Everything since December first.

December
What a couple of months! It has been full of fun, excitement and business. I was able to go to Michigan at the beginning of December and spend some time with my sister, her husband and their 2 fun kids. I had a blast and forgot how much fun it is to be with my niece and nephew.

While visiting my sister, we took a weekend trip to Chicago!

Kinzley and Zak with Santa

I was able to take me niece with me to Utah and that was so fun. We had some fun times being with Kinzley my niece. We had her in Utah for a week and then her mom, dad and brother followed us to Utah a week later. We were able to spend Christmas in Utah with mine and Lloyds family. It was the best. I wish that it would have never ended. We had my whole family at my parents house this year besides my little brother Kevin who is serving in Ukraine. We were able to talk with him on Skype on Christmas day and that was the best present ever! Christmas was amazing and a time to celebrate our Saviors birth and be with family. It was sad to leave everyone and come back to Taiwan.

Traditional PJ's

Cute Zak is always smiling

New Years Eve--So glad we could spend it with these two

Grandpa and Kinzley made us sugar cookies

There was never a dull moment at the Hales home...Always playing games!

Grandpa and Zak, best buddies. This kid doesn't stop smiling

Zak loves looking out the window at the snow

Lots and lots and lots of family parties

The Hales Clan

So glad we got to be with this cute family

Grandma and Zaky boy

The Winkelmans took us to Music and the Spoken word and it was beautiful and so fun to be with them

Our nephews played great roles in the Nativity.

Ty and Kate--Joseph and Mary

A new tradition in the Winkelman home.. PING PONG in their new home!

I'm so lucky to call all these wonderful ladies family

Sledding happened a lot while we were there

Back to Taiwan
Coming back wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We have been having a blast since we came back! I thought when we came back that I would be super home sick and that is not what has happened. We have made sure that we do a lot of fun things to keep our minds off of Utah and so we decided to go to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year! It was a blast. We were able to go to Hong Kong Disneyland while we were there and act like kids. We rode all the rides tons of times and got pictures with the Disney Characters. I felt like a little kid again and we have a riot. I was sad that it was more of a mini version of Disneyland. There weren't as many rides and especially as many big kid rides. Although we found a few rides that were awesome so we stuck with those for most of the day. I also missed all the American food that California Disneyland has. I did find a good churro though. Other than that it was mostly Asian food and some hamburgers. It was a good time. We loved every second of it. At least it was a Disneyland. This made us want to go to the California Disneyland. I think that will be happening as soon as we move back to the States.

We also got to go to a place called Victoria Peak. It was the most gorgeous view I have ever seen in my life. We were on top of a very high mountain and it overlooked Hong Kong. It was amazing and I have never seen such a beautiful place. We went over Chinese New Year so of course it was so busy, but so worth it. We rode a taxi up the mountain and I was pretty scared because the edges were right next to you and you would look out the window and just see a drop off so I pretty much just looked at Lloyd the ride up. We got to eat at a restaurant called Bubba Gump, a shrimp restaurant. I believe there are many of these in the States. It was really really good. I had the coconut shrimp with an orange marmalade dip. It was the best shrimp and I am not a shrimp gal, but this was to die for! I wanted to go back again the next day, but it was just too far away. That night was just amazing. I felt as if I was dreaming. I would go to Hong Kong just to go to Victoria Peak. Our hotel was right against the ocean so it was so pretty to go out at night and just look at the pretty buildings and lights. It was really warm and just the perfect place.

The patio of our hotel

Another fun thing we did in Hong Kong was shopping! I know it was fun for me, I don't know how it was for Lloyd. He was playing games on his phone the whole time. ;) There was a huge H&M in Hong Kong and that was my favorite. I could have spent all day there. I tried on so many clothes and was in heaven. Since there is not a whole lot of good shopping in Taiwan, I made sure to shop away in Hong Kong.
We also rode the fairies across the ocean to get to the different islands in Hong Kong. That was amazing too. This trip was quite an experience and I did so many things I never dreamed of doing. This trip was definitely one of the best I have ever been on. I can't wait to go back. We will for sure be back there again soon!

Of course Lloyd had to watch the BYU Basketball game while waiting for our airplane :)

Thanksgiving in Taiwan.

