Back home to Wenatchee

Wenatchee! Home sweet home. 

We had one more car ride; from UCA to Wenatchee. We did some car shuffling, and Carolyn and Caleb ended up riding with my dad and I. This road trip was somewhat fun since it wasn't 10+ hours as a couple of our previous rides were. In the backseat, Caleb and I (and Carolyn joined later when she saw us having so much fun) played more than a few games of Uno and Old Maid. Three hours isn't that long, and we soon reached our destination.

The first couple days were spent at the Jones' house. We had all sorts of fun together. That night, all us kids slept in the living room; two on the couch, two on the floor. To make them go to bed (so I could... Just kidding :p lol) I told them a story, stopped at a cliffhanger and made them go to bed since hey had swim-team the next day.

Not being able to ever decline an opportunity to swim, I decided to join Anthony for swim team. We woke up early, had just enough time to put on our swimsuits, and we were out the door. To be honest, it was a little difficult. I had been in a swim team for a long time. But, I kept up just fine and had a lot of fun.

Later that day we went to pick blueberries at Blueberry Hills. The blueberries were absolutely ginormous and definitely the most delicious ones I've ever eaten. After picking (and eating) blueberries in the heat for a couple hours, we decided it would be a great idea to go jump in Lake Chelan. Oooh! It was so nice and cool. We had a lot of fun swimming in the super clear lake with Katya. Sadly, Anthony got a bee-sting ad his foot was all swollen so he didn't swim.
That evening my mom brought Anthony and I along for a run (not sure how, haha but she did.) We made the mistake of eating a bunch of food including ice-cream, so we didn't run for very long.
The whole week we were there, it was pretty hot, so what did we do the next day? Swim in the public pool! My favorite part was the high dive. The rest of the day we just stuck around the house and played games. 

 

Anthony and I decided we wanted to play checkers. I found the board but there were no checker pieces. So, I got creative, and used blueberries and raspberries! Every time we jumped an opponent, we would eat the berry. It was berry fun ;)

On Wednesday, Katya, Anthony, Emily, Caleb, and I went ice-skating! We had the whole rink to ourselves, gliding and skating like crazy. Of course, we played tag. I went ice-skating for like 5 years in a row for my birthday and tag was always part of it. Of course, I fell a few times, one was a harder crash than the rest and I ended up with a huge bruise on my knee for about two weeks. It was definitely worth it, though.

Afterwards, we went to the church swim party at the Mehrer's house. Earlier during our vacation, we found out we would still be able to go to the church's annual swim party. It's always so much fun and ends in a (friendly) water-gun fight, because they have a lot of them there. They always keep the pool really warm (almost like a warm jacuzzi). They also have a small high dive and slide.
We spent that night at the Skeel's house. It was nice visiting with them and later playing Ticket to Ride the next day. Later that afternoon we packed up most of our stuff then went with the Jones' to the bookstore where they insisted on buying a gift for us before we left. I got a Willow Tree figure of a girl playing the flute. 
That night we went to Carolyn's Senior Recital. She went back and forth between piano and violin. She did a great job! It was really funny because she used some of my songs and played it for the recital. (A year or two previously, I had left my book at their house and needed a song right away to play for a funeral, so she copied it and sent to me ... and copied a song for herself! haha) She also learned and played Clair de Lune which I used to play. I was honored. :P

Afterwards, we went to their house for the reception. We also spent the night there.
The next day was kind of a lazier day. We slept in late and when Caleb woke up we played some more card games. Later, the Jones' called so Caleb, Emily, and I went over for a little bit. The rest of the day we finished packing and helped Carolyn pack as well since she was coming back to Taiwan with us!
 

We had haystacks that night. Poor Caleb got really sick that night though and didn't eat anything. We also found out the most of the Jones' as well as my dad and sister got sick! We decided we must have caught a bug or virus or something.

