Headed Back to America!!

Today, August 1, we head back to North Carolina. We will leave our home here in Taichung at 10:00am. We are scheduled to land in Charlotte, NC at 10:30 Saturday night. So, a little more than 24 hours. We will post once we get to America.

Page's Thoughts on Taiwan vs. America

Page will miss several things about Taiwan. Below are listed a few.

1. Good and very inexpensive medical care
2. Taiwan open markets -- with fresh vegetables and fruit.
3. Delicious mango's!!
4. Morrison/missionary community here in Taiwan.

Although Page is going to miss Taiwan, she is really looking forward to these things in America.

1. Seeing people she loves.
2. SHOPPING!!!
3. Living in our old Parkway house.

Packing Up!!

We are packing our bags for America!! In December 2005 we headed to Asia with 19 bags (weighing 75 pounds each). We will come back to America with 11 to 12 bags (weighing 50 pounds each). So, we are bringing a lot less back. However, we do have a lot of stuff we will be leaving in our house here in Taiwan.

Hiking in Da Keng

Last Friday we went hiking with some good friends of ours. The Enochs, co-workers with us, and their son Peter. Nick and Gloria (the two Taiwanese along with Zach and Amelia) also went with us. This was our goodbye to Nick and Gloria. They have become good friends to us and have a precious family. The bottom picture is how we looked before the hike. (We were too tired and hot to take a picture of how we looked when we finished). The top picture is the city of Taichung -- where we live among the other millions of people.

Milly's List

Below is Milly's list of the good and bad of leaving Taiwan and going to America.

Things Milly will miss about Taiwan...

• She has freedom to walk everywhere here in Taiwan.
• Taiwan has amazing, cheap teas that she loves!!
• Her entire life!!!

Things Milly is looking forward to about America...

• America has Taylor Swift clothes
• She will get to buy a laptop
• Seeing people BUT this is hard because she will have to tell them goodbye next June.

Less than a week...

We have only 6 days before we head back to the States for 10 months. Hunter and Levi have already expressed what they will miss about Taiwan and what they are looking forward to about the States. Below is Wade's list.

Wade will miss --

1. Food in Taiwan (Fried dumplings, fried fish paste, and pearl milk tea).
2. His friends
3. MCA (Morrison Christian Academy)

Things Wade is looking forward to about America --

1. American Food (As you can see, Wade is really into food right now!!)
2. Seeing relatives (especially Sam)
3. Going to NC State football and basketball games

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.