Merry Christmas, everyone! I know it's a few days late, but this is the first chance I am getting to really sit down and write. I hope your Christmases were filled with remembering God's gift to you in His son and lots of joyful memories with your family and friends.
Christmas here was wonderful. Although I greatly missed my family back home, the family I have formed with Ted, Bev, and the children here made my Christmas memories extra special this year. On Christmas Eve, Jennifer, Gabrielle, Andria and I all watched "The Christmas Blessing". My mom had sent it to me in my Christmas package. It was a great surprise because every year my family gets a new Christmas movie to watch. And this year I got to bring the tradition to Taiwan. That night, I went to bed to find my first Christmas gift waiting as a surprise on my pillow. It was from Andria. She had gotten me a rope bracelet, a pearl necklace and earrings, a tank top, and random candies from the Silk Market in China. Such a cool present. :)
Christmas morning came, and I was worried it was going to be just like any other day here. Since Thanksgiving had been pretty bitter sweet, I had prepared myself for not really getting to celebrate and set my mind on service. The morning started off like a normal morning here with feedings and changings, but as one baby finished, Bev let us take them over to the other side where the celebration had been going on since 7:30am. It started with Ted reading the Christmas story out of Luke then moves on to gift unwrapping and stockings. Because Christmas fell on a Saturday, a lot of kids who grew up here, but are now in college/living/working in Taipei or around the island were able to come home and take part in all of the festivities, which made for a full house and extra hands to help hold babies!
Jennifer, Andria, and I were able to stay on the older kids' side all morning! First, all of the kids that are currently at the Home got to open their gift from their sponsors. Since the older kids are not adoptable, they have a sponsor family that writes to them and send them gifts for their birthday and Christmas. Most of the sponsor families live in the States or in Taiwan. Each of the kids opened their gift one by one. Then, we moved onto the big gift exchange, including all of the kids, current and past, the staff, and us volunteers. Again, the gifts were unwrapped one at a time. Both the person giving and the person receiving came to the front of the room. The person giving handed the other their gift and after it was opened, they got their picture taken together. It was a very sweet process.
The week before we had all drawn names out of a hat and were given a 200NT (six U.S. dollars) limit to buy a gift for that person. I drew Pei Yu. She is one of the social workers here and is only a couple of years older than me. On one of my lunch breaks, Andria and I biked into the market, and I bought her a scarf. Unfortunately, she was unable to make it on Christmas day, so I didn't get to see her open it. You Cheng, the little boy who thought he had broken his wrist (I wrote about him in an earlier post), drew my name. He is about eleven years old and his teacher, who speaks English and with whom I am friends, said he was a little unsettled when he drew my name because he had no idea what to get the "old, American, girl." He gave me a grey and red plaid scarf and fuzzy ear muffs. A very good gift! I was hoping one of the little kids would get my name. He was so cute and embarrassed handing it to me! :)
I really enjoyed opening the gifts one at a time because I got to see what everyone received and it made the celebration last longer. As I sat with Wan Ching's, one of the high school girls, arm around me and Baby Peng all warm and cuddly wrapped in her blankets and in my arms and Jya Hwei, one of the junior high girls, also sitting on my lap, watching two of the high schoolers exchange gifts and Ted beaming in the background, my eyes filled with tears as I couldn't think of a better place to spend my Christmas. I love the people here and am blessed enough to feel loved in return.
I hope you all had similar stories of love and joy, for without the love of Jesus, the love of family, and the love of friends, what is there worth having?
Other things that have happened in the past week:
- Andria left yesterday. It was so good to have her here and I was sad to see her go. Just having someone that was "mine" in a sense was so nice. She gave me someone to talk to and we shared lots of fun-filled afternoons and nights exploring the market, walking around the lake, and loving the babies. She is now headed to Australia before she goes on to Bangkok for the third leg in her Global MBA program. She put up a blog post about her time here that you might be interested in reading. She gives good insight on what our days were like over Christmas. The address is http://andriarabus.xanga.com/
- Jennifer's boyfriend and sister arrived last night and will be spending two weeks here.
