Shaffer family life

2012-02-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

Desert dwellers playin in the snow while visiting Grandpa Ken.

2012-02-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

"Ive been looking for this for lots of days" Cordelia says as she plays with her brand new birthday present.

2012-01-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

2011-2012 Shaffer Family Newsletter

Welcome to another winter! We enjoy the pleasant weather of the desert this time of the year. We have been working on a Tree House with Windy’s Dad, Ken, and it is nearly ready for extensive use. May through September will be too hot to play outside but now it is lovely.

Adelaide “Addy” is now 2. Our little “Angel Baby” she is beginning to show a strong will, but can usually be convinced to ask (or rather use body language and sign) to politely get what she wants. She is so good she even puts herself down for a nap when she is tired most days. She is “little bitty” and doesn’t really weigh over 20 pounds. She started cruising along furniture at 1 year, but decided not to actually walk until a few days before she was 18 months old. She is a chatty little thing and has multiplied her vocabulary. At Thanksgiving she had about 6 words, a month into the new year she has about 600. She has been able to whistle at will for months now.

Cordelia “Dilly” is 4. She is in a co-op pre-school and is always happy to play with other kids. She is very clever and figures things out quickly. Super Duper Dill is still our firecracker and happy and fun to be with when she is good. In the summer she went cross eyed within a month and we took her to the pediatric ophthalmologist and they prescribed glasses, then “patching” of the eye which is done by a dilation drop once a day. Hopefully all will be straightened out at our next appointment and we will have a daughter who can see well and have depth perception. We had culture shock as it’s the first pair of glasses to enter our home and just a few months later she now looks funny without the glasses rather than with them…

Elnorra is 6 going on 7 going on 25. She is very friendly and loves to have play dates as often as possible. She is our Mother Hubbard and a fragile flower. She is such a good and helpful big sister, but sometimes thinks she’s the real mom. She is doing well in first grade. After being jealous of her sister, and at the recommendation of her teacher, she went to an optometrist. Her prescription for reading only glasses is minor enough we can’t buy a spare at the drug store…She is in an after school Spanish class and in a Girl Scout troop. In September she tripped and fell and broke her collar bone. 3 weeks later she was able to use her arm normally. She’ll know when the weather changes for year or maybe a lifetime though. Her favorite song this Christmas was “All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth.”

Windy is 6 squared. This is another year of the tuba. She plays in not 1, but 2, bands. A concert band (70+) members and a polka band (20+) members. She played in 2 TUBACHRISTMASES, Tucson had 65 performers and the one at Downtown Disney in Anaheim there were 421 performers (one of whom is an old college buddy). She is currently practicing hard to perform a solo with the concert band March 25th. It is a lovely narrated solo in the style of Peter and the Wolf called “Tubby the Tuba.”

Last spring brought about the passing of both her aged cats, including her beloved Oliver who was estimated to be 14. A few months later we acquired a new pet named by the girls, “Sparkle,” who is a surprisingly friendly chicken. She is a survivor as she is simply living in our back yard and survives with a tree to roost in and food and water set out.

Windy keeps over busy and very happy with her marriage, lovely girls, house, repair business, volunteering at the adult level with Girl Scouts, voter registrations and multiple responsibilities at church. Not to mention all the fun and useful things like yard work, home maintenance, mending, cooking and housekeeping. She couldn’t do it all with out her mom, DD, who keeps her sane and is the best “Grandee” who babysits and loves to play.

Windy loves having 3 working vehicles (3 years ago we had none). Ben’s commuter, a reliable car “Pumpkin”, and the ‘67 VW Fastback, “Helga,” which is not (and may never be) restored but runs well and was in her first car show Jan 28 in Tubac, AZ.

Ben is no longer 30 and is in his first year of Law School at the University of Arizona. He commutes the half hour from home. He is happy and loves having other intellectual adults to talk to on a regular basis. He comes home full of bounce and wants to chat about this and that, which is a pleasant change from the last few years of “How was your day?”... “Fine” or “OK”. He wakes up early and teaches early morning seminary each day before dropping Elnorra off on the way to his school. He has a balance of all ages with the teenagers in the early morning, adults at school all day, family life and music time with the littlest kids at church.

On Dec 20th, 2011 we packed the car for a road trip which turned into the adventure of a lifetime. Instead of the simple Christmas with Grandpa Ken and Grandma Lorie and New Years in Provo with the Shaffers for Addy’s birthday we convoluted it as follows:

4000 miles, 5 happy family members, 4 national parks, 3 weeks, 2 motels, 1 royal good time

Home in Sahuarita, AZ

TUBACHRISTMAS in Downtown Disney (421 performers)

Anaheim, CA to visit Ben’s sister, Anni. And a trip to the beach.

Flagstaff to visit Windy’s dad and his wife for Christmas. Snow, what is this stuff?

The Grand Canyon

Zion and Kolob Canyons

Dinner at our favorite restaurant in Cedar City, where we spent the first 3 years of our marriage.

Provo with Ben’s family for New Years and Adelaide’s 2nd birthday. Visits with 2 tuba friends and a best buddy.

Yosemite (north pass still open, such a mild winter)-Ice skating and Half dome at sunset with a refection and the full moon.

Sequoia National Park-Can you tell that the dots at the bottom of the “General Sherman” tree are our family?

