Monday, September 14th, found us ready to commit to a gym. At first we thought they wouldn't let us work out since our paperwork wasn't done, but they flagged us through. Terry came back to fill out the paperwork later and eventually I came back to have my photo taken.
After lunch I biked to the store and shopped for the whole week. Then Terry picked me up with the van to carry everything back. It worked so well; we'll have to keep doing it. Previously I would bike to and from the store every day or two and carry heavy bags on my shoulders.
Terry went to staff meeting where they handed out some gifts. They stopped in the water filtration business under the church office (where we got our filtration from too) and met this cute kitty.
The previous weekend Terry purchased Taiwan Monopoly and that evening he and the kids started playing. Ezra didn't want to (b/c he never wants to try new things...like his mom), complained daddy was going to win...and then ended up winning at the end of the week. Ha!
On Tuesday, September 15th, we walked the ten minutes to the gym in a misty rain.
We did a really tough HIIT workout. It tried to kill us. I was trying to capture the sweat on my forehead.
After we got cleaned up, three of us went to Nanson's for a summer camp debrief and had a good discussion. Samuel had a swim meeting over lunch. Terry worked on his lesson for that night's EC Talk in Taipei. The boys went to their practices and Terry left early to buy some more swim shorts for Samuel. He caught this amazing sunset at the train station.
After Terry sent that photo, I raced upstairs to our roof to see the sunset. So beautiful. It makes me understand why people like to live on the top floors of a building.
The apartment under construction across from us took the tarp netting stuff off the floors above 10. It gives me hope that maybe they'll remove the ugly blue tarp at our level soon.
On Wednesday, September 16th, we woke up to a career fair photo from Noah.
I think the previous day's HIIT workout really took it out of us, as well as a late night b/c of Taipei travel, so we did not work out. I had a coffee date with Claire, who led BSF last year. It was such a lovely time together.
Terry went back to Chang Gung University to attempt his first English Corner. He had advertised for this last week and we had hopes that some new people would come. But alas, that did not happen. Only the girl from last week came.
They went through his lesson anyway and then split up to evangelize. Terry met and talked to this student from Vietnam.
That evening we were having friends over. Evie made brownies to share and when I asked the kids to set the table she did this. 😂 She's had a light but gunky cough for a couple weeks. I'm wonder if she needs meds b/c she wilts too quickly.
Wesley, Summer, and Elio came for dinner and were super smart in bringing some cat treats to placate Porky. He LOVED them. They have cats so they get it.
Summer was surprised at how interested Porky was in Elio. Porky seems to like lively boys b/c they're entertaining to him. That's my working hypothesis anyway.
I made a ton of delicious pasta. We had a nice time together.
Thursday, September 17th, was my birthday!
After taking the previous day off, we were ready to go back to the gym and took this photo on our way out.
It's a frequent occurrence in our house that we just happen to notice the time every morning and/or evening when it's 9:17. When we notice it's 9:17, either in the morning or in the evening, Terry always wishes me "happy birthday" since it matches 09/17. So I took a screenshot of 9:17am on 09/17.
And then Terry took my picture of the time. Afterwards I had BSF on Zoom.
Noah was a good and dutiful son and called me. He was stressed out and sorry he forgot it was my birthday so I tried to encourage him. He's got a lot on his plate this semester.
For my birthday lunch, Terry took Evie's scooter to Old Street, where he got my favorite Taiwanese sandwiches. We can't read Chinese so we did this for ordering. 😆
There he goes!
Delicious!
We were still hungry afterwards, though.
But we weren't for long since we went to Swell for a family coffee date. Ezra and Evie got iced mochas.
Samuel didn't want a drink and opted for only a cinnamon roll.
Evie didn't love her mocha b/c she only loves sugar. But she did like the roll.
Also delicious.
We brought fun conversation topic cards and had a nice time laughing. I also learned that I shouldn't have coffee twice in one day (I had a small one during BSF) b/c I was quite amped up and strangely annoyed by little things.
