Renovations Complete!

Well, sort of. They are done enough to move in. A few little things still have to be completed. However, we will be moving in tomorrow -- Monday, July 20 -- as planned. Next week they will install one of our bathroom sinks and they have to replace a couple of windows. It has been real interesting renovating a house in a 2nd language!!

The house looks great!! Above are a few pictures.

Moving, moving, and moving!!!

During these next couple of weeks we will move 3 different times!!! We have made our first move. We had to move into a company guest unit because they took all of our air-conditioners (no central air here), ceiling fans, and curtains to move to our new house. That move was not too bad as we did not need to move our furniture -- just clothes. We will be in the guest unit a total of 10 days. Next week, our renovations on our new house are supposed to be done and we will move into our new place on Morrison campus. After settling there, we will move back to North Carolina for the next 10 months. Wow, a lot of transition!! Please remember us during this time. We will post a picture of our new renovated house soon.

More about English Camp

Above is a group picture of the camp Keith helped with a couple of weeks ago. A volunteer team from California, as well as some other co-workers on the island, helped teach English to these high school/university students. It went great. We worked with a local fellowship here in Taichung and we had 5 students commit themselves to Christ. Thanks for your prayers!!

Back from Gu Guan

Keith made it back safely from Gu Guan. It was a great trip!!! Many lives were changed. Keith will share more later and add a few pictures.

English Camp in Gu Guan!!

Keith will begin his work at an English camp sponsored by a local church this week. The camp will take place outside of Taichung in a small city in the mountains called Gu Guan. There will be close to 40 university students. There is a team from California plus some other m's on the island that are helping to run the camp. Please pray that the students who have not yet trusted in Him will do so at this camp. Thanks!!! Keith will return to Taiwan on Friday, July 10 -- Levi's birthday.

Renovations Half Way Done!!!

At least that is what they are telling us. It has gone smoothly for the most part. They are finished with all the ceilings and are preparing walls to paint and by the end of the week they should be tiling the kitchen and bathroom walls and floors. Our goal is to be done with renovations by July 18 so we can move on July 20. We will see if that is doable in a few weeks. The top picture is a view to our living area. We have removed a fireplace that will give us a lot more room. The bottom picture is the kitchen. It is ready to be tiled now.

19 Years Of Marriage!!!

We celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary today. It is hard to believe it has been that long but it has been -- as we were married on June 30, 1990!!! We celebrated by going out to Chili's and then went shopping to buy some Chinese shirts to take back to the States with us.

Hunter's List

Here is Hunter's list of pros and cons of going back to America for 10 months. He defintely is the most excited kid of ours to be going back.

What Hunter will miss about Taiwan

1. Friends
2. MCA (Morrison Christian Acadmey)
3. 7-11 at every street corner

What Hunter is looking forward to in America

1. Clean roads
2. Seeing relatives and friends
3. HPCA (High Point Christian Academy -- the school the kids will be going to next year)
4. No more Chinese meals
5. Seeing it snow
6. Everyone will speak English.

End of an Era

Sort of. Page and I have officially completed our formal language study for the first term!! Looking back, it was certainly difficult but well worth the struggle and study. We both passed "the test" given by our company. We also both can converse and understand simple Chinese. Chinese is a very difficult language to speak and it is our hope that we will not forget too much during the 10 months we spend in the States. When we get back next summer, we both will study part time in hope to improve and to be able to speak and understand more difficult concepts in Chinese.

Milly Turns 14!!!

Milly turned 14 years old today!! Milly wanted go to Friday's for lunch so after she opened up her presents that is what we did. She loves getting presents (just like her mom!!). It is certainly hard to believe that Milly was just in 4th grade when we decided to work overseas. Now, she is heading into 9th grade. We are proud of the young lady that she is becoming!!

