Red Market

Today Leonard took his personal day at work so he could stay home and play with Gavin. I went to the school to help out at the Kindergarten Red Market. All 5 kindergarten classes participated in this awesome event! Each student received a red envelope filled with "kindergarten dollars." They used their money to participate in activities and to buy their lunch from the different food stalls. I brought in veggie cups with carrot and celery sticks. They also had pizza, pasta, mouse munchies, mandarin oranges, sticky rice, egg rolls, cheese sandwiches, cheese & salami on a stick (toothpicks), mouse cookies, and fruit juice. The different activities were Chinese Calligraphy, Internet Cafe, Chopstick Pick-up, Face Painting, Beauty Parlor, Rat Toss, Lucky Punch, Mouse Maze, Pin-the-Tail on the Rat, and Stuart Little's Photo Shop (which is where I worked taking pictures of all the cute Kindergarten Kids in their festive costumes!) Kaleb and Noe also wrote out red envelopes for each of their classmates and filled them with chocolate coins to wish them a Happy Year of the Rat!


This display was actually in the Caesar Park Hotel Lobby, but I thought it would look great with this post! Gavin also had a Chinese New Year Party at Kindermusik on Tuesday. His teacher brought each student a red envelope with some baby snacks in it and she brought materials for each student to make a necklace with a red firecracker pendant. She is so awesome! We missed class the week before so I didn't know to bring my camera- bummer!

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet

My mother just called me and told me the sad news that President Gordon B. Hinckley has just passed away today. It's already Monday in Taiwan, but it's still Sunday in the States. I am happy that he is now reunited with his sweet Marjorie, but I will miss him. In my lifetime he has been the Prophet for the longest amount of time, and he served as a Counselor for the other 3 Prophets in my life time. Here are some reasons why I loved him:

He was always optimistic

He has taken our church out of obscurity

He loved people of all faiths

He loved people from all over the world

He has built numerous temples around the world

He led his life in-tune with the Spirit

He was a servant of God and Jesus Christ

He would have been 98 on his next birthday and his life was entirely filled with serving the Lord, serving others, and building the Kingdom. I remember him saying once that he didn't want his body to sit around and rust like an old tool, but he wanted to use it constantly until it wore out. He did that, and I want to follow his example and do that with my life too!

Family Priorities

Last Sunday I spoke in Church and I really enjoyed it. No, I didn't actually enjoy giving my talk- I got tongue-tied at the beginning, cried in the middle, but at the end I was satisfied with the message I shared. I was asked to study Elder Claudio Costa's talk "Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today." It was a great talk to prepare from, and then I added my own 4 pages of thoughts on the subject. I want to list the 10 key points I made here, so I can remember them and be the best wife, mother, and person I can be.
1. Pray with faith.
2. Read the scriptures.
3. Hold Family Home Evening.
4. Go on dates with those you love (spouse and children) and attend the Temple.
5. Obey the laws of the land and the higher laws- the commandments.
6. Repent often and forgive others.
7. Respect others and be compassionate.
8. Serve others.
9. Work- outside the home, in the home, budget your finances, pay your tithing.
10. Play- participate in wholesome recreational activities and make family traditions.
While I was preparing this talk I prayed that I would share something that would be pleasing unto the Lord. After my talk was over I received many compliments. That made me happy because I knew my prayers had been answered. However, I feel this message was particularly meant for me and I'll do my best to incorporate it into my daily life.

Sisters

I was going through some old pictures on the computer and found this one of my gorgeous sisters Erika and Amanda. It was taken back in 2004 shortly after Papa got his digital camera. I'm 10 years older than Mandy and 12 years older than Eri, but I'm so glad I have them in my life. They are wonderful girls and I'm so proud to call them my sisters.


This picture was from when Mandy came to visit us in Ottawa in the summer of 2004. She looks so cute, but who's that with her- chubby Elvira?


This is when Eri came to visit us in summer 2005. She's such a stylin' girl.