- We got a new baby girl. Her name is Cheng Jie En. This made me very excited because her Chinese name Jie En is very close to my Chinese name which is Ja En. She was born on Christmas day!
- Baby Peng was taken back by her grandmother today. We really didn't want this to happen because her birth father was very violent towards the birth mother and we don't know how he will act towards Peng. We are trusting that God's hand is sovereign in this, and that His love for Baby Peng will follow and protect her wherever she goes.
- I am now into the Psalms. I loved reading Job. It is filled with so many awesome truths about God.
Prayer requests:
-The weather is getting much colder and as a result a lot of the babies have really awful colds. Pray for their health.
- I really want to be more disciplined with my time and my eating in my remaining two and a half months here.
- Safe travels for Caleb's parents and Meredith, the next volunteer coming. They will both be traveling here in the first week of January.
- God's sovereignty in my life as well as all of the lives of the babies and others here.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Cade and Kwen
So it is almost time for me to go to bed, but I wanted to put up some pictures. I am laying in my top bunk in my little room and outside the window loud fireworks are booming. It kind of sounds like gunfire or bombs going off, but it's just people at the temple trying to ward off demons. This is a sad and familiar sound around here. Here are some pictures of baby Cade, baby Kwen, and our day off last week.
First is Cade.
Next is Kwen.
And lastly, our delicious meal on our day off. Cade's parents took us out to eat at a place called the Potato Bar. It's a western restaurant, but the funny thing is they don't even have potatoes!! They just thought it was a cool English word. :) We had a fun time ordering without any English menu. They had about seven different people trying to help interpret what we wanted- the boss, our waiter, two people who worked at KFC, a random kid from the street, and the boss's son,who is an English teacher in Singapore, was on the phone! Good thing the boss called him because with our first attempt at ordering, they thought we wanted 35 POUNDS of steak!! This is what we actually ate. It was a five course meal. I didn't get a picture of the first course, but it was kind of a fishy lunch meat on top of sprouts with a honey mustard sauce. It was okay and the rest was delicious! And the whole meal for five people only cost around $60!
First is Cade.
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| Relaxing in his crib. |
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| What a sweet smile! |
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| "Jillian, What are you doing? I'm trying to play here!" |
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| The day that he left. |
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| Kwen when I first got here. Count those arm rolls! :) |
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| Napping, cookies, rattle, and pacifier....what more could you possibly want? |
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| Gummy's priceless face. |
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| King Kwen. |
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| HAPPY! |
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| All grown up and going home! His grandma, dad, mom, Bev, and me. |
And lastly, our delicious meal on our day off. Cade's parents took us out to eat at a place called the Potato Bar. It's a western restaurant, but the funny thing is they don't even have potatoes!! They just thought it was a cool English word. :) We had a fun time ordering without any English menu. They had about seven different people trying to help interpret what we wanted- the boss, our waiter, two people who worked at KFC, a random kid from the street, and the boss's son,who is an English teacher in Singapore, was on the phone! Good thing the boss called him because with our first attempt at ordering, they thought we wanted 35 POUNDS of steak!! This is what we actually ate. It was a five course meal. I didn't get a picture of the first course, but it was kind of a fishy lunch meat on top of sprouts with a honey mustard sauce. It was okay and the rest was delicious! And the whole meal for five people only cost around $60!
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| The first thing they brought out to us. No, not a shot of whiskey, just some sour plum juice. Gross. |
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| Course #2- Salad |
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| Course #3- Creamy corn soup with pastry shell on top |
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| Course #4- Steak, peppers, baby corn, and broccoli |
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| Course #5- Dessert, DELICIOUS creme brulee |
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Andria Rabus is cool.