Then a visit with friends in Nevada.

And finally Home Sweet Home

We all had the usual issues with long trips but did well overall. They were so happy and made memories and new friends at every stop. Windy did a lot of computer work and Ben drove a lot!

With love and best wishes from all of us to all of you,
Ben & Windy Shaffer
Elnorra, Cordelia & Adelaide

1301 West Calle de Cobre
Sahuarita, AZ 85629

BenandWindy@Gmail.com

Ben’s cell: 520-203-2328
BenjaminNShaffer@Gmail.com

Windy’s cell: 928-774-8442
TubaMamma@Gmail.com

Facebook: Windy Elizabeth Johnson Shaffer

www.Shaffers1430.Blogspot.com

2011-11-08T10:11:00.001-07:00

My (Windy) life is now complete, at least until I want something else. My 67 VW has been sitting around for 15 years, been running for about 3. Engine fire took it out the first time in the 90's. Second engine fire just after major repairs made me loose all confidence couple years ago. Our first activity as a member of the Santa Cruz Valley Car Nuts was a cruise against violence fundraiser for a women's shelter. "Helga" made it the 40 mile round trip purring like a kitten, no fires, no stalling...this is why I held onto grandma's car all those years. Next up, big car show in Tubac, AZ in January 2012.

2011-01-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

Adelaide "Addy" Emily Shaffer had her Golden Birthday today 1 on 1/1/11.

2010-11-26T12:00:00.001-07:00

Ben, Windy, Elnorra, Cordelia & Adelaide Shaffer
1301 West Calle de Cobre
Sahuarita, AZ 85629

BenandWindy@Gmail.com
Web log www.Shaffers1430.Blogspot.com

Ben’s cell: 520-203-2328
Windy’s cell: 928-774-8442
Home phone: None

Season’s Greetings from the Shaffers in 2010!

Home Sweet Home-Homeowners for over a year, we love all the space and comfort!

Adelaide Emily, born 1-1-10, Absolutely Fabulous Addy-Lady, the most patient and happy baby!

First kid in school-Elnorra (5 ½) started kindergarten at a charter school ½ mile away.

Fun, fun, fun-5 days in Disneyland in July with friends.

Energetic and boisterous Cordelia (3 ½) is fiercely independent. She’s our “firecracker.”

Running around doing what we do:
Windy (30+) had a year of the Tuba, in May she attended the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference here in Tucson, took a few lessons, played many Octoberfests with a polka band, and her first ever tuba solo, “In the Hall of the Mountain King!”
Ben(30)can run again! Finally, After breaking my leg, I used crutches or a cane for 6 months and only just stopped limping, but I made it to the peak of Mount Humphreys this summer so I think I’m close to normal at last. This year included us BOTH co-writing and performing a murder mystery dinner theater with Windy’s mom. Our girls went to a lot of different baby sitters for a few weeks. I performed my first improv comedy night during Thanksgiving weekend. We spend most of our time with family, play dates and work. The dishes and laundry are never done, but at least we have food to eat and clothes to wear!

New Years Day, 2010-Tucson Arizona

Adelaide 6 months old

Elnorra, Kindergarten 2010-2011 School Year

Disneyland July 2010

Cordelia "Dilly" 3 and a half, October 2010 Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival

2010-11-25T20:43:00.004-07:00

Thanksgiving at home.

2010-07-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

2010-04-24T14:23:00.002-07:00

I flew with Adelaide (3mo) to Denver for my Aunt Dolores' funeral. Turns out that not only are my dad's parents buried in Denver, but both sets of grandparents.

2010-01-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Adelaide Emily Shaffer on the 1st of January 2010! Happy New Year! Born at 2:20 am she weighed 8 pounds and 12 ounces (4 Kilos EXACTLY to the gram!) and was 21 ¼” tall. Love to you all, Benjamin, Windy, Elnorra, Cordelia, and ... Adelaide Shaffer!

2009-12-01T17:20:00.004-07:00

Shaffer Family Adventures 2009

Our new address is:
The Shaffer Family
1301 West Calle de Cobre
Sahuarita, AZ 85629

Other info has not changed:
BenandWindy@Gmail.com
www.shaffers1430.blogspot.com
(520) 300-6823 home
(520) 203-2328 Ben’s cell
(928) 774-8442 Windy’s cell

Our 7th anniversary was celebrated this year and we have been richer and poorer, in sickness and health… We went from unemployed and miserable to steady employment, homeownership, a baby on the way and a broken leg.

Windy survived morning sickness and is now “great with child.” She is thrilled to have a new home to bring the baby home to at the end of December. The “new” 1969 house seems built for our family and the addition, known as an Arizona Room, is the perfect size for the band instrument repair workbench and tools. It even had a vitally important independent Air Conditioner installed. The laundry room is large enough for the chemical vats, and the 3rd bathroom (aka water closet) in the laundry room has a utility sink rather than a vanity which means we did not even have to plumb one in! Even the buffing machine has a home where it can get things dirty without much fuss. Now Windy is in the blessed position of being a stay at mom with the opportunity to also provide valuable and useful service. The dishes and laundry are never done, but she can finish a flute and send it out the door! She can either solicit business or turn it away depending on the needs of the family. It can be a bit much at times, but it really is the best of both worlds!

