Journey to the other side of the Earth

Missing you

2011-10-17T09:47:00.000+09:00

Two years seems to fly by. Oh, how we miss you Uncle Rick.

We thought of you today, but that is nothing new. We thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. We think of you in silence, We often speak your name. All we have is memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, in which we'll never part. God has you in his keeping, we have you in our hearts. Repost if you have someone in Heaven.

Thinking of all my family this day.

Big Plans.....

2011-10-17T06:24:00.000+09:00

Update....

COMING SOON.......

TWI-CON IS THE WORST CONVENTION EVER! TEE.HEE.

2010-01-21T06:59:00.012+09:00

Okay, I know, a little bit dramatic on the title...or is it? Ill just start by saying a big 'ole hell to the no. Its a perfect fit. If you know someone or if you personally think this is a fun girls trip, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. Go on one day and see the actor you want to see and buh-bye on the rest.

Alright, this will be a week long event blogging the events of this poor managed, insult to the actors who agreed to participate, "you get a Pepsi" event. As we all know the 4 of us (if you count it up, thats a lotta cash) all popped the price for the "GOLD PACKAGE" as to not have rushed autographs sessions, great seats and "perks" for being the ones to spring the dough on a convention like this. Excuse me for being upset that within the first 2 hours of the show I believe we saw nothing but the "Hillywood Show" people, whom I might add are nothing without the poor kid they suckered in to playing Jacob. Sad. "Fake Jake", if you read this...GET OUT. GET OUT NOW! Here is a link to their parodys, which might have been "cute" the first time, but I seriously didn't think I paid the amount I paid to spend 3 days with a handful of actors/actresses that really need to get real jobs, they really do not even deserve the amount of stage time they received...ew. Here is their link, not to promote then, but maybe I can save you from dropping cash at this convention, because let me tell you...this is ALL you see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti13oOYvyp8

So not only that but the entire (I repeat, the entire) schedule online was nothing more than a "go-by" time frame. NOTHING was on time. Even P.Fac was late. Nevertheless was entertaining, as it always is to sit 3rd row from a hot boy who dresses as a vampire.

And Frank...oh.my.dear Frank. Please for the love of Gawd, when you are a 40+ man sitting at a Twilight convention, trying (and I use that lightly) to impersonate a Cullen, omg. Just do not even consider it next year. I, as most of our row, really wanted to punch you in the face. But hey, the huge Amazon of a woman (not too mention shes rude and backwoods) who owns the insanely over-priced store (*coughs* Dazzled By Twilight) seemed to think you were cute..maybe there is a beautiful beginning there. And she could move out of Forks and the people of the town might just have a parade in honor of her exit...just a thought.

Or how about the man with half a tiger painted on his face in a velveteen brown track suit that said "Team Jacob". Werewolves are not gay, they might have ate you had they found you prancing through the forest. Bouncing back and forth in front of the audience in the ridiculous face paint, really it felt more like Cirque De Sol than what I expected.

Or how about the 400 pound woman who sat with her legs sprawled out the entire time. Did I mention she was wearing a dress?

And the costume contest, THE COSTUME CONTEST...my eyes are still bleeding from watching you pick people on stage who wore greasy tee-shirts or threw their 3 year old up there to win a pocket Edward? Little boy "Edward" didn't even remotely resemble him. I am not so sure his mother had even forced him to take a shower that morning. Or how about the "Renesmee" look alike? Really, mom, if you are that in to Twilight, just do it yourself. Puh=lease! Those who actually put time and effort in their costumes (nevermind some didnt wear shoes) never had a shot b/c you let the Hillywood cast decide, and I am not sure they are even qualified to order their own dinners.

Chake Spencer, and the other wolf-pack. Totally hot. Total waste of time for these new upcomers to spend it at this nerd fest of Wal-Mart rejects. Im not even sure that some of these people didn't cash their welfare checks to afford the tickets.

Ever seen a fat "Alice" or a fat *gasps* "Rosalee"...or "Rosemary" as one nervous costume contestant called her.

