Seoul, Korea (Ladies' Trip)

Each month I plan a fun activity for our spouses' club from the hospital the "Oakleaf Club", my little subgroup is called the "Adventure Club". We travel to foreign countries, try new outdoor adventures and have a great time doing it! For the month of November I planned a ladies' trip to Korea but the only people who were able to go were my friends Dayna & Lindi (from church not Oakleaf) so our wonderful hubbies watched our kiddos for that 3 day weekend we were gone.
One of the highlights of our trip was getting the chance to see our good friend Nathalie (our French friend who moved from here to there last summer). We had fun with her as our tour guide. Our first full day in Seoul was my favorite, starting with the DMZ tour. It was so exciting to be on the border of North & South Korea, to learn about the history (from our adorable tour guide whose favorite comment was "It's a problem". Like when she explained how they had to shut down a joint factory on the border "Kaesong Industrial Park" because some of the workers sent balloons into N. Korea with messages that promoted democracy. I don't see that being a problem, but apparently the not-so-great ruler of North Korea does. I also enjoyed seeing the train station the South Koreans built (but no one uses) in hopes of one day the border opening up again. I kept thinking "If you build it, they will come..." We even got to tour some tunnels that were dug by the North Koreans, leading into South Korea. After our tour we went to the amethyst factory (my birthstone). Even though I don't like jewelry, I had to buy some cute amethyst butterfly necklaces for my girls. That night we went to an awesome show called Nanta. My friend Dayna described it best when she said "It was a dance, comedy, drum, musical event that was incredible. It was like Stomp but better because it had knives and drumming." Afterward we went to Nandaenun Market and where we tried to bargain but got yelled at for doing so. If I didn't love those 8 headbands I got for my girls so much, I would have just left the store but they were worth the abuse. :) Koreans are very proud of their products (because they're not made in China and will show you every chance they get that the tag says, "Made in Korea". I never knew this was a selling point, but I tried to look very impressed when she showed me. The following day we went to Nathalie's beautiful palace/apartment to have brunch and see more of the city. She took us to the art district where we saw some amazing street performances. After buying way too many cute things for my girls we ate some delicious Korean Barbecue. We wanted to see the Korea House next but it was too late and too cold so we warmed up at the onsen in Nathalie's building instead. I've gotten use to communal bathing with other women, it's so relaxing, strange but true. Afterward we went upstairs to the apartment for hot cocoa and laughing about funny memories. We got back to the hotel late but still had enough energy to play with the toys we bought for our kids (see photos of Dayna & Lindi shooting arrows in our hotel room). The next morning we were sad to say good-bye to our fun girls' weekend (and Korea) but we were also missing our kiddos. I'm so grateful to have such awesome travel buddies! Good times!

Kelea Cooking, Turkey Bowl & Dinner with Friends!

Yes, it's my favorite time of year (Fall) and the leaves on the hillside outside our window are changing into colorful warm hues. Did I ever remember to thank you taxpayers who are providing us with this gorgeous view? Thank YOU! We have much to be grateful for this year but especially most importantly our 3 little girls. They are the most precious gifts that God could have entrusted us with. I love how each of them are so different (Marissa the smart and strong tomboy, Kelea the dancing fun girly girl & Liana our tender-hearted most kind and loving 2 year old I've ever known.) Can you tell who my baby is? :) They love to help mom with whatever it is I'm doing so it was no surprise that when I started baking my annual pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving (yes, I only bake once a year) that they wanted to be my little assistant chefs. So here is a video of Kelea cracking open her first egg and stirring the batter. I know, thrilling footage but we think it's cute. :) As we were doing this, Sean was playing football in the rain with some friends (every year he organizes a "Turkey Bowl" with other guys from work & church. Then we all went to Lindi's house for Thanksgiving dinner with the Snow family as well. The food was amazing (of course with Dayna & Lindi cooking) we brought rolls & drinks. :) She had a kids' table that was so cute it looked like something I did 2 years ago for our last Thanksgiving with friends in Virginia. (Turkey hand prints on the tablecloth for them to color on, Indian headbands, face painting, etc). I'm including a picture of it since I didn't bring a camera with me to Lindi's (Marissa looks so little in this picture when she was 4).So after a yummy ice cream dessert we headed over to Colleen's place to hang out with some friends from the hospital. It was a busy day but it kept me distracted from thinking about how much I miss my family during this holiday season. It's been 1 year since I've seen my brothers or sisters so we're hoping to go home for a visit soon (March).

Tokyo Disneyland - Again...

Last year we took our girls to Disneyland around the same time but instead of going on Veteran's Day (when we thought it wouldn't be crowded) we decided to take our friends' advice & go on a Wednesday. This meant taking Marissa out of school for 1 day but she rarely gets sick & misses any days so we thought it would be a nice reward for her getting selected as the "Golden Book student". We almost kept Kelea in her Japanese preschool to give Marissa our undivided attention but since Kelea is right in the midst of that "magical princess phase" we couldn't resist taking her with us. Liana on the other hand isn't yet old enough or patient enough to understand waiting in line is worth the ride. Last year she did not have fun and neither did we trying to entertain her in line for an hour. The lines were so much better mid-week (20 minutes tops, and "Small World" wasn't even a wait. Here are some cute shots of our girls that day.

Our Golden Book Girl & Citizen of the Month

We were very fortunate to have Ms. Carlin as Marissa's 1st grade teacher (she goes WAY above and beyond for her students). Like her Wednesday night phone calls to all the parents in her class (yes, every week) updating them on their child's progress and to answer any questions they might have. She is also very academic and introduces the latest learning methods for students at every level. Marissa is in the "advanced reading group" and Mrs. Carlin has started her on 2nd grade homework booklets. It's so great to see a teacher encouraging their students to excel and move ahead instead of letting them get bored and keeping them all at the same pace. She also selected Marissa as the "Golden Book student" & "Citizen of the Month" from her class (as a reward for good behavior). She received this same award last year from Mrs. Rose (also an amazing teacher) who according to Mrs. Carlin still checks on Marissa and asks about her everytime she sees Mrs. Carlin. I knew she loved Marissa, but thought she'd forget about her after getting new students. It's very sweet that she keeps tabs on her progress. :) The highlight for Marissa getting this award was being on the school TV morning program. She was also excited that Dad got to see it this year and that we both were there to escort her to the office where she signed the "Golden Book" with a gold pen. Our reward to her was a day off school and a trip to Tokyo Disneyland with Mom & Dad (nice that it's so close). Now if I could just figure out how I can get her to stay on her "golden behavior" at home. :)

Halloween "Under the Sea"

Our family tradition is to dress up every year as a "theme" so this year Marissa got to choose what she wanted to be (which was Ariel from "The Little Mermaid") so Kelea wanted to be Sebastian the Crab, Liana was Flounder the fish, I was Ursula the Sea Witch and Sean was King Triton. I don't know how to sew but was able to make all these costumes using office supplies (staples, adhesive, pins, etc.) Don't look too closely at the pictures, you'll see the costumes are just barely holding together. Next year I'm going to choose a costume that doesn't have tentacles (very difficult to make and walk with). :) But our girls had fun trick or treating as a family all dressed up. Halloween on base here is always a huge affair because in Japan people don't pass out candy so the base opens up to the Japanese kids for trick or treating and it's a massive amount of kids. We went through 12 bags of candy and by 6:30 were out. It's so fun to see little Japanese kids who are trick or treating for the first time and their excitement!