The next day was Sabbath! It was an exciting day. I got to finally go to Abundant Life! :D At the pool party two days prier, Alison had asked me to do the children story.
“Um…uh, sure!” I answered.
So, that Sabbath I told the children’s story. I told them a teeny bit about Taiwan and then told them how I got lost, haha! My mom, sister, and I also did special music. My mom and I sang “Glorious Ruins” while Emily played the guitar. Besides being really nervous, all went well. The week we were there just happened to be the thirteenth Sabbath, so we were able to see and hear about how all the classes were doing. We heard about sponsored children in other countries, and heard adorable kids sing. Then, my dad did a slideshow and sermon about Taiwan and the ministries we have here.

 Afterwards was potluck! It was delicious (I still like Taiwanese food better I think though)! Our friends, the Fowlers, came especially from Seattle to visit us. So they joined us for potluck as well as our afternoon “hike.” It turned out to be way to hot so we decided to play in the river instead. It was a blast! Julia and I fought the very mild rapids upstream and then let the current carries us back to where the adults were. Soon, others joined in the fun.

Then, the sad part… saying goodbye.
That night, we had a nice supper together with the Hardens, then we packed up. After our final prayers, tears, and goodbyes, we went to bed to get some sleep before 3 am. (I slept next to nothing though) Then, at 3 am we took Carolyn with us and got up and left! After a couple VERY long plane rides(which I got absolutely no sleep as usual), we made it to Taipei where Shin was waiting for us.
It was hard leaving, but it was great to be back. :)

Roadtrip through California

What a busy vacation, and so much driving! But it was worth it. After our visit in Utah, we drove down to California and stayed a night with my Aunt Margo, Uncle Mo, Cousin Emma, and great grandma.

We had a lot of fun celebrating Grandma's birthday. She didn't recognize my dad at first.

"Hi! Happy birthday!" my dad said as he sat down bedside her.

She didn't recognize him but said "Well, thank you." Then, my mom and the rest of us walked in and she immediately recognized us and figured out who she was talking to. 

"You smarty pants!" she told my dad. "You're real sneaky! I didn't know who you were!" 

We all had a great laugh about that. That night we ate out a really good Mexican restaurant as well. 

The next day we went and visited my Aunt Marian. But first we to see my great grandpa Buddy in the Hospice Center. He was in real bad shape, but he recognized us and was happy to see us. We made it just in time, because he died a few days later.

We had a lot of fun with our Aunt Marian and Uncle Josh. We walked to the beach, played a little, and even introduced them to Bubble Tea!

Then, we left again and drove down to my Nana and Papa's (grandparent's) house in Paradise (great name, right?) We did a bunch of fun things. The second day we were there, we went with my Nana to a scrap-booking shop and made scrapbooks and cards. I made a scrapbook about Taiwan. It took several hours and I'll treasure it forever.

The next day we drove over to the famous San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. It was super windy and a little cloudy so it was hard to see most of the time, but it was still visible and magnificent. We went on a nice little hike nearby and had a picnic by the beach.

The day after that we hiked Mount Lassen. It was a long and hot hike (and most of you know that I'm not that much of a hiking person) but there was a beautiful view from the top and SNOW! In fact, there was a great big glacier. We also saw sulfur bubbling and spewing out of the ground. It smelled of rotten eggs, but it looked cool.  haha!

All in all, we had loads of fun and adventure. After spending about a week in Paradise, we took my Nana along with us and drove (again!) to the Upper Columbia Camp meeting. It was awesome seeing people we hadn't seen for a while, and to listen to the spiritually reviving sermons. My parents parenting seminar went well too.

Next, we had one more drive... back to

Wenatchee!

To be continued.... :)

Utah - Grandma's House!

"There it is! There's Grandma's house!" I excitedly exclaimed to my sister. 

We had come to spend about a week with our Grandma.  Our grandma's house isn't really hers since our Grandpa died 2 years ago. My Uncle Ryan bought it from her but she still stays there. So, not only did we get to see our Grandma, but our Uncle, Aunt, and two younger cousins, Lexi and Cruise.

