Family Camping At It's Finest!!!

After years of hoping, the coveted "Group Site" was available on the weekend of the annual Boyer family camping trip and boy did this family fill it!!! What a blast! We enjoyed the family camping trip last summer, but something about San Clemente just equates to summer so I was stoked we were able to experience such a perfect ending to our California summer! Here's a glimpse of the action between July 22-26... just before we had to pack up and fly out!!! Nice timing!

Pre-Beach Activities

Each morning after breakfast we would gather in a rather large circle and a different person/rep from a family led the rest of us in a devotional time. This was the first year there a bit of organization and the topics worked together to form a better understanding of who God is and how we fit into and care for his community. One of the mornings we even had a baby dedication - it's a perk of having an uncle as a pastor and a family the size of a church!

Amber and Janel wanted to have Evan, Hannah and Elizabeth dedicated in front of the whole family so it was a special time to pray for these two families.

Evan with his loving care-givers

On the final morning, Matt organized for us all to do some 'team bonding' as a demonstration of how we as a family can build a stronger community...

Family Huddle

Steph did a great job of pointing out the creative power of God... while her assistants shared tangible evidences of that power.

After our spiritual input, most days the crew would go for a walk to the local market to get some sugar input.

The shelves are overflowing with temptations for hungry little campers...

Can you imagine being the shop owner when a group this size walks in??? Good thing we're all honest folk... and we came everyday... otherwise he may be suspicious.

Beach Time Activities

Before the sugar wore off, lunches were packed along with all the beach gear and down the bluff we treaded and along the beach to the left where we set up our secondary camp for the day.

 The San Clemente Junior Lifeguards have a muddy tradition which the younger rellies took advantage of.

 Surf's up!!!

There's always a bit of rough-housing going on in this family... even at the beach! But soft sand is fairly forgiving!

 Of course there are plenty of card games...

 sand...

 infamous Tootsie Pops...

 water play...

and the introduction of new babies to the sun's UV rays!

This year there was also a bit of dodge ball, bouy swimming, napping, reading, snacking, sunburn, body-surfing and of course general happy memory making.

Back At Camp

So when we'd had enough surf, sun and sand, we'd head back up the hill and prep for the night time activities...

There were plenty of happy grandparents and babies enjoying their cuddles,

 lots of cousins catching up,

plenty of s'mores eaten,

cross-generational relating,  

game organizing,

encouragement,

photo-taking,

and just simple quality time being spent.

 

It was my mom's 61st birthday on the day we arrived so my dad brought down the party!!! What fun to celebrate mom's birthday three years in a row!!!

Helena loved the party more than grandma!

 

There were a few clear sunsets and one absolute stunner!

Elijah is a bit spoilt now, but with two new additions arriving in Uncle Mark's family, I'm sure the love will get spread around - still very thickly which is how it's meant to be!

Ambrose girls

 

One of the most fun desserts were the "helmets" Jason and Amanda prepared - they required a whole lot of sitting around chatting while waiting, but once cooked - thoroughly enjoyed.

And most nights we stayed up later than we should've playing cards and catching up with our uncles and aunts... but it's always worth it (unless you lose).

Besides organizing the devotional time, a couple cousins also organized the dinner menu so that only a few families each night had to prepare. You would've thought we were at a 5-star restaurant... well planned, Tamara and crew!

Amber and Evan enjoying a moment!

 

We even had good friends coming in at nights to visit the families... it was a privilege to see the Adair's two years in a row!!

And a surprise to meet Miette! What a lovely girl with great parents!

Helena and Hunter did well in the tent, but if they got up too early we'd send them out to Grandpa's tent!!!

Sleepy head

And Grandpa and Grandma were of course in their hay-day with such a grand turn-out!!! What a wonderful memory - what a blessing to have such a family!

A Lot Can Change In 5 Years!

But don't worry, we're still Tony & Jen (plus Hunter & Helena) and though we may feel a bit like this on the inside for a while as we re-settle in New Zealand, we're looking forward to a new chapter in our lives! We've really enjoyed these past 5 years in Taiwan - we've experienced so much, and now we are expecting God to continue to teach us and use us as we return to Wellington.

(SO, you're wondering why we're dressed like weird blue freaks, right? Our church asked us to host the "Torch News" our last month here and it was an Avatar theme... say no more... you could imagine the chuckles in the congregation at the Chinese speaking blue foreigners... yep, it was funny)

Action-Packed Days

So after that mini-vacation in Hualian, Tony had to really hit the books - or hit the computer in the library as you do nowadays. Thankfully, Anna and Sharon go to the local seminary so he just tagged along with them to use the library resources. So while he was earnestly trying to pull together his thoughts and research on The Kingdom Of God for his New Testament paper (on which he got an A, or was it an A+ ?) I tried to keep the kids out of Anna and Sharon's worldly possessions by getting out of the apartment as much as I could. And thankfully I had a couple really good destinations to get to:


1) Tilly's 3rd Birthday party - Friday, June 11

Anna did a great job preparing a feast and providing fun for a houseload of toddlers... and gosh, it really helped having something specific to get out of the house for... and wow - what a special something!

