Gettin' Trunky

We've been in Taiwan for almost 3 1/2 years now. Now that we're down to the final 6 months, I am ready to pack our "trunks" and hit the road. When the time comes to actually move I will be very sad. I will miss Taiwan a lot, especially the wonderful friends here, but for now I find myself daydreaming about our future in Canada quite often.

First of all, I dream about our home. Len will go back in April to house hunt and will hopefully be able to make an offer on our first house. We've been getting e-mails from our realtor and I've been salivating to get the ball rolling. I have to remember to be patient (my most lacking quality). We gave away ALL of our furniture before we moved here, because it was all old hand-me-downs anyway, plus we didn't want to store it for 4 years. I'm nervous and excited about redecorating. I figure the easiest place to start is the bedrooms, and I can do a little of that planning from here, so I've begun. JCPenney is having an amazing bedding sale right now, so I went ahead and ordered a couple of things.

This will be for Leonard's and my new King-size bed! I can't wait for us to finally have a new bedroom set of our own too. I originally wanted something in pale seaside blues & greens with bronze accents, but this champagne & taupe number was marked down to such a great deal I just couldn't pass it up! I think we'll paint our walls in the seaside shade though, instead of the periwinkle they have in the picture.

This will be Noe's new bedding, and she LOVES it! I want to paint her walls black on the bottom third, pink on the top 2/3's, and then have a white chair rail to divide. She'll inherit my old childhood furniture, but I'm going to paint it white with black trim and the little yellow flowers will become pink. I've already been sketching out the paintings I want to do for her too. I can't wait to live near Michael's again!

I haven't bought the boys' bedding yet, because we don't know if all 3 will be in the same room or if Kaleb will have his own room, while the 2 little boys share. Anyway, I love this set (as does Kaleb) and I hope it's still available once we know our future sleeping arrangements. I want to paint the bottom part of the walls tan, the top denim blue, with a crimson chair rail in the middle. He'll inherit my & Leonard's old furniture that I want to paint crimson too. I've also sketched some paintings for him, and I love those rustic stars shown in the picture.

If all 3 boys share a room, then Kaleb & Gavin will get bunk beds with matching twin quilts. Baby #4 will get this little plaid number to coordinate with them.

If Gavin and baby boy share a room I want to do something in these colors- turquoise, olive, and brown. I haven't sketched yet, but I'm thinking of doing frogs, turtles, and dragonflies OR dinosaurs. The little guys will get new furniture too, thank goodness there's an IKEA in Ottawa!

*Of course, with all of my daydreaming I've also been thinking about having more girls. Who knows if it will happen, but if it does I'm already itching to do their room in lavender, aqua, and cream. With lots of flowers, butterflies, and ladybugs of course. I'm sure I'll post more later as I create visions for our living room, dining room, office, and playroom etc.

**I've also been daydreaming about my "Dream Jen" self. You know the woman I want to be, but have so far to go to be her. I see our move as a new beginning where I can set new goals and work to become her. Some different areas I've been thinking about are:

FAMILY- I want to schedule a monthly date night for Len & I; a monthly parent & child date night; a monthly family outing; and re-institute Friday family night pizza and a movie.

CHILDREN- I want each child to have one extracurricular activity again, and I hope Kaleb & Noe can start taking piano lessons too. I also want to have a weekly playgroup for the little boys, and a bi-weekly craft & bake group for the big kids and their friends to make a seasonal craft and festive treat for each month.

SOCIAL- We have great friends in Ottawa, and I am SO excited to get to spend time with them again. I'm looking forward to being a real (and not just an honorary) member of our monthly book club again. I also want to have a monthly scrap/craft night. I like the analogy of craft nights being the modern "quilting bees", let's face it- it's just more enjoyable to create with friends than by yourself. I also want to have a monthly picnic/dinner with friends too. We will still miss our families and our other friends too, so I hope I can continue to keep in touch with all of our loved ones.

CRAFTY- Besides the monthly craft night I want to have, I will still have a ton of projects to work on on my own. Ten years ago, I took some tole-painting classes and bought a lot of unfinished wood for cute holiday/seasonal decor. They're in storage in Canada, and I can't wait to get them all back. I'm giving myself an ultimatum though, if I don't finish them within a year, I will donate the wood to someone else who will finish them. Also, with all of the interior decorating I want to do, I want to just focus on one room a month. Even though I dream of a picture-perfect home, I love the process of decorating and want to savor the journey. With our first home and yard, I also want to try my hand at planting a small (very small) garden.

