Happy Holidays from the Shaffers in 2006

Please note that our old e-mail address is no longer operational; please update your records to reflect our new, and hopefully permanent, e-mail address of benandwindy at gmail.com
Our web log is a good place to learn more about our lives: http://www.shaffers1430.blogspot.com/

Our Front Door 22 December 2006


Windy (31)- I am enjoying being a stay at home mom. I am happy to be pregnant again and we expect our addition in April of 2007. Taiwan is a fun place to live for many reasons, but I’m excited to plan on moving back to the USA in June.

Things I like about Taiwan:
Friendly people
Good public transit
Lush greenery of the sub-tropics
New friends
Bread flour is the same price as all-purpose!
Having a 3 bed 2 bath apartment conveniently located in the city for $500 USD a month!
All the amazing insects and animals
The cheap prepared food from street vendors
Costco
The public library
All the escalators and elevators

Things I look forward to about being home:
Our own transportation! Ben has a bike, but I have NOTHING except my feet and a stroller (and a growing tummy!) (At least Taxies are reasonability priced.)
Snow!
15% humidity rather than 80%!
Visiting family and friends
Cheap refried beans and sour cream!
Super Wal-Mart
Open spaces
Yard work (hey this means I have the ability to walk on dirt instead of concrete and asphalt all the time!)
Being able to read the menu at a restaurant
Shopping carts with baby seats and only 2 swiveling wheels! All four wheels on Taiwanese carts rotate and this makes for very difficult pushing, though it’s good for parallel parking!


Ben (26)- I have learned so much this year and seen so much, some of it horrible, most of it wonderful. The land and the people of Taiwan are beautiful, and the art I have seen is more beautiful than I could have imagined. I have had the honor of learning tai chi and eastern philosophies from their pure fountains. I have also learned to read and write some Chinese. The greatest honor and privilege I received this year was to become a temple worker in the Taipei temple.
These things have each given me ample opportunities for growth. All truth is part of my religion and so whether it is learning Buddhism from a lama, or teaching the words of the prophets to the members of my church, I have gained knowledge that has given me greater peace and happiness.
The lesson I have learned this Christmas is that peace lies not in the outside world but in our hearts. Truly the message of peace the angels sang on the first Christmas night was not an end to the wars that hateful men wage but peace in our own hearts because of the truth that we need not fear. Even if all wars ceased there would not be peace and happiness unless each person gained understanding of their own mind. This is also my admonition to my friends and family: make time to be alone and make peace with yourself, make time to be with your family and make peace with them, make time to make peace with your enemies or annoying co-workers and if they don’t accept the olive branch then use this as an opportunity to learn to have peace and love in your heart in the face of aggression and trouble. If you do then peace can never be taken from you again.

Elnorra (22 months)- I am a happy and mostly cooperative kid who loves to get out of the house and go “bye-bye”, but as soon as I’m out I want to be carried! I love to play on slides and climbing stairs is great fun (unless I know we are going home). I can even get off an escalator all by myself (I haven’t fallen once!)
I still only have a few teeth (11 going on 12) my molars came in before the middle teeth! Needless to say I have a very cute smile!
I am very fascinated with the bathroom and love to sit on my baby sized toilet seat about 5 times a day, but I still don’t have any idea how to control my body to use it properly.
I have an ever-expanding vocabulary that’s now up to about 10 words and 3 phrases, which include “Where’d it go?” and “There it is.” These phrases come from one of my favorite interactive games with mom and dad-object hide and seek. I even play it myself by holding out an object and then putting it behind my back, then I say “where’d it go?” and mom and dad look around for a while and then I pull it out from behind my back and proudly proclaim “there it is”.
My mom calls me a food monster because I seem to eat all day every day, though I still only weigh about 22 pounds. I’m about 2’8” tall.
I am often the center of attention when we use public transportation. I love the attention and wave hello and bye-bye and want to see the pictures that are taken of me.

