Good-bye 2011, Hello 2012

For the start of the last day of 2011, as a family, we joined the bike ride to break the Guiness World Record of having more than 120,000 people riding bikes all around the island of Taiwan. It's really true. It was really fun!

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Ateam's Christmas 2011 Newsletter

"... and they will call him Immanuel -- which means, God with us." Matthew 1:23

Isaiah turned 13 this past November and is now officially a teenager. He has started the first year of junior high and loves it. He joined the Guitar Club and has progressed quite rapidly. He also won first place in the school-wide 7th grade English Reading Contest. He enjoys being homeschooled and also loves going to school so that he can hang out with friends and play sports. He also recently decided to attend a youth group in our neighborhood.
Abigail turned 12 this past November and will be graduating from elementary school this coming June. She continues to be on the worship team as their regular drummer and enjoys playing ping pong and running track. She was the representative for the school’s model student award and also participated in the 400 and 800meters relay and the 200meters races. She has signed up for the 6th grade graduation trip in February. This will be her first big overnight trip
away from home.
Alan is slowing down a bit as he had several different health problems this past year with his foot and passing of kidney stones. He is beginning to feel his age, although he will never admit it. He continues to enjoy teaching at Soochow University, coaching the English Department basketball teams and playing tennis whenever possible.
Lovely decided to challenge herself this past year by training for a marathon which she completed in December. It was a fabulous experience, although it took time and money to pursue such a goal. People ask if she will continue to run in the year to come and her
answer is: I am always on the run! She also had to present a paper in New Zealand, which was another first for her, being in the country of New Zealand. She is looking forward to retiring from Ming Chuan University and waits upon God to lead her in other interesting and new pursuits.
Looking Ahead – Prayer Requests:
Our family verse for 2012 – Zech. 4:6
1. Homeschooling both Isaiah and Abigail.
2. Managing our finances with Lovely’s retirement.
3. Service opportunities at House of Praise and around the island.
4. School responsibilities for Alan.
5. Lovely’s heart to develop in writing and accepting other speaking engagements.
6. Being a witness in our parenting style and marriage relationship.
7. Walking ever closer to the heart of God as a family and individually.

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The "FUN" Runners

The run was filled with interestingly dressed people. There were bumble bee, spiderman, tutu dancer, reindeers, transformer, beer-laiden robot, businessmen, and more!

My favorite was these guys. They were fully dressed as businessmen even carrying their briefcases. And they were FAST. By the 33km mark, they were soaking wet with sweat and yet they kept going with a cheerful spirit, waving at all the bystanders.

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The Finish Line

It was a beautiful December morning. The temperature was quite warm and at times, the wind was quite strong. The elite runner broke the course record!!!! I broke my own record -- I finished and ran the whole course!!! So much more to write about... It was a great experience. Will upload more pictures later. Will write more later. One thing for sure -- prayer brought me through to cross the finish line.

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THe Runners

This is my usual running path! These pictures were all taken around the 22nd - 23rd km mark!

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50 Years of Praises

I joyously welcomed my 50th birthday this past Monday. God has been so faithful. I went to Bible study and Amy, my sister in Christ, brought a cake. Another gal, Rachel, had a camera, and Sonja (her birthday was the next day) and I celebrated together. I also received lots of email messages from friends and family members, not to mention FIVE phone calls from my beloved mom. I felt so loved. No gifts were exchanged as I truly do NOT get into that. I look forward to another blessed year of adventures with God as my Good Shepherd.

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(The first picture is Alan carving the turkey at our Bible study Christmas dinner at Amy's house. I am standing with Rachel and her youngest boy, Benjamin, and Amy. And the other picture is Sonja and I at our Bible study with the cake from Amy.)

People, Places and Things

Yes, it has almost been a month since I last posted on our family blog. I will be writing our Christmas Newsletter "SOON"... but for now, I thought I'd post a few pictures to let you see some people, places and things that have been happening in this past month. Isaiah had his school Athletic Meet. Abby was selected as the Model Student to represent her school to receive the award. Both Alan and Abby went up on stage, shook hands with Taipei Mayor Hau as he presented her with the award. They both also met the Director of the Ministry of Education. House of Praise invited Davy Liu, a well known Christian illustrator and author and the kids enjoyed his testimony and meeting him. These are only some highlights of all that we have been doing this past month. One more thing -- The kids celebrated their birthday with a week full of surprises and activities. BUT we did not take any pictures. Can you believe it? We went out to breakfast. We went out for dinner. They bought bubble milk tea for all their classmates and friends. December promises to be another fantastic month... and then it will be 2012!!!! Please do keep us in your prayers. I promise that I won't wait a whole month before I write again. But if time flies by faster than the speed of light, then I better wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year NOW. (Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, too!!!)

