Dear Family,

Cindy, I and the girls flew to Hong Kong Disneyland for Thanksgiving. Yes, I know what you are thinking...why would anyone with 4 kids intentionally go on an airplane trip to Disneyland. But it was a lot of fun. Disneyland Hong Kong is a lot smaller than Anaheim but has a lot less people and you can actually get on a lot of rides. So I enjoyed it. We went with a few other couples and most of them had only girls, so it was a princess-focused trip. Attached a some pictures.

Love,
Ted and Cindy

The video below shows how well they behaved in the airport....NOT!

The girls wishing "Happy Thanksgiving" from the plane.

Ava enjoyed being a big girl and sleeping with her sisters. Lauryn, missing from the photo, is sleeping across the foot of the bed. Dad was too cheap to get another room :)

Dear Family and Friends,
As most of you know by now, Cindy gave birth to Ava Christina on Saturday May 23rd here in Taiwan. The baby was 9.1lbs! 4.12kg! And it was a very painful birth for Cindy. After the birth, everything has been wonderful. The hospital stay was the best we've ever experienced with a great doctor, nurses and staff. The nurses liked Ava so much that they took 40 different pictures of her with different stuft animals. I put all 40 pictures into a video. It was hilarious (See 2nd video below). I got to stay with Cindy for a few days in the hospital and my only job was to deliver pizza to Cindy whenever possible ;) The food in the hospital wasn't so bad though. Cindy actually liked it. I haven't had time to do a lot of photo or video editing but I wanted to get something posted so all can see our new baby girl. She's been a great baby so far and we feel incredibly blessed with the support we've received from friends.
Love,
Ted and Cindy

Dear Family and Friends,
Year before last, Grandpa Ted was kind enough to loan us a very nice piano keyboard. Sophie has been using it to learn to play for a little less than a year. She had her first piano recital on Saturday, May 9th, so you can check out the results of Grandpa's gift and Sophie's practice.
Love,
Ted and Cindy

Analise's Birthday at Taipei American School

Analise's birthday was Wednesday April 8th. Her school put on a fun little party for her. The family celebrated together at home that night. Ana didn't want cake but preferred eclairs so we bought 6 to represent her 6 years. Her real party was on Saturday April 10th. Cindy had a great idea to have Analise and some friends get their nails done at a salon local to our neighborhood. The following 4 videos are about 3-5 minutes each but are really cute. A lady at the salon named Tracy braided all the girls' hair for free. After the nails dried, all the girls walked over to the local Haagen Daas ice cream shop for dessert. On our way, there is a big Buddhist temple which we had to walk through which you can see in clip #3. The end of the last video clip is really cute as the girls sing Happy Birthday in Korean after they sang it in Chinese...seriously. It's so cool to have the girls exposed to so many different cultures.

Best regards,

Ted

Dear Friends and Family,

First, let me start by saying how sorry I am that it's taken so long to post an update on what we've been doing in Taiwan. My new job opportunity came pretty suddenly last Fall and the transition was very crazy. In spite of the craziness, Cindy and I are confident that we are where God wants us. Later I'll share more details that prove God wants us in Taiwan. The whole experience is pretty amazing. One example is our house needed major repairs like a new roof in order to rent it out and we had two months to get everything done. I was still transitioning out of my previous job while overlapping with the new one starting up...and Cindy is pregnant. In spite of the time pressure, we got our house fixed up, found a great family to rent the place, and got a great apartment in Taiwan with an incredible landlord. This is just a few things among a large list of answered prayers. God is very very good. Now Cindy's got two more months to go until the baby arrives so the craziness should start up again soon :) This week she has started feeling very tired and uncomfortable so we could use everyone's prayers. In case we haven't mentioned, we are having another girl...yes, 4 girls total. My schedule is extremely jammed due to work, private Chinese tutoring and family responsibilities but I'm enjoying the new lifestyle. Our weekends are free to try different things and we've found a great Christian church where we've made many friends. Another answered prayer from God.

It's now the 1st week in April and I'm finally finding time to post some videos. I'll have a lot more to say about our experience in the upcoming weeks but for right now, just know that Cindy, the girls and I are doing really well and are enjoying our new experience. We feel like we are being stretched in so many ways. Our biggest worry now is how bored we'll be when we return to the US. We are having so many new and unique experiences out here that it will be hard to go back to the slower pace of life back in Folsom.

I've posted some videos that will give you an idea of what we've been doing in Taiwan.

The following video will give you a sense of what our neighborhood looks like. We literally walk out of our apartment and step into a street market that is very busy from morning until after dark. You can't drive two cars down the street at the same time even though it is two-way. The practice is to come to the alley and whoever enters first gets the right of way. I've hit 3 cars since the 5 months I've been here :) Seriously. You have to be careful walking even though people driving will stop for pedestrians. This is the family walking to the local ice cream shop for lunch and some dessert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2vUK8LEEVg

This one was within a couple weeks of us arriving. We went to a river front town where they sell all sorts of stuff. Stinky tofu is one of the hot items and this is Sophie's thoughts on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w80bnbvOuf8

The girls stand out from the locals especially Analise with her big blonde curly hair. The following video happened on April 2nd while we were visiting the top of Taipei 101 that overlooks most of Taipei. It used to be the tallest building in the world. A lot of Chinese tourists were there and went crazy over the girls. It was fun at first but then Analise and Lauryn got a little perturbed so we had to stop it. But the people are incredibly friendly here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjFcs6-13j4

Many apartments have rooftops where people hang out cause there are no yards. My friend Dan's apartment has a huge area where the kids can actually ride bikes and play hockey. And the view of Taiwan is great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpGUEd8bMTE

Many swimming pools are indoor because the sun is so intense. This particular pool took me 2 hours to find because the directions were in Chinese characters. It was only 30 minutes from our apartment but I got seriously lost. Once we arrived, we had a great time. If you ever visit us, you'll see that businesses are hard to find unless you know where to look. It can be similar to treasure hunting. Building appearances are deceiving and there are many gems hidden behind ugly walls. This pool was in something that looked like an abandoned building.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6yZO3woDMY

Chinese New Year in February is a really big deal out here. Fireworks are going off constantly for about 2 weeks or so. The following 3 videos are of a party that was held in our apartment lobby. The 3rd of the following 3 videos shows the fireworks going off right outside our kitchen window. This was a daily event for a few weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWKqRgPzCVM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67uBIEOWFv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAfHK_FoZk4

During Chinese New Year, Cindy took off with her friend Jill to Paris for some girl fun. Cindy has made a big sacrifice coming out to Taiwan with me for my job...and being pregnant, I figured she definately deserved a break. I had the girls to myself for one week and had a great time with them. And obviously, Cindy had a great time in Paris. The following 2 videos are Cindy giving the girls gifts she bought in Paris.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrHr5h-LbQk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2n2sjgD6s

The following 2 videos are just the family enjoying Valentines day together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s221OIHEnYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjEagFs2KYg

The following video is purely a humorous video at the expense of Lauryn. You'll love it. Her diaper is loaded. Don't worry, no graphic images :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ux_jln3nA

Sophie has been banging away on the piano and is really doing well at it. The following video is her jamming while Lauryn gets down. This was during her 9th birthday party which is the 2nd video post below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvwHE10JIJw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxZwbQRMfBk

Please continue to pray for us and especially for Cindy's pregnancy to go well. We look forward to visiting everyone when we vacation in California during July.

God bless,
Ted