2006 Halloween: Bat, Mommy Cat and Little Witch

Elnorra in Mommy’s shoes (21 Months old)

21st Week Ultra Sound Picture (November)




The Shaffer Family
5f, #eleven, lane 195, WoLong Street, Taipei 106-74
TAIWAN

home phone Eight86-2-2739-596Seven

e-mail BenandWindy at Gmail.com
USA contact info:
c/o DD Jay, Seventy2 East Calle del Capullo
Green Valley, Arizona 85614 USA
Voice message Ken from USA (eight eight eight) 773-zero1zero4

Dear friends and family, 17 March 2008

Happy holidays! Thanksgiving hit us upside the head while in the middle of moving, Christmas came and went, then we had Windy’s and Elnorra’s birthdays, Valentine’s Day snuck by so we now have the joy of sending a Saint Patrick’s Day newsletter! How does life stay so busy and time fly by? Mostly by enjoying the days with small kids and counting it a victory if the house is half clean before collapsing into bed. What a busy and eventful time we have had since our last newsletter. First we will start with our updated contact information and then take you on a tour of our year.


The Shaffer Family
Ben, Windy, Elnorra and Cordelia
1091 West Beta Street #512zero
Green Valley, AZ 85614-4873
USA

Our new phone numbers are:
(520) 300-6823 home
(520) 203-2328 Ben’s cell
(928) 774-8442 Windy’s cell (anybody recognize this? *wink*)
(888) 77three-zero104 toll-free (rings to Windy’s cell)
We hope that Windy’s cell will be a permanent contact number

Our relatively new e-mail address is: BenandWindy at Gmail.com
All other e-mail accounts have ceased to function so please verify that you have the Gmail account in your records.
We have also updated and revamped our web log (www.shaffers1430.blogspot.com) and it now has “feeds” so that you can sign up and be contacted when we update our blog.

13 May 2007 Cordelia's baby blessing in Taipei, Taiwan. Jim, Mary, Benjamin, Cordelia, Daniel, Windy, Anni, and Elnorra Shaffer

 

14 August 2007 Beaver, Utah

 

16 March 2008 The Shaffer Family in Green Valley, Arizona

 

Cordelia Anne (11 mo)- was born in Taipei, Taiwan on the 3rd of April 2007. She was born on her due date and is a healthy baby with two modes, truly happy and truly miserable. Cordelia had a nickname just hours after she was born and we’ve called her “Dilly” ever since. She is hard to feed as she is sensitive to milk and eggs so the nursing mom is “a vegan who eats meat.” Everyone is much happier and less stressed when mom follows the vegan style diet!
Dilly had a passport when she was just a month and a half old and flew from Taiwan to America when she was just 2 months old. She loves attention and has always been a good sleeper and is finally sleeping through the night! We had a family bed from the time she was born until we had our apartment in AZ 7 months later and it is a real treat for mom and dad when the kids are actually in their own room.
As Dilly is a high maintenance personality (as were both her parents…) we are truly grateful for “The Miracle Bouncer” that was retrieved from a junk pile just as we were getting desperate. (The Taiwanese don’t do thrift stores because of potentially bad karma.) It is an old thing that would never pass American Safety ratings but it was free to us and worth bringing home in the luggage. We are also much saner because of the power of pacifiers.
She could sit up on her own just after 6 months cut her first tooth at 7 months and scoot-crawl at 8 months by 9 months she was cruising along furniture and loves to stand. At 11 months she can walk when one hand is held. She is very interactive and can even blow her nose when mom holds the tissue! She’s smiley and happy most of the time and loves to be tossed gently and she LOVES tickle kisses all over her head and neck. She gives GREAT hugs when you first pick her up.

24 February 2007 Windy, Elnorra (2 years), Cordelia (t-5 weeks)

 

18 March 2007 Ben on top of Jade Mountain, Taiwan

 

3 April 2007 Cordelia Anne Shaffer was born in Taipei, Taiwan

 

9 July 2007 The Miracle Bouncer

 

Elnorra (3)- Little Miss America who was so used to people telling her how cute she was and taking her picture (it is an Asian thing) has adjusted well. First she and Dilly were the only little ones at camp and now is just one of the other cute white kids here in Green Valley. She loves to “play other kids” and is becoming a better communicator everyday. She has always been a good communicator, but now her words and phrases are starting to catch up with her body language and signals. One day in December she called her Grandee (Windy’s mom- DD) and said (without prompting) “Grandee come my house, tea party right now” and Grandee said she’d come in 10 minutes and then Elnorra said “OK Grandee see soon.” We then proceeded to have a delightful tea party on the floor in the kitchen on the play table that came home from Taiwan, with the ceramic tea set from her Cousin Kelsey, and treats served on her great-grandma’s Christmas serving tray. After the tea party she told her Grandee the story of Pinocchio (somehow this word doesn’t get pronounced correctly, but it’s definitely her noun-“Noke-el-ly”) who is a “bad boy no school” and who “lost him baba” (Chinese for dad) and “finds him baba” and then his “fairy mommy” turns him into a real boy. Her catch phrase in February was “Actually it’s being difficult for me”. In March she said “no touch that is dangerous!” when mom went to use something out of the medicine cabinet. She does quite well with being polite with reminders and says “thanks” a lot. She has her temper tantrums when she doesn’t get an adult portion (or greater) of food, especially dessert, and says “don’t make it little for me.” She is a happy kid who loves to play and make as many friends as she can.

