Our silly kids kept us busy this year.

Paige turned eight and had been learning some very important time-management skills. She had gotten more into swimming over the summer and now swims 3-4 days a week. She continues to gracefully glide through the water, achieving A times in her races, all while making friends on her swim team. Even as she gets more competitive, she hasn’t forgotten to cheer for her friends and swim with a whole lot of heart and we love that about her.

Preston started kindergarten this year. His curiosity and eagerness to learn leave him completely exhausted at the end of each school day. He brings a little notebook to class and writes down the word-of-the-day (and idioms-of-the-week) to share with us at home. He’ll excitingly and randomly integrate these into his everyday sentences to “knock our socks off.” (Preston will be very proud of me for using one of his idioms here.) I’m also happy to report that he no longer wants to be a parrot when he grows up. He now has a slightly more realistic goal of becoming an engineer to build houses and airplanes.

Janice complemented her indoor plant collection with a vegetable garden in the backyard this year. It was a huge success and she plans to expand the outdoor collection next spring. Brian is still trying to drag this homebody family out whenever we have time off. He successfully dragged us all to Italy for the kids’ first trip to Europe and kept up our annual summer tradition to Asia. As always, we look forward to another exciting new year of adventures ahead!

我們家兩個調皮的小朋友，今年一樣把我們忙得團團轉。

Paige 滿八歲了，這一年她學到很多很重要的時間管理技巧。從今年夏天開始她更投入游泳訓練，現在每週游 3–4 天。她在泳池裡依然游得很優雅，也在比賽中拿到 A 級成績。她在泳隊也交到不少朋友。即使她越來越有競爭心，她仍然不忘替隊友加油打氣，用滿滿的熱情去享受每一次比賽。我們最欣賞的就是她這份真誠的心。

Preston 今年開始上幼稚園。他的好奇心跟求知慾每天都把他耗到精疲力盡。他每天都帶著一本小筆記本去學校，把「每日單字」還有「每週成語」記下來，回家後分享給我們。他會又興奮又突然地把這些詞語運用在日常句子裡，讓我們「刮目相看」。（雖然Preston學得是英文詞語，讓我也來學學他隨口拋出成語來。）另外很高興地向大家報告：他現在已經不想長大後當一隻鸚鵡了。現在他的目標稍微更實際一點：他想成為能蓋房子、造飛機的工程師。

Janice 今年在後院新增了蔬菜園，為她的室內「植物園」增添了戶外版本，成果非常成功。她計畫明年春天繼續擴大後院蔬菜園。Brian 則依然努力想盡辦法把這一個「宅家庭」往外拉去走走。今年他成功把我們全家拖去義大利，讓小朋友完成第一次的歐洲旅行；也延續了我們每年夏天去亞洲旅行的小傳統。和往年一樣，我們期待在新的一年迎接更多新的冒險！

2024 was another fun-filled and adventurous year for our family. Not much has changed professionally for the adults. We continue to juggle our color-coded Google calendar and prioritize quality time with the family. The days seem to move much quicker (and somewhat smoother) with the kids older now.

Paige turned seven and is now in second grade. While she enjoys learning at school, she still cannot resist any opportunity to jump into the water to play. Even then, going to swimming practice on cold days are still hard (it’s outdoors and it’s C-O-L-D) but she has not given up and continues to stick to her practice twice a week. This year, she is also in a girls choir group, taking basketball classes and learning Go chess (taught in Mandarin!).

Preston just celebrated his fifth birthday in December and is finishing up his last year in preschool. He enjoys learning and is slowly figuring out how to read (in English and in ZhuYin!). Don’t worry though, he is very silly and carefree – always trying to make everyone laugh and play with him. He continues to surprise us everyday with his questions and observations.

Looking forward to another exciting year in 2025!

二零二四年對我們一家來說是一個充滿樂趣和冒險的一年。大人工作上的變化不大。我們專注繼續學習如何堆積五顏六色的 Google 日曆行程來安排工作、學習與家庭樂的時光。隨著孩子們長大，日子似乎過得更快（也許可以說開始更順暢了一點了吧）。

沛言今年七歲同時也是位二年級生。她喜歡在學校學習，但一有時間還是無法抗拒任何跳進水裡玩的機會。即便如此，她依然維持每週兩次的練水。在寒冷的日子去游泳訓練還是一點也不簡單（游泳池在戶外而最近天氣也真的非-常-冷！），真的令我們大人不佩服不行。今年她也加入了女子合唱團、開始練習打籃球並學習圍棋（圍棋是中文教導的呢！）。

柏語剛在十二月過了五歲生日，現在正完成學前班的最後一年。他很好奇也很喜歡學習。他的閱讀能力也在慢慢提升（閱讀語言包括英文和中文注音呢！ㄅㄆㄇㄈ都難不倒他喔！）。但是別擔心，他還是個非常搞笑而且生活依然過得無憂無慮的小傢伙。他每天逗得我們一家大小開開心心的。

我們期待新的一年會帶來更多有趣的事！

Preston continues his second year of preschool. He still cannot write his own name but can spell and recognize it. He is a super silly boy who loves race cars (and Mom!). Paige enjoys first grade and computer is her favorite subject. She has a very sweet yet strong personality. Preston is very similar to Brian and Paige likewise to Janice.

Janice started a new job after a few months of career break and Brian continues to be at his job.

As the kids get older, we’ve been traveling a bit more domestically and internationally. This summer, we even spent a month in Hong Kong and tagged on a week long trip to Taipei. We are hoping to make summer travel a tradition to bring them closer to our family and friends in Asia.

柏語今年繼續上幼兒班。雖然如今只能認得和拼讀但還是不懂得寫自己的名字 — 但是他剛學會了用國語自我介紹了哦！他是一個活潑調皮的搗蛋鬼。他最愛的是他的玩具車車（當然還有媽咪囉！）沛言剛升一年級。她最喜歡上電腦課。她有著乖巧卻也很倔強的性格。弟弟和姊姊各帶著爸爸媽媽分別的影子。

Janice休息了幾個月也終於回到職場上，開始了新的工作。Brian依然在舊的工作崗位繼續打拼。

孩子們開始大了，我們也開始帶他們去見識這個世界不同的角落。這個暑假我們在香港待了幾乎一個月。之後還去了台北吃喝玩樂了一個禮拜。我們希望可以今後每年都回去亞洲探望我們的朋友和家人。

2022 was a year of new beginnings for us.

Paige turned 5 and is attending kindergarten. Preston turned 3 in December and goes to the preschool at Paige’s school. Whenever Paige sees Preston’s teachers on campus, she would ask how he’s doing and whether he’s been good or not.

As we resume our travels, we hope to see more of our friends and families near and far. To more exciting adventures ahead in 2023!

Paige（沛言）今年五歲了，也開始上幼稚園。Preston（柏語）也在同一所學校上幼兒班。大姊姊每天會一起送柏語去教室。在學校碰到柏語的老師也會問他們柏語上學有沒有乖。非常愛管…

For many many reasons, 2020 was not the perfect year but 2020 reminded us of what’s important. We are grateful to be surrounded by family and friends (from a safe distance obviously) who help and support us through the year of the pandemic and who constantly remind us that we are loved and cared for.