Family Time!!

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but the internet was acting up, so pretend like it's yesterday when reading it! :)


My parents and brother made it here safely. There was some delays because of weather and some changing of flights, but they finally all made it yesterday. My parents got in really late on Friday night. I was able to go with Ted to pick them up at the airport, which was so special. Nothing like seeing your family after 5 months! Tyler's flight from New Jersey got delayed by about 5 hours, so he missed his connecting flight in Tokyo, but was put up in a nice hotel and flew out the next day. He arrived yesterday evening. We've had a lot of fun catching up and just being in each other's company. It's so good just to have them to talk to. They've now experienced a full day on the job, and I think are really liking it. Being here is so different from anything else they've ever experienced, so it's fun for them to be in a new environment. They love the babies and are doing a GREAT job with them. Tyler said the only one he is scared of is a new baby girl we got the day my parents arrived. She is only five days old and is sooooooo tiny!!!! Only 5.6lbs!

Tomorrow Ted is taking us to Taroko Gorge, a beautiful national park. It will be a day full of beautiful scenery, great food, and lots of walking! On our way home, we get to pick up a new baby at the train station. I'm really excited to see this process first hand, since normally, I wouldn't get to go pick up a new baby.

And now for today......

We experienced the Gorge and it was beautiful! No words can describe the view of lingering fog settling on the tops of the towering mountains- so GREAT!! There wasn't much walking today, but we definitely ate our weight in food!

The day started off with feeding a few babies before we got out the door at 8:00am. Then, Ted got us don bings, egg and onion filled crepes topped with soy sauce, for a delicious breakfast on the train. We took the train to Hua Lien, about a fifty minute ride, and then rented a car to drive up to the National Park. Before we started driving, Ted took us on a quick stop next door to the car rental place for some history lessons on old Chinese furniture and rice tools and to get some mochi balls. Mochi balls are a ball of pounded sticky rice filled with different flavors. My mom and dad had peanut mochi balls, which were filled with peanut powder, Ted and I had coconut filled ones, and Tyler was brave and tried the green bean mochi ball. I had a bite of his and it wasn't horrible. It didn't have a whole lot of flavor. The green bean paste on the inside just tasted a little sweet. I really liked my coconut one. The weirdest part is the texture. It's kind of like swallowing gum that sticks to the roof of your mouth, but if you can get past that they are good!

After our mid morning snack, we started our drive up into the mountains. Ted gave us the tour of the welcome center and all the information about the island and the species found there. We watched a informational video about Taroko, especially in English for us. Ted told us before it started to wake him up at the end. :) He takes so many adoptive parents and other American visitors to the Gorge that he could probably quote the movie verbatim. The rest of our time in Taroko consisted of driving on the winding mountain passes and getting out to walk a short while or see the cliffs, pagodas, or bridges. We ate another delicious meal for lunch at a beautiful pagoda with waterfalls running down underneath. Ted and I had fried rice and the rest of my family had fried noodles. Ted also bought us honeydew melon, pink dragon fruit, bell fruit (it's kind of like a pear apple), bananas, and plums. Sooooooo good!

Besides viewing the breathtaking scenery, which of course warranted a picture every five steps, we also walked across a swinging bridge. I had been on it the last time I was in Taiwan and really enjoyed it again, as I enjoy  heights, but I think it's something both my mom and Tyler felt they could have done without. Along the way, we also stopped at a Presbyterian church started by Chi-Oang, the first aborigine Christian in Taiwan in 1925. She was from a tribal family in the mountians of Taroko and is know as the Mother of Taiwan Aboriginal Faith. Her faith and courage led many people to know the Lord. She would often conduct church services in a cave near the church because propagation of any religion at that time was illegal. We got to walk down into the cave and stand where they used to have services. We also stopped by another little church that also has a hostel connected with it. This was the hostel out group stayed in for a few nights last time I was here.

I had also visited the church and the places where Ted took us in the mountains the last time I was here, but this time it was really neat because my family got to see in person the places and scenery they had only been able to see in my pictures. I felt like they were getting to experience what I experienced three years ago. I really like being able to share this with them.

After all our stops, we headed out of the park, but not before Ted stopped to get us an ice cream treat! (Oh, the never-ending food!) We headed back to the train station, but.... that's right, MORE food. Ted wanted my family to try the pineapple cakes Taiwan is famous for, and he decided to throw in a few more mochi balls (strawberry this time). We got to the train station with plenty of time to get some drinks at the 7 Eleven and meet the social worker who had the baby for us. His name is Chiou Bau Lo and he is nine days old. I got to hold him the whole way home on the train as he slept!

We got back to the Home and, with still full bellies, forwent dinner and jumped right back into feeding and loving on our babies. It was a great day! Pictures will be coming....