Andria got here on Friday night! It is so great to have her here. She jumped right into movie night, getting the treat of watching Scarecrow and Mrs. King. :) It worked out perfectly having Kwen's family here because Ted was planning on taking them to see Taroko Gorge on Saturday, so Andria got to go with them , too. I was a little jealous :), but am hoping I will get to go with my family when they come to visit. Then today, I had both 7am and 11pm shifts, so Dre and I haven't gotten a good chance to catch up yet, but tomorrow we are planning on going into town to buy some Christmas presents during the babies nap and hopefully watching an episode of Gray's together tomorrow night, a tradition among the Elson girls!
Tomorrow is also Gabrielle's 20th birthday! Even though we can't do a lot for her birthday, we are hoping to have a little celebration.
Sorry, I have been so bad at keeping up and writing short little entries to keep you all up to date. I really don't like writing the long ones, but can't seem to be disciplined in writing smaller ones.
Highlights from the past couple of days:
-We got a new baby on Friday night. His name is Baby Shr. He looks a lot like Caleb- very Asian looking already. I got to feed him quite a bit today. It's always fun and exciting when a new baby arrives.
- I thought I wouldn't make it through today because I was so tired, but God sustained me.
- Eating jellybeans and catching up a little bit with Andria last night.
- The older boys made dinner tonight- fried chicken legs, fried fish paste rolls, eggs and ham, cabbage, egg drop soup, and oranges. SO GOOD!
Prayer Requests:
- The next three months seem really long. Prayer for an attitude to finish my work here, to have a heart that wants to be here to serve.
- That God would fulfill his purposes for the rest of my trip. That I would have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a willing heart to follow and obey Him and to receive his love.
- Communication between everyone- so important!!
- Rest
- Prayer for all of the babies- that they would be loved, that paperwork goes smoothly and quickly. Specifically for the four who have not been allocated, for Logan's papers, and David's papers/courtdate.
- That my time with Andria would be joy-filled and that God would use this time together to encourage us both and provide what we need for this next leg in our journeys overseas.
Thanks, everyone! LOVE!
Tomorrow is also Gabrielle's 20th birthday! Even though we can't do a lot for her birthday, we are hoping to have a little celebration.
Sorry, I have been so bad at keeping up and writing short little entries to keep you all up to date. I really don't like writing the long ones, but can't seem to be disciplined in writing smaller ones.
Highlights from the past couple of days:
-We got a new baby on Friday night. His name is Baby Shr. He looks a lot like Caleb- very Asian looking already. I got to feed him quite a bit today. It's always fun and exciting when a new baby arrives.
- I thought I wouldn't make it through today because I was so tired, but God sustained me.
- Eating jellybeans and catching up a little bit with Andria last night.
- The older boys made dinner tonight- fried chicken legs, fried fish paste rolls, eggs and ham, cabbage, egg drop soup, and oranges. SO GOOD!
Prayer Requests:
- The next three months seem really long. Prayer for an attitude to finish my work here, to have a heart that wants to be here to serve.
- That God would fulfill his purposes for the rest of my trip. That I would have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a willing heart to follow and obey Him and to receive his love.
- Communication between everyone- so important!!
- Rest
- Prayer for all of the babies- that they would be loved, that paperwork goes smoothly and quickly. Specifically for the four who have not been allocated, for Logan's papers, and David's papers/courtdate.
- That my time with Andria would be joy-filled and that God would use this time together to encourage us both and provide what we need for this next leg in our journeys overseas.
Thanks, everyone! LOVE!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
I'll Be Home For Christmas!
Even though that's not true of me, I'm happy to say it is true for two of our little babies! Cade's parents arrived last Friday and Kwen's parents are arriving tonight! Perfect little Christmas presents for their parents. I know both sets of parents feel that way!
Since the last time I wrote, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The flu has been going around- I've already gotten it twice. Also, Gabrielle switched to doing nights instead of Jennifer for the next month. It's been really fun to have Jennifer up during the days! I'm still loving taking care of the babies every day. I've gotten used to having thirteen to take care of, so now that Cade and Kwen will be flying home soon, it will seem so quiet with only eleven. And Caleb got his first paper yesterday, so he will be going home hopefully the first week of January. It seems so weird that all of the babies I started with when I got here are almost all gone now. After Caleb, Logan will be next to go home. We are still waiting on his papers, but they should be coming soon. Then all that's left of the original nine is David!
