Christmas Eve Breakfast

On Christmas Eve we treated ourselves to a fancy breakfast brunch at a fancy hotel in the city. We walked into the lobby and came upon this huge wonder of a Christmas tree!

"O' Tannenbaum, O'Christmas Tree! O'Family"

What beautiful Christmas scenes and decorations!

We enjoyed a long brunch and lots of goodies. Jeremiah did really well sitting for that long, and new doggie came along to help with that cause. The coolest part of the buffet was the honeycomb!

Jeremiah squealed with delight upon finding this GIGANTIC ball!

We were tickled playing with this huge bowl of red pine cones.

Another Christmas Tree!

Christmas cuddles and kisses for Mei Mei :)

Sitting outside and enjoying a few moments of reflection on Christmas Eve morning.

Our 2012 Christmas Card

^"He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth” Luke 1:14

A Living Christmas!

Tonight we went to Miramar Mall to see the live nativity. Some of our church friends were part of the group putting it on. The live nativity also included live animals! Jeremiah got his first ride on a horse! Daniel says this photo looks like Jeremiah's triumphant entry to the mall :)  He sat on the horse so proudly and held on so well.

"Take me to the manger! I want to see baby Jesus!"

A HUGE crowd of onlookers gathered to see the live nativity and the sharing of the Christmas story. It was pretty incredible to see that! And what an opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas.

The roman soldier looks on the scene.

Wise men worship the newborn king.

The shepherds watched their goats by night . . . and Jeremiah got to get right in with them. He loved it. The baby goats got hold of his fingers and he thought it was the funniest thing. One goat started getting pulling on his hair with his mouth. Then it was time to go.

 

 

 

 

A Merry Weekend

We decided to space some of Jeremiah's Christmas gifts out over the weekend, and there has been a lot of joy! He got his first Playmobil 1.2.3 toy - a motorcyle with a driver. There have been many vroom vrooms since them. I think he's a true Bastke with his love and appreciation for Playmobil already.

Today Jeremiah opened a gift with a new doggie inside. He has a big doggie already who he absolutely loves, but this new doggie is smaller and more portable. And as you can see from above, there is joy with having a new doggie, too!

"So you are new doggie . . . "

"I like you new doggie. I like you a lot."

Da boys find merriment in bathtime!

done . . . done . . . Andrea is done teaching on Let's Talk in English.

This week I wrapped up my teaching recording on Let’ s Talk in English. I had my last full day of teaching in the studio on Monday by filming the end of our March 2013 episodes. It was a tiring day and a joyful day. Being eight months pregnant, I’m thankful to be done! 

I’ve been teaching on the show for 10 years.  I've taught thousands of episodes by this point as our show is on six days a week. I taught my first five years while we partnered with Taiwan Public Television and filmed at their studios with their production team and crew in another district in town. The past five years our company has been producing the show on its own and we’ve been filming in our own studio with our own production team and crew. I’ve had five different teaching partners and taught on my own for half a year.  I’ve taught through many different life changes – from being single to engaged to married (even teaching with Daniel!), during my pregnancies, and taught as a mom with a little man even wandering on the set from time to time. I’ve had family and friends from home come to the studios to watch recordings. My parents were even on one of our episodes! I’ve been able to welcome students to the set and meet them while out and about. I’ve learned a tremendous amount, laughed, cried, and carried on through frustrations, sadness and absolute delight. It’s been beyond my wildest dreams to have such an opportunity! I love teaching and have been able to teach in the world of edutainment! As a child I always wanted to be a teacher and a movie star . . . tee hee :) God found a way to bring both of my dreams together in His own unique way. 

Through it all our goal has been to broadcast God’s praises through teaching English! And that will continue.

I got a little teary while ending the show with, “Friends, it has been a joy! Be sure to come back again tomorrow. There is always more to learn here on Let’s Talk in English!”

When I came home from work on Monday, I found these sweet signs on our front door and my two favourite men warmly welcoming me home.  Daniel said he had put Jeremiah’s sign on the fridge, but he promptly took it off the fridge and pointed to the door and Daddy had to put it up there, too. 

Weather Here Nor There

"Wait! I'm not ready for a picture, yet!"

"OK, now I am, Mama." December has been quite the month weather wise. We've had typhoon like rains, summer sunshine, warm days, cold days, temperature highs and lows. Jeremiah has sported his cool froggie raincoat on many days this month!

Yesterday we were at a Christmas party wearing shorts and T-shirts. Today we were wearing jeans and vests while out and about. We do know one thing about the weather here, we'll still be dreaming of a white Christmas!

Look who made the cover!

Jeremiah made it on the cover! This is our December Let's Talk in English magazine cover. We took this photo back in July and Jeremiah came to the office with me that day. The cover photo shoot took well over an hour, and at the end we asked if we could take a few "just for fun!"shots with Jeremiah. We were pretty surprised that one of our "just for fun" photos was chosen for the cover! It's a fun Christmas sparkle! And what a blessing to work with this team of . . . well . . .  angels :)

Christmas Sparkles!