Ben has happily settled into a steady job complete with benefits. He is a runner, courier and file clerk at Mesch, Clark and Rothschild P.C., a reputable law firm in Tucson, AZ. He enjoys the fact that he has health insurance, life insurance and even a cash wellness benefit to make life a little more stable and safe. This has turned out to be very important considering current events.

Elnorra celebrated her 4th birthday this February with much excitement. We threw her a huge party with an even bigger cake. She loved her gifts including an imitation snow white dress which she wore for dress up fun many times and for Halloween nine months later. She goes to a co-op preschool and also played soccer this fall.

Cordelia “Dilly” turned two this April and is anxious to grow up. She constantly insists that she is big, so don’t say “Oh what a cute little girl!” in front of her, or you will be promptly corrected by her saying “No! I am a big gir-rul!” In fact she thinks she’s so big she will get the band-aids at all costs and cut her own hair.

We are happy to be expecting an addition to our family. We have chosen not to let the doctors determine the gender of the child, which is due to be born between Christmas and the New Year. Having the privilege of homeownership we did paint one bedroom pink and the other blue. So whoever comes to our family will have a blue room as a nursery.

Full house 11 July 2009

Empty 31 July 2009

Partly in consideration of the impracticality of welcoming another child into our 800 square foot, two bedroom apartment, and partly in realization of the benefit of buying a house when it is most likely to be affordable considering the market upheavals this year, we began a house hunt in May. It was a very frustrating exercise in futility at first, since most of the homes for sale did not meet with even our slightest approval. We are an eccentric family with rather uncommon needs as well as a very small budget, such as the space for a band instrument repair shop, and a general dislike of most modern designs. We then found a home which met our exact wishes but found out when attempting to bid that someone had beat us to it. Windy had said several times throughout this process that, “Either the Lord will pave the way or he will save us a lot of heart break” which turned out to be the case. In spite of the fact that we had been impressed with the property, we found out from our realtor it had a gas leak and was uninhabitable. We also found out that the Lord did in fact have better things in store for us. After suffering the pangs of disappointment for a month or so our realtor, who is also a friend of ours, was not to be distracted from her goal. She daily scanned all new postings including Craigslist for any leads on a house for us. She spotted a classified online for a house, in the same neighborhood as the “one that got away”. It is very close to our church and ironically the same street address (1301) just one block south of the original. The house was being offered “To serious buyers only” as a quick sale. The renovation company that had purchased the house at auction wanted to sell the house ASAP or would complete the planned renovations and put the house up for regular market value, and far out of our price range, a few months later. Upon first glance our realtor told us to go for it! The seller wasn’t joking about a “quick close” we went from seeing the property for the first time to owning the home in just two and a half weeks! That was a whirlwind experience. We thought the other house was wonderful, but “our” house is even better. It has a two car garage; it has a beautiful Arizona room we modified into our shop, a large kitchen and a very nice living room. All in all it is bigger (nearly 1800 square feet), more suited to our needs and more affordable. We love the elbow room, not to mention the yard and rumpus room! We count our blessings every day to have our first house to make into a home.

The Living room

Moving day 25 July 2009

Housewarming day 3 October 2009

After careful consideration and two vehicles dying we decided to invest, not in a new-to-us car, but in the one Windy inherited from her grandmother. We were thrilled to finally get our classic 1967 VW fastback, “Helga”, fixed again and back on the road. It is fun driving the ‘67 VW into the garage of the 1969 house. We even took her to her first classic VW car show, almost…. When we were about two blocks from the show someone pulled alongside us and shouted “You’re leaking gas!” Sadly our first thought was to simply go the last half mile of our 30 mile journey as there was surely someone at the VW car show who could diagnose and fix the problem. About one block later there was an explosion. Ben thought at first that we had been rear ended by the truck behind us. (Old Volkswagens have rear engines.) At that moment someone shouted “That car is on fire! Get the kids out!” We were rescued by family and friends and the car is back at the mechanics awaiting a new fuel pump. All in all a true family memory-making experience and the car should be back up and running before Ben is!

In mid November we had the blessed opportunity to attend the wedding of Ben’s sister, Ann, to Lewis Strasburg. Ben has called Lewis his “Brother” for more than a decade and now it is actually official, though not in a way he would have predicted 15 years ago. They are really the best match for each other, and Ben could not have hoped for a better man for his sister.

Unfortunately, our trip to the wedding was not without one serious misadventure. During the Bachelor Party Ben broke his right leg, badly, on a trampoline. It was a true compound fracture. Both the Tibia and Fibula were cleanly broken in half and needed surgery which removed all the marrow from the Tibia and replaced it with a titanium rod from his knee to his ankle. The real miracle is that just a couple hours after he left the recovery room after his 3:00 am surgery, he went to the wedding at noon. Ben was up till midnight with the bachelor party when his leg broke, then up in the hospital being a very talkative patient till 3:00 am or so, they put him under general anesthesia for the surgery but woke up from the pain only a little after they were done. He then got dressed and told the nurses that he wanted to go to the wedding. They said they would pretend he was taking a long and much needed nap, but that if he was not back before the pain pills wore off he would regret it! Ben went to the wedding and stayed just long enough to get some cake. After 4 days in the hospital in Provo, Utah, we finally returned to Arizona. The trip home could have been worse, but just imagine pregnant Windy T-6 weeks (34 weeks along) driving the whole 20 hours over 2 days. Ben sitting in the back with his leg propped up between the front seats and the girls in their car seats as well as all our stuff crammed into our lovely sub-compact and reliable little Hyundai Accent. Ben missed only five days of work, but is in a more limited role until he can walk again without crutches. He is hoping, and praying, that he will be ready to pace with the baby when it arrives. All Ben wants for Christmas this year is to get into a walking boot and be able to put weight on that foot again!