I also have wonderful sister-in-laws that I love: Lana, Lacey, LaChele, Karlee, Whitney, Janalyn, Delyna, and Suzette! I love all of my brothers and brother-in-laws too: Brent, Kristopher, Clint, Adam, Wyatt, Joey, Ken, Kevin, and Steve!

But can you see why I hope we have another girl someday? I want Noe to have a wonderful sisters relationship too!

*I smile because you're my sister... and laugh because there's nothing you can do about it."

Hope this NEVER happens, but if...

Leonard and I have seen great tragedy in our married life. Eight months after we were married we lost his parents in a carbon-monoxide accident. Fifteen months after that we lost my cousin and his wife in a canoeing accident, leaving behind their 5 children aged 6 and under. I try to be an optimistic person, but I feel I am often looking over my shoulder for the next tragedy to strike. My biggest fear would be to lose one of my children, or my husband, or myself for that matter. I wouldn't want my husband to spend the rest of his life alone, or my children to be raised without a mother. However, I don't want to be replaced either. I think this has been on my mind lately as I approach my little solo trip. I am excited to have some girl time, but I will miss my little family. Hopefully, all will go well on both counts, but if... Leonard and I made a pact that if anything ever happened to either one of us, we would want the other to re-marry. However, there are 2 qualifications to that. The person must be a widow/er her/himself and be sealed to their previous spouse. Also, there would be no new children born from that relationship. Isn't this a morbid post? I guess since I do think about this from time to time, I want my thoughts recorded somewhere. I sure hope this NEVER happens though!!!

Girl Getaway

I have been battling my annual winter blues, so Leonard & I decided an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so... I'm going to go to Las Vegas for a few days over the Chinese New Year Break! I will miss my little family terribly, but I am so excited to spend some time with my mom and my family and friends there. I bought my tickets this morning and I will leave in 19 days!!!

House Dreams

Since Len and I have been married we have lived in Utah for 2 years, England, Nevada, and Idaho each for a year, Ontario for 3 years, and we are now in our 3rd of 4 years in Taiwan. After our posting is finished next year we will most likely go back to Ottawa for a few years before our next posting. I am starting to get trunky already! It will be great to be back with our Ottawa "family" again, and to enjoy the conveniences we're used to in North America. However, I am also so excited about going back because we will hopefully (& finally) buy our very first home!!! I've been looking on-line at different homes being built in the Orleans area of the city and have found my dream house. It's a 5 bedroom house, with a loft (for a library), living room (for a piano), family room (for an entertainment center), home office (for our hobbies), and a finished basement (for our kids' playroom). Of course, this is my dream house so that means it will only be mine in my dreams- tee hee. I would actually be quite happy with a 4 bedroom townhouse, as long as it has a living room & family room (that would be our hobby/playroom), a laundry room, a fenced back yard, and a garage!!! I don't want to scrape snow off our car in the frigid winters. I do day dream a lot, but since you're supposed to dream at night I've even looked at some new bedspreads for each of us to use in our new rooms.

For the Master bedroom.


For the boys' room.


For the girl's room.


I just can't wait to decorate our OWN place! I want to paint, and make artwork, and hang curtains! I also can't wait to buy NEW furniture. Len and I had new furniture in England and we also have new furniture here in Taiwan. However, in both cases it was/is not ours. All of the other places we lived we just had hand-me-downs. I just can't wait to buy our own new stuff! I know I will have to stick to a budget, but right now while I'm dreaming there is no budget- tee hee. Here's some things we could use.

Practical, yet pretty living room furnishings.


A nice dining room table for 6 (hope we have a 4th baby!) that will have enough room for all of us, but will be cozy too. Right now our table seats 8 and has a 3rd leaf and 2 more chairs to seat 10. It's just too big.

I know my dreams are big, but it will just be fun to have our home to be able to personalize with our own style. I can't wait!