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HOP FAMILY RETREAT

"Find Waldo..."

We had a great retreat.

The weather was great.

The food was great.

The hotel was great.

And the angel sang as a couple decided to get baptised,

declaring to all, WE BELONG TO JESUS!

"Find Waldo..." That means, TRY TO FIND US IN THIS PHOTO.

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Relays, Graduation, Wedding & More

It is the end of another month... and I thought I would not have time to post another entry. But here I am sitting in front of the computer on a sunny Saturday afternoon, trying to capture what we have been doing. And if you can tell from this collection of pictures, we have been having a lot of fun.

For family night, we played DOMINOES... We would usually share a verse that was special during the week, pray together and then either watch a movie or a teaching video OR play a board or card game as a family. Once a month, we have our Couples' Group.

Our seniors often invite us to join them for their graduation portraits. It's amazing as we send them off with a smile and lots of prayers.

A dear sister, Fran, had a Blessing Service and Banquet in Taipei. We were so very JOYOUS to be a part of their celebration. We have enjoyed getting to know her sweet husband, Phil.

And finally, Abby had her school wide Athletic Meet this morning. And for the big 6th grade relay race, her class came in 2nd place. Abby was quite disapppointed as she was pressing for first. She was the first runner and she ran faster than Flash Gordon. But with 16 people running, everyone had to run as fast as the wind... For the free throw competition, her class also came in 2nd place. Double Disappointment! Again, she made all of her shots, but it was a team effort. Well, their final competition will be in June of next year -- the 6th Grade Watermelon Basketball Cup!!!! Dad is already busy coaching their class in the fundamentals.

I sign off now.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Keep praying for us.

November promises to be another month filled with THANKSGIVINGS, BLESSINGS and "MORE" ... MUCH MUCH MORE...

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October Fun!!!!!

October is here! And we are already half way through the month!!! I can't believe it. Every weekend in October is filled with activities. We will be ending the month with Abby's Athletic Meet.

Okay, so what has been happening? Isaiah has started to learn to play the guitar and he is quite good. He also had his first set of school exams. Those were stressful days as he spent many hours at the local cram schools. He also had to be in school every day during that week. Thus, he was unable to complete any of his homeschooling assignments. Overall he did fairly well in his school exams, but we had to talk to him several times about his attitude. Whao, I am glad that's over. But three times a semester we will have to do this! (Until we have a meeting with the school board about how to score his Grade Point Average.)

Abby continues to run track and will be the first runner in her 6th grade school relay. She plays the drums almost every week now at church. Her homeroom teacher had another baby, so she has a substitute teacher for the next few weeks. She loves her classmates and all her classes. She is usually very self motivated and helps out regularly at home!

Alan and I are enjoying our teaching. For me, I have some challenging classes and I ask that you would pray for all of our students. Alan plays on different basketball leagues and loves it. I run when I have time. I am in training. I have yet to sign up, but I hope to run a LONG race on December 18th -- FOR THE GLORY OF GOD! Please pray for the next few weeks of "training".

I hope to write again before the end of the month and also post some more pictures.

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With A Blink Of My Eye

I blinked and it's already the end of September. After arriving back to Taipei, there were literally a hundred and one things to get done. We barely got over our jet lag and had put away our EIGHT boxes of things when the kids started school. Soon after that, we were both back in school as well. As we have started homeschooling Isaiah, he now goes to school only two and a half days while he is at home for two and a half days. We love it. (I guess you should ask him how he feels. He did comment that it's harder than he thought!) Abby is in 6th grade and was elected as her class leader AND a MODEL STUDENT this semester. She also joined the English Speech Contest, talking about JB, the NEWEST SINGING SENSATION. (Guess who JB is???) We also went on a family overnight outing with our Chinese Church Family. We took a long hike to see the magnificent waterfall, but felt quite disappointed as we were just at Yosemite this summer. Now, that was a REAL WATERFALL. (We were drenched just hiking up by the mist. This year, Yosemite was GUSHING with lots of water at all the lakes and waterfalls. It was truly fantastic!) Anyhow, the hike up and the run down were great. I even had a good run back to our lodging. We realized that even though we have lived in Taiwan for 25 years, there are still so many places we have never explored. October promises to be another exciting month. I hope I won't have to wait too long before I write and post some family photos. Please do remember us in your prayers.

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