Trampoline Activity Center

From our family to yours-Have a wonderful holiday Season and a Happy New Year. May you face all of your adventures with gusto and be able to laugh when you look back on your memories.

Sisters

Dilly eating a Dilly bar.

Night Blooming Cereus

2009-11-15T09:18:00.004-07:00

The week of medical adventures:
Cordelia fell off a ladder and injured her wrist. At 10 pm on a Friday night. We debated about taking her into an emergency room as she has hurt her wrist about a year ago. She perked up fairly soon and we iced the injury and put it in an ace bandage as well as pulled out the splint from last year. After 2 or 3 days she was doing well and went without the splint and just kept her wrist still and now seems to be doing well. Then on our way to Utah for Ben's sister's wedding Elnorra developed an ear infection and accompanying headache and fever, including a heat rash that itched like crazy one morning. Just as Elnorra recovered Ben had a shocking and major accident. During the bachelor party the night before the wedding of his only sister, Anni, and best friend, Lewis, Ben broke his leg. He went to the emergency room and had surgery and now has a titanium rod and pin in his right lower leg. He was so determined, though, to attend the wedding that the doctor allowed him to leave the hospital long enough to attend the ceremony and witness the union. Windy figures a healthy normal birth in 6 weeks should cover her obligation to keep the up with family's medical needs.

Ben and Anni

Check out the cool shoes!

2009-11-14T15:15:00.001-07:00

The newlyweds off on their honeymoon!

2009-11-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Anni & Lewis's big day-Alpine Utah

2009-11-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Elnorra, Cordelia, Candice and Veritie

2009-11-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

The Bachelor Party: Pirate town and trampoline adventure centers.

2009-11-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Ben and Dilly at Grandma and Grandpa Shaffer's apartment

All the Shaffer Grandkids:
Joeseph with Candice (18 mo) and Veritie (3)
Ben with Elnorra (4 1/2) and Cordelia (2 1/2)
Adam with Muriel (18 mo), Marcus (3) on his lap and Merideth (8) and Madeline (6) on the floor

Cordelia, Veritie, Elnorra, Merideth, Candice and Madeline

2009-11-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Dinner with Aunt Anni

Ben and Lewis

The Windy-Anni "tradition" painting toe nails. We catuall did the toenails bright red just before they left on the honeymoon after she changed out of the wedding dress, but on this day we only had clear polish for fingernails.

2009-11-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

Elnorra 4 1/2 years old standing in front of the hospital where she was born in Cedar City, Utah.

2009-08-24T13:16:00.001-07:00

1 month after moving in I hosted my first week of co-op preschool. We survived the hury and relocate the mess panic and had a lot of fun in our large kitchen that 9 little kiddos can stand on buckets and make "C" for cookies with cookie dough!

2009-08-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

Progress! The garage is organized and the shop is up and running, just a few more details to put away and then we conquer the moving mess monster and battle the daily living mess monster!

2009-08-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Baby #3, healthy active and measures just the right size. We are waiting for the birth day to know the gender.

2009-07-16T07:39:00.001-07:00

The perfect day:

Harry Potter 6 movie: midnight showing on opening day.
An early morning swim (Windy, girls and Grandee) Poor Ben had to go off to work.
11 am we signed escrow documents to own our first house (1301 W Calle de Cobre, Sahuarita, AZ 85614)
4 pm title recorded and we officially own the home and can now enter the premisis.
5 pm all utilities are set up to start in our name.
6 pm Windy naps with Dilly
8 pm Pizza dinner in the new house sitting on the dining room floor.
10 pm Back to the apartment to sleep!
What a long and wonderful day.

1301 W Calle de Cobre, Sahuarita, AZ

Elnorra sleeping in her room.

The shop.

A real yard, needs work, but at least we'll have space to play and garden!

2009-06-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Father's Day as the Johnson family plays:
Water Balloons

Catch!

2009-02-24T12:54:00.001-07:00

Obama's Inaguration day in Tucson, AZ

2008-12-13T01:09:00.000-07:00

2008 Family Picture Elnorra's 3 3/4 and Cordelia "Dilly" is 1 1/2.

2008-11-27T02:44:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving!
DD Jay (Host, Turkey, Stuffing and Gravy)
Windy, Ben, Elnorra, Cordelia "Dilly", Jim, Mary, Sam, Anni, and Daniel Shaffer

2008-05-17T00:24:00.001-07:00

We climbed a little rock formation and had a good time. Let's just say we won't have spaghetti on the camp food menu again. We didn't realize it was that messy until we saw the pictures, as we ate after dark.

2008-05-17T00:22:00.000-07:00

We went camping up Madera canyon and the flower was beautiful and the moon amazing as it was rising at sunset.

2008-05-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

The "mother" saguaro in bloom.