The ball...oh well. There really isn't a way to describe the ball. Basically we paid for a 5 minute session with the actors playing the Volturi because of a huge group of chics from New Jersey trying to attack them on the dance floor. They were not in costume...and not pleasant. Sad.

Will post more, but the main point here, I thought this would be fun. I thought we paid extra for some really great goodies, a little special treatment, and maybe even to be able to sit amongst fellow fans who had at least taken a shower. If these people come to your town! Dont waste your money! I have spent more on panties that I adore as opposed to this joke of a convention.

Stephanie Meyer...die hard fan here, if you get to this point...shut that convention and Creation Entertainment down. There were only about half of the paying Gold members by day 3 even in their seats. We only showed up for the ball on Saturday, and well, lets just say it crossed our minds to open $200 worth of sodas.

Our added, valued Gold Member perks. A flippin' Burger King crown, and a friggin' can of Pepsi. Talk about super suck!

With no further adoo...(not sure on the spelling, heads still a little sore from being smacked with a stick at La Push) Here are the pictures. Judge for yourself. It was like a fat girls Prom, only she gets to wear a strange, and very non-Twilight Halloween costume.

Save the money...go to Nordstroms. You need new shoes, right? All in all it is truly sad because we were looking forward to some great girl time, and some great Twlight-ish things. Not a bunch of freaky fans who haven't showered in like a year and a warm Pepsi.
But we made our weekend rock! More updates to follow...stay tuned! Post and re-post this link, I would like to spread the word fast! If I end up missing, check my inbox, there might be death letters from Creation Entertainment...think soap people, I know Rach and Kris got that one. Wonder how long before they threaten me to take it down. And for the Westin Hotel, how embarassing for you to host such an event. Out of 5 stars, I only give it a 1. And thats only b/c we got to stare at "Fake Jake", Petey boy, and of course the wolf pack. If the wolf pack or P.Fac make it here, RUN. Run as fast as you can away from that joke.

http://www.creationent.com/cal/twilight_wa.htm

">

My songs for the day! Bringin' it back old school!

2010-01-09T09:14:00.004+09:00

Here they are:

">

">

">

Promises, promises...

2010-01-09T06:41:00.005+09:00

Okay, look I never promised to keep up with this blog. However, from this point on I will try to keep up at least once a week. I emailed an old friend to check and make sure he was safe (you know how rumors get when they travel 3k + miles) and sent him the link and came here to check the last time I updated. Doh! Wow, I suck. I suck at keeping this up.

So all in all, said friend is fine, doing well. Other said friend is fine knowing this friend is fine as well.

Im thinking today that there is so much to update with I don't know where to start.

So Ill start with October. The last time I wrote an entry. October 16th I received probably what at this point was the most devastating phone call I have ever had to endure. Maybe because I am so far away, maybe because it was who it was, but I can remember it like a nightmare from last night.
I received an awesome oppourtunity to work as a vendor in the PX, some of you (not all) might know that as our "mall" here on post. I had bows, jewelry, photo books and odds and ends such. I started early that week. It had proved to be the most boring, slow week I have had in a long time. Friday, October 16th, Jeff and Rachel came up to spend lunch with me. Jeff left for home, but for some odd reason my adorable and loved friend Rachel decided to stay and hang out at the booth with me. On break, and glancing through some clearance racks in the PX, my phone rang. My mother, so I answered. She is crying, hysterically, I ask her whats wrong? The answer I got will change my life forever as I know it.
Mom says Uncle Rick has had a heart attack and she is on her way to the hospital. Not knowing whats going on, I start to cry, scared, hoping he is okay. I hang up, tell her I will fly home in the am. By the time I get back to pack up my booth, my cell rings again. This time its Kris' number popping up. This isn't a good sign. I know it. I lose it, answer the phone, Kris is crying saying shes is so sorry, have I heard the news, am I okay? OMG. This cannot be right, this isn't whats happening. Rachel is packing up my booth at this point as I am in the floor of the PX hiding, sobbing hysterically, and completely out of my mind. Other vendors come in to pack me up, Rachel walks me to the car, I get home and continue to vomit the next 20 minutes in the bathroom. My amazing friends, no they are not friends, but my amazing family here are already booking my flight home. Dee has it done and flight schedule in my hands. I leave on Saturday, make it home late that night and begin what was the strangest, most unbelievable week of my life. On October 16th, my Uncle Rick, the strongest, most loving, enduring, intelligent man I know suffered a major heart attack and died in the hospital. Still as I sit here and type it out it doesn't seem real. There were over 400 in attendance at his visitation. I spent a week at home, with my boys, and my family. It will take a long time to recoop from ths loss. It was the most unexpected death I have ever had to deal with. My family will remain strong as we always have. We love you Uncle Rick and there isn't a day that goes by you are not in my thoughts. Give mema and Dan a big hug and kiss for us! Tell them we will be on our way soon enough! XOXO RIP RICK SELLS OCTOBER 16TH, 2009.