Celebrating Page's B-Day

Page had a quiet birthday celebration today. First, Milly cooked her mom pancakes!! That was a treat. In the afternoon, all 6 of us headed to the dentist for our 6 month cleaning. It cost a total of $10 (US) and took all of 45 minutes for all of us to have our teeth clean. Pretty amazing, although cleaning teeth here is not as thorough as Dr. Gentry in High Point. After our dentist appointments we went to one of Page's favorite restaurants -- "Bollywood" -- an Indian place. Finally, we made a trip to Swensen's for ice-cream. It was a fun day. Thanks for remembering Page.

NC State Apparel in Taiwan!!!

Today for Father's Day Page and the kids gave Keith two NC State shirts -- very nice shirts. One day a few weeks ago, Page was shopping at a market and saw these shirts sitting out. She excitedly bought both of them. We have spotted other ACC teams apparel before here in Taiwan. We even saw an ECU (East Carolina University) jacket but no State things. We are glad that NCSU material has made it to Taiwan. Go Pack!!!

What Levi will miss about Taiwan...

Each Sunday night Keith takes a family member out after dinner to spend some one on one time. This also includes Page. Tonight Keith took Levi. He chose to go to 7-11 for his dessert. While sitting outside 7-11, Keith asked Levi what he will miss most about Taiwan and what he is looking forward to the most about America. (We leave for America on August 1 and will spend 10 months there before returning to Taiwan.) Below are his responses.

Levi will miss --

• his friends
• going to 7-11 and getting things (Each time he enters 7-11 the ladies who work there give Levi candy for a hug!!)
• riding a motorcycle with his dad.
• his house

Levi is looking forward to America because --

• he will see his grandparents
• he will have a new house
• America has good TV with no Chinese commercials
• he will get to go to the beach

Renovations Have Begun!!

As we stated in our earlier post, one of our projects this summer is to oversee the renovation of our new home here in Taichung. The workers have been at it very hard and have begun tearing out cabinets, ceilings, carpet, etc in our new home. Pictured above is Page's new kitchen. It should look much better in another month.

Renovating Our New House

Now that school is out we (Keith and Page) have two big projects to do before we begin our time in the States. (By the way, we leave for the States on August 1 and will stay there one school year -- until June 1, 2010). One of the projects is to renovate the home that we will live in when we return. Our goal is to finish the renovation in about 5 weeks then move in all of our furniture before we leave for the States. The place is nice but old. It is located on the Morrison campus and was built in the 1970's. It is actually a SB owned house. The kids will love it with access to a yard and the campus. Pictured above are the living room, kitchen, and laundry room. We will post pictures of our newly remodeled home in late July -- hopefully.

Back from Taipei --

We left for Taipei on Sunday afternoon and returned back to Taichung today -- Tuesday afternoon. It was a good trip. We went to get our stateside physicals and also renew our kids' passports. So, we had a purpose in going. We also had a good time walking around our old neighborhood (remember we lived in Taipei for 1 1/2 years). In addtion, we were treated by some of our good friends to dinner on Monday night.

Great Descriptions of Hunter!!!

Hunter's teacher this year had every student write a short description of each other. Here are the descriptions of him written by his classmates --

• generous


• pro at soccer


• writes interesting stuff


• encouraging


• good at running


• a hard worker


• good singer


• a good teacher


• loves to run


• very smart


• nice swish


• fun to play with


• stands up for people


• good at music


• good at shouting loudly


• good cello player


• good at fellowship


• helps people a lot


• a good listener


• isn't that loud anymore


• good at being nice to little brother


• good humor


• And Ms. Neff, his teacher, describes Hunter as "passionate, tender-hearted"

School's Out!!!

School is officially out!!! We are all excited to have summer officially here!!!

Milly was part of the 8th grade recognition ceremony. It was a very nice ceremony and a party/talent show was put on afterwards. Pictured above is Milly's 8th grade class (the class of 2013) and pictured below are the girls of Milly's class singing a song together in the talent show.

Keith and Page feel way too young to have a high school daughter!!

Dragon Boat Festival!!!

On Thursday, we celebrated Dragon Boat Day. This is the day that ushers in the summer. The whole island had the day off, except for Morrison. So while Keith worked and Milly, Wade, Hunter, and Levi went to school Page took the opportunity to go to a near-by mountain and hike in a bamboo forest with some of her friends. Pictured above, is a neat tree house (made of bamboo) and Page among her friends.