2008-05-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ben's birthday pie.

2008-04-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

2008-04-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

2008-03-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

2008-03-20T11:24:00.003-07:00

Desert in full bloom, at the Tucson Desert Museum

2008-03-20T11:22:00.001-07:00

Daddy and Dilly

2008-03-16T00:10:00.000-07:00

Family Picture. Elnorra is just over 3 years old and Cordelia is just under 1 year old.

2008-02-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

Vacation to Flagstaff and the glorious SNOW! Grandpa Ken and Grandma Lorie.

2008-01-19T11:19:00.001-07:00

Dilly reaching out for mommy (or maybe just the camera...)

2008-01-18T17:05:00.002-07:00

Elnorra's first haircut for the back.

2008-01-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

Shopping with GranDee, Dilly LOVES to stand and refuses to sit in the cart.
Visiting the Mission of San Xiaver del Bac with family firends, Dave Healey and his sweetheart.

2007-12-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Chinese dinner at DD's with the extended family, Jay, James, Johnsons and Shaffers

2007-12-29T18:26:00.001-07:00

2007-12-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

Visiting Mexico with the Shaffers.

2007-12-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

We purchaced our first artificial tree for our new apartment home. It was decorated in 3 levels. Baby safe, toddler proof and fragile. On the very top is the Johnson family glass spider!

2007-12-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

At the Butterfly Gardens in the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

2007-11-04T17:35:00.001-07:00

The house Windy was born to. Boulder Colorado, still standing as it was 33 years ago in 1975.

2007-08-28T17:32:00.001-07:00

Mesquite blossoms in the Desert (Green Valley, AZ)

2007-08-23T02:00:00.001-07:00

Elnorra is set to go. Unloading the truck in to DD's garage. Thanks to Emily and family and the Sauharita 1st ward.

2007-08-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Unloading the storage unit into the Penske truck. Thanks to the Toby boys and freinds from Beaver, UT and Debbie Nollan, our special friend, for the clean up!

2007-08-14T17:30:00.002-07:00

Dilly and Oliver teaking a break from the road trip (while the Monter is getting it's wheel bearings repacked) Kaylee made a bid for freedom and was left in Beaver City (UT) for nearly a week until we came back through with the U-haul (OK it was a Penske) and she came righ on up as if she expected us back anyday.

2007-08-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

14 August 2007 our last day at Beaver High Adventure Base. Our family in front of Strawberry Flat.

2007-08-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Our last day at Beaver, heading back into the "real" world. Aunt Annie with the girls at strawberry flats.

2007-07-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

2007-07-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

2007-07-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

Ben lead the hike to "3 peaks" today. Beautiful senic views and wild flowers.

2007-07-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

Windy and her dad, Ken repelling at Beaver High Adventure Base. It was wonderful to have Ken and his wife, Lorie, come up the mountain for a visit.

2007-06-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Beaver mountain.

2007-06-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

Our mountain home.

2007-06-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Mountain living...nap time. Both girls actually slept at the same time! They are sleeping in our staff jackets during staff COPE training.

2007-06-10T18:34:00.001-07:00

We had a whirlwind trip back to the States with the help of Windy's sister, Emily, and her daughter, Kelsey. We flew from Taipei, Taiwan to Tucson, AZ, USA on the 5th of June. We landed in Tucson about 2 hours after we left Taiwan, well that's only because we crossed the international date line! We were in airports or in the air for about 15 hours. Between the 3 adults 2 children and 1 infant we had 11 suitcases, 2 car seats and a stroller to check in. 4 pieces of luggage were delayed a day from LA to Tucson because of the tiny commuter jet we were on.

We spent 3 days with Windy's mom, DD, in Green Valley, AZ (south of Tucson) and indeed went to Wal-mart on the way to DD's house and bought matching socks! We also ate at Jack in the Box. Oh the joys of being home!

We adopted Emily's old car, a 1995 Mitsubishi Montero and are very happy to have our own independent transportation again. Windy really struggled with transportation in Taiwan. Now she gets to pay over $3 a gallon for gas and replace the windshield as well a regular oil changes and maintenance! OK, so Taxis were cheaper, but now I can go where I want to when I want to! Yippee! OH yeah, and parking is a non issue where I've been.

We visited Windy's dad for just a day to celebrate Fathers day with the annual water balloon toss.On Saturday the 9th of June (a week early).Then hit the road again and made it to Beaver High Adventure Base Boy Scout Camp by midnight on the 10th of June after 2 mis-adventures. We went to our storage unit in Cedar City to pick up a few things and didn't realize the time zone had changed and couldn't get out of the gate after 9 pm. We thought we were doing well to be done at 8:45, ARIZONA time. Oops! Oh well, we were able to get the gate opened in about 20 minutes and were on our way again. The 2nd misadventure was loosing a duffel bag of baby clothes and toiletries off the roof rack as we didn't have any more room inside the car and though we were nearly to our destination and didn't tie it down properly.

Well anyway we are mostly enjoying our time at camp, though it's been a super rough transition on Cordelia at only 2 and a half months old. The climate when from 90 degrees F and 90 percent humidity to 40 degrees at night and 5 percent humidity!

We are working hard and getting full of nice clean dirt!