There was a bit of a "Hungry Caterpillar" theme going on and the kids just looked so adorable in their little Eric Carle party hats!

Of course now that the majority of the kids are 3+ games are a hit at parties... and they all seemed to enjoy this version of a classic! Though Hunter preferred to look where he was aiming... not really catching the essence of the game - but hey - at least he likes to see where he's going.

and there was no way Mei Mei was sitting back to let the big kids have all the fun... she may have been the last one with a turn but she was determined to give it a go!!! You can tell she's really concentrating on this task - this is actually very typical of her personality - she's very focused and determined when it comes to the things she's interested in (aren't we all, though?).

And this little cutie wasn't going to just sit and watch either - Abram had fun mixing it up with the big kids too. That's why these second siblings are so good at everything, eh - they watch and learn!

And wow - Auntie Paula made an amazing birthday cake for little Tilly!!! It tasted as good as it looked! Well done!

It was like Playgroup/BSF all over again - what a treat to see so many of our friends again. Kelly and Karen were in my BSF discussion group too - I'm a bit jealous they all get to go back to BSF in September... that was a great way to study the Bible!

2) Torch Church Farewell Party - Saturday, June 12

Anna and Sharon pulled together about 30 people from church who we've known in various settings for our final official farewell party. We gathered in the church office around 2pm and played a hilarious game of "Clark Taboo" that Sharon created using Clark Family Trivia... it was pretty impressive that she knew so many little tidbits. Then we got to say a few words (I got to choke out a few in Chinese too). Younger and Anna also shared... actually, several people shared - it was really touching. And then Younger prayed for us in a bit of a re-sending back to NZ. We know that we have learned a lot here from Pastor Young and Enze Jie, as well as our other friends here. What a blessing it is being part of God's family - you can always find a home wherever you are in the world!!!

I was sorta preoccupied with the moment that I didn't get many good photos - though I know someone else was taking pictures, I'm just not sure how to access those... anyway, these are the memories that turn into overall positive feelings whenever I'll look back on those years in Taiwan.

3) Final Torch Church Service and One of the Last YUMMY Real Chinese Meals - Sunday, June 13

Pastor Young made some kind of announcement that we'd be available for pictures after church... oh brother... we could've dolled ourselves up a bit more for this... or at least picked a better backdrop... but anyway - it was fun to give hugs to a bunch of folks and say our good-byes.

When Helena squirms away from her favorite Sunday School teacher - you know she's had enough photos taken - honestly, she LOVED this guy! She always wanted him to hold her and funnily enough he was usually able to calm her down if I wasn't... can we ship him over?

Then two of our longest lasting church friends, Stephen and Felicity, took us (and several others) out to lunch after church.

And good friends Edu and Annie were able to enjoy the abundance as well - and rightfully so... we've been Sunday lunch buddies for quite a long time now. Sunday afternoons won't quite be the same.

4) American Club Lunch - Monday, June 14

With one day left to complete his assignment, Tony rushed out to the library again and thankfully I had planned with Christily and Suzanne to meet at the ACC for a little pre-birthday lunch to celebrate Lorelai. The kids had fun in the playroom (well, Hunter and Lorelai did while Michael, Helena and Eries hung with the moms) and we moms had almost uninterrupted conversations - almost.

Auntie Suzanne came bearing gifts for all the kids - so Helena scored some new dresses and a Chinese book which she still LOVES! And Hunter's got a couple new t-shirts which he can wear into the spring in NZ, plus some fun plane toys... thanks heaps, Auntie! Wow... way to plan ahead!!!

And yes, hard to believe but this would be the last hugs... Helena was giving them out freely, but Hunter's emotionally drained. For the past month or so, whenever we say "Hunter, give ____ a hug good-bye" or say good-bye or whatever... he just runs away saying "I'm tired, mom". Really, I believe him - I think he's tired of saying good-bye... I think he just got tired of the whole process - but not Mei mei - she was basking in the affection!!!

Since we knew we'd be participating in two triathlons during our American Vacation, we couldn't just slack off for a week - oh no - not the Clarks. But the weather was terrible, our time limited, the kids... well, we could have come up with heaps of excuses, but in the end - we did stay fit by doing some Jillian Michaels workouts. I even convinced Sharon to do it with me one night (doesn't take much convincing - Sharon's pretty keen to exercise or play). What a sight!!! Mind you it was June in Taipei - they had no air-con in their lounge - it was HOT and it was HUMID so we worked off more just because we sweated so much!!!

Tony was so inspired by us that he wanted to get his workout in too... but he found Sharon's hand weights to be too light... so he found an alternative:

CLASSIC!!!

Well, Tony finally finished his assignment and we said good-bye to Anna and Sharon on Tuesday, June 15 heading for LAX!!! Don't worry guys - we'll be back!!!