June Update

It's hard to believe we have passed the 6 month mark in our new home across the big pond.  The weeks keep ticking off and we enjoy Taipei more every week.  We stay busy with language study, our day jobs, the girls as well as building relationships with new friends.  Life is becoming more normal and routine and I find fewer things of great fascination like when we first arrived. 

Here are a few little updates from each of our lives:

Ava's new favorite pasttimes are climbing on the furniture and pestering Chloe. I cannot count the number of times I have to rescue her from bookcases, ladders, tops of furniture or the table.  She can get up but she can't get down.  She also tries to get Chloe's attention by stealing whatever book, game or toy Chloe is quietly playing with.  Ava then runs away and when Chloe catches her, Ava dogpiles Chloe. Both are laughing hysterically the whole time.

Chloe is enrolled in the local school to begin attending half-days in August.  She will go to school while Jeff and I are in language study.  Chloe is becoming such a sweet little girl who is extremely concerned when one of us doesn't feel well or if Ava gets hurt (usually falling off something she has just climbed).  As I write this Chloe has just misplaced a little toy McDonald's credit card thing she calls her "ticket."  She is yelling from her room "Ticket! Where are you? Ticket! Ticket! You Okay?"

Jeff's job, school and language study is coming along.  He really enjoys Taipei and loves going on exploratory adventures on the weekends.  We got tired of getting lost all the time so for his birthday present he got a new iphone with GPS. A major perk of Asia is that the iphone is WAAYY cheaper here.  He is also doing well conversing in Chinese and I am really proud of his progress.

As for me (Heather) I have been having some medical problems lately that the docs originally thought were linked with kidney stones.  However, tests have shown that I don't have kidney stones and so more tests are needed.  Please remember me and the docs during your quiet times.  Please ask that the docs have wisdom to know where the problem lies and that it will be a quick and easy fix.