Levi Baptized!!!

Levi was baptized today at our church, House of Blessing!! Actually, he was baptized at Morrison's pool because our church meets in a local Chinese middle school. Keith was honored to be able to baptize him. Six others, 4 children and 2 adults, were also baptized. It was a great day!!

Levi's Soccer Team

Levi's soccer team recently competed in the Taichung's Mayor Cup Soccer Tourney. Levi's team played great and reached the championship game. They played a team they lost to earlier in the tournament by 2 goals. As the final horn sounded the game was tied 0 to 0. They had a shoot out and Levi helped his team score but the other team ended up with one more goal. So, they finished second. Levi had a good time -- although he was a bit disappointed in losing in the championship. (He gets his competitive nature from his mom!!)

Hunter's team also competed but they lost in an earlier round. He had a good time too!!

Basketball Fun in Taipei

Milly and Wade recently competed in middle school tournament games in Taipei. They both had a great time. Milly's team played hard and improved through out the tournament. Wade's team, coached by Keith, came in 2nd place out of 10 teams. Wade hit a game winning 1/2 court shot to win the first game!! It was an exciting day.

A View from Taipei 101

Above is a picture taken from the top of Taipei 101 -- the second tallest building in the world. Pretty neat view. Reminds us of all the people that need to hear the "good news" in Taipei and Taiwan. Thanks for your prayers for the nation of Taiwan!!

Dinner with Friends

Last night we had a nice evening going out with several couples. Heather and Scott McGrew, the couple pictured in the middle, will be leaving Taiwan after this school year. They took us all out to eat to say an early goodbye. We will miss Heather and Scott. They have been very good friends to us. Scott teaches Biology in the high school and Heather teaches kindergarten (Levi's class.)

Chick-Fil-A in Taiwan!!

We wish. However, as we were traveling back from Kenting we decided to take a stop at a rest stop. The rest stops here are quite nice and have plenty to eat (Chinese food). This particular rest stop also had a Starbucks and a Mister Doughnut. Anyway, Keith ordered a green onion pancake from one of the restaurants and to his surprise it was wrapped in a Chick-Fil-A bag. Keith asked the person waiting on him if they had any idea where they got the bag. Her reply was "I don't know but we wrap all of our food in these bags." You do see some funny sights here in Taiwan.

R and R at Kenting!!

Morrison had this week off of school so we went to Kenting (a beach resort at the southern tip of Taiwan). Many other Morrison families went and enjoyed the beach and the night market shopping at night. Below are a few pics of the fun!!!

Hunter and Levi in Spring Concert

Last week Morrison elementary had it's spring elementary concert. Levi did a great job singing and Hunter performed almost flawlessly on his cello.

Easter Outreach

The Morrison community recently put on an Easter outreach for the local community. The life of Christ was portrayed with different skits and enactments of Jesus' life. Keith and Hunter played the part of Joseph and Jesus as a young boy. Joseph taught his young son how to be a carpenter. Hunter especially had a great time. Please pray that the Chinese that saw and heard the Easter story will come to know Christ as Savior. Thanks.

Page runs in 8K race

Page, along with her good friend, Heather, ran in an 8k race today -- this is around 5 miles. They had trained for this event for close to two months. The first question Levi asked her after the race was, "What place did you finish?" Page ran her 8k in 57 minutes and finished in 238th place. This is out of over 500 people. Not too bad for the first one. Now Page has running fever and is looking to running in a 21k next. Below are some more pictures of the race.





Page is among the many people at the start line.

Page and Heather just about to cross the finish line!!!

Light for Taichung Moment!!

Next Saturday (4/4) is Tomb Sweeping Day, also known as "Ancestor Worship Day". Families have special ancestral worship ceremonies at home altars and at cemeteries. It is a time of great pressure and challenge for Christians in traditional/Buddhist families. Please pray for Christians, especially new believers, who will face family pressure to participate in these ceremonies. Ask God to give them strength and courage to stand firm in their faith as they continue to follow our Lord, Jesus. We pray that as they stand firm in faith, they will have a great impact on their families, bringing Light and Truth to them in a gracious way. Thank you for your faithful and continued prayers for the work in greater Taichung area. Your prayers make a difference in lives. Keep praying!