24 July 2007 Dilly loves being bundled up when it is cold!

 

14 August 2007 Beaver, UT Dilly loves to play at 4 months old

 

14 August 2007 Elnorra loves playing at the park in Beaver, UT at age 2 3/4

 

9 September 2007 Living with Grandee in Green Valley, AZ

 

Benjamin (27)-This past year has been both exciting and transformative. It started with my new favorite toy, a Nintendo WII, and saw another child born, another international move and a new career. I started the year with a stable contracted teaching position at a fine kindergarten school in Taiwan and ended several jobs and many adventures later developing curriculum and writing a book at a charter high school in Arizona. With all the changes and adventures this year none is as important as the birth of our second daughter, Cordelia Anne Shaffer.
Traveling Taiwan was great this year especially because we had so much good company. It started with one of the most magnificent hikes I have ever taken to the summit of Jade Mountain (the tallest mountain in Northeast Asia at 4000m/13,000 feet) with my father-in-law, Ken, and his wife, Lorie. Then my brother, Adam, and sister, Anni, visited and we had a great time in north and central Taiwan cities, my parents then arrived with my brother, Daniel, and we toured many temples, parks and museums in Taipei, and last but not least my sister-in-law, Emily, and niece, Kelsey, came and we went to the east coast of the island and took the famous cross island highway through the marble gorge and over the mountains. Hopefully a full account will appear soon on our blog for those who are curious.
When we did fly home to America our adventures had only just begun. First we visited southern Arizona and crossed the border into Mexico. Meaning we traveled to 3 countries on 2 continents in less than a week. We then took a few of our belongings and moved into a tent in the mountains of Utah to spend the summer at Boy Scout camp. I had been a counselor at the camp a few summers as a teen and wanted to share that special place with my family, so we soon found ourselves adjusting to that. Elnorra learned to speak a lot more English (it took her only a week or so to find out that Daddy and Baba were the same person.) After a few months there, a few more mountains climbed and some cool stories and new scars, we moved to Arizona. We planned to stay with my Mother-in-law for only a few weeks while I found a job and apartment but it took longer than expected. I found a job at Alta Vista High School where I was asked to teach World Religions and other electives of a more exotic nature than I expected. I was given no curriculum and so have compiled and written an annotated Tao Te Ching with English, Spanish, and Chinese versions in columns, which was fun to do, and compiled volumes of material on many other religions. Finally our lives slowed down a little and we enjoyed our holiday season with family traveling to us. We were blessed with many wonderful gifts beyond our modest expectations and are now progressing more in our daily pursuits.

November 2007 Elnorra

 

8 January 2008 Shopping! Dilly LOVES to stand!

 

19 January 2008 Daddy and Dilly

 

5 March 2008 Playing at home. Elnorra 3 years old, Dilly 11 months old

 

