Bible Study at Our House!!

Last weekend we hosted Milly's class to dessert and Bible study. Everyone had a great time as you can see by the picture. The top picture is the front of our house. Look at all of the shoes!!

Morrison Basketball

Morrison basketball has begun. We are going to have a very busy basketball season. Wade will be playing JV-B (8th and 9th graders), Milly will be playing JV, and Keith is the head coach for the JV boys and helps out with the Varsity boys team. We will keep you updated on the progress of the teams.

Wade's Final Soccer Tourney

Wade has been enjoying playing soccer this year. He starts at sweeper for the JV-B team. The team played an end of your tournament this past Saturday in Kaohshiung. The team played in the championship game but lost 2-0. It was a fun season but now Wade is focusing on basketball which starts next week.

Global Leadership Summit

Keith attended the Global Leadership Summit (see his name tag above) in Taipei this past week. He had a great time. It was held at a church. The speakers all spoke in English and then there were subtitles in Chinese. It was a great line up of speakers: Bill Hybels, Jim Collins (Good to Great), and Andy Stanley. Although the speakers were great, the coolest part was to witness 500+ Taiwanese praising God in song before the sessions began. Quite uplifting.

Still Here!!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. We are doing fine and will look to post pictures of Wade's soccer tournament this weekend.

Family Picture!!

Here is our latest family picture. It was taken at Green Island right before we were going snorkeling.

Back from Green Island!!

We made it back from Green Island. We had a great time -- although the weather was very rainy most of the time. The highlights included motor scootering around the whole island, great snorkeling, and enjoying salt water hot springs (one of only three in the world).

Going to Green Island!!

This week is fall break for Morrison Academy. We decided to take a few days off and go to a tiny island off the east coast of Taiwan -- called Green Island (See map above). We have heard that there is great snorkeling, exploring, etc. on this island. Also, you can ride a motor scooter around the island in 20 minutes. We leave on Tuesday and will return on Friday. We will take a 5 hour train ride and then a 45 minute boat ride to get there. For your reference we live in central Taiwan on the west coast -- near what the map says is Changhua. We will post pictures once we get back.

Shopping in Taiwan

We love living in Taiwan. However, it can be frustrating at times. Like today when Keith went out to buy shampoo (a certain brand that Page likes) and milk. We have two grocery stores near our house so Keith went out by foot to get these simple items. The first store did not have any milk and only had conditioner -- no shampoo. The second store did not have the shampoo either and only had whole milk!! Upon hearing this Page responded by saying, "Welcome to my world!!"

Hunter and Levi -- Soccer Stars!!

Well, we don't know about stars but they really like playing soccer each Saturday morning. Every Saturday morning at 9:00am both Hunter and Levi compete in an intense soccer training called TIFA (Taiwan International Football Association). It is usually really hot but both really like playing!! Pictured above is Hunter wiping sweat from his eye and Levi getting ready to take a much needed break.

Milly's Concert and Wade's Soccer

Since school started all of our weeks seem busy but this past week was especially busy as Milly had a band concert on Friday night and Wade competed in an all day soccer tournament on Saturday. Milly plays with the high school band and they sounded great!! Wade plays stopper on the JV-B soccer team. They won the tournament and are currently 4-0. Wade must be trying to make some kind of statement with his different color of socks.

We Survived!!

We survived our first typhoon of the season. Church was called off and we had a lot of wind here. Several branches were torn off trees but besides that no noticeable damage. Kids are disappointed because they will be in school tomorrow.

Typhoon Coming!!

Our first typhoon of the year is coming!! It is unusual to not have had one hit the island yet. It is supposed to hit on Sunday morning. We will let you know how everything turns out.

Sophomore Girls!!

Pictured above are a few of Milly's school friends. The picture was taken in our front yard. A few of the girls live in the dorms while the others live with their parents in Taichung.

Get Real!!

That is the theme of the sophomore Bible study this year. Keith and Page, along with another family -- Otey and Cheryl Enoch, will lead the Bible Study this year. On Sunday night we had our first meeting at our house. The students ate, played games, ate, studied the Bible, and then ate again. It was fun night!!

Missing Football!!

Keith is a bit down this week because football is starting up back in the US. Although we can keep up with it with no problem, it is not the same as being there. Here is hoping that NC State has a great year!!

More on Class Retreats!!

Milly had a good time on her class retreat. Above is Milly and some of her classmates forming a human pyramid.

Friday Night Retreats!!

Last Friday night each class in the high school had retreats. The freshmen and sophomores (Milly's class) stayed overnight on campus while the juniors and seniors went overnight off campus. Keith was asked to speak at the Junior retreat -- see picture above. The Juniors stayed at a rustic campground -- Bamboo Valley Bible Camp. Both Milly and Keith said their respective retreats went well.