2007-06-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

2007-06-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip across the border to Mexico in our short visit in Arizona before heading up to Utah. To bad they charge for a visa to get a stamp in your passport. We were in 3 countries in the space of 4 days.

And just for proof that a red octagon is universal for stop here's a picture in Spanish to match the Chinese sign shown earlier in the blog.

2007-06-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

We arrived safely in Tucson on Tuesday night near midnight, 2 hours “after” we left Taiwan. We had a bit of an adventure and high stress (Ben lost his wallet 3 hours before taking the bus to the airport; it’s found now and in the express mail system thanks to the folks at the Grand Hotel.) We were just in time for each flight and didn’t have more that 10 minutes to rest between any transfers with immigration (surprisingly no problems due to the missing ARC) all the customs (no problems, but time in line) moving our own baggage in LAX and then arriving in Tucson in a 50 seater plane that couldn’t fit our luggage. We did have 11 check-ins, 2 car seats (one in the plane for Elnorra) and a stroller. Our 4 remaining bags and Cordelia’s car seat arrived at my mom’s house, free of charge, the following evening. We even had a loaner car seat for the day.

We went first to Jack-in-the-Box for a midnight snack (It was on the way, open 24 hours and sounded good) We then went to Wal-mart and we now own 20 pairs each of our preferred style and color of socks!

2007-06-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

2007-06-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

The flight home. We flew out of Taipei, Taiwan around 7 pm on Tuesday the 5th of June, we arrived in Tucson, AZ around 11 pm the same day! With the crosssing of the international date line we technically were only traveling 4 hours, but it was a much, much longer day.

2007-06-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

Luggage! We had 3 adults, 2 youth and 1 babe-in-arms. This allowed 11 pieces of luggage up to 70 pounds, not counting 2 car seats and a stroller!

2007-06-04T00:13:00.004-07:00

Moving out... the empty Taipei apartment. We found a new renter and sold our furnishings to her so we didn't have to find news homes for (and move) any more stuff than we had to.

2007-06-04T00:12:00.002-07:00

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Moving out... the empty Taipei apartment.

2007-05-22T00:04:00.002-07:00

Lunch at the little "restaurant" behind Ben's work. The proprietor was a good friend to Ben and one of the main reasons he learned as much chinese as he did. She was fun to watch work and talk to. Her English was quite good especially considering her age and occupation. Most of the youth are taught English in public school now; but not when she was growing up.
Danny, Anni, Jim and Mary Shaffer joined us for our "goodbye" lunch.

2007-03-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

An amazing lobster salad, as good as it looks.

2007-03-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

2007-03-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Nissan Mini

2007-03-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

I really like the Mini cooper, but this version made by Nissan is even better. If they sold these anywhere else I would love to buy one when we go to America. What a cool car, and we love the chrome.

Down the mountain

2007-03-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

After our experience at the peak we knew that we could not keep to our original plan of decending the other side of the mountain. The trail on that side was all ice and we were informed by the rangers that a woman died only two weeks before on that trail, and that she had crampons! So rather than risk a fatal fall we decided to decend that very day all the way to the trail head. it was a push but also a beautiful day. There was little fog and we reached the trailhead just at sunset. Windy even got a ranger to drive our van to the trailhead to pick us up! saving us a 3 Km uphill hike in the dark. We then drove all the way down to 嘉義 ChaiYi to shower and stay at a hotel. What a long day! In the morning we were hiking up the mountain being pelted by hail and at night we were over 130 Km away taking hot showers! We hiked about 3 Km up from the 排雲山莊 PaiYun Lodge to the peak, and then down 12 Km to the trailhead and then drove about 120 Km to 嘉義 ChaiYi. We went to McDonalds and loaded up on the necessary empty calories, and then to the hotel. We were too tired to take pictures of anything after this sunset shot on the mountain. This trip also meant that we were at about 4000 M above sea level and then almost at sea level meaning we traveled from the top to the bottom of Taiwan in one day. Tough drive through fog and swich back roads too.

The unfortunate bridge

2007-03-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

This bridge was the victim of a boulder that came crashing down the mountain. Many bridges similar to this one were constructed over dangerous parts of the trail. Ken, being an architect, was impressed not only that so much of the bridge was still sound after the landslide but that these and many other materials must have been airlifted in.

玉山主峰 Jade Mountain Peak

2007-03-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

玉山 Jade Mountain is the highest peak in northeast Asia. In 1900, after the annexation of Taiwan by the Japanese, two Japanese anthropologists, Torii Ryūzō and Mori Ushinosuke, became the first people to have been recorded ascending 玉山 Jade mountain. They gave the mountain the name Niitakayama (新高山) literally the "New High Mountain", because it was even higher than Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan.
Mid-morning on our second day we nearly reached the peak when fierce winds and hail made progress very difficult. We met a few other hikers who had given up and advised us to turn back. We did not have crampons for the ice that was on the trail and the last kilometer was very sheer. Ken said "Let's just go as far as we can." Lorie decided to stay put until we came back. In her defence she had already made it up one of the steepest parts of the trail and was less than half a mile from the top. In only a few hundred more meters I suggested to Ken that it was probably getting too dangerous with the ice on the trail and the chain that guides the way to the top, as well as the stinging hail which made it difficult to see. Again he said "Let's just go as far as we can." and I realized that what he meant was "We will make it to the top or perish in the attempt! Damn the ice and hail! Forward and on to glory!" When we saw this sign however, (it reads 玉山主峰 Jade mountain main peak .2 Km) I agreed with him. Really if it was so close I figured we could make it through anything. I actually enjoyed beating the ice off the chain so that we could get a decent grip. Once we had made it to the peak my camera took only this one photo of the peak without us in it before it froze and stopped working. Ken's camera also stopped working. It was very cold and the strong winds were sending the hail straight across the peak at high speeds. It was like being hit with a fully automatic BB gun. There wasn't much for us to see because of the storm, but we were proud that we made it. I joked that the spirit of the mountain must have heard me say what a pleasant and easy hike it had been to climb the mountain, that it was much easier than described by others, and had decided to show us how tough he could be.