March Madness...

Thanks to the internet, we are able to experience March Madness here in Taiwan. All the boys made picks and Wade is especially having fun keeping up with the brackets. We are able to watch games live through the internet. Since we are 12 hours ahead -- at times the games come on at a more reasonable time here than in the States. Above you see how we can view March Madness. We are looking forward to next year when we will be on furlough and see the games from a normal TV. Hopefully, NC State will be in the tourney next year.

Fun Day at Field Day

All the kids, even Milly, enjoyed field day this past Friday. They all ran, jumped, and threw hard. Below are some pictures of the kids in action.

Hunter is 9!!!!

Hunter celebrated his 4th straight birthday here in Taiwan. He decided to have a bowling party for this 9 year old party and invited all the boys in his class. They had a great time and Hunter declared that this was his best birthday yet. Below is a picture of Hunter's 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Neff, praying for Hunter because it was his birthday.

Women's Bible Study

Our House of Blessing Church has begun a women's Bible study every Tuesday afternoon. Page hosts the event in our house. We are very excited as the group has grown. The picture above is of Page, Cheryl (another co-worker) and several Chinese ladies in our church. Continue to pray for these ladies and the Bible Study. Thanks.

Keith did return from Japan...

Sorry to leave you hanging but Keith did return from Japan. He had a great time in being an assistant coach for the varsity boys basketball team's trip to Misawa, Japan. Above is a picture of how it looked outside -- cold and very snowy. In fact, it snowed every single day that they were there.

However, the highlight of the trip was winning the Far East Tourney Championship. This was the first time in 8 years that Morrison won the championship. Below -- see the banner (along with the team) that we won!!

Milly in MS School Play

Milly played a hen in this year's MS play titled Chanticleer and the Fox. She did a great job. Above is the cast with the director and below is Milly posing for one of her Mom's pictures. They performed the production three times. Milly had a great time!!!

Keith Heads to Japan...

Keith will head to Misawa, Japan to help coach in the end of year basketball tourney for the varsity basketball team. He is very excited. It will be really cold as Misawa is in the north part of Japan. Please remember Page and the kids for a good week without Keith.

Back from Thailand...

We had a great time in Thailand. We spent the first couple of days in Bangkok and then spent the rest of the week near the coast -- in some meetings. Also, as you can tell we also had some fun in the sun. A big highlight for us was seeing some from our home club in NC.

MCA's JV Win Championship!!

As stated in an earlier blog, Keith is coaching the JV boys team at Morrison again this year. They just concluded their season. They had a great year. They went 13 - 1 this year and won the JV tournament by beating their arch-rival, TAS, for the third time this year in the championship game. (See picture above with Keith holding up the trophies). Last week the JV team defeated TAS in what is known as a trophy game. They play for a huge toothpick each year (see picture below of Keith holding the prized toothpick). This was the 30th year the JV teams have played for the toothpick. Morrison won it back for the first time in several years. The overall record for this toothpick is TAS 17 to MCA's 13.

Although JV basketball is over, Keith is also helping the varsity. They have about a month left in their season. They conclude their season with a trip to Japan. Keith is looking forward to going to Japan for a whole week of hoops.

Wade Celebrates His 12th Birthday.....

Wade had a great day celebrating his 12th birthday. He decided he did not want a party but instead wanted his family to go with him to Friday's. So, that is what we did. See picture below. Page did cook some brownies and all in his class sang happy birthday to him and then enjoyed the delicious brownies.

Wade has bypassed Milly in height this year. He is hoping to overtake his mom by his next birthday.

Back to School/Basketball

On Monday we all report back to work/school. It has been a great vacation. Along with normal school comes basketball for Keith. He is head coach for the JV boys team (see picture above) and assists the varsity team. Currently, the JV boys stand 8 - 0 with just a couple weeks left in the season.