PERSONAL- I just want to set daily and weekly routines for exercise, spiritual nourishment, cleaning, grocery shopping, and cooking. Len and I have been talking about a new way of eating we want to start having and I am excited to jump in. I also want to be more consistent in our holiday traditions, but also enjoy the everyday more.

***I know there is no magic wand that will transform me into my dream self, but I do think it's important to dream and set goals, and then work to make the transformation without the need of a magic wand. You know, the self-fulfilling prophecy thing. Yeah, I believe in it!

Nostalgia

I got tagged in this photo on facebook, and wanted to add it here. It's from the last home football game ever at (the original) Las Vegas High School- 1992. Senior cheerleaders- standing: Gemma, Lezlie, Leslie, ME; kneeling: Patrece, Bethany; (not pictured: Shaughna, & Rocky).

It's crazy to think this picture was taken HALF of my lifetime ago. Time sure flies!!!

43 out of 100

I've been getting several "bucket list" e-mails lately, and I saw this on my friend's blog, so I thought I'd add it here. If you put it on your blog, please let me know so I don't miss it!

Copy the list and highlight the ones (mine are Red) that are true about you!

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a Praying Mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21.Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Talked your way out of a ticket

Here's to completing the other 57!

The Date's Been Set!

My sister, Mandy and her fiance, Coleman will be getting married March 28th! Yahoo! I can't wait for their wedding!!!

The Music Man

Gavin is in his 4th semester of Kindermusik now, and he just loves it. He loves his teacher, his friends, and my friend Lori (as he always goes and sits in her lap after each activity.) Like his big brother and sister, he loves music- to sing, to play instruments, and to dance to it.


The tambourine is one of his favorite instruments because you can pat it like a drum or shake it like a maraca.


He also loves the xylophone,

look at him play!

Once he got the jingle bells, he was through with sitting still- he just had to dance! We love all the music our little man makes!

Baby Blue Ballerina

Noe is a beautiful free-style dancer. She moves her body in amazing ways to the rhythm of any music. She is in her third year of ballet and is really enjoying it. However, she also enjoys being a social butterfly, so sometimes her teacher Ms. Julie has to remind her to concentrate on dancing more and talking less. Last week after class, Noe told me that she did really well at paying attention. Way to go girl!


First position,


Second position,

Third position,

Fourth position,

and Fifth position. We just love to watch our twinkle toes dance!

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting

Last year Kaleb played all 3 sports and really enjoyed it, but it was hard because his practices and games took up all of our Saturdays. I asked him if he would be interested in taking a Martial Arts class instead this year, since they are offered week days. He was very interested in doing that, so we signed him up for Kung Fu since it is the Chinese martial art and we are in Taiwan after all. (His school also offers Karate, Taekwondo, and Aikido.)


This is his practice uniform, and the characters on the back mean "the art of self-defense and attack." His performance jacket has the same characters on the back too.


Traditional Kung Fu doesn't use the colored-belt system, but our school has adapted it so the students can chart their progress. Kaleb started as a white belt and in December had his first test...

...and now he is a yellow belt! The boy has learned to throw a good punch and...

...kick! We are very proud of his hard work!

This summer we loved watching "Kung Fu Panda." To listen to one of our favorite songs, Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting simply click on it and enjoy! Noe's first year in ballet they did a dance to that song that was so cute (can you picture little 4 year old girls shouting "Hoo! Hah!") Their school also offers Kung Fu Dance, but it doesn't start until 2nd grade- bummer!

Just a little KISS

The only song I know from KISS is "Rock and Roll All Nite," but they are an iconic band with their crazy make-up and hair, and Gene Simmons' surgically-enhanced, crazy-long tongue! Thursday night was Len's WeiYa (Chinese New Year party for all of the Canadian and Taiwanese staff). The theme this year was "Rock and Roll" and he and his friend, Francis were asked to be the Masters of Ceremony for the event. The boys wanted to really make an impression for their other friends and colleagues so they decided to dress up as KISS. Len said the party was a lot of fun, and they won the award for best costume. Of course, Len forgot our camera but there were lots of pictures snapped that night. As soon as I get some more I'll add them to this post. Who knew I was married to a rocker?