I saw these pretty blooms on our walk back to the apartment. The boys had gone to their practices and Evie had to run a couple errands, one of which included buying a box cake...which we recently discovered at our baking store. Previously we couldn't find them anywhere.
Evie spent the rest of the afternoon making me a cake and I must say, it's so nice that she's old enough to - and actually wants to - help in the kitchen. When the boys got home, we loaded up in the van to drive just a mile down the road to the next train stop where The Diner is. It was our third visit. We debated over driving to the restaurant b/c it's so close - the train would be too expensive for just one stop and we could have also biked - but Terry really wanted to be able to drive me. He assured me it would be fine. He ate his words though, sort of. Ha! It was particularly stressful. There were hundreds of people walking absolutely everywhere amidst scooters jumping out every which way and buses pushing themselves into traffic. And then we missed our turn and had to go around the block. I told Terry four times that we missed the turn but he literally couldn't hear me b/c he was so worried about the scooters. It's like he gets triggered with them, hahaha. It really does take all of his brainpower to drive in these crazy conditions.
We got burgers again b/c American food is just so nice.
After we ate, we walked around looking for the booth with the earrings Evie and I liked, but couldn't find it. We did admire this Jimny, though. They're so little and fun.
We bought a dozen fancy Krispy Kreme donuts and headed home. Much less stressful this time.
I had never seen this building on the edge of Linkou lit up at night. It's so pretty.
Samuel was pretty tired out from practice, catching up on his Computer Science homework (he missed a day of school last Friday from Vida), and anxiety. Porky is our stress reliever whether he likes the snuggles or not (he doesn't).
Evie made the box cake and then the frosting from scratch, just like I do. It was delicious!
And I had a nice little pile of gifts...
...which turned out to be a succulent, homemade cat earrings that look like cherries, a time-turner keychain, and some lifting gloves. Evie also got me a cute little cat necklace.
On Friday, September 18th, Terry and I put off working out until we had dropped Samuel off at the school at 9:45am for his swim meet. He took the bus (again) to Taichung (again), just like last weekend when he had Vida.
Then Terry and I did leg day, followed by some more grocery shopping.
At home I manic-made a pot of chili for dinner and got cleaned up. We left at noon-ish to drive ourselves down to MAC (Morrison Taichung). Evie's friend, Anna, came along and they had a nice time discussing Evie's ideas for a novel. We arrived right on time for the meet to start at 2pm. Samuel and his relay team prayed before competing.
Anna and Evie with their matching Frangipani (aka Plumeria) flowers from the beautiful and fragrant tree out front of the school.
He went second for his relay and swam the freestyle. I think they all did.
He didn't dive and turn but just touched the wall and turned around. He looked good!
Here he's getting out as number three goes.
Here's the girl's relay team getting ready to go. Anna's sister, Lydia, is last in line and Evie's friend Moriah that we had over a few weeks ago is there too.
Here's Samuel walking to another event. Samuel has never swam competitively, but that's one thing I love about Morrison - you don't have to be amazing to play. All Samuel has ever done was swimming lessons and we never took him high enough to gain any real skills. So I was pleasantly surprised at how much he's improved! He did well!
Also he has like zero body fat. 😆
After finishing an event.
The pool is only 25 meters, so they had to do a lot of turns. He swam four freestyle races and then two breaststroke.
After his final race, we left campus to go to 7-Eleven for some snacks. We also grabbed some drinks at the MAC cafe. Yum yum.
7 had this adorable succulent terrarium.
And now I want one.
Beautiful flower outside 7.
Samuel was done and just watching the rest of the meet when we returned.
Anna took a family picture for us.
Samuel and Mac watching together. There was a whole group around them and they got really loud for their most competitive racer, Harrison.
Here's the whole team at the end of the night. They swam the next day, too but we weren't going to be able to go down to watch since Evie had a visa run.
