...Amanda Buhler! Congrats! Len went to the AIT (A Plus In Taste) Bakery today (not to be confused with the American Institute in Taiwan) and picked up 2 bags of fresh peanut candy. We've already dug in to ours, and I'll get yours to you ASAP Amanda. Thanks to all who participated!
Yep, today is my one year anniversary to entering the blogging world. In commemoration of the event, I'll have a little give away. Since it's Halloween time, that means candy time! So I'll send you a bag of this yummy Taiwanese peanut nougat candy that I really like! I don't have a picture of it (the above picture is just to get your attention). Anyway, leave me a comment and you'll be entered to win. I'll draw the winner a week from now. Good luck and don't be shy!
Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be
sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and
appreciate the kind way you always handle things.
Saturday night, my sister Amanda and her sweetheart Coleman got engaged! Coincidentally, that day was the 5th anniversary of their first date when they went to Homecoming together as Seniors. I am SOOOO happy for them! It looks like they're shootin' for January 10th for their wedding day. I'm so excited, I just LOVE weddings!
Last May I was driving the kids home from school when "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield came on the radio. All 3 of my kids started rocking out, and I thought it was so cute. When we flew to the States in June, one of our very first stops was to Target so we could buy the CD. We listened to it all week in our rental van, and our whole family fell in love with every track. Before our vacation was over we decided to buy her first CD "Unwritten" too and we found an import CD "N.B." Well, Thursday night was our monthly haul to Costco. Since it's a 45+ minute drive both ways we get to listen to a lot of music. Of course we were listening to Natasha. I just wanted to share my favorite song of hers right now, "I wanna have your babies" (click on song title to hear it). It might be my favorite because I'm pregnant, or it might be my favorite because my cute husband sings it to me. Whose tunes are you lovin' right now?
Kaleb, Noe, and Gavin got to go to the most amazing birthday party for their friends Minji, Katrina, and Berkeley. Not only was the magician fun, and the cakes yummy, but the venue was awesome!
Today I saw a commercial with the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco in it. I thought if I ever live there, I'd love to have a nice picture like that. That led me to think of all the places Len and I have lived since we've been married and that led to an internet search for all of these fun pictures. Enjoy!
Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Boise/Eagle, Idaho, USA
Las Vegas/Henderson, Nevada, USA
Len had to go back to work, and Kaleb & Noe had to go back to school, so Gavin & I played tour guide to Mom, Papa, & Kris. We took them to see the Taipei 101, the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, and of course to our little Temple Square. The Taipei LDS Temple is right next door to our church building, it's so great to see it each week!
There was no school on Monday, because it was a typhoon day. Tuesday was scheduled to be Noe's class picture day. I got her up even earlier than usual to spend 45 minutes spiral curling her hair. Half-way through, she tells me she doesn't want me to finish curling her hair because she's bored. Sorry Charlie! You can't go to school with only half of your head curly. I remind her that school picture day is only once a year, and she can tough it out. Later that afternoon I get an e-mail from her teacher. Because of the typhoon their class pictures are re-scheduled for the following day. Ugh! She also sent me a second e-mail apologizing knowing that I'd have to re-curl her hair all over again the next day. I didn't mind curling her hair again (Noe didn't complain too much either, but so much for once a year), but I was embarrassed to send her to school two days in a row wearing the same outfit. Oh well!
Kaleb wanted fancy hair too, so he got a little hawk.
I know they're mine, but I think they're cute. I hope all parents feel that way about their children.
We're in the middle of our second typhoon in two weeks, and I'm ready for JangMi to move on. I got through 123 e-mails in my inbox today, so now my thoughts turn to my blog. I'm so far behind with it! From our summer vacation I still need to finish Idaho and then do all of Nevada. We've been back in Taiwan for a month and a half, and we just got back from a week in Thailand with my parents and little brother. My broken toe is still swollen and weird, but I've been up and about pretty much back to normal. Unfortunately, while we were in Thailand I ripped half of my toenail from my big toe on my good foot, so now I have 2 gimp feet. When did I become such a klutz? I used to think I had some grace. The morning sickness arrived 4 days after I passed the test. However, it's always 24/7 sickness with me. Does anyone have any good remedies out there? I'd love to try them! I really don't want to sound like another pity party though. Life is WONDERFUL, so I really can't complain. I hope you are all doing well, and I hope to get caught up soon on my blog and be back at reading yours regularly again too. Please say hi though!
It was our final day in Thailand, and we definitely saved the best for last! We booked a 9-hour James Bond Discovery Tour, that was just amazing. We started off by riding long tail boats out into the Andaman Sea to view some of the hundreds of islands of the Phang-Nga Bay National Park.
Our first stop was Koh Talu where we boarded canoes to explore some of the beautiful limestone caves and mangrove forests. We even saw some mud skippers. They're crazy fish that use their fins to crawl around the mudflats and exposed roots of the mangrove trees. It was so beautiful and peaceful. My little Kaleb even got to help paddle for a bit.