100

When I started my blog last October I made a post entitled "32" but it had 51 things that I love listed in it. Now less than 3 months later here I am at post #100. I will make current and retro-active posts, so this won't always be the 100th post chronologically, nevertheless it is my 100th post. To celebrate it I want to make another list of 100 different things about myself, so here goes:
1. I am currently living in my 23rd home.
2. I was born in Bloomington, Indiana in 1975.
3. In 1977 I moved with my parents to Ohio,
4. and then to California,
5. and then to Idaho.
6. My parents divorced in the summer of 1981.
7. My mom & I moved to Nevada then.
8. I spent the next 3 years living 6 months with my mom, and 6 months with my dad.
9. I went to 5 different Elementary Schools.
10. My mom re-married in the summer of 1983.
11. I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when I was 8.
12. My first brother was born a few months before I turned 9.
13. I now have 9 brothers,
14. and 10 sisters.
15. That's from 3 families though- my mom & step-dad, my dad & step-mom, and my husband's family- including in-laws.
16. I was on the Starettes Drill Team in Elementary School.
17. In Junior High I was a Songleader,
18. Vice -President in Student Council,
19. and in Honor Society.
20. I took piano lessons for one summer.
21. I went to Girls' Camp for six summers.
22. In High School I was on the Drill Team for one year,
23. a Cheerleader for three years,
24. in Spectrum (music/dance/theater group) for two years,
25. Secretary in Student Council,
26. in Honor Society,
27. and I danced in Dance Festival for 3 years.
28. My first "real" job was at Golden Swirl Frozen Yogurt when I was 16.
29. My second job was at Lerner New York.
30. I went to BYU.
31. I met my husband the first week of school there,
32. only one month and a day after my 18th birthday.
33. I "waited" for him while he served his mission in Marseille, France.
34. I also dated- tee hee.
35. I majored in Elementary Education.
36. In the summers I worked at the Law Offices of Tingey & Burris.
37. I also worked as a janitor in the dorms for one semester.
38. I got married one week after I graduated-
39. In the Las Vegas LDS Temple.
40. My parents-in-law passed away 8 months after we got married.
41. I got married a year-and-a-half before my dad got re-married.
42. I substitute taught elementary, junior high, and senior high school for a semester.
43. I worked at the Fourth District Courthouse for 2 years until Leonard graduated.
44. We lived in England for a year while Leonard earned his Master's.
45. I had a miscarriage.
46. We did fertility treatments for 3 years.
47. I have 5 year-old boy/girl twins.
48. I also have a 1 year old baby boy.
49. I hope to be blessed with a 4th child soon.
50. I worked at a Scrapbook store for a year.
51. I worked at Gymboree for a day.
52. I taught ESL at 2 schools while I was pregnant with Kaleb & Noe.
53. We moved to Canada when our twins were 6 months old,
54. so my husband could work for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs.
55. We moved to our first posting in 2005,
56. which is in Taiwan.
57. I've visited Mexico,
58. Ireland,
59. France,
60. Monaco,
61. Spain,
62. Italy,
63. Switzerland,
64. Germany,
65. and Hong Kong.
66. I have 6 sets of grandparents (from 2 parents, 2 step-parents, and 2 parents-in-law),
67. 30 aunts & uncles,
68. 114 first cousins,
69. broken down by 41 Pittl cousins,
70. 4 Barlow cousins,
71. 25 Lee cousins,
72. 3 Combs cousins,
73. 25 Reil cousins,
74. and 16 MacKeage cousins,
75. I have 6 nieces,
76. and 9 nephews.
77. I've been to 3 Disneylands.
78. I've served in 29 LDS Temples.
79. I'm the Activity Day Leader in my Ward.
80. I'm in the movie "Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration."
81. I have a major sweet tooth.

I'm tired and I can't think of 19 more things now, but if you add my 2 lists together you'll learn 132 things about me!

Epiphany

The twelve days of Christmas were originally celebrated on the days linking December 25th to January 6th- the day of Epiphany, when the three Magi offered the first Christmas presents- gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Epiphany also means amazing insight.
This Christmas season I had my own epiphany. I was contemplating Mary, who is blessed among women as she was chosen to be the mother of the Son of God. I was also contemplating Joseph, although he wasn't Jesus' biological father, he was His earthly father in every other sense of the word. They truly must have been remarkable people to have been given such a noble calling. Then it hit me- are not Kaleb, Noe, and Gavin children of God as well? Yes, they are! I too, along with Leonard, have been given a noble calling to raise our children in righteousness so that they may return to live with their Father in Heaven someday. I will try my best to be worthy of the title, mother.