One of my most favorite holidays...Thanksgiving. I love this holiday and love spending it with family. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family to share it with. This year, since we are out of the country, I was a little nervous about how it would turn out with no family here and not being in America, but it was wonderful. I will remember this Thanksgiving forever.
Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Taiwan, I thought it would be fun to share it with my English class. So for lunch, we went to Outback steakhouse for some food. Although it was not turkey and mashed potatoes it still felt like a holiday because we went around the circle and shared what we were thankful for. It felt warm and joyful during that lunch. I was grateful I could go out and spend the holiday with people like family here. They really have become my second family. I am so grateful to all of them for everything they do for me. It has been a journey trying to feel comfortable here and if it were not for the employees that work with Lloyd, I know it would be a struggle for me here. They are always asking how I am doing and if I need anything. They take me out to explore new things and places and I love spending my time with them. Wether it is out to eat or shopping, I enjoy learning new things. I am so grateful I have had the experiences that I have had and for the upcoming ones. It has been a total adventure for Lloyd and I living in Taiwan. We have both learned so much already and love the people here so much. They are amazing people and are beautiful inside and out.

Happy Thanksgiving at Outback!

Lloyd usually works late, so I asked if he could get off a little bit earlier on Thanksgiving since he had to work. (What?? Yeah I know, lame!) But here they don't celebrate it so everyone works and goes to school; same goes for Christmas. It is not a holiday they recognize here so everyone works and goes to school still. So sad to me, but we will be home for Christmas this year, so that will be nice. Anyways back to Thanksgiving dinner... I asked Lloyd to get off by 6 pm. He is a good husband and got off at 6 so we could go eat some REAL Thanksgiving dinner. We had heard about an American restaurant that serves a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving night here. So we made reservations and ate a real turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, carrots, cranberry sauce, rolls, ham, and a cheesecake. Although we did not have a pie to finish it off, the cheesecake did it justice for this year! It felt good to be eating that food, even though it was not near as good as my moms Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun to go out and not have to prepare anything, but to eat real Thanksgiving food. Thank you "Early Bird Diner" for a fantastic dinner.

our Thanksgiving dinner

Love this handsome man.

Man, I am one lucky gal.

SO... Thanksgiving was a success, plus we had another homemade Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday and Sunday with the branch. That was even more excellent because it was all homemade from our branch members and missionaries. Mmmmmm!! Hope everyone had a happy happy Thanksgiving! Looking forward to Christmas!!

"Good Day" and "Hot Pot"

GOOD DAY!
The Assistant Elders took us to a Mexican restaurant called "Good Day". It certainly was a good day. We were able to go with the Elders and our friends Alex and Jill. They are both amazing people. Good Days food was so great and I certainly enjoyed their burritos. It tasted a bit like home. Their chips and salsa were heavenly and we will be going back very soon. Alex and Jill both work with Lloyd here in Taiwan. They are both so nice and such great friends. Jill always takes me around and makes me feel like a friend. She has introduced me to such great Chinese food. The Elders are the assistants and so they are in our English branch. Elder "Lin" (Lin we call him because his name is super long and I can't pronounce it) and Elder Wong are so awesome. Elder Lin is from Thailand and is such a positive person. He goes home in December. Elder Wong is from Singapore and is also so amazing. He goes home in 3 months. They both have perfect English and I would have guessed they were from America. Elder Wong has never been to America, but they both will be attending Brigham Young University when they go home. We sure love hanging out with these amazing people.

Elder Lin, Elder Wong, Lloyd, Gingerbread man, Jill, Myself, Alex

Me, Jill and Alex

Oh those missionaries :)

 

Gingerbread man? I don't know why he is at this Mexican Restaurant :)

HOT POT!
First off I am so happy to say that right now I am teaching 3 English classes. They are all employees of Lloyd's company. Teaching those classes are the highlight of my week. They are the greatest people on earth and make me smile every time I see them. Actually they do the teaching. Each week they come prepared to share something on a topic we chose. They talk in front of the whole class in English. I am SO proud of them. They do such an amazing job.
One of my classes decided they wanted to do "hot pot" for class. So they all came over to my apartment and we made some dinner. Hot Pot is very famous here in Taiwan. It is where you can boil meat, fish, shrimp, noodles, eggs, vegetables, etc in a big pot that's boiling. Once it is done everyone takes a bowl and eats it and then they boil more food and you eat the next round. It was so fun to have everyone over and to eat hot pot. It was really good actually. They had me try fish, shrimp, eggs, different meats, and different vegetables that I have never had. Those that know me, know I do not like seafood, but in this case I really did like everything that I ate. It was delicious. I can't wait for next "hot pot" night.

The amazing chefs

HOT POT

Love these people

My awesome English class!

I am so grateful I get to spend a couple days a week with these amazing people. They teach me a lot and I have a lot of fun. Like I said, it is the highlight of my week. They are all so nice and genuine. I never thought I would be falling in love with this place. It is amazing.