Onto the holiday updates! Obviously my amazing husband is still here! He did not deploy, with above mentioned thank God he didn't. I don't know how I would have coped with that. Burying my grandmother while he was away was hard enough. He has had 2 steroid injections thus far, and has an appointment at the end of this month to determine the next step. Obviously he doesnt want anything drastic to harm his law enforcement career when he gets out next year. Steph (fairy god-mother) came and stayed every single month with us at least a week or two. From October, November and in to December. It was lovely! Thanksgiving was a hard one to swallow without Uncle Rick, Christmas even harder. I remember sitting in Jihang, South Korea last year with Bobby Kitchen talking to my family on the webcam and Uncle Ricks crying making me cry. Oh how I would have cherished that more had I known what was to come. Christmas rocked this year! We took a huge truckload of donations down to the Childrens Hospital, took care of a family in our unit, and just really tried to see the spirit in all of the modern day hustle and bustle.

Next week is the Twilight convention! I cannot even begin to tell you how stoked I am for that. Yes, yes, I know it was a hard conversion. I refused the Twilight saga for months, and then once I got a taste, couldnt put the damn thing down. Now the saga has sucked me in so that I am going to a convention???? W.T.H. Not only that, but Kris, Rachel, and Steph are all flying up here to go with??? hahaha....it really is quite humorous. But I eat crow on thinking I would hate it. And at least have to wait until Taylor Lautner turns 18 before I profess what a hot, rockin'...oh, wait...*snickers* Did I mention Peter Facinelli, and the Wolfpack will be there??? Oh, well, you better believe Ill be getting pictures together with them. There will be lots of pics from this trip! And you better believe we will bring down the house in Seattle! There will not be a hotter group of chics crasing this joint. ;) http://www.creationent.com/cal/twilight_wa.htm

Hair appointment tomorrow, nails next week, and shopping already done. The kiddos are all settled in still enthralled with the Christmas toys they got. Kyle sold all of his Diego stuff for GI Joe...when did he grow up? When did my baby boy start to sing the GI Joe theme song as opposed to "Go,Diego,go"...not that I miss the Diego theme song, but damn. At least I don't feel old. And Erica...my little chubby cheeky Erica. Her latest obsession? Makeup. She wants it on first thing in the am when I do mine. *sighs*

My sister and mom were going to come out in February, but with all this snow, looks like it will be pushed back again. Sister cannot take off work now that there will be snow days to make up. I seriously cannot wait for her to get here! I think she will make our trips to Forks in to the double digits. Next week when we haul the gang up it should be 9, lol!

Mom will be here next month. I am in the process of jumping through the medical hoops to get a hysterectomy, and it has to be done before the big kids get here in May. I will keep you updated on it as much as I can, although I truly hate updating people on things like health. Especially when it involves surgery, so maybe you will only know a timeframe when it happens and whether or not I am out of the surgery. Deal? mmkay. haha!

Halloween rocked here! Everyone got to go out with us. As you will see Ill post pictures of what probably was the cutest children on the face of the planet that night.