Windy (32)- Home Sweet Home. It has been a longer and more difficult journey than expected but here I am in my own little home in Green Valley, Arizona, in the United States of America. The year started out in Taiwan where many family members came to visit. I am so grateful for all the help packing and moving, especially the extra luggage space!
I had a wonderful birth experience in the Taipei Women and Children’s hospital. My doctor, Calvin Chiang, was wonderful and allowed me to have an all-natural birth with my husband in attendance (much to the shock and horror of the Taiwanese nurses and thanks to our neighbors, the Wheelers, for babysitting Elnorra overnight). Ben was handed our little one immediately after the cord was cut and said “hello…uh…Cordelia” We are so happy to have our “girls” even though I was convinced we were going to have a little boy, I wouldn’t trade our miss “Dilly” in for anything! I survived the birthing in a foreign county in large part due to dear friends, the Jolley sisters (Robin and Camille). Robin had a job with odd hours and came over often with food in hand just as I was about to collapse! Good thing Chinese take out was cheap and readily available (he he).
I am so grateful for the countless friends who touched our lives while we lived in Taiwan. I am so glad I was able to see another corner of the world and glimpse life in a different culture. The Taiwanese as a people are very friendly and honest and willing to help. It was sad not to learn much Chinese, but so much the better for a foreign mom to feel welcome rather than rejected. As I say... “Don’t worry if the vendor doesn’t speak English, the person behind you in line will.” And they will help before you ask, especially if you are stumbling over your Chinese. Taipei is relatively comfortable for us poor monoglots, but sad for the language acquisition. I discovered that there really are two universal languages: ******@****.com (E-mail addresses) and bad English! It was impressive to me to realize that all those folks who speak bad English can do at least two things I can’t. Speak a second language and communicate. After all that’s what language is really all about-communication!
We flew to the Tucson airport on the 4th of June and stayed in Arizona for just a few days until we drove (in our new to us “big car”-Thanks Emily and family) all the way to Beaver High Adventure Base, Boy Scout camp east of Beaver, UT. We spent the next two months living in an old army tent (a GP small) where you can stand properly and have a bit of furniture. The camp had a “population” of 25 staff members at 10,000 feet altitude and about 10% humidity. Talk about shock factor. We came from a sub-tropic city of 4 million and 80% humidity on a dry day. It was such a joy to finally be chilly again and need a jacket. Elnorra made the adjustment very well and loved the freedom of running around the lodge with all the big folks to play with and get attention from. Dilly didn’t adjust as easily, but I’m sure she was relived to be out of the heat. She hates being hot but loves being bundled up when it is cold! Oh yeah, she loves being held and there were plenty of other folks around to hold her while I was preparing dinner for the staff members.
We decided to come to Green Valley to be near my mom and my truly dear and sweet mother offered to let us stay in her guest room and use her garage for all our stuff for a few weeks while we settled in. The first week or two was nice and fun, quality grandmother (aka Grandee) granddaughter time, mom and daughter chats, travel logs and social calls. After much research we put in an application at the only apartment complex that was a viable option (there are only three “family” complexes in retirementville). Ben had finally received interviews and leads on jobs and the apartment was supposed to take just one week before moving day. Then came the biggest trial-five, count them 5, weeks passed where we expected moving day to be on Saturday and found out later than 4:30 pm on Friday, and in most cases on the day itself, that we still had to wait. Then once we were in the 800 square foot apartment then we had a long journey of unpacking before we have made it livable space. We had enough stuff in storage to furnish a 4-bedroom house and also brought some stuff home from Taiwan. Many months after the process started we have the apartment well lived in (we even have our pictures hung!) and mom’s garage is nicely sorted, organized and easy access to our long term storage stuff and a ¾ shop (no chem room) for me to work on instruments part time. I have had a steady stream of work in the repair shop and each new project gets me to unpack another box. The shop is nearly at capacity now and will settle into true efficiency in the next month or so.

Now it remains to be seen what our goals and adventures will be next year, perhaps graduate school, a new career, or more travel. We will let you know how it goes. Until then, remember we love you all and you are welcome to visit or call any time.

2006 Family Picture

2005 Shaffer Family picture

2005 The Shaffers 3rd year, a year of firsts

Dear Friends and Family,
This year has been a wonderful one for our family, a time of challenges and changes. We have seen and done many new things this year, so we will tell you a little about all of our firsts this year. The most significant is, of course, the arrival of our first child. The next significant is Ben’s college graduation and 3rd most important is the long trek and adventure that has taken us to Taiwan for Ben’s first career job. We want to wish you all a merry Christmas and send our love with this letter since we are far away over the ocean. May peace be in your heart and happiness surround you.

Elnorra Elizabeth Shaffer (10 months) -
First breath- February 4th at 11:22 am
First smile- Easter Sunday, what a treat!
First food- 6 months, banana
First Halloween- a spider costume
First tooth- the bottom two teeth broke through along with her first fever (103.5°F) on the 16th of November (9 ½ months old)
First of everything she does!





