Get me outta here!

It was Sunday afternoon, we had just finished up with lunch and were looking forward to putting some of the kids down for naps, having a cup of tea, and relaxing for a bit on our 'rest day'...

... until Anaya climbed on top of the dehumidifier and fell off -- landing face down. She cried a bit, then settled down on my lap. A few minutes later Elise noticed, "Anaya's bleeding!". Sure enough, she had split her chin open, so off to the ER she went with Michael & Kenna (to help :)).

Anaya, being our more stubborn, I-don't-do-anything-I-don't-want-to-do child, had lots of fun being strapped down to the stretcher. To the doctor's amazement, she managed to wriggle her hands out, smiling & waving them around, "Look at me!" They re-strapped her in and she was still doing ok, until they covered up her face to shield her eyes from the bright light, leaving a hole for the chin to stitch her up. At that point she yelled as loud as she possibly could, "Get me outta here!" and then started screaming.

When Michael dropped her back home and went to park the van, I asked her about her visit to the hospital: "How was it?" Good. "Did you cry?" No. "Did it hurt when the doctor stitched you up?" Not really. "Can I see your owie? (Juts chin out) Mom! Look at my candy the doctor gave me!

When Michael came in the door, I asked, "How was it?" Well, she was a bit of a handful. "Did she cry?" Ohhh -- she screamed! Did they strap her down? They sure did! And she didn't like it one bit, you should've heard her...

Well, so much for our quiet Sunday afternoon, guess we'll try again next week. :-)

Michael's last book for the year: Daniel

SBS has less than a month to go! The students are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (a very GOOD tunnel, being immersed in studying the Bible! But, a very intense time too with lots of long hours and hard work!)

Here is Michael teaching the book of Daniel, his last book for this year. After this, it's catching up on grading, end-of-school stuff, catching up a bit at home :P, and then Titus starts just 2 weeks later!

Anchovies & Octopus

After-school comments from Elise & Kenna this past month:
(aka: An update on school lunches)

Kenna: Mom, can I have a special treat? I ate the baby fish (complete with skin, heads & tails) all gone today...

Elise: Guess what mom! We had pig's blood again for lunch today, but the teacher didn't make me eat it! (big smiles)

Kenna: I'm so so sorry, I really couldn't eat the octopus we had for lunch today... I tried, but I just couldn't do it...

Elise is quite used to most things by now and overall does pretty good... Kenna is slowly getting more accustomed, though her teachers still frequently comment on her slowness in gettin' it down... takes after someone I know, when they were at school... ;)

(Btw, did you know that the octopus pizza at Pizza Hut here is one of the most popular flavors among our Taiwanese friends?)

Michael's Week in Mongolia

(written by Michael)

I was very grateful for the opportunity to spend a week in Mongolia, my first time in that country. The weather in Mongolia was unseasonably warm according to the locals, with the daytime temperatures being slightly above freezing. It actually was a nice change from the long summer in Taiwan.

I spent the week teaching the book of Romans, also a first for me to teach this book. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to share the message of this book with the SBS students there.

I was also able to try some of the local foods, some horse meat which was very tender and tasted like beef -- I would not have known any different unless they had told me. I also was able to taste the local favourite beverage of choice: fermented mares' milk -- keeps you warm on a cold winter's day!

The best thing about any trip is being able to be with the local believers and seing the growth of the church (the church in Mongolia is only about 18 years old). Many thanks to Amy for holding down the fort at home, no easy task with our busy household.