The Name Game

I think naming a child is an awesome gift that parents get. However, it is also challenging to choose a good name that both parents agree on and one that you hope your child will grow up enjoying. Before we had any children, Len and I decided we wanted to give them a first name that was unique to our families, but a middle name that was shared with a family member. We decided the boys would get a middle name from Len's side of the family and the girls would get one from my side.

Noe's name is probably our most unusual name as it is traditionally for a boy, but it is our daughter's name. We came across it very shortly after we were married when we read the Old Testament together. In Numbers 27 it tells of the daughters of Zelophehad and mentions all 5 of them by name. Neither one of us had heard this story (and it is again mentioned in Joshua 17- it's a great story showing that Heavenly Father loves His daughters just as much as He loves His sons), and we were amazed because we both grew up spending every Sunday at church, went to seminary for 4 years, had numerous religion classes at BYU, and Len was a full-time missionary for 2 years. Anyway, one of the names was Noah. At first we thought it was odd for a girl, but then we fell in love with it and dreamed of our own future daughter with that name. We decided to spell it Noe (with an accent acute, but blogger won't do the accent marks), because that is the French spelling of it. We thought it looked more feminine spelled this way, plus it's a link to Leonard's mission in France. Her middle name is Lynn, just like mine.

Kaleb's name first made it to my "list" when I was in high school. I watched the movie, "Sarah, Plain and Tall" and just fell in love with the little character of Caleb with his chubby cheeks and curly hair. When we found out we were having boy & girl twins Caleb worked with Noe as they were both people mentioned in the Bible who lived during Moses' time. We didn't want to do the alliteration or rhyming thing with them, but we did want their names to have a connection. We decided to follow my family's tradition of spelling it with a "K" though. His middle name is Michael, just like Leonard's.

Gavin's name made my list during my BYU days. Along came a band called Bush that had a dreamy lead-singer, Gavin Rossdale. I had never heard the name before and thought it was cool. So yes, my sweet baby love is named after a rock star. His middle name is Arland, after Leonard's father.

Now it's time for us to name baby #4. His middle name will be Gerhard, after Leonard's grandpa, so _____ Gerhard Reil is what we're working with. It seems that I come up with the names and then Len has veto power. I told him that that's not fair, if he doesn't like my names, then he has to put forth some names of his own. Well, he busted out our baby names book and has started a list. I decided I should read through it as well and come up with my own list. At the top is Teague or Teagan. I originally discovered Teagan, but then my adorable nephew, Keegan was born. I then learned Teague is the original Irish name, and Teagan is just a form of it. I like Teague better than Teagan now, but I think Teagan Gerhard Reil rolls off the tongue easier than Teague Gerhard Reil. I'm thinking maybe his real name should be Teagan, but we'll call him Teague? For those of you who have children that go by a middle name or a nick name, how complicated is it with school paperwork, medical stuff, etc to have your child go by a name that is not the official name on the birth certificate? Len likes Teague, but he's not 100% yet, so I wanted to put a poll here with some other names I like. Please vote for your favorite, or if you vote for "other" please leave a comment with your suggestions. We appreciate your help!

*Len vetoed Daris, Harper, & Hogan, so I wanted to replace them on the poll with Boden, Taron, & Xavier, however I can't edit the poll since it already has votes. Len also wanted to veto Dylan, Preston, & Taylor, but they got votes and I like them. I'm sure after Len finishes his list the names will change again. It's a good thing we still have lots of time to decide!

Who's the Boss?

Last Friday was "Family Day" at Len's office, which meant all of the school-aged children were invited to spend a day at work with their mom &/or dad. Kaleb and Noe spent the whole day with Len, and Gavin & I joined them for the tour of the 4 departments and lunch at McDonald's. The above pictures are of them sitting in the "head honcho's" (head of mission) chair. Future Ambassadors in training! The kids wrote an article for "The Reil Gazette" about their adventures that I will add here once it gets formatted correctly.

Good Reads

I started an account with Good Reads, but I haven't been good about updating it. I have most of the books I read in 2008 on this blog, so I wanted to do a final one with the rest of the books I read last year. I will put the books I read in 2009 on my Creative Pursuits blog.


The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan and has a REALLY difficult scene to read. However, I really loved this book. Some people are just good no matter what their circumstances and that always inspires me (of course, some people are just evil no matter their circumstances and that terrifies me.)


The Peacegiver is a parable-type story that teaches ALL relationships can be strengthened if we strengthen our relationship with the Lord first.


The Alchemist is another parable-type story that teaches that we only have one life, so we MUST find out what our purpose is and then accomplish it.