This might be their only meet of the season, and it's only been a month! That's another thing I like about Morrison sports - it doesn't take over your entire life the way they do in the States. It's very chill and all about the fun and experience.
We drove home with minimal traffic and sang most of the way. This ferris wheel looked so cool as it changed lights.
We got home at 8:15ish and were eating by 8:30. I just had to heat up the chili and we were all set. Anna stayed to try out the chili.
We chilled and ate some birthday cake and then went right to bed. It was a very big day and we were super tired.
Saturday, September 19th, was Evie's big visa run. She has to exit the country every three months since she is on a tourist visa. Meanwhile, Samuel had spent the night at MAC and was continuing with swimming events all day. We didn't hear from him the whole time!
On our way to the airport to drop Evie off, Noah sent the art project he just completed of a building at Mines.
Here's the original. He did so great! He's always wanted to learn to draw but never took the time at home. Now he's in an actual class in college.
We decided to drive Evie to the airport instead of taking the train. On the way we saw, again, this giant buddha (?) statue. I vividly remember seeing it last summer when we first got here from the airport. It seemed so strange and foreign. It really is enormous.
I always sit in front to help Terry decipher the maps. You can see why he'd need my help!
Evie was totally dreading this trip...b/c she has to do it alone. We found out that b/c Terry keeps leaving the country every three months, he (and we) can't get Taiwanese insurance. He has to stay in the country for six months straight and not leave every three months with Evie. He had planned to take this trip with Evie but cancelled his flight. He did it with her last time, so we were confident she could do it alone. But she was very nervous. Here she is walking slowly into the airport.
Heading up the flat-escalator-things.
Walking up to security.
Praying and saying goodbye made her emotional, but it was actually good to get some of that fear out. She walked through the security door and didn't even look back. Good girl.
We got a couple bobas and sat until she was at her correct gate. They changed the gate on her, but she noticed in time and made it to the correct one just in time for boarding. Another win!
Driving home while Evie was flying to Hong Kong. The elevated highways remind me of ancient temple pillars. Terry said they were like giant aquifers, and they kind of are! The cars flow like water.
She landed in Hong Kong!
Evie was in Hong Kong, Samuel was in Taichung, and Noah was in South Dakota. How's that for spread out?
Boom, baby. She did it.
Now came the tougher part. She had to go through immigration/customs in Terminal One, change to Terminal Two to go back through security, go back to Terminal One, and then find her gate. Hence this face, whilst riding what the airport calls a "people mover," AKA an underground shuttle.
But she did it! She found her gate with enough time to search for food, which she also found. And it was her favorite - ramen!
Well-earned dessert.
After our dinner at home, we went out for a walk. There's always this guy there selling fruit.
We ended up walking to and through the mall and followed this lady in. Do we need a backpack like this for Porky? 😂
People are completely obsessed with pets here. It makes me sad. Taiwan literally has the lowest birthrate in the world. God loves children. It's Satan who doesn't. God loves human flourishing - he commanded it. He wants the earth full. Satan loves death. He has convinced most modern people that children are the enemy instead of God's blessings.
While Terry and Ezra were looking at Legos, I walked the entire mall. I had never done that before. And then we walked out through the outdoor portion. It's pretty out there, but usually so hot. It was a lovely evening.
I never noticed this fountain before.
We left at 8:30ish to go pick Samuel up from Morrison and also to help drive two of his girl teammates home. Then we turned around and booked it to the airport to get Evie. Yay, she made it!
Since we texted so much that day, we should've switched to the Taiwan Fam chat we have. But we didn't. Therefore Noah woke up to 114 texts.
It rained at home! Thank you Lord! It's been a terrible drought there.
On Sunday, we did nothing except for church. Evie helped with preschool children's church and then went out with friends for a dumpling lunch. She was exhausted afterwards and needed a kitty snuggle.
Porky, however, does not like to snuggle. She forced him for a while. That evening we had pizza and finished off the OG Hunger Games movies.
