OOHHHH YUMMY!

Mialee and I made brownies to take to my office~ mainly so we could eat them while we were there, but we shared with everyone!

More Tulips are a Blossoming!

I now have 4 tulips in bloom. The rain at night and sun during the day is really helping them pop up.

Our Creative Selves!

Two weeks ago Mialee and I went to a pottery place in town and did some painting. She painted a piggy bank motorcycle and I made some salt and pepper shakers.

Where is everyone?

It really isn't that hard to sign up under the new blogger. Where is everyone? Stef have you helped Janet and Carleton sign up so they can post? They live there so you can assist. But where in the heck is Shelley and Lesley. Heck Stef could show Lesley how to do it too. I want Shelley to post pics of Jolie. Subtle aren't I?

My Tulips are blooming

James letter today

Dear Family,

   So the past 6 days have been what is known as Chinese New Years...
and it is the biggest holiday celebrated in Taiwan. For one... I have
never been in a war zone... but every day fireworks are going off. It is
really interesting. Two, when this holiday is celebrated people go home
to there birth place... so Taipei City is totally empty. Our city as
people, but not alot in it. Where did they all go you ask? They are down
South! So the other two missions are having fun, lol. Three, the
members that are still in Zhongli... love the feed us. It is a fact that
missionaries all gain more than ten pounds or more in a week, because of
this. I weighed myself before the holiday week and I was 174. I was
really shocked... I have gained 14 pounds since the beginning of my mission,
but I am smaller than before. It is all muscle... ( the bench press and
biking does pay off... as well as the heat :-P ) but I will likely gain
more from the food. I can add sushi to my list of new food eaten... how
cool is that, lol.
     So, yesterday was a trial of my faith. I was being tempted with
so many bad things. And it is really interesting that before the day
started I read a talk in the Ensign of 4 ways the Lord helps us. One, He
takes it from us all together. Two, He gives us strength to bear it.
Three, He waits than helps us. Or, Four, He lets us go through it and
learn. That is the one I went through. I had to fake it alot (being happy).
In fact, till I told Elder Ware before we went to our dinner
appointment, he thought I was dandy and happy. I know the Lord helped... we had
the opporunity to take two of our Filipino brethern with us on exchanges
for an hour and had two member lessons. We did not understand Tagalog,
but we felt the Spirit and it strengthend the members. Through the rest
of the day, we ran into more of them. They speak awesome English and
really provided a light when it was raining hard most of the day. The big
blessing and comfort came though after 10 oclock. My trainer, Elder
Peterson, called last night to give us some info on a man who has interest
in the church. Afterwards, we talked for a little bit and I felt so
energized. He has always looked after me, even though we have been in
other zones since our time together. He always asks about me when my
district leaders are in Taipei. That is a true trainer and friend. Also, a
member from my first area in TaoYuan called me up and said he would
attend English Class in Zhong li. He has visited me before and calls me
every now and again as well as writes. He was baptized the day I started my
mission, but I helped him come to church when he was lacking in his
testimony for a little bit. Amazingly, we are only a few months apart in
age, lol. Than, when I prayed... I felt to much love and peace. I had
passed the trial of faith.
      I am a testimony of a Heavenly Father who knows what He is
doing. I am an example of His Master-like workmanship. I know He lives. I
feel it everyday. Our teaching pool is all gone for Chinese New Year, but
we will not give up. The Chinese langauge continues to grow. I am
amazed at how the Lord teaches me and molds the language into my mind. I
love learning characters. They provide a fun game of challenge and
mystery. Just like math! So, how is the family all doing? Anything new going
on? I love you all, be brave and know the Lord lives!
     Love Elder Wei

Paisley

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!

Hope your day is wonderful and the valentine in your life remembers you.

Cute Paisley

This is a cute new Valentine's Day outfit from Grandma Cornwall!

These are new stacking bowls for Paisley. She really likes them!

This is a new puzzle with animals on it. Paisley used the pieces handle to suck on like a binki.

This is a new trick- Paisley wearing Jason's watch as a necklace. She sure is cute!

Happy 15 Months to Nathan!

Today Nathan is 15 months! He completely gave up crawling about a week ago and is found wandering around the house. He is getting confident enough in his walking to carry things around with him, though that causes him to fall more frequently. He waves and says, "GyeGye" when we leave somewhere. He says, "Go" when I get the car keys out. He loves playing peekaboo and this week Mialee taught him Ring Around the Rosie. He walks in a circle and says, "uh, uh, uh", (all fall down), then falls down. Very Cute.

Mialee told me yesterday she wants to be a whale when she grows up and would like me to watch her swim in the ocean, but not yet, 'cause she is still a girl, not a whale. In her dinner prayer the other night she thanked Heavenly Father that Nephi's Daddy was able to find the tree. That was shortly after we read the tree of life chapters in the Book of Mormon. Today she gets to take Valentines to all her pre-school buddies and have her first Valentine party. She is very excited.

The Time Has Come

Well the time has come that blogger has forced us to switch to the new blogger and I'm afraid of what this will do to our blog. From now on any time anyone wants to post you MUST sign in with a google account. This means everyone MUST have a gmail email address. I can send everyone invitations. This is just one more thing for everyone to remember. Perhaps a sticky note on the side of your monitor to help you remember that email address will help people. I'm sorry that we have to switch. It will probably be chaotic for a while but we will help you all switch. Please email me or call me if you have questions or are ready for me to send you an invitation to gmail. When you are registering with your new gmail account you can keep your same user name and password, just the log in name will be your new gmail email address. Good luck! We hope this isn't the end of the blog!

More from Mom and Dad

Dear Stefanie,

Please forward this letter to everyone - it takes extra time to enter everyone's e-mail address. We have been at sea for three days now and I personally am eager to set foot on terra firma. We went in and out of Sounds in the Fiordland National Park in New Zealand today. Tomorrow we visit a town called Dunedin. I think we are going to see a castle. The dining room is very fancy and I have enjoyed most of the food. We haven't had ice cream yet except if it is offered at dinner. Dad bought a soda card and he is getting his money's worth. Michael Ballam is amazing. His testimony has been very uplifting. Being with an LDS group has been great. I hope that Paisley is better - wish I were there to help take care of both of you. Leslee- thanks so much for the flowers. They are gorgeous and we took pictures to show you. Dad has been going crazy with his camera but that is why he has it, right? The weather has been cooler than expected but that is better than hot. We love you all and miss you. We look forward to seeing you next weekend.

Love, Mom and Dad

Pictures from James in Taiwan

Greetings from "Down Under"

Dear Family,

We made it safe and sound to Sydney and have had an amazing time here. We are on our way to the dock to board the cruise ship. It leaves at 9:00 p.m.

The plane trip was long. It was bumpy off and on but I managed to keep myself under control. Dad was great. We didn't sit by the Crook's so we only could visit them at the airport in LA and in Sydney.

We took two sight seeing busses yesterday. One went the perimeter of the city and we saw all the beaches. The other zigzagged through the city. Both tours had a commentary going on so we were told about all the historical things. Sydney is a beautiful city.

We are only paying for a few minutes, so one of you please forward this to Lewis and Tracy, Martissa and Leslee, and Shelley.

We miss you and love you. We will try to get on line again in a few days from the ship.

Love, Mom :)


I got this email from Mom and thought instead of forwarding it I would post it for all of you.