The first day or two we did a LOT of shopping. But it was so much fun! We could buy all sorts of things you can't easily find in Taiwan. I was able to go to thrift shops as well as other nice stores and buy tons of new clothes. (One of my favorite things to do. What girl doesn't like buying clothes? haha) We could also go to Grocery Stores and read the ingredients! A new concept, since the ingredients are always in Chinese back in Taiwan. It nice to be able to walk over to something and think, "Mmm. That looks good. I wonder if I can eat it?" Then look at the ingredients and be able to decide whether or not I can eat it. Bam! Just like that. 
It was pretty hot. I mean, Utah is a dessert. And what better way to cool off than to swim! My Grandma took us, as well as our little cousins, to Cowabunga Bay Water Park in Los Vegas! It was a BLAST.

As soon as we entered the park and applied our sunscreen, I grabbed Emily's arm shouting, "Come on! Lets go, Daddy!" We rushed over to a bunch of slides, only to have to wait in a long line. That's the one bad thing about water parks; the long lines. But it was worth it! We went on all sorts of slides, Twisty, dark, ones with 'toilet bowls' (for lack of a better name), and all sorts of slides.

On of them could sit all four of us. It went straight for awhile then suddenly dropped us on a hug wave-thing. It sent us really far on one side, then to the other until we dropped down the whole in the middle.
 My dad even convinced me to go on the Rocket slide. I was terrified, but I did it! They stick you in this small tube where you stand on a little platform, legs crossed, arms to the side, and your head back. The attendant pushes a button, but you still stand there for about 7 seconds. After those seven panicky seconds, the platform falls and disappears. You go shooting straight down at top speed! My Dad says I screamed pretty loud when the platform fell, haha!
I managed to have enough time to go on every single slide (Except for one that I wasn't heavy enough for :/ )

Afterwards, we stopped at Taco Bell. Because of all my allergies, I think we gave the poor lady the hardest order she ever had! We didn't home till really late.
It was so good to play with our little cousins and spend time with our Grandma. There's something about Grandmas that are so special. :) It was great to meet our cousin and her new baby as well as some other family. All in all we had a great time.

Back in the USA

The last week of school was absolutely crazy; I had finals all week and the next day we were on a plane! Wednesday was probably the busiest day. 
The night before, I had a sleepover with some friends. In the morning, I walked over to the school and finished my finals. We only had school till noon so in between my class; I (as well as many others) had our yearbooks signed by as many of our friends as possible. As soon as my last class ended, my dad and sister were waiting downstairs to take me to lunch. TAAS (the school my mom works at and my sister attends) were having lunch at a restaurant for all the staff and their families. I was kind of sad that I didn't have much time to say goodbye to all my friends, but we were already a little late. With some help from our trusty guide and friend, Shin, we found the restaurant and ate a TON of food. As soon as I got home, I had to pack everything for our trip back to the states. After I finished, I went to the Senior Graduation for my school with some friends. I got home pretty late so I went straight to bed. 

Early the next morning, we lugged our suitcases up the 97 steps into the van, drove to the airport, and hopped onto a very VERY long airplane ride. The first flight was 11, almost 12 hours long. The second was about 3 hours long. It was pretty miserable. Of course I had to get sick the night before we left. :/ I was kind of in denial, I just couldn't be sick, not now! But, after a few hours on the plane, there was no doubt that I was sick.

Eventually, we arrived in Seattle. I was sick, jet lagged, and absolutely exhausted, but I was back. Walking out the entrance of the Seattle airport brought back a flood of memories. Memories from the last time we were in this airport, leaving the States to go to the foreign land of Taiwan. I remember waving goodbye to Caleb and Stephen after they dropped us and our luggage off. Afterwards, I told my mom I needed to go to the bathroom. After making sure no one else was in there, I just sobbed my eyes out. I hadn't really cried about leaving until then. It just hadn't seemed completely real I guess. Anyways... I don't know why I'm mentioning that, I hadn't told anyone that because it's a little embarrassing, even if it was a natural thing to do. I'm SO glad that we moved to Taiwan though, as I have mentioned many times before. It was great to be back though. 
As I stepped out of the airport doors and stepped onto American soil I thought, "Wow. I'm really back!' 
Soon, Stephen loaded his truck with our luggage and we started on our 3 hour drive to his house.