Last January we blessed Gavin. I wanted to bear my testimony, but it wasn't Fast & Testimony meeting so I never have since then. Tomorrow will be my last day to nurse him. Weaning has been harder than I thought, not physically but emotionally. It's hard for me to let go of my children. However, I want to prepare my body to hopefully have a 4th child so I know this is necessary. I just want to be the best mother I can be to all of my sweet babies, so that when the day comes for them to leave home they will be forever bonded to our family unit.

This summer we had a surprise family reunion for my Grandma Pittl. She just turned 86, and not including in-laws she has 11 children, 43 grandchildren, 88 great-grandchildren, and 18 great-great grandchildren. She is the Matriarch in this family and is adored by us all. I hope someday I can be looked upon by my posterity the way I look at her. She is such a wonderful example to me, along with my mother, my step-mother, my mother-in-law, and my 5 other grandmothers. I hope I can be a good example to my children and future grandchildren too.

My old roommate from BYU and dear friend Anna gave birth to her 4th baby today. During her pregnancy, her little daughter Felicity was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. Anna was able to carry her to term, but unfortunately the stress of labor and delivery was too much for little Felicity and she was born to heaven this morning. I've grieved for my friend and for the loss of her sweet angel. However, I know where Felicity is, she is in Heaven! I also know that Felicity will be reunited with her mother someday along with her father, 2 sisters, and brother. I am most grateful for the amazing gift that Families can be together Forever. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life that makes that possible. My heart's greatest desire is to return to my Heavenly Father someday with my own family (posterity and ancestors too) and that I may be able to fulfill all the duties that He asks of me throughout eternity. Here and now though I am called to be a mother, and I pray that I can be one in a manner that is pleasing unto Him.

Hong Kong in a Day

Our main purpose in going to Hong Kong was for Disneyland, the Temple, and the Big Buddha. However, we wanted to do more sightseeing so we booked a day tour.


We started off by riding a sampan through the Aberdeen Fishing Village. We saw the many poor fishing boats, the luxurious yachts of the wealthy, huge apartment buildings nestled together at the harbor, and the Jumbo Floating Restaurant that has an occupancy over 2,000.


Our next stop was to a jewelry workshop, where of course they want you to buy jewelry! I had my eye on a pair of pearl earrings with a matching pendant on a simple silver chain. I couldn't decide if I wanted black or white pearls though. They were at a really great price, so Leonard bought me both. I'm so spoiled!


Our next stop was to the Repulse Bay. A little beach filled with lots of fun Chinese religious statues.

Next, we drove up Victoria Peak and got to see Hong Kong's version of Beverly Hills (yes, I've seen Jackie Chan's home.) Here is the view of Hong Kong from the top of the Peak.

The tour ended and we met our friends Rachel, Michael, & Daniel Shum (David couldn't make it, but he babysat the kids for us while we went to the Hong Kong Temple) at the California Pizza Kitchen. It was SO good, I wish Taiwan had more Western restaurants! It was great to catch up with the Shum's- now they have to visit us in Ottawa next.

After we ate we decided we didn't want the day to end. So we rode the Star Ferry, an open-air double-decker bus, and the famous tram back up Victoria Peak. We had to see Hong Kong at night from up there too!

Let It Snow!

In the morning while we were waiting to get our picture taken with Mickey & Minnie, we were asked to be the Grand Marshals in the Parade in the evening. Of course, we said YES! We met in the VIP room of City Hall to receive our instructions and some sweet gifts. We each got a pair of Mouse ears with our names sewn on the back, a certificate thanking our family for being in the Parade, a picture with Mickey & the Gang in front of the Castle, and each of the kids got a huge pack of stickers of all the Disney characters. We felt so lucky!


We led the Parade in the Grand Marshal car. We loved it, but our faces hurt by the end of it from smiling and waving the whole time. Now I know how pageant girls feel- ha!