The Wednesday Letters is a love story with an AMAZING example of Christ-like forgiveness.

Turn About- if you lived to be 100 and then could be young again, would you do it?

The Thief Lord is just a fun adventure set in the romantic Venice, Italy. Another example of the wide-range of humanity.

Candice Olson is possibly my favorite interior designer ever! I started watching her show "Divine Design" back in 2002 and I love every room she creates. I got her book Candice Olson On Design to help me decorate our new home when we move this summer.

I enjoy baking every now and then, but I don't really enjoy cooking. I want to get better though, so I had to pick up The Essential Mormon Cookbook.

Essential Mormon Celebrations will not only help me become a better cook, but also help me establish more consistent traditions with my family.

Leonard's mother gave her (Len & Steve's) collection of Sweet Pickles books to my little brother Kristopher (who was 7) when Len & I got married. My mother has saved them all these years, and this summer I read them all to my kids. They're cute little stories to teach good manners.

Let Him Do It With Simplicity

I just wanted to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2009! I actually can't believe it's 2009 (pronounced two thousand and nine) and that next year it will be 2010 (pronounced twenty ten). Where has this decade gone? I remember getting an e-mail once that said, "Life is like toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes." I hope I am nowhere near the end of my life yet, I hope I'm not even to the middle yet, but man it seems like that calendar does flip fast these days.

With the new year, of course I have new goals too. In November I taught the Teachings for our Times lesson on the talk by Elder L. Tom Perry with the same name as this post. There were 4 main areas where Elder Perry encouraged us to simplify our lives. I've decided to base my goals this year on those 4 things.

First- Food
We all need food to survive. Feeding my family healthy, balanced meals has been challenging in Taiwan. I'm just not into having to shop at 4 different stores to find all the ingredients to cook meals like we're used to at home. Basically, if they don't have it at Costco we don't eat it. Yes, it's great that we have Costco here, but don't think for one second it's exactly like Costco back home. There are import items for us amongst the many Asian items that we don't eat. I can't complain though because my sweet husband does the majority of the cooking. I've made a goal once me move to Canada to take over that "job" for the family, but until then my goal is just to plan weekly menus again. My honey said that will help him a lot now, and I know it will help me once we move.

Second- Clothing
Laundry is actually one of my favorite chores, and I think our clothing is already pretty simple (I only iron if I absolutely have too). My goal here is to get warm maternity clothes (my friends Lori and Kay lent me some, and my mom is mailing me some more) and to get stocked up on baby clothes again. All of the places we've lived have not had adequate storage for me to keep the clothes my older children outgrow for the younger ones. I'm sad I don't have all of Gavin's baby stuff, but this new baby will be born in the opposite time of year, plus Gavin's old clothes did go to an orphanage so I feel good about that. I just need to get on the ball and go shopping.

Third- Shelter
I have OCD tendencies and I love having a place for everything and everything in its place. I've struggled in this area for a while. Last year, I wanted to focus on keeping the front rooms tidied each day, but letting the bedrooms go to just once a week (I was tired of picking up after 5 people everyday). However, that just didn't work for me. I like EVERY room tidied EVERY day. My kids are good helpers when I'm consistent at encouraging them. The problem is I'm not always consistent and find it's sometimes easier just to do it myself. I know this isn't doing them any favors though, as they need to learn how to clean up after themselves and how to work. It's not doing me any favors either, so I'm going to try really hard at being consistent every day with the tidying and every week with the deep-down cleaning.

Fourth- Fuel
I actually have four areas that I need daily fuel in. First, prayer- I need to make sure I am saying my prayers at least every morning and every night. Second, spiritual nourishment- every day I need to read from either the Scriptures, Teachings of Presidents of the Church, or a General Conference talk. Third, reflection- I need to write in my journal to record my progress and to motivate me to keep going. Fourth, exercise- I started exercising again on Monday (after going on vacation, breaking my toe, having a rough first trimester, and with the Christmas holidays- it had been almost 7 months since I was exercising regularly). I hate doing it, but my body needs it, so I will exercise 4-5 times a week. I also need to encourage my family to fuel themselves daily.

This year will be exciting with our welcoming baby #4 to the family, saying goodbye to Asia our home for the past 4 years, moving half-way around the world again, hopefully buying our first home, and hopefully getting to spend lots of quality time with our extended family and friends. Sometimes life seems like a whirlwind, but I'm so grateful for it!