It was so exciting to open the door of their house and see them all again. Some other friends (the Jones) came by to welcome us back as well. That night it was wonderful to get some much needed sleep. My hours and days were very confused besides being sick. It is kind of funny how we arrived in the San Francisco airport before we left Taiwan (12 hours earlier). 

On Sabbath, we went to the Cashmere Church. Again, it was so exciting to see everyone! My special music went… well, okay considering how congested I was and how sore my throat was just the day before. I was feeling better that Sabbath, praise God.
I was touched by all the food people had made for me. I was able to eat a whole plateful of food at potluck! Something I haven’t been able to do for a while.
After potluck, we went for a hike with the church. I usually don’t care that much for hikes, but this was an exceptional hike. It was so much fun catching up with all my friends, laughing about old memories, and just being together.

Sadly, we had to leave the next day. We knew we were coming back and we were excited about going to Utah.
So, right now I’m in Utah! But I’ll tell you more about my trip later… ;)

Cambodia

"Ugh! It's no use trying to sleep. I'm too light of a sleeper." I thought.  I opened my eyes and looked over at my friend, Gracie. She was fast asleep and had been most of the trip.
You see, during spring break, I went with the 8th grade of TAAS on their mission trip to Cambodia. My parents were both helping, my sister was going, so it made sense that I would go too.
Our adventure started at 3 in the morning. We all met at one of the MRT stations where we had hired a tour bus to take us to the airport. Once everyone was there along with their luggage, we set off on our long journey. At the airport we managed to get all 23 of us (counting myself and staff) through without any troubles.  The flight was about four hours. I sat beside Gracie, who promptly fell asleep as soon as the plane left the ground.

The heat smacked our faces as we stepped out of the airplane. Our first stop in Cambodia was Dairy Queen!  We hadn't had that since the States, but they had one right outside the airport.
The next leg of our journey was the longest; an eight hour bus ride to the orphanage where we were heading to.
It was dark by the time we finally arrived at the orphanage. We were surprised how hot it was even though it was dark outside! The director/founder of the orphanage and school met us as soon as we got off the bus. He showed the girls and the boys  to the different houses we'd be staying at.
We were separated into two rooms where they had some bunk beds for us. There were some scary squat pots outside as well as the showers.
Showers; those were definitely fun! Now, most of these eight graders are really rich kids and not used to poverty like this at all. I could tell from the very beginning that this was going to be an interesting trip. If you wanted to shower, you had to go outside where there was a pump and pump your water into a bucket. So, we had cold bucket showers. The first night, the girls were very loud and there were a couple screams when they discovered some frogs.  Although everyone was kind of freaked out by the bucket showers outside, it became a lot of their favorite time of day. The cold water felt amazing after our long days under the scorching sun.
So, after everyone had showered and set up their mosquito nets, we went to bed. The frogs outside were SUPER loud, but I was so tired I fell asleep anyways.
In the morning, we all went over to the boys house to have worship with Tim. After that he showed us around the area. I thought it was really cool they didn't have an orphanage, but rather many homes where there would be parents who would take care of and raise like ten kids or so. I think they would feel more loved that way and like they have a family.
After he showed us around, we were taken to the work site. The whole reason for this mission trip was to try and help build a playground for the orphans.

We were split up into groups and worked on different projects. Some worked on yielding the brick wall for a sand box, others on a swing set, and I ended up mostly helping with a climbing ladder of some sort. I learned how to chisel pretty well. I also helped drill the holes into the wood. It's was melting outside under the sun as we worked.

At about noon, everyone went and ate lunch. I always had to go to the hot, stuffy kitchen to cook my own food. But it turned out to be very difficult to keep the ants out of all my food. There was always surplus of delicious mangos though. After lunch the kids had the choice of either working outside again, or helping in the classrooms at the school.

