Blizzard

Sorry! I'm just getting around to posting these pictures. They've been in my 'draft' box for a few days now! Anyway, last weekend we got a pretty decent snow storm here in Korea. So significant in fact that pretty much everybody was snowed in (didn't bode well I'm sure for those Koreans who had planned on traveling to see family for Lunar New Year). Korea doesn't usually get a lot of snow in the winter, especially the kind that actually sticks to the ground, so they don't have that great of a removal plan. Most streets couldn't get a snow plow down anyway, and people park on the streets here, so, if they did plow, tons of cars would have been seriously more stuck then they already were.

ANYWAY, church was canceled that day since the members that live on base weren't allowed to leave, and seriously wouldn't be able to get to our chapel anyway, which is in the middle of a block of super tiny narrow streets that, of course people park on. So, we all bundled up and headed outside to do a little playing in the snow. Kami would have kept playing in the snow well after all of her fingers and toes fell off, if we let her! It was a fun day. And I must say a welcome sight. The hardest part of living in Korea has been the winter time.

It's cold.

It's dry.

It's brown.

So, here are some pictures from our day.

These would be my favorite pictures. A snowball fight between Drew and Kami. All played within inches of eachother.

Twilight Review

Okay! So, I finally was able to go and see 'Twilight' a few weeks ago (or was it only a week ago? I dunno, the last month has been a blur of coughing, sneezing, throwing up, runny noses and more! FUN!). The base theater held no hope for us here in Korea. So, I got a hold of a website to a movie theater not too far from here and found that it was playing there! So, I emailed out to the ladies at church to see if I had any takers to go with me. Turns out, there were quite a few! Yay! More obsessed fans! I LOVE it! So, here we are:

The company was FANTASTIC! The movie, however.....I dunno. I just. don't. know. I liked it, in it's own artistic right. There were things they added that I really liked (the humor, the baseball scene, the guy the played James and the chick that played Victoria). And of course things that I didn't like (the way it was filmed, the guy that played Edward, the way it was filmed, the guy that played Edward -I guess these two things that bothered me the most). I guess the problem is the same problem that most people experience in watching a book they love made into a movie. It just wasn't what I had imagined in my mind when I was reading it. (The two exceptions to this would be "Pride and Prejudice", the BBC version was right on with what I was envisioning, and "The Notebook", in which I actually liked the movie better than I liked the book).

But, like I said, the company was fantastic and it was all in all a super fun night! Everything from the subway ride, to almost getting lost, to figuring out what to do once we got to the movie theater. And where was AJ, you're asking yourself? Bonding at home with his dad, of course. And by bonding, I mean screaming his head off for about two hours! ;^) Thanks for letting me go anyway, Drew!

Oh yeah! And, thanks Mindy for the photos I took from your blog! ;^)

Storks Nest Review

Whew! Finally a post! I've seriously been trying to work on this for a couple days now! Nothing too recent here, just a review of our 18 days in Seoul!

In all its glory...here's a picture of the little house that became a home away from home.

During our stay we took advantage of visiting some local museums....this one is the Children's Museum inside the National Museum. Very cool and super fun for the kiddos!

Drew came up one weekend and we walked over to the Korean War Memorial. We've been there before, but it was fun to take Mindy and Emily.

Some days were spent just playing outside!

A couple of days before AJ's arrival.
Playing at the Toy Store.
And finally! Here's here! YAY!

Lantern Festival

Sunday was a unique day for me. All but one of my Young Women were out of town, so we only had one girl to teach! So, we decided instead of having a lesson, we'd lend our help to the Primary. Me, on the other hand decided with Drew that we would take a family trip (with some friends from Drew's work) to Seoul to the Lantern Festival in celebration of Buddah's birthday. It was pretty cool. They had a street festival with tons of things for kiddos to do and make. In the evening they had a parade, but we didn't make it that long. Kami and I were both about done by dinnertime. But, we had a really fun time. As you can see, I'm sporting a Buddah belly of my own! I'm not sure how much of this is baby and how much is, for some reason with this pregnancy I cannot stop eating! In another picture, you see just what a crowd Kami can attract. Craziness!