Missionaries Missionaries Missionaries

We have had the best time with the missionaries here in Taiwan. They are all so amazing and so fun. They have truly helped me feel at home and made me realize I can do things that I never thought I could. It has been so fun helping them teach investigators and helping them find investigators.
We have different sets of missionaries who we just love and adore. Right now we are in the mission presidents branch along with the assistant missionaries. Their names are Elder Lin and Elder Wong. They are so amazing and have the best attitudes. We have taught a lesson with them and enjoyed their sweet testimonies.
We had another set of Elders at our house for dinner this past Sunday. They are amazing as well. They work so hard and were able to give Lloyd a blessing when he was feeling pretty sick. Elder Christianson and Elder Brown. They are so good together. They ran into a couple that lives in our apartment building and we have an appointment set up with them now for this week. It has been so exciting. They bring the Spirit into our apartment everytime.

Sister Wadsworth and Sister Johnston

Sister Bell and her companion

Sister Bell and I outside of Costco

The Sister missionaries are darling. They are right outside our area, but we are still able to meet with them and chat with them. They live close to the Costco that is here in Taichung. So we get to take them with us on their p-day so they can go in and shop. Today was one of those days. I had two sets of sister missionaries with me. Can I just say they are the coolest. I love being around their happy faces. They are so happy and positive. We shopped for them for about an hour and ate down in the Costco food place. It was so great and I am so happy that I get to spend some time with them. One of the sisters is from Park City, Utah and attended Utah State University. She is darling and I feel like we are a lot alike and we get along great.
I think it would be incredibly hard to serve a mission. I am grateful I have the opportunity to be here in Taiwan with them and learn from them. They have taught me so much about this life here on earth. I am SO grateful for them. I feel like I can make it here just because of the gospel. I don't know how I would be doing this without the gospel.
I am also so grateful for my cute brother Kevin for serving a mission right now in Ukraine. Being here has shown me how tough a mission can be and it gives me so much more respect for my little brother and I am so grateful for his hard work.
SO- Missionaries are the BEST!

Taiwan adventures

These past couple of weeks have been super busy, but so much fun. We moved into our apartment, explored the Night Markets, taught with the Missionaries, attended the Taipei Temple, shopped at the new Ikea and much more. Taiwan is an awesome country. I am realizing more and more how beautiful it really is and how many amazing things there are here. I am finally settling in and making this place like home. We moved into our apartment which has made things A LOT better for me. I was able to decorate the house and make it feel like home.

The night market was so much fun. I would go every week if I could, but my husband doesn't love the idea of me spending so much money there! I have been to night markets before but none have been this nice. I really enjoyed it and the food there. We had these amazing corn dogs, tortillas, and great dessert. The stores there were pretty nice and even had air conditioning! Although I am sure the stuff there is pretty cheap, I have enjoyed the two pairs of shoes I bought for under $12 together. I will be back for sure.

We went to the grand opening of Ikea-LOVE IT Watching the BYU game!  Moving into the apartment was so good for us. We now have a place to call home. My favorite thing about being here is that Lloyd's office is right across the street. It is so nice to know where he is and if I need anything he's right across the street! Our apartment has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Lloyd and I have never had 2 bathrooms before so that has been nice. :) Our kitchen is quite small, but they aren't huge into kitchens over here. We have no oven or dishwasher, just a fridge and stove top! It has been weird adjusting, but makes me so grateful for what we have back home! We decided to get some folding bikes to get around. They have been so much fun to ride. They are cute folding bikes and light so we can carry them around. They have already been so helpful to us. We rode them to Costco and that was much cheaper than taking a taxi. We are excited to ride them more and take them to the beach with us! We went to the grand opening of IKEA this past week and got some things for our apartment! It was super busy since it was the first day opened, but it was worth the wait in line! I love Ikea and it gave us some good things for our new place!  Lloyd has our TV set up so that we can stream football games. It is a good thing too because he LOVES his BYU team and couldn't be more excited for the games each week. Again, SO happy that we are in our apartment!

We attended the Taipei, Taiwan Temple about a week ago. It was the most amazing experience I have ever had. I love the Temple and it was so beautiful inside and out. It was so peaceful and I loved all the workers. They are so nice and loving. Lloyd ran into his old mission companion who was working in the Temple. That was so fun for us to see him.
This past Saturday and Sunday night we were able to teach with the missionaries. Saturday night was with a lady who is from the Caribbean. She attends school and works here. She has a baptism date set and is amazing. On Sunday night we met with another lady who is investigating the church. She works with Lloyd and is such a great lady. It was so neat to meet with them along with the missionaries and see how the lessons go. It was a good experience for me! We absolutely adore the missionaries here! They are AMAZING. They are so good to us and are always so happy. We love the Missionaries!