Island Hopping

After a few days of rest from the camping adventure, we took a ferry trip out to Waiheke Island to visit Tony's other sister. Let me warn you now, these pictures will make you want to pack your own bags - it really is this beautiful in New Zealand.

The ferry trip is about 35 minutes from Devonport - probably the perfect amount of time for both the kids, though if you asked Hunter, he'd probably want to stay on the boat all day!

We were grateful for the amazing weather - the forecast had called for rain!

Tony & Denise

Brooklyn is 7 and Gracie will be 5 in a few months - they were great with our kids. Hunter enjoyed picking blueberries with the girls (until he was banned for eating the unripe ones) but I think he enjoyed the blueberry muffins even more!!!

Having bike withdrawls - he was willing to ride the girly bike up and down the dirt path.

We lunched leisurely along the seashore (just 20 meters from Denise & Matt's place...it really is this amazing)...

A little father-son bonding time... surprisingly Tony's back & arms weren't too sore after their 30 minute row.

Honestly, it was just this relaxing here...

Helena was right into the shells and sand - and her cousins took good care of her so I could just sit...

On such a stunning day we really needed to get wet - it was the warmest water I'd been in all trip long (including the water park).

As good as Brooklyn was with Helena, I think Helena was getting tired of being held, watched and played with... she's a bit of a free spirit this one!

It was cute to see the cousins having so much fun together... of course, Hunter has fun with anyone's toys (especially if they're too busy paying attention to Helena to notice he's been into everything).

This little swimsuit is always covered by her rash-shirt but I just had to get at least one photo of it - it's just so adorable (thanks, Auntie Livi!).

Time to say good-bye...

Yes, Hunter... my sentiments exactly!

More Of NZ...

We stayed at the Anstiss Manor with Dave & Bev while we were on the North Shore... as usual, we felt at home and truly enjoyed their hospitality. And besides them, Dad & Sasha, we were able to catch up with a few other friends there in the Auckland area, although there wasn't enough time to see everyone, unfortunately - there never is.

Bev made the walk down the stairs to the beach with us - she said the last time she did it was the last time we did it together - maybe almost 5 years ago! Thanks for the effort Nanni... it was a gorgeous day!

Our barefoot girl!!!

On our first Sunday in country, we went to Harbourside Church. Pastor Martin Steel shared a great message on being filled with the fullness of God's love. Our good friends, Brian & Anita also attend this church so we got to see them AND the bonus was that their kids came to church here on this particular Sunday so we got to see Kim & Dave and Hannah & Andrew. Hunter & Hannah are 2 months apart (Hannah being the elder of the two) and have met 2 other times - the last time we were in NZ (he was 5 months) and a couple years ago in Taipei (he was 1.3years). Somehow, they hit it off brilliantly again. As soon as Hunter saw Hannah he decided to color all of his pictures to give her. Then he sat next to her and said she was an angel - to which she argued that she was a princess - but they came to the agreement that she was some type of angelic princess. After the service I caught them running around holding hands looking for the rest of the family... how totally cute are they!?! Unfortunately the timing didn't work out for us to see these guys again - Hunter did ask about Hannah - and hopefully next time we're in Auckland we can spend some quality time together (with the new baby too!!!).

Brian & Anita planned a lovely picnic lunch for us to spend a few hours together... we started outside then wouldn't you know it, we ended up at the mall (there was an indoor playground for the kids)... thanks, Burrows', for the great afternoon - we really enjoyed spending time with you!

Thankfully they had a few toys that the kids enjoyed playing with so we rigged this one up so Helena could have a change from the stroller... she LOVED being pulled around by GranBrian.

That evening, we had our first (only) real Chinese meal with Jack, Sue & Tasman!!! What a treat...

We met Jack almost 8 years ago now... it's been great to see how God has changed his life and really how He has made Jack's dreams come true... what a great testimony!

Tasman is just one... he's a real cutie... wasn't sure what to make of Hunter & Helena, but was curious. These guys are expecting baby #2 later this year... we'll look forward to meeting the next one too!

The night before we left we took everyone to dinner at one of our favorites - Lone Star!

Hunter's always happy with Papa and Nanni... and he actually was very good at the table...

it was this tired little one who needed a whole lot more attention and distraction to keep occupied... thankfully Nanni Bev had a few new items in her bag (since my old stuff wasn't workin' for the girl).

Our last day in NZ was a Sunday, so after a great service at our old church - LIFE - the Jellie family cruised up to the North Shore with us for a fun catch up over pies!!! They've recently moved back to Auckland which means we won't get to do life with them in Wellington when we return, but all the more reason to come up north for a visit!

After our final good-byes, we headed to the airport for our 11.30pm flight. This is what every parent dreams of on a long-haul flight... sleeping children! 6 hours straight!! Praise God... and then lots of snacks, Cars, and walking up the aisle with Helena!!!

So... 12 hours later we arrived in Taipei... then an hour bus ride home, unpack, showers, walk around, short naps.... but still Hunter was truly exhausted! Have you ever seen him asleep when there's food to be eaten!?!? Well... this time it did him in (but not mei mei... she ate all her dinner)... He went back to bed at 5.30pm and slept til 6am the next morning (that's after his 3 hour nap before this photo was taken)...


What a great vacation!!!!

Back in Taipei

Phew... we had a great trip to NZ... now I've got to wade through the hordes of photos I took to get them posted... in the meantime, here's a Christmas catch up for you! Hope you're having a good start to the new year!

Happy New Year... We're Heading To NZ

Hi family & friends...