A Cool Thing about Taiwan!!

Well, there are lots of cool things about Taiwan. One is the convenience of everything. On Wednesday, Keith left the house at 5:00pm to take Wade to the eye doctor and then to get a haircut. Keith and Wade arrived back one hour later with a haircut and a visit to the doctor. Total cost for both was only $10.00! Actually haircut was more expensive than the doctor's visit. Now that is cool!!!

Page's Monday

Page had a cool Monday. She helped drive a volunteer team to Sun Moon Lake which is a resort/tourist place about 1.5 hours from Taichung. She and the team distributed materials to Chinese tourists. Chinese tourists are beginning to travel more and more to Taiwan. Please remember those that received the materials!!

Tough Week!!!

We all made it through the first week of school OK. We were all very tired by the weekend and happy that the weekend did arrive. We did have a couple of setbacks. On Wednesday, one of Wade's eyes was very red and irritated. We thought it was allergies but after taking him to the doctor discovered it was a serious bacterial infection on his cornea most commonly found in tropical places. Not treated it could be very serious. He now is taking drops and it looks like it will heal OK. Hunter had a tough day on Saturday. His soccer has started and while playing goalie a ball was kicked pretty hard. As he went to stop it his wrist bent back pretty awkwardly. He felt for sure it was broken. After an X-ray, it just revealed a serious sprain. He will be fine but is having a hard time moving it right now. Thanks for praying for Wade and Hunter.

First Day of School Picture

Page always takes the first day of school picture. This year is no different. See picture above that includes Hugo. Hugo did not start school -- although he needs it. This year Milly is in 10th grade, Wade is in 8th grade, Hunter is in 5th grade, and Levi is in 2nd grade.

Back to School!!

It is here!! Back to school begins tomorrow (Monday, August 16). All the kids seem excited and so does Keith. Actually, Keith has been officially on his job for the last two weeks. Page is excited to be able to finally get some time to her self and to finish unpacking the crate.

Basketball Camp!!

Last week the three boys enjoyed a whole week of basketball camp. Hunter and Levi participated in the morning sessions and Wade in the afternoon. All three took away the following awards.

Levi -- MVP for short players

Hunter -- his team won the whole championship

Wade -- Best in station work

Our Newest Addition!!

Here are a couple pictures of our newest family member --- Hugo. Page and Milly went to the Pet-Adopt place here in Taichung and came home with him. As you can see, he is really cute. He is around 3 years old and he was found on the streets of a city right next to Taichung. You can tell he had never seen grass before but already after just one week seems to like it. He also seems to be great with kids.

Celebrating 20 Years of Marriage!

We (Keith and Page) recently celebrated our 20th anniversary. We went to Kaohsiung City (second biggest city in Taiwan) and went to a place called "Love River". We stayed in a really nice hotel and had a great time. Above is a picture of our hotel and below that is the view we had from our hotel room. We had a GREAT time!!

Back from the Beach!!

We had a good time on our family vacation to Kenting (the beach). Above are some pictures of the fun!!

Headed to the Beach!!

We are headed to Kenting (the beach) tomorrow. We are excited to be going and look forward to some R and R. We will post some pictures of our vacation when we get back.

Back to Chinese Classes!!!

Four out of six of us are back into Chinese lessons. Keith is reviewing all things that he forgot while in America. Milly and Wade have begun Book I of Chinese Made Easier. (Although there is no Chinese Made Easy but this book does seem easier than others we have used.) Hunter is reviewing the Chinese phonetic sounds and beginning to say simple sentences. Levi decided to wait and take Chinese when school starts back. Page will start back after all kids are in school.

Levi's Day

Levi had a good day on Saturday -- his 8th birthday. He decided to have a bowling party at Tiger bowling. He invited a few of his friends and the whole family. We had a great time -- pictured above is Levi and one of his many strikes!!

English Camp!!

A team from the United States (nine from Iowa and one from NC (Maghan Spencer) have been here in Taiwan at Morrison for the past two weeks. The first week they helped out with the youth at TMF (see previous posts). This week they are hosting an English camp for local high school Taiwanese students. Both weeks have been a huge success. Thanks for remembering this team and those they are working with.

July 4th!!

We did celebrate July 4th by shooting off some store bought fireworks and eating homemade ice-cream with several families. Pictured above is Hunter with one of his good friends, Mathias.

Conference this Week!!