Then the show really started with Disney's Let it Snow Christmas Parade. We all loved seeing the performers dance in their beautiful costumes, and seeing all of the Characters wave to us from the beautiful floats. It ended with a little bit of Disney magic- snow!


This reminded us of our days in Canada, but this snow wasn't freezing. Now that's my kind of snow!


After the snowfall, Kaleb & Noe wanted to eat their own snowball (cotton candy). I have never seen anything disappear so fast! I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't really snow that had melted.

We had such a fun day that began with riding the train into the park, riding all the fun rides, shopping, eating, being a part of the parade, and watching the fantastic fireworks. The kids are already asking when we can go back!

Mouse Ears

What's a trip to Disneyland without mouse ears? Here's some cute ones we got:


Kaleb in his Mickey ears.


Noe in her Minnie ears.


Gavin in his Winnie-the-Pooh ears.
(Don't you just want to squeeze him? He's such a teddy bear!)


Mommy preferred her ears in the form of ice cream.


And Daddy had to take a bite out of his ears. After all, he's always been more of a Donald fan.


I had to take a picture of the ice cream sign to share the flavors with you. They had Sesame Chocolate, Orange Ice, Mickey Mouse Ice Cream, Red Bean, Green Tea Milk, and Black Currant Jelly. The Mickey Mouse and Orange Bars reminded me of home. The Black Currant Bars reminded me of England. And of course, the Sesame, Red Bean, and Green Tea Bars will always remind me of Asia!

It's a small world after all

Of course our vacation had to include a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland! We had a magical day there that began with taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie. And no, we didn't plan on color coordinating with the Mice or as a family for that matter. But we all look great together, don't you think?


I love Noe and Kaleb's sweet expressions in this shot.


One of the things we love about Disneyland is the attention to detail. There is such beautiful landscaping and fun statues. It makes for lots of Kodak moments.


We arrived right as the park opened and stayed until it closed. Who wouldn't enjoy a day at the Magic Kingdom?


The last event we watched was a spectacular display of fireworks shot off from the castle. There's nothing like blazes of fire in the sky choreographed to Disney music.

Hong Kong Temple

Leonard and I were able to do an Endowment Session at the beautiful and sacred Hong Kong Temple.

When we arrived there was a family from India outside taking pictures. We offered to take a picture of all of them together. It was nice to instantly be friends with people we had never met before.

During the session we wore headsets as it was played in Cantonese. It really hit me how Heavenly Father truly loves ALL of his children. It really doesn't matter what country you're from, what language you speak, or what color your skin is- He loves us all!

The BIG Buddha

After we landed in Hong Kong, we checked our luggage into a locker and took a taxi straight to the Tian Tan Buddha. He is the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze buddha. (Yes, to have that many adjectives means there are lots of big buddhas in the world!) He is sitting on a lotus blossom on top of a lush mountain. He symbolizes harmony between man & nature and people & religion.

There are 268 steps to get to the top. We parked the stroller and started our ascent.

Kaleb and Noe posing about half-way up.

We finally reached the top! You can visit the buddha for free, however we bought tickets to go inside. There was beautiful art work, jewelry, souvenirs, and other relics to enjoy.

There are 6 other statues surrounding the buddha praising him and making offerings to him.

Hong Kong has a lot of pollution, so the view was hazy, but it was still beautiful!

The buddha is next to the PoLin Monastery. This is the gated entrance to it.

We ate a FABULOUS meal at the monastery. Finally, I got to have the Chinese food I've been craving since we moved to Taiwan. However, I have no idea what it was. The Chinese claim to be the best eaters because they'll eat anything from the land, sea, or sky. However, I am not that brave. Being at the monastery, this restaurant was vegetarian so I didn't have to be brave- I just got to enjoy it, yum! Since we don't drink tea we washed it all down with hot water- another thing I'll fondly remember.

After our meal we did a little shopping at the nearby stores. We found some darling Chinese costumes for the kids. We said goodbye and rode the gondola down the mountain. What a sight!