). After supper we had brownies and Teacher Tsai loved them. She had never had brownies before and even took the left-over brownies home with her. We are looking forward to spending more time with her and having her over more often.

Friday Night at the Night Market

Recently we began a family tradition where each Friday night we go to the night market right down the road from our apartment. As you can see by the picture, many other people go as well. The night market consists of many types of vendors and tons of food! Of course there is a lot of Chinese food, but there is also a burrito man. I am hesitant to tell you what our two younger boys love the best - "chicken butt." The sign actually says this in English. As you can imagine there are many interesting sites to see and smells to sniff. We usually give the kids about NT50 to spend ($1.50 US) and let them have at it. The boys love to play various games while Milly usually purchases pearl milk tea -- a favorite of Page's too. Other favorite night market spots are the lady who sells the beautiful cotton skirts and blouses from Thailand, the crowded school supply store, and the DVD rental place. We have all come to look forward to this Friday night tradition here in Taipei.