Going to the European School's Christmas Bazaar has become a tradition for Daniel and I since we started dating. This year it was the last Saturday in November, and it's always such a special way to start off the Christmas season! This year Jeremiah got to enjoy his own sausage on a bun (well, the sausage anyway) and other treats. For me, I enjoyed a piece of one of the best Sachertorte I've ever had. Sachertorte is layered chocolate cake, marzipan and apricot jam with thick dark chocolate icing. It's Christmas goodness. Daniel had a Gluhwein and I had a Kinderwein. It's as close to a German Christmas market as we'll get in Taipei! What a jingle bell joy treat!

We also met up with our dear friends, the Weis, and one of Jeremiah's dear friends, Scarlett. Above you'll see Beth and I, we are Taipei mamas! We are often out and about together with our strollers and babes!

It's great to see Christmas in Taipei. We saw this big tree at the Taipei Main Train Station.

We got to meet up with one of Daniel's college friends. She grew up in Taiwan, and was actually the first person to tell Daniel about Taiwan. She has been back in Taipei for a few months waiting to finalize her daughter's adoption. We got to meet her and her precious girl a day before they finally got to go back to Canada, and celebrate Christmas as a family!

At the beginning of December I joined a WOW (Women of the Word) Christmas celebration at the American club. My friend Rachel was part of the organization team, and it was SUCH a blessed night. Rachel, Beth and I got a mamas shot by the tree before the night ended. Love these mamas! I like how you can see Rachel's boy, Benny, in the background taking balls off the tree.:)

The Stool

"Don't worry, I've got my stool!" This is what I feel Jeremiah is saying as he walks around our apartment with his stool in hand reaching for new heights and bounds. His stool has given him access to a world above what is baby proofed, and the feeling of being a big boy. Thankfully, he really only brings the stool to places that we are at since he wants to join in the fun. Washing dishes is one "fun" activity Jeremiah likes to help with. As soon as he hears the water running, he comes running with his stool. The stool is one that my dad made, so it's also so sweet to see one of Opa Brodersen's creations being used in so many parts of our day. We also use it as a table for picnics in the living room, the place to sit to put on and take off shoes, and so much more!

Bubbles!

Bubbles bring joy! Bubbles bring delight! Watching them float into the sunset from our little rooftop brings peace. Sending you bubbles of love!

Funny Face

Jeremiah loves making funny faces, and it's fun to actually capture one in a photo. The face above is his usual one when we say, "Make a funny face". Our little man has a repertoire of others as well. This weekend he had Daniel and in absolute tears of laughter with some of the ones he was pulling on us. We are so thankful for our little man and all the moments of joy and laughter we get to share together!

My Little Sous Chef :)

Jeremiah is all about helping mama in the kitchen these days. When I'm preparing food, he's right there by my side. We made a nice big batch of roasted veggies the other day and he was helping me mix the veggie goodness with seasonings and olive oil!

And he managed to fill his cheeks with a few pieces to hold him over until our fall medley was roasted! I guess that's a perk of being a sous chef, eh?

Taiwan and Home Fusion Snack

 

Purple rice mantou (steamed bread) with sweet potatoes from the traditional market in our neighbourhood, topped with Wellesley apple butter! Wellesley is a town next to my home town of New Hamburg - home of the annual Apple Butter and Cheese festival. So good! And so good for the heart and soul, too! :)

Skyping with Bjorn . . . and Opa Bastke and Grandmama!

We are so thankful for Skype! What a great way for J.Kai to connect with this grandparents and for them to see their little man! Last weekend we skyped with Daniel's parents and they pulled Bjorn out of his hibernation! Jeremiah thought it was the coolest thing! Daniel set up our computer to show on our TV as well, so that gave our call high definition! Though we would love to be closer to family, this is the next best thing!

Balloons!

Last Thursday we join the Taipei City Playgroup's Harvest Party. It was held at a children's fun place right in our neighbourhood. And did we ever have fun! The balloon room was the biggest hit for our boy. Four fans were set up in the room to keep the balloons of all sizes in the air and to keep everyone in there "cool", too! J.Kai went as a little soccer player, and loved all the balls!

J.Kai's dear friend Red Bug - Scarlett was also there and they had fun in the ball room together! We are definitely going back to this place!

They also had a ball pit and many other balls of all sizes!

And a cool stand up and spin thing! J.Kai wasn't sure about this at first, but then he didn't want to get off!

Jack!

We bought a pumpkin! Last weekend we found full sized pumpkins at one of the international grocery stores in town. We splurged for a little fun autumn celebration in Taiwan. Jeremiah thought the big "ball" was a lot of fun. (Don't worry, we didn't make him carry the pumpkin longer than the photo op!) :) Fun to see our little pumpkin with a pumpkin!

Daniel and Jeremiah cleaned out the pumpkin on our little rooftop patio. Jeremiah enjoyed taking some of the "goo" out, too! :)

Then it was time to carve "Jack" in our common room. There was a lot of wonder with this!

"So you put a candle in his head?"

Jack has light!

"Look at the moon, Jack!" "Look at the 101, Jack!" Jeremiah shows Jack his new city. Jeremiah has been fascinated with the moon these days. He loves to find the moon at night. He also says, "moo" :) And when he sees the Taipei 101 he points and says, "one" :)

And for now Jack lives in our  fridge! He catches me off guard each time I open the door! Our weather is still pretty hot these days, so we wanted to keep Jack fresh.