After lunch on Tuesday, I went to help teach the kids at the school. I think I ended up in second grade, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. When I came into the classroom, there were two teachers. They had the students greet me with their traditional standing, then 'bowing' their head with their hands pressed together. They said something in Cambodian as well, but of course I was clueless to what it meant. After some difficult communication, I found that the teachers wanted me to play a games with the kids.
"They kids love to play games and get to know new teachers?" They explained. I quickly racked my brain for a game to teach and play with these kids. I finally came up with a game, the class Thumbs Up, 7 Up. Through translation, I taught them how to play. They really enjoyed it and played it multiple times. After they had finished, the teacher told me to do something else.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Anything!" She answered
"Well, that's helpful." I thought "I have no idea!"  Finally, the teachers gave some vague ideas and I decided what I could do. I had each of the children come and write their name on the blackboard. Afterwards, I pointed to a name and then the student would stand and tell me what their favorite thing to do was. It was fun learning the names of the children and what they like to do.

After we finished, class was dismissed and the teacher left. The kids quickly grabbed my hands and arms. I started swinging them around by their arms. They squealed and asked to do it again and again until I was tuckered out and it was time for their last class. I followed them into the classroom and realized there was no teacher! A few minutes later, Tim came by and saw me alone. He called the teacher but they didn't answer.
"Sorry to put you in this situation, but can you teach them? I can't get ahold of the teacher. It's Art class now."
"Uh, ok..." I answered somewhat timidly.
Tim brought me some colors, which I handed out to the kids as well as a sheet of paper. I just drew a bunch of things on the blackboard and had them copy it on their paper. I had a few misbehaving little boys, but that was soon taken care of when Tim stopped by and saw what was happening. He went outside with him and gave him a whooping with a stick! He wasn't munch trouble for me after that.
During our time there, we also took a trip into town with some of the older students and made some friends with them. We drove to a tourist shopping area as well as the regular market. We all road in the back of a tiny pickup and the road was no where near smooth, on the contrary it was super dusty and bumpy. Some of the bumps sent us flying and squealing.  We bought some souvenirs as well as traditional outfits to wear to church. On Thursday (my sister's birthday!) we went Angkor Wat. It was SO magnificent. It was all so cool looking. There was one problem though, and it was making everyone miserable.... It was 104 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) !!! We were melting! It was worth it though. ;)

In the end, this mission trip was all about those cute little Cambodian kids. I only taught at the school once, but a few of my students would come to the worksite to see me every time they had a break. They would smile and  say "Teacher! Teacher!", then try to take me with them back to the school. I felt so happy that we could help build a playground for them. Before, they only played some sort of game involving sticks and rocks, I'm not sure how they play it, but a few of the other 8th graders learned and played with them. I'm so glad we could do something for these precious orphans, they were so thrilled at the idea of having a playground.

"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." (Romans 12:13 NIV)

Hope for the Future

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40:29 

It’s been almost two months since I found out about all my food allergies.

In the beginning it was extremely hard (not that it isn’t now… haha!). We were trying to figure out what was in what, if I could eat this or that, and basically what could I eat?! A month ago I even went on a three day juicing fast. I only drank juiced vegetables and fruits. It was hard, but I know it was good for me. I needed my gut to calm down and heal. 

For a while I kind of felt like there was nothing I could eat. I felt like complaining all the time, but I did my best not to. I knew God would help me through this. And he has! The last week or so I have really felt like there is hope for the future. He has helped me find solutions and yummy food I can eat. 

For example, we were able to have someone bring gluten free flour from the states so I was actually able to have bread! I even made banana bread.

Also, my dad makes the best tacos in the WORLD, but because of the soy in the veggie meat I couldn’t eat it. BUT, he found a way to make it with lentils. I didn’t think it would be that great, but it is! It’s a good thing I can eat corn because we have been able to use that as a substitute for a lot of things. We even found corn pasta and tortillas!  

So, I just feel that God has really blessed me and given me hope. He has really encouraged me the last few weeks.

Thanks for all the prayers!