So I think I'll use this post to tell a little bit about each baby again because they all change so much and I want you all to know them because I love them.
David- He is now nine months! And is doing great! His head control is 1000 times better than when I first got here. He can play in a walker by himself and is kicking his feet and moving his arms so much more. He loves to do this spitting thing with his mouth and makes the funniest noises! I feel like I have a special bond with him because I have worked so much with him and his head/neck/back strength and control. I've gotten to experience doing impromptu physical therapy with him. It has been great to be able to use some of the knowledge from my internship last summer and from school. He is talking a lot now too, and beginning to hold toys! We are now working with him, trying to get him to sit up, grasp objects, and roll over. He is such a delightful baby!
Cade- Also nine months is going home!!! He will really be missed. In the past month he learned how to crawl-ish and is always full of smiles. He has four teeth on top and two on bottom, which makes his smile that much more cute! Every time I sing "If Your Happy and You Know it" or say, "Ba ba ba ba ba," he breaks out in a huge grin. He is really becoming observant, tilting his head and furrowing his brow at things. :) He also learned how to make a clicking noise with his tongue that he is very proud of! We will miss him!
Kwen- Kwen is so sweet when he's happy and so not sweet when he's not. :) He is the baby that if we ever take for a walk, everyone on the street wants to hold or makes a comment about. He has the most handsome and thick eyebrows you've ever seen on a baby. He is definitely strong willed and knows what he wants- Now, if only he would let us in on the secret! He is six months and still doesn't have any teeth, but sure is working hard at it. He also likes to talk up a storm and loves his walker. I like to put him over my head like an airplane to get a big grin from him.
Caleb- He is five months now!! I can't believe how big he is. He has had his share of struggles with ear infections and now is starting to teeth, so he has been pretty unhappy the past couple of days. My favorite time with Caleb is feeding him his bottle. About haf way through, he just stops drinking and grins at you. Milk will be running down his chin, but he just wants to stare and giggle at you. It's so sweet!
Logan- He is our little four and a half month old Pong Pong (which means "fat fat"). :) He hasn't quite grown lengthwise yet, but sure is growing out! He has one of the cutest smiles of the bunch. Because he is a little on the big side, he hasn't started to try and roll over yet, but moves a little bit more each day. He really likes the Hop N' Pop bouncy thing we have, and we can always count on him to be our best little eater!
Rylyn- She is also four and a half months and is so advanced for her age. She already has two teeth and a million facial expressions to go with them! She uses her hands so well to pick up and play with toys. When you are talking to her you feel like you could have a whole conversation with the way she responds to your voice and face with smiles and coos. She is still pretty little and spits up a lot, so we've been putting vitamins in her milk and praying for her to grow. She also has quite a bit of trouble falling and staying asleep, but maybe she just doesn't require as much as the other babies.
Ethan Luke- He is getting so big! He is two months old, but is almost the same size as Rylyn. He has the coolest little mohawk- his hair just grows that way. He is beginning to coo and smile a lot when you talk to him. He also has trouble sleeping at the correct times, always awake during nap time and falling asleep during play time.
Ethan Matthew- He is our tiny baby! He is also two months but looks like a newborn. He is probably the cutest baby I've ever seen. He almost looks like a porcelain doll with big brown eyes and long eye lashes. He has had a lot of issues with colic and tummy problems. He has had diarrhea for so long now and just isn't growing the way we want him to. I got him to smile three times today! I felt very accomplished!