Windy (30 years)-
First childbirth- What joy it is to have my life’s dreams come true, a happy marriage and a child.
First “retirement”- I changed jobs from a small business owner to a full time mom. After 13 years repairing musical instruments and 9 years running “Windy’s Winds” I closed my repair shop. Hopefully someday we will own a home in the US where I can set my shop up as a hobby business, but until then I’m plenty busy trying to keep up with my little girl!
First storage unit- We wouldn’t have made it out of the country if we did not receive tons of help packing up in Utah, thanks again to all that helped us out!



Benjamin (25 years)-
First Shaffer to graduate college- this year has been good for me.
First real job - now you know, what people with History degrees do: move to Taiwan and teach English to kindergarteners!
First spicy fish ball soup breakfast- and many other fun and, believe it or not, delicious foods like octopus balls! Yum!
First time to know, and not just believe, that Asia really is out there across the big blue from the land of my nativity. I have had some breath taking moments seeing how beautiful Taiwan is. The Portuguese did well to name it Il Formosa or beautiful island. I am trying hard to learn Chinese but it will take time. At least I can say that I have expanded my mind, enriched my life, and broadened my experience this year. We have had many more opportunities to serve others and to share our knowledge of Jesus Christ this year. I hope you all have a happy New Year.






First passports- at 30, 25 and 3 months respectively

First international flight- what an adventure to travel with a 3 month old...she was as good as can be expected!

First international move- our apartment in Taipei, Taiwan is on the top floor of a 5-story building and we climb the stairs because there is no elevator... and as for our kitchen: oven, what’s an oven? Cabinets… what are cabinets? Counters… what are counters? But it does have 360° of tile and a floor drain, a door, and a small step to keep water in and for “fong shwei.”

2005-06-02 Taiwan's National Theater Building


First new appliance- we bought a brand new electric dryer at Costco and it has 2-prong standard wall plug!

First name stamps or “chops”- We were very careful in choosing our Chinese names and are pleased with the results.
Shaffer= 牧 “Mu” which means shepherd, the same meaning as Shaffer and a reminder to be like the good shepherd.
Ben=尼飛 “Nephi” from my middle name (pronounced nee-féy) which consists of the character for a focused or pure mind and the character for flying.
Windy= 嵐 “Lan” which combines the characters of mountain and wind to mean beautiful mountain or specifically the clouds that form between the mountains. (Mu, Lan…he he, what fun to have a name that sounds like the first name of the legendary Chinese heroine.)
Elnorra= 聖愛 “Shung I” which means divine or holy love.
If you are not already receiving e-mail from us and would like more than a yearly update please e-mail us at windyswinds@napbirt.org. We wish you all the best and a very happy holiday season.

Love and hugs,
The Shaffer Family

Mail arrives in good time when addressed in English.
5F, #eleven lane 195, WoLong Street, Taipei, Taiwan 106
02-2739-596seven hm, 0930-1three7-184 Ben’s cell, 0930-137-4zero4 Windy’s Cell
(The country code is 886 and city code 2. You may need to drop the 0 at the beginning of our phone numbers to get through, it depends on the company.)

Permanent contact: c/o DD Jay, 31six North Bonito Street, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
In the USA messages can be left with DD at (928) 774-8442 or toll-free (888) 773-01zero4

2005-08-07 Ben & Windy in Taiwan

2004 Shaffer Family Picture

2003 Shaffer Family Picture

2002 Shaffer Family Picture

2002-06-22 Wedding Picture

They were married in the Saint George, UT temple on the 22 of June 2002.

2001 Engagement Picture

2001-11-17 Special Date

Proposals

Ben proposed 3 times (Windy said yes each time). He first asked her to be his wife on the 17 of November 2001. He then asked her again in December and asked a third time when he presented her with a ring and on Valentine's Day 2002.

Courtship

Benjamin Nephi Shaffer and Windy Elizabeth Johnson first met in 1998. When Windy shook Ben's hand for the first time she felt a deep spiritual connection and asked "Have we met before?" Since Ben had never been to Flagstaff, Arizona before the answer was no. However we had immediately established a strong friendship that lasted in a platonic sense until September 2001 when Ben returned from serving his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ohio. They had maintained contact through occasional letters and then shortly after he returned to his parent's house in Provo, UT Windy visited him for a week. By the end of the week long vacation she had fallen head over heels in love with her friend and she was very direct and honest with him and told his that she was in love with him and wanted to be his wife. He was not quite ready for this news at that time but with in a few months he too had fallen in love with Windy and their formal courtship started in October of 2001.