Strawberries

 One joy of living in Taiwan- strawberry season in January!

And just so you don't get too envious, remember our small mosquito problem? Well, both Carl and I were bombarded all night by a kamikaze squad. Carl finally gave up at 5:30 and launched a counter-attack with the killer tennis racket!  Tonight we are on the offense!  Tomorrow the management sprays the basement. Lets hope the enemy is annihilated!

 But until then, we will enjoy our juicy red strawberries.

Strawbnerries

A Joy

JV Basketball Champions

 The day began early, too early!

Tough game but with a little bit of brain power (that of the coach) and lots of energy and digging down deep (that was Abbi), Lady Mustangs earned the victory!

Great Job, Coach Dingus and Abbi!

Small Things

Sometimes its the little things that make the biggest difference. This blog is dedicated to the little things- good and bad.


The Good:

It weighed no more than 30 pounds. It terms of boxes, that's relatively small. Inside was  a collection of small things. Nothing major, just a few things that our home church in Ohio thought we might enjoy. Things like Jolly Ranchers, Combos, and Swedish Fish. Things you can easily live without, but little things that can make your day a bit brighter Things we never thought about until they weren't easily available.

Thank you Faith Worship Center!

Thank you Dave and Ann!

 It was like Christmas all over again! 

The Bad:

 Its January and the expected high tomorrow is 72 degrees. No complaints here. The weather has been amazing- bright and sunny Sorry, Ohio friends, I must tell the truth.

 But wait, this is suppose to be about  bad little things. Yes, its coming. I know, its hard to believe, but there is something little and bad about 70 degrees in January. Can you think of it?

                                                 Mosquitoes!

Yep, you read that right mosquitoes. Being from Ohio, I never gave those little buggers a thought once the cold weather came. They just kinda disappeared. Out of sight. Out of mind. 

Yeah, they are driving me out of my mind. Taiwan winters are mild enough for even the mosquitoes to hang around. Lucky us. They are the worst at night. Ever have one buzz around your face while trying to sleep? Night after night? Then you understand. They are so little, but big time annoying! 

 One morning, Jacob counted 10  hanging out in the elevator, just waiting for an unexpected victim. I think their command center is in the basement parking garage. A neighbor just recently shared that their entire family sleep under mosquito netting. But we found another solution.

It looks like a tennis racket, but it isn't. Its a bug zapper. You turn it on, swipe it, and ZAP the mosquitoes are gone. (insert evil chuckle)  Does it work? I don't know. I'll have to get back to you on that one! 

Wow!

Wow! Its such a small word.

Last week, as we were crossing the mountains, Nick banned my usage  of this tiny but powerful word. I guess I was repeating myself. But I simply couldn't help myself.......

I mention all this because I had a WOW! kind of day last Friday! No, I wasn't in a car driving across the island. No, I wasn't at a white sanded beach. 

I actually was on a train. The high speed rail-more commonly known here in Taiwan as the HSR- cuts the two hour drive to Taipei into a quick easy hour. I was just amazed!  So amazed I found  myself saying wow over and over again in my head! Good thing Nick wasn't in my head!

Later that evening, I found myself using that word again, but this time I was watching a basketball game. With Carl as coach, the girl's jv game went into double overtime against an alumni team of a local high school. Abbi contributed a lot to the win.It was such an exciting nail biting game with a satisfying outcome. 

How about you? Have you had a Wow! day lately? Look around you. Sometimes its the big things, like God's beautiful creation, and sometimes its the little things, like an unexpected victory. Enjoy it!   

Testing

Wow.

Its a small word. Its easy to say. It sounds the same even if you say it backwards.

Last week, Nick wanted to banish it from my vocabulary. I probably did over use it during our trip over the mountains. But I couldn't help myself:

Beautiful

Warning! Family vacation pictures ahead.....

Kenting:

 

Hualien:

Last Day of 2012

 

 

First Day of 2013

 

 

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas - A Week Late But Its the Thought That Counts!

Yes, I know Christmas was over a week ago...
Yes, I know you have been waiting...
Yes, I know no excuse will be good enough...

So now that we are all on the same page, I do sincerely apologize! It was my intention to blog, blog, blog during my two week break from school. Oops! I missed the mark by a long shot.

Let me begin by saying:

Merry Christmas!

Although we were not present to wish many of you this in person, our thoughts and prayers were with you. Christmas was different but when Jesus is your Savior and Lord, Christmas is  Christmas no matter where you are in the world..

In the Dingus family, we tried to hold onto some of our holiday traditions, as well as create some new ones. Looking back, I think we were successful.

We still decorated the tree as a family! We were even able to feast on a special meal-- including the traditional pineapple cheeseball and Apple Snickers Salad. To create these family favorites, a little bit more thinking and planning were required but well worth it!

Something we hope begins a new family tradition was our participation in a live Nativity scene outside a local mall. While we were not actually in the Nativity , a group of us sang carols as shoppers passed by. Notice the coats, hats, and gloves. While it was not cold enough to snow, it was a windy blustery evening.

Unfortunately, Abbi was fighting a nasty cold and was unable to come with us. Hopefully, we will be able to participate next year so she can share the experience!

On Christmas day, we opened our stockings and gifts. Of course, I had to take the traditional "all the kids in front of the tree" picture. Nick obviously feels he is much too old to participate. Ben is tolerant while Abbi and Jacob still find pleasure in this tradition or maybe pleasure in pleasing their nostolgic mom. Either way, they look happy!

So the strangest thing about Christmas in Taiwan is that it isn't a national holiday. To all of our neighbors it was just another work day. But the court yard of our building was outfitted in blinking Christmas lights and our elevator that tells us good morning and good afternoon (in Chinese of course) every day was programmed to say Merry Christmas in both English and Chinese. I can honestly say I have never had an elevator wish me Merry Christmas!

Since my oven is so tiny and turkeys outragesouly expensive, we opted for another new tradition- Chili's. Yes, we went to Chili's for our Christmas meal. We had received several gift certificates and decided the best time to redeem them was Christmas Day. And I am so glad we did. We went between lunch and dinner and pretty much had the place to ourselves. AND the food was delicious! Expensive but worth it!

So our Christmas was a combination of the old- band concerts, office parties, homemade cinnamon rolls, Christmas music playing in stores  and new- missionary Christmas brunch, skyping friends and family, shopping Christmas day.

Because it really isn't about where we are or who we are with... Its all about JESUS and celebrating the most miraculous birth that has ever taken place in human history!

I Am Blessed!