Brecken and Tristan- The twins are now a month and a half old! Brecken is still a good deal smaller than his baby brother, but they both are growing so well. Tristan's cheeks are even getting pretty chubby! They both have smiled and although Show Hwa told me it was because they had gas, I'm not going to believe her! Tristan has been constipated quite a bit, but besides that is doing great. And Brecken is beginning to look less like an alien and growing into his head! They do look quite a bit a like, but no so much that we can't tell them apart thankfully.
Baby Peng- She is now a month old and is so beautiful! She is kind of a little chub, but it's cute on her. She gets dressed in all pink since she is the only little girl besides Rylyn. Right now she has diaper rash pretty badly, so we are praying for that to heal. Besides that, she is a wonderful little baby who doesn't do much yet.
Baby Lin- He just turned a month old a few days ago. He is also a very handsome baby. He has two adorable little dimples. Unfortunately, Gabrielle doesn't think he is quite as cute because he screams pretty much all night long. But when he's not crying (or even when he is), I love to snuggle up with him in my arms! The little babies are great for doing that.
Baby Feng- He's our youngest by a day, turning a month right after Baby Lin. However, we think he is just tricking us into thinking he's a baby because he looks so old. It's like a little ten year olds face on a tiny body. He is so alert and focuses so well on people around him. He's going to be a little heart breaker with his looks as well. :)
So that's the run down on all our babies! Wish you all could see them. Soon there will be pictures of Cade and Kwen.
OTHER EXCITING NEWS: My friend Andria comes to visit on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!! She'll be here for ten days staying through Christmas. It is going to be so great having her here and being able to share this experience with her and hear all about how her past four months have been. Which reminds me, Friday is also my half way point of being here. 3 months down, 3 more to go! And for my Bible reading, I am not quite on mark to finish reading the whole Bible while I am here, but I did just start Esther. It took me forever to get through the Chronicles! I'll have more to say about my readings in the next post.
Good night!
Since the last time I wrote, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The flu has been going around- I've already gotten it twice. Also, Gabrielle switched to doing nights instead of Jennifer for the next month. It's been really fun to have Jennifer up during the days! I'm still loving taking care of the babies every day. I've gotten used to having thirteen to take care of, so now that Cade and Kwen will be flying home soon, it will seem so quiet with only eleven. And Caleb got his first paper yesterday, so he will be going home hopefully the first week of January. It seems so weird that all of the babies I started with when I got here are almost all gone now. After Caleb, Logan will be next to go home. We are still waiting on his papers, but they should be coming soon. Then all that's left of the original nine is David!
So I think I'll use this post to tell a little bit about each baby again because they all change so much and I want you all to know them because I love them.
David- He is now nine months! And is doing great! His head control is 1000 times better than when I first got here. He can play in a walker by himself and is kicking his feet and moving his arms so much more. He loves to do this spitting thing with his mouth and makes the funniest noises! I feel like I have a special bond with him because I have worked so much with him and his head/neck/back strength and control. I've gotten to experience doing impromptu physical therapy with him. It has been great to be able to use some of the knowledge from my internship last summer and from school. He is talking a lot now too, and beginning to hold toys! We are now working with him, trying to get him to sit up, grasp objects, and roll over. He is such a delightful baby!
Cade- Also nine months is going home!!! He will really be missed. In the past month he learned how to crawl-ish and is always full of smiles. He has four teeth on top and two on bottom, which makes his smile that much more cute! Every time I sing "If Your Happy and You Know it" or say, "Ba ba ba ba ba," he breaks out in a huge grin. He is really becoming observant, tilting his head and furrowing his brow at things. :) He also learned how to make a clicking noise with his tongue that he is very proud of! We will miss him!
Kwen- Kwen is so sweet when he's happy and so not sweet when he's not. :) He is the baby that if we ever take for a walk, everyone on the street wants to hold or makes a comment about. He has the most handsome and thick eyebrows you've ever seen on a baby. He is definitely strong willed and knows what he wants- Now, if only he would let us in on the secret! He is six months and still doesn't have any teeth, but sure is working hard at it. He also likes to talk up a storm and loves his walker. I like to put him over my head like an airplane to get a big grin from him.