Birds

2007-03-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

A few of the birds we saw on the trail and actually got pictures of. Truly a scarce sampling but rather cute. One of them was way above the treeline hopping down the trail like a fellow hiker, and passed by us within arms reach!

排雲山莊 PaiYun Lodge

2007-03-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

A few more pictures of the facility.

排雲山莊 PaiYun Lodge

2007-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Lodge was a wonderful facility. The original lodge was built by the Japanese for forestry and research. It has a nice kitchen area, water, these shelves for beds, bathrooms, and even electricity! After hiking the trail part of which goes up a log and is rather steep and dangerous I assume almost everything was airlifted in.

The fog lifts

2007-03-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

In the afternoon the fog lifted revealing a majestic valley so beautiful I cried. This was also the best place to take a picture of my climbing partners: Ken and Lorie Johnson my father-in-law and step mother-in-law. I wish I could adequately describe the beauty of the clouds moving through the mountains, the sudden awe felt when a cloud opens to reveal a sight hidden from view, and the majesty of the forest. film cannot capture the smooth natural motions of the wind made visible by the silent clouds, nor the sound of the many rushing waterfalls discernible to the eye but too far away for my camera. These clouds moving through the mountains have a special name in Chinese. It is called 嵐 Lan, a combination of the character for mountain 山 Shan, and the character for wind 風 Fong. They are also imbued with a powerful type of 氣 Chi or energy. Seeing them or having them pass over you can be a very auspicious occasion, an occasion that happened many times to us on the trail. I am grateful I had this opportunity and I hope I can share more days like this with more of my friends and family in the future.

Welcome to the Johnny Depp Fansite!

2007-03-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

There are abundant examples of poor translations to English in Taiwan but this is ridiculous! The trail was equipped with several special bio-friendly squatters, but when I saw this plaque I had to take a picture. (Click the picture to enlarge so that the text is legible.)Yes, this is a type of outhouse. In fact these squatting toilets are almost as common here as our more familiar western variety. This is a special composting outhouse designed to protect the environment. The wheel you see in the door way helps mix and there are solar and wind power attachments that keep the internal environment right for the special bacteria inside, as well as run the pumps etc. which distill and expel water. Really great technology for a forest trail! I think they went to the trouble and expense because Jade mountain is also called Taiwan's sacred mountain and it is a matter of national pride to keep it clean. There was unfortunately still quite a bit of litter at places on the trail.

The English part of the sign reads: Welcome to the Johnny Depp Fansite! This site is dedicate.

I wonder if I should send a copy to Johnny Depp.

玉山 Jade Mountain

2007-03-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

The trail on our first day up 玉山 Jade Mountain was very foggy. It created a mystical atmosphere and a profound quiet. The trail was sheer and narrow. Nearly the entire journey was so narrow that one step off the trail could be fatal. The ancient trees had grown webs of monstrous roots and stout long branches. The trail was vibrant with life and yet as quiet and still as death. Truly a peaceful place.

Beware of the monkeys!

2007-03-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is a typical sign in the mountains of Taiwan. Near this one we appropriately saw a monkey eating a sandwich. Fortunately we watched our packs more closely than some people and didn't have any trouble.

阿里山 (Alishan)

2007-03-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

Two shots of the sea of clouds under the village and Ken at dinner after the train ride. Sadly we had few pictures from our visit to Alishan. We stayed with some of the locals in the Alishan village. It is a magnificent forest. I saw some of the most amazing ancient trees. One of my favorite is the three generation tree consisting of three trees that grew on the same spot about three hundred years apart. Each tree grew its roots around the fallen one before it and the parts of the first tree that have rotted in the millennia since it died are still discernible in the shapes of the others. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture. I also visited a beautiful little Buddhist temple on the mountain which is home to a 1500 year old two ton gold Buddha. It was brought from Thailand to Japan about 500 years ago and then to the top of Alishan during the Japanese rule of Taiwan about 70 years ago.
I have a Chinese Transverse flute, called a dee tze, with a poem about the night on 阿里山. I was very happy to dedicate my flute by playing it there at night. I was happy to play my flute to the trees, to the Buddha, and watch the cherry blossoms float down around me.

2007-03-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

I stopped by this temple during a ceremony and was amazed by the beautiful wood and stone carvings. It consists within of five floors of imaculate woodwork each more grand than the last. My photos don't do it justice. It was very new but one of the most awesome temples I have seen here.