On a seperate note, we have been having some absolutly beautiful days here in Korea! So, today Kami and I met up with a bunch of friends from church and ate lunch in the park! She was nice and worn down for her afternoon nap! Muaah! What a tricky mom I am! ;^) Okay, I'm off to get Kami ready for bed!

Visiting the North

Saturday we took Drew's parents (minus Kami...too dangerous) on a tour of the DMZ. That was one of the most amazing and frightening tours I think I've ever been on. You know how when you go to a place where you know good things happened? Or even when you visit say, Gettysburg, you know at least something good came from the fighting there? Yeah, there was absolutely none that that feeling here. After 50+ years of standing at a truce, the tension between the Korea's is so thick and so serious. There's nothing like the feeling of being watched by the bad guys.

This is the 'Bridge of No Return' that was used to exchange POW's. The Koreans were allowed to choose whether they wanted to live in the North or South, but whatever they chose, they would never be allowed to return to the other country.

This is the best picture we could take with our telephoto lens of one of the villages known as "Propaganda Village". The only people that actually live in these houses are a few of the North Korean military members and their families. And on a side note: for those that I've talked to on the phone that say it sounds like I have a cold and I keep saying it's "Yellow Dust" or polution coming over from China...this is what I mean . All that foggy-ness, that's polution! Yuck! These three pictures are of some pretty tough South Korean guards that you do not want to mess with! According to the US Military Police who was giving us the tour, they are all in a ready to kick your butt stance of taekwondo. The third guard by the blue door is actually guarding the door that leads into North Korea. Craziness.


And finally, this is a picture of a North Korean guard; if you also look closely in the window on the other side of the pillar, you can make out another guard who is watching us with binoculars.
An interesting side note...Drew just showed me an article on CNN that says that a North Korean officer defected to the South the day after we were there. Very interesting!

Sometimes...

...there's no better way to describe how you feel when you gotta go!

Jeju Island

Drew's parents were in town this week (they just left yesterday), so we took them to a really cool resort Island here in Korea called Jeju. It was a little chilly, but you can tell that it usually is pretty tropical. Anyway, we spent a couple days there and toured ourselves around. We found a cool waterfall, a lava cave and a Teddy Bear Museum. We arrived at the Teddy Bear Museum nearly as soon as it opened and thought we had totally avoided the crazy tour buses of Korean teenagers that seemed to be all around the island. Unfortunately, no more than 10 minutes after we arrived a huge group of teenagers came bounding down the steps. Knowing Kami sticks out like a sore thumb here in Korea, I knew all of there attention would immediately be on her and I was so bummed out because I wanted her to be able to enjoy the Teddy Bears instead of posing for pictures and having these cute, well-meaning teens in her face. So, I had to be a big meanie and step in between many cameras and Kami and stand so close to Kami that the girl's knew that their hovering advances were not welcome. Awe well. A mom's gotta do what a mom's got to do for her babies, right? Anyway...here's some pictures of what we saw!

Flower Market Photos

Oh my goodness! I am so behind at blogging! I truly apologize to those who regularly check my blog looking for updates into our lives! It's been a crazy few weeks, and hopefully bound to settle down here shortly! Anyway....here are the long promised Flower Market pictures I was telling you would come! These pictures kind of give you a glimpse of what the market is like. So, when you see these pictures, also picture in your mind row after row of these flowers and plants on two floors of a large building and two huge greenhouses. Amazing! The first picture is of Kami and her BFF, Charlee. If you want a better picture of them, check out either my friend Karen's blog or my friend Bernie's blog. The link is under my "Family and Friends" (Karen and Joel or Bernie and Rich).

Gyeongju Trip

Hey Everyone! Here's a quick post from mine and Kami's trip this past week to Gyeongju. It's a beautiful town in Southern Korea, near the coast. We went with a bunch of people from our church (13 kids, 5 teenagers, 7 adults) and had a wonderful time at some Buddist Temples, the Beach, riding bikes through the town (which I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do when you're pregnant....but....it was too much fun to pass up!) and enjoying the cherry blossoms which are now in full bloom! I'm so excited for spring in Korea! This is when things start to get totally beautiful with the trees getting some green on them and the farmers planting barley and rice. I am so ready for the yucky brown-ness to go away! :^)