Caleb- He is five months now!! I can't believe how big he is. He has had his share of struggles with ear infections and now is starting to teeth, so he has been pretty unhappy the past couple of days. My favorite time with Caleb is feeding him his bottle. About haf way through, he just stops drinking and grins at you. Milk will be running down his chin, but he just wants to stare and giggle at you. It's so sweet!
Logan- He is our little four and a half month old Pong Pong (which means "fat fat"). :) He hasn't quite grown lengthwise yet, but sure is growing out! He has one of the cutest smiles of the bunch. Because he is a little on the big side, he hasn't started to try and roll over yet, but moves a little bit more each day. He really likes the Hop N' Pop bouncy thing we have, and we can always count on him to be our best little eater!
Rylyn- She is also four and a half months and is so advanced for her age. She already has two teeth and a million facial expressions to go with them! She uses her hands so well to pick up and play with toys. When you are talking to her you feel like you could have a whole conversation with the way she responds to your voice and face with smiles and coos. She is still pretty little and spits up a lot, so we've been putting vitamins in her milk and praying for her to grow. She also has quite a bit of trouble falling and staying asleep, but maybe she just doesn't require as much as the other babies.
Ethan Luke- He is getting so big! He is two months old, but is almost the same size as Rylyn. He has the coolest little mohawk- his hair just grows that way. He is beginning to coo and smile a lot when you talk to him. He also has trouble sleeping at the correct times, always awake during nap time and falling asleep during play time.
Ethan Matthew- He is our tiny baby! He is also two months but looks like a newborn. He is probably the cutest baby I've ever seen. He almost looks like a porcelain doll with big brown eyes and long eye lashes. He has had a lot of issues with colic and tummy problems. He has had diarrhea for so long now and just isn't growing the way we want him to. I got him to smile three times today! I felt very accomplished!
Brecken and Tristan- The twins are now a month and a half old! Brecken is still a good deal smaller than his baby brother, but they both are growing so well. Tristan's cheeks are even getting pretty chubby! They both have smiled and although Show Hwa told me it was because they had gas, I'm not going to believe her! Tristan has been constipated quite a bit, but besides that is doing great. And Brecken is beginning to look less like an alien and growing into his head! They do look quite a bit a like, but no so much that we can't tell them apart thankfully.
Baby Peng- She is now a month old and is so beautiful! She is kind of a little chub, but it's cute on her. She gets dressed in all pink since she is the only little girl besides Rylyn. Right now she has diaper rash pretty badly, so we are praying for that to heal. Besides that, she is a wonderful little baby who doesn't do much yet.
Baby Lin- He just turned a month old a few days ago. He is also a very handsome baby. He has two adorable little dimples. Unfortunately, Gabrielle doesn't think he is quite as cute because he screams pretty much all night long. But when he's not crying (or even when he is), I love to snuggle up with him in my arms! The little babies are great for doing that.
Baby Feng- He's our youngest by a day, turning a month right after Baby Lin. However, we think he is just tricking us into thinking he's a baby because he looks so old. It's like a little ten year olds face on a tiny body. He is so alert and focuses so well on people around him. He's going to be a little heart breaker with his looks as well. :)
So that's the run down on all our babies! Wish you all could see them. Soon there will be pictures of Cade and Kwen.
OTHER EXCITING NEWS: My friend Andria comes to visit on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!! She'll be here for ten days staying through Christmas. It is going to be so great having her here and being able to share this experience with her and hear all about how her past four months have been. Which reminds me, Friday is also my half way point of being here. 3 months down, 3 more to go! And for my Bible reading, I am not quite on mark to finish reading the whole Bible while I am here, but I did just start Esther. It took me forever to get through the Chronicles! I'll have more to say about my readings in the next post.