Just a quick note to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We'll be spending our New Year's Eve on an airplane headed south... we're going on vacation to New Zealand... this will be our first time back since Hunter was 5 months old (he's turning 3 next month) and it will be Helena's big debut!!! We're REALLY excited to see dad & Sasha (Tony's sis) and our family & friends in Auckland... then we're heading south to go camping with a group of friends from Wellington! What a fun way to re-connect before we return in June... so yes... we've only got another 5+ months left in Taipei!!!! Then it will be a big good-bye! And, I guess by that time I'll have to change the name of our blog... hmmmmm, any suggestions!?!

I'm not taking the computer so you'll have to brace yourselves for a major update in mid-January!!! Have an awesome start to 2010!!!!

End of December

Oops... this one was meant to get put out on it's own before Christmas...

Hunter & Helena loved the decorations our complex had out to celebrate Christmas... of course our kids did more tactile exploring than the management probably expected, but thankfully nothing broke (that I can remember?!?).

On the 26th of December we went to a Torch family Christmas party at a restaurant in our old neighborhood. Instead of throwing a big production for one service, the church decided to put their resources toward these smaller Christmas parties arranged by individual cellgroups. It was a fun evening - Tony & I were even invited to share with the group on the topic "What Christmas means to me..." I started in Chinese but didn't get very far into it - but I did speak on being part of God's family and inviting people in to share that... which is exactly what they were doing on the night... and Tony was my translator and did his whole talk in Chinese about how we all, like Mary, are pregnant with faith and it's exciting to see how that faith works itself out. The kids enjoyed running amuck and staying up later than their usual bedtime...

In spite of the chill, we still got out to play golf... they love this game!

Such innocence

Hunter absolutely LOVES his new bike!!!

And he's actually very good at riding it!!!

Tony & I joined in the Torch church "Read the Bible in a Year" plan this year... and since we were going on vacation before the end of the month, we had to have it all read by the 27th so we could give our forms to our cellgroup leader, Anna. The church encouraged us to read the Bible in year by offering a $5 (NZ$) voucher to a Christian book store each month that you kept with the program... plus they had a few other incentives like a trip or meals out if your cellgroup members also did it... This was the first time either of us have actually finished reading from cover to cover in a year... it was worthwhile for sure - it helped keep us fresh and does help give a broad picture of God's word... though I must admit it was hard work in some of those Old Testament books. If you haven't done it yet yourself, I totally recommend it!

I love this purple jacket from Tony's dad... and I love that little tongue!!!

Our kids love their bananas... I think Helena can almost say it now... something like "ana"!

Merry Christmas (last week) A few weeks ago now...

What is Christmas, really?!? As we reflect on the birth of Jesus we usually see how the story unfolded as told to his mother Mary, her fiance Joseph, the shepherds in the fields and the wise men who brought their gifts to Bethlehem. I think it's important for us to be reminded of the story - the historical account - of our Savior's birth at this time of year when the malls are competing for our attention and resources. This is such a multi-dimensional story, though, with implications reaching into eternity. One thing that stood out to me this Christmas is that Jesus left his home (in heaven) and his Dad (God the Father) in order to be part of a new family (Mary & Joseph) ultimately to connect us back to God and make a way for us to be part of a spiritual family. So Christmas, really, is about family... not just moms and dads and kids, but people with a bond, coming together to share in this hope, joy and love.

As this was our 5th Christmas in Taipei, we wanted to spend Christmas with some of the people here who have really helped to shape our family. Christmas Eve we had 11 Taiwanese friends (that includes our Costa Rican brother Erick - he's almost Taiwanese now) over for a special "Dinner at the Inn" where we ate foods that were reminiscent of the Christmas story, caught up with each other's lastest happenings and enjoyed each other's company.

Wayne & Ivy met each other at our first Christmas party in 2005 - now they're married! Crazy, eh? They surprised us with a gift - Andrew - who was a friend we knew back from our days at ICLP... what a fun reunion!

And family time is full of traditions, so we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus in keeping with the Boyer family way... it was a fun evening together!

The next morning we woke up with a few of our friends there to join us in the reading of the Christmas story and the opening of prezzies...

Sharon and Anna brought the kids fun hats for our winter stint in Taipei... and our long haul winters when we return to NZ this year.

Tony shared the Christmas spirit with Stephen who said he'd wear his T-shirt every Christmas in honor of the Clarks.

I think we'll make it a tradition to buy a new family game each year (if I can remember), this year it was Twister!!! When was the last time you played Twister?!? I think it'll be a good one for the kids to practice too.

Hunter got a few new Thomas & Friends books from Grandad... he stopped in the middle of the gift opening to read... he's our little reader!

Helena got this beautiful baby doll from my grandma in California - Great Grandma Helen Boyer. It's a beautiful gift, one we'll wait to play with til Helena can do something other than chew on it!

We had a delicious pancake/omellette breakfast with our friends while skyping with Dad & Sasha in New Zealand... that was kinda fun since most of these friends met Dad when he was in Taipei last Christmas.

I hope we make it part of our family's Christmas tradition to welcome friends into our home to share the joy with us... we really enjoyed this special morning with four of our dear friends here. Thanks guys for making it such a nice day!

One of Hunter's most talked about gifts was this set of snowman topped butter knives! Felicity doesn't have children yet, but when she does, we'll be the first to get that kid a machette! We laughed and laughed all morning when Hunter asked over and over for his "dao zi" (knives)!!! They have been successfully stored away till next Christmas...

And it was even a special enough day to warrant letting Hunter eat cake - after all, we were celebrating Jesus' birthday!!!

Helena was having fun being the pusher now rather than the pushee!

Hunter and his buddy Nicholas both got the same present - a new bike!!! So twice already they were out there at the same time riding circles around the sculpture... fun times ahead!!!