A wonderful day

2007-03-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

One year ago I lost my most valuable earthly possession: my flute. The first photo is of me playing it at sun moon lake the day I lost it. We spent that night in 嘉義 ChaiYi and afterwards I could not find it. I feared this would be the last I would ever see it but when we visited 嘉義 again this year I was resolved to visit every shop, restaurant and hotel we visited last year in hopes of finding it. When I entered a clothing shop we had visited the shopkeeper recognised me and said "You are looking for your flute." I was overjoyed. She said that she kept it safely locked in her cabinet because she knew I would come back someday. The second photo is me wearing my flute as I arrived in AliShan. I wanted to surprise Windy by wearing it instead of just telling her. Everyone was so surprised and happy, they even took this picture.

2007-03-14T00:03:00.003-07:00

Food with presentation and flair

2007-03-13T02:00:00.001-07:00

Fresh Market in Taiwan: You see what you get you get what you see.
No fillers or hidden ingredients or charges just fresh raw food. The sight and smell is quite a culture shock. You see more varieties of dead fish here than we ever knew existed in a tropical aquarium! We also ate varieties of seafood that were so unique that they had names like "Ox Horn Oyster" that the little coastal town (Dragon's Cave Villiage) was proud of being the only place where these guys even live. No such thing as an endangered species, just delicacies.

2007-03-13T01:40:00.001-07:00

2007-03-13T01:30:00.001-07:00

2007-03-13T01:00:00.001-07:00

2007-03-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

2007-03-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

2007-02-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

Elnorra at the 228 peace park on 2/28. February 28 is a national day of mourning for Taiwan as it commemorates not only a massacre that happened beginning on that day in 1947 but also remembers the thousands of other innocents slain in the aftermath called the "White Terror." this was the 60th anniversary of that day. The conflict was rooted in the strain caused when the Chinese nationalists took over Taiwan following WWII during the war against the communists. The Taiwanese welcomed the Chinese but with the strain of fighting a loosing war with the communists the Chinese were forced to strip Taiwan of all available resources for the war effort. This caused a lot of bitterness and suffering from hunger in Taiwan and when the police confiscated black market goods a small riot ensued in which a man was shot and the police forced to flee. Protests followed all over the island and with the Chinese government fearing they were facing another civil uprising they suppressed the protests swiftly and militarily.

During this day we felt it appropriate to pay our own respects and visited the 228 museum and 228 peace park. It was very busy and I had only a small chance to take this picture because of the crowds.

To give some perspective on rights of assembly and speech in Taiwan today there have been a few huge protests with groups numbering in the hundreds of thousands on many subjects in the last decade and all have been peaceful and without government suppression.

I want to express my gratitude to the thousands who gave their lives to make Taiwan the free and peaceful nation it is today. I have been blessed with the chance to exercise full human freedoms here and it is largely because of those who fought for this freedom.

I copied the following information from Wikipedia:

"Rooted in the 228 Incident on Taiwan in 1947, the "White Terror" describes the suppression of political dissents and public discussion of the massacre under the martial law from May 19, 1949 to July 15, 1987.

During the White Terror, around 140,000 Taiwanese were imprisoned or executed for their real or perceived opposition to the Kuomintang (KMT) government led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, according to a recent report by the Executive Yuan of Taiwan. Some prosecuted Taiwanese were labeled by the Kuomintang as "bandit spies" (匪諜), meaning spies for Chinese communists, and punished as such. The "White Terror" left many native Taiwanese with a deep-seated bitterness towards the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek, and sometimes the mainlanders.

Fear of discussing the 228 Incident and the White Terror gradually decreased with the lifting of martial law in 1987, culminating in the establishment of an official public memorial and an apology by President Lee Teng-hui in 1995."

2007-02-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

We went with some friends around the north shore of the island on February 24. The stone weathers into beautiful shapes there and the many mountains reaching into the sea with their clear waterfalls are breathtaking to see. We ate at a small harbor named LongTong, which means the dragon's cave. We had a type of oyster called the buffalo’s horn oyster, which even our hosts had never seen. It seems that they will eat anything here! It was a beautiful day and we saw many blowfish in the harbor, which was neat because we had never seen them in the wild. (Oh yeah, the Taiwanese won’t eat the blowfish and think the Japanese are crazy to try because of the possibility of poisoning.) Also you may note the giant light bulbs on the fishing boat in the harbor. It is because they fish at night and the light attracts the fish.

2007-02-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

2007 February 21st. These pictures were taken during the Chinese New Year Holiday at the temple of the Queen of Heaven. I am constantly amazed by the skill of the stone carvings. These rural temples are usually good places for solitude. I also learned about another Taoist deity that day: the great ansestor of the tigers! He had a small idol where you can pray for the tigers under the main altar! Quite a cute idea that even tigers can be deified and deserve our respect.

Wii would like to play

2006-12-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Wii were very excited to recive this our most expensive Christmas present in years. Our friend Clark was kind enough to camp out just to buy it. The demand for a Nintendo Wii was so high that lines wrapped around the block all over America filled with people hopeful to buy one. I can say that we were not disapointed it is really the best entertainment idea ever developed. Even Elnorra can play a little with the motion sensing remotes. Clark then was kind enough to mail it to Taiwan and since we got it before its offical release in Taiwan we may have been the first to own one in the whole country!

2006-12-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

2006 Shaffer Family Picture, in front of our apartment in Taipei, Taiwan.