Good night!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunshine, Beautiful Sunshine
Today was a great day! The babies were so good today for Bev and me. Gabrielle was sick and Show Hwa doesn't come in on Sundays. None of them threw a temper tantrum and besides a few not wanting to eat, they were perfect little babies. Plus the sun was shining! Bev even let me go out for a little bike ride this afternoon when things were semi-quiet. Wan Ching, one of the older girls I am really connecting with, also came in and helped during the late afternoon while it was just me while Bev took a nap and went for a walk. It was really fun to hang out with Wan Ching and learn a few more Chinese words. I was really thankful for her help, too!
Since I have been pressed for time and not able to post much, there are lots of pictures and things to get you caught up on. First, we now have 14 babies- 7 over four months and 7 under two months. The newest little one is Mr. Lin (Gwong Lyeng) at three weeks. Him, En Chr, Mr. Feng, and Miss Peng are all waiting to be allocated.
Thanksgiving was fun having all of the missionaries in town. It was a little bitter sweet not being able to really relax and spend time with people, since taking care of babies is an all day every day kind of job. But I was very thankful for the food and time I did get to spend chatting with friends.
On Thanksgiving, Show Hwa caught the little gecko that lives behind the baby cereal on the counter. Gabrielle and I decided to name it "Bi Hoo" which means gecko is Chinese (we're very creative :) ). IN the pictures, he is in a baby food container. Sadly it died a few days later because the fly we caught for it to eat was too big.
On our day off this past week, Gabrielle, Jennifer, and I went to the beach! It was so relaxing. The weather here is still pretty nice, shorts and long sleeve or pants and t-shirt type weather, so it wasn't too cold. We didn't go swimming though. Even with it somewhat nice outside, the water was still freezing. It was so great to just lay on a blanket and listen to the ocean waves crash. A cool thing about the beaches here is that they have black sand. It feels the exact same, just a different color than the sand we're used to back home.
Since I have been pressed for time and not able to post much, there are lots of pictures and things to get you caught up on. First, we now have 14 babies- 7 over four months and 7 under two months. The newest little one is Mr. Lin (Gwong Lyeng) at three weeks. Him, En Chr, Mr. Feng, and Miss Peng are all waiting to be allocated.
Thanksgiving was fun having all of the missionaries in town. It was a little bitter sweet not being able to really relax and spend time with people, since taking care of babies is an all day every day kind of job. But I was very thankful for the food and time I did get to spend chatting with friends.
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| Our delicious food |
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| Caitlyn Edwards, me, and Bethanie Pagel. They are both daughters of missionaries here. They are so sweet! |
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| Me and my girls (Gabrielle-L, Jennifer-R) |
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| Ted carving the Thanksgiving ham |
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| The day after Thanksgiving we celebrated Christmas! We'll celebrate Christmas again on actual Christmas, but not with these wonderful people. |
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| The carrots in Taiwan are HUGE!! To compare, they are next to a sleeve of Ritz crackers. |
On our day off this past week, Gabrielle, Jennifer, and I went to the beach! It was so relaxing. The weather here is still pretty nice, shorts and long sleeve or pants and t-shirt type weather, so it wasn't too cold. We didn't go swimming though. Even with it somewhat nice outside, the water was still freezing. It was so great to just lay on a blanket and listen to the ocean waves crash. A cool thing about the beaches here is that they have black sand. It feels the exact same, just a different color than the sand we're used to back home.
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| Awesome |
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| Jennifer and me |
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| In the distance is Turtle Island |
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| Gross hogs that came out of nowhere and started following us as we waited for our taxi. |
At the beach, there were also lots of fishermen, but we didn't get any pictures of them.
And last, but not least is photos of baby Elijah who went home with his parents last week. They arrived safely at home a few days ago. He's precious.
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| Elijah and me jammin' to some tunes during "nap" time |
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| Such a sweet baby boy with cookie on his face. I love that smile. |
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| We didn't have any girls that we could put bows on for so long, so since Elijah had the craziest hair, he was our victim. |
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| He was our little mover. |
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| Jumping on Show Hwa's lap. |
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| Happy family (Elijah- 8 months) + Jennifer |
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