Meet the Travelers

You may know and already love the people below. Here's how I know them and more about why they are so loved.

An old pic, but it captures his heavenly influence nicely!

Big Bro: Just turned 12 and woke us up early on his birthday, excited to show us his first zit - a true sign of puberty! He may be the closest thing to a teen we have, but he is also the best big brother we've ever met or known. He plays with, looks after, and sets an amazing example for the rest of the herd. Q and I are convinced the measure of peace and love in our family is due in large part to our number one son.

He loves reading and writing fantasy. He loves science and knowing all the crazy science facts that blow the rest of our minds. He is great with people and has a quiet goodness and strength. Big bro is a friend to everyone and wants to do what is right. And he wants a souvenir of everywhere we go. This may be interesting because his closet is already full of his "stuff."

Veeve AND Weese, selling their doughnut socks at the imaginary Sugar Cooks Cafe!

Veeve: Turning 9 in July, she is my current favorite child. (Just kidding! Sheesh!) But she HAS been blowing me away these days. If you've followed Veeve stories from the past you may be surprised to know that she has quite a mellow soul. But she is STILL brimming with personality. She is a natural song writer and has written a good many that top the charts of our family's favorite things to sing. She loves playing the piano, and she has a dance for any occasion. (She has proven this again and again, finding a dance for every request her dad throws at her, like "Now show me the excited-to-brush-my-teeth dance.") She seems to be content no matter what the day throws at her - she's up for yard-work, playing Barbies for hours, being with friends, or reading on her own. She is ALWAYS dreaming up new games and working on new creations. And she is a great sister to her younger sibs.

Weese: Six JUST BEFORE we go, she is a lover! Weese makes friends everywhere we go, and sometimes with people that surprise us. She still sits in church by one of the leaders from a nursery class when she was 3 and terrified of nursery. She has a great many older friends (and by older I mean grandparent age) because she is so loving to anyone who will smile and chat with her. In addition to her insatiable need for a playmate (thank-goodness for loving older sisters!) she has a surprisingly dry sense of humor. Where her older sis can be quite wacky, Weese busts our sides with her eye rolls and mutterings under her breath. I wrote a children's book called "50 Things to Whine About" inspired by conversations with Weese. We'll see if she outgrows inspiring the sequels to it by trip's end.

Stew: The quintessential rambunctious, all-American 3 year old boy - this boy's blond hair, dark brown eyes, and smile will melt hearts! Thankfully for him, we've learned when he attacks you it means he wants to play. Thankfully for us, he's learned he doesn't like getting in trouble. Despite his rough-housing maneuvers playing offense, Stew has a sensitive side that can get pretty upset if mommy is "mad to me" or "mean to me." He isn't quite convinced he's ready to graduate from being a baby. And I'm not sure I'm ready to give up on his snuggles, sweet kisses, whispers in my ear, "Mommy, I love you so much," or his fetish with holding my hair. He also LOVES cars, planes, stories, and baseball.

Steff: I'm the voice and historian of this crazy family, trying to preserve for my own poor memory a taste of all our lives, but especially such momentous adventures! I like writing and speaking - probably mostly because I LOVE telling other people what I think. But I also like NOT being around other people. Most people are shocked I'm an introvert, and I myself am surprised by how much I love a loud and crazy country like Taiwan.

Q: The paterfamilias and candidate for father of the year, Q has been so immensely supportive of this idea. He has faithfully studied Chinese, wrangling the best resources to supplement our Chinese efforts from the internet, and he's making sure the kids are eating right and exercising so we can handle anything Taiwan can throw at us. Like any good father, he is stressed about the cost. But he seems to be balancing that worry with the surety that this is moving boldly in the direction of the dreams we've had for our family. He's even so cutely researched how we can stay LONGER in Taiwan, blowing me away with his confidence that we will love it. I hope this trip for him is an incredible recharge, and a much needed unplugging from the business cares he's lived in the thick of for most of our married lives.

Rachel: If you are wondering how you didn't know about our oldest daughter, it's because this beautiful gal doesn't belong to us. But she does belong WITH us and we're delighted to have her along. Our family goes way back with Rachel. She was the sitter for the kids on a weekly basis when she was 13. I was her first ballet teacher, and recently she came to work for me as a ballet assistant when my classes filled up and I needed an extra hand. Rachel is darling with kids and easy to get a long with (sometimes rare qualities for a 17 year old). What I didn't know is that she has had a life-long fascination with Asia. She's coming because as we were excitedly telling her parents, our good friends, about our journey, her mom joked, "Want to take Rachel with you?" "Sure!" I joked back, and because she was standing right there, jokingly asked, "Want to drop out of your senior year come with our family to Taiwan for 3 months?" She laughed and said "Sure!" And then we all looked at one another and the light-bulb went on! WHY NOT?

So Rachel makes 7 travelers in all! What a crew! Watch out Taiwan, here we come!