This past week we had an island wide conference at Morrison with like minded folks. We had a great time of fellowship. We were challenged by being reminded that we were created to make God look good (bring Him glory). We were especially busy as we (Keith and Page) took care of all the logistics from determining which families would stay in which dorm rooms to what classrooms different workshops would use. Our kids also had a great time as two teams from the States put on the youth and children's programs. Maghan Spencer, from High Point, NC, is here and helped with the youth!!

Our Crate Arrived!!

We shipped out our crate on May 7th from High Point, NC. Today (June 29) we received all of our stuff!! It will take us a little while to get it all into place but it all looks like it made it in good shape.

Milly's Birthday!!

Last Saturday we all celebrated Milly's 15th birthday. She wanted to go to Friday's (yes the same Fridays you have in the US). So we ate lunch there and she opened her presents. She had a good day.

Page's Birthday!!

Thank you to everyone that made Page's birthday special. She received several phone calls, e-mails, and lots of facebook messages. We celebrated her birthday by going out to one of her favorite restaurants here in Taichung -- "Bollywood". Bollywood specializes in India food.

Now it is Hot!!

Last post, we talked about how the rain was keeping things cool here in Taiwan. Well, the rain has stopped and now the temperature and humidity has risen!! This is the Taiwan weather we are used to. Thankfully, we do have air conditioning.

Raining!!!

We don't mind an occasional day of rain but it has been raining a lot since we arrived in Taiwan a little less than 2 weeks ago. The weather forecast looks like more of the same until Wednesday and then it looks pretty good. One good thing about the rain though -- it has kept the temperature way down!! Pictured above is the view of the rain along with our van. Morrison (where our kids go to school and Keith works) is pictured in the background.

Meeting Up with Friends

Saturday night we had Nick and Gloria and their two kids (Zach and Amelia) over. (Sorry, we don't have a good picture of Amelia but she is super cute!!) They brought us Chicken soup as a welcome back gift. It was good to catch up with them and we look forward to spending more time with them in the months to come.

Welcome Back!!

We could post a lot of goodbye pictures with our family and friends in the States. However, too many to post so we decided to show you what was on our front door as we arrived at our house in Taiwan. We were excited that we were greeted with these signs. The bottom sign says "Welcome Back Curlees". It has been good seeing old friends here in Taiwan.

Back in Taiwan

We made it back to Taiwan!!

Our plane trip was long but uneventful. We left our house in High Point around 11:30am on Monday, May 31 and arrived at our house in Taiwan at 8:30am on Wednesday, June 2 for a total of 32 hours of traveling.

We are in the process of unpacking and settling in!!

Last Post in the US

At least for awhile. We leave on Monday, May 31 for Taiwan. Our plans are to stay for three years. So we will back in summer of 2013 for another stateside assignment. We have a had a great stay for these last 10 months. Thanks to all of you who have made our stay GREAT!! Please stay in touch.

What we will miss the MOST!!

The countdown to leave the US and go back to Taiwan is less than a week now. Often we are asked what we will miss the most. We often tell people that we will miss family, friends, and food the most. The three F's!!!

We are also asked how do you feel about leaving the US and going back to Taiwan for three years. We tell people that we are real excited to go back but we are also real sad -- in particular because of the first two F's mentioned above (missing family and friends). Is it possible to be sad yet happy at the same time??

End of Year Programs at HPCA

No matter what school kids go to -- there are a lot of end of year events taking place. I think this week we have been to the school each night. Pictured above is Milly and Wade before a band concert at HPCA. Only 6 more days of school left!!

Happy Late Mother's Day!!!

We hope all of you mother's out there had a great day on mother's day!! Over the last few days we have had the opportunity to spend some time with Nana (Page's mom), Gommy (Keith's mom), and Kaykee (Keith's step mom). We are thankful for being able to see them this year!! Picture above is of Page and all of her kiddos.

Crate going out

It is certainly hard to believe that we only have 3 1/2 weeks left here in the States. These 10 months have gone by fast. Tomorrow, we ship out a lot of our things on a crate -- like a few pieces of furniture, winter clothes, bikes, food we can't get in Taiwan, etc. Our crate is supposed to arrive at our house in Taiwan in about 6 weeks. Above is a picture of Keith and all of the stuff that we are taking. As you can tell, he is thrilled that we are taking this much stuff back.

Trip to the Mountains!!

This last weekend we took one final trip (for awhile at least) to the mountains to spend sometime with Nana and Papa (Page's folks). It was a nice weekend. On Saturday, the girls shopped and the guys played at a nearby creek and did a little bit of fishing with Papa. According to Hunter, "It was a pretty awesome day on Saturday." Above is a picture of Hunter and Levi on top of a big rock with their "beaver" sticks.