As always, leave your questions, comments, loves and hates in the comment box. I promise to read them.

Love and miss you all!

One more shout-out before I go, I will just tell you all now. I have the most amazing husband in the ENTIRE world. Who runs home just to ensure their wifes BLT doesnt go lonely without an avacado? *swoon* My husband, thats who. Know why? Because he is desperately love with me.

**If you are popping in from SK, or the SK FORUMS, *waves* to you. There is valuable info here on spending the next year with your soldier. Drop me a message, Ill help with the details as much as I can. Traffic bar shows a ton are coming in from there! I have the answers and solutions for ya.**

And if you are popping in here and are our SK family! Bobby, Olson, Monica, you all know who you are! We miss and love you guys and remember you every day! Stay strong!

Finally, our family in the sandbox, counting down until you are here! Both our Atkinson boys, Hoxit, and the rest! We love you! Soltero, you better come home safe! Jay, hope you are safe in your travels there, let us know! Ill go over and take care of Dee and the kids! :)

50 Cals are loud today, just sayin'. HOOAH!!!

My favorite time of the year!

2009-10-09T04:58:00.005+09:00

We have been so busy the last couple of months!

Jeff is still here as many of you know. He is going through some issues with his back and is currently in physical therapy, and going to the pain clinic. If they decide not to do steroid shots, the next step is the neurosurgeon to determine if surgery is the way to go. Lets all pray that they get him fixed! He had some issues with the acting rear-detachment command treating badly, as if he has any control over what the doctor tells him he can and cannot do. But so far it seems like whatever their problem was is dissapated for now. Which is great, because its no fun to work with a bunch of jerks!

The big boys are busy with soccer, and school! The little ones are just being busy being the little ones, lol!

Stephanie comes up again at the end of this month. And again next month! I am stoked for her visits! We made the trip up to Mount St. Helens with Danielle and Kyle in tow. It was stunning to see!

My sister is planning a trip up for Christmas which is the very best Christmas gift I could ever ask for! I cannot wait to hold that baby Alice and snuggle her! I probably wont put her down! Will and Gabe are really stoked to come see me, I am going to try and book the big kids flights up here for Christmas too, just have to talk to Clint.
Danielle had her baby, too! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAM! ;)
I am working at the PX next week with my bows. I am really nervous about it. Its my first venture in to an actual customer base outside of the internet and word of mouth! Lets hope they dont laugh me out of the PX! ha!

Will try to update more, just cannot promise it. We are so incredibly busy lately, and with the Holidays coming up it's only going to get worse!

Love you all! Visit anytime you want! We love it here!

HAHAHAHA Yes...yes...I know...long time!

2009-08-16T02:51:00.004+09:00

Well, I never promised to be incredibly good at updating the good 'ole family blog. We have had the busiest summer EVER! Thought I would pop in and update everyone on a few things and add some great pics of our gorgeous family. ;)

So Luke and Tylor came home, and holy cow did they have a crazy summer! We have been to the beach so many times on the coast its insane. And literally all over the Olympic peninsula. We had so many fun times! And have had so much family visit. Even our best friend in the world Kyle Cox came and stayed a few days with us. And my beautiful fairy God mother Stephanie come too! :)

My mom came down as well. It was fun!

There isnt too much to update other than we spend our weekends scouring the countryside for things to do. We spend a lot of time on the coast line. All the way down in to Oregon. Lots of play times outside and lots of birthdays!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY! Jeff is getting old! *snickers* Still I am the old woman in the fam. *sighs*

Anyways just a quick post to let everyone know the blog isnt completely dead, almost, but not quite yet...

Here are some great pics from the summer! I am stoked for Fall to get here, I hope its as gorgeous as back home!

Happy Weekend everyone!

The New House

2009-05-07T10:36:00.005+09:00

Thought I would add pictures of the new house. :) Enjoy!

xoxo

Too long for an update, I know!

2009-05-07T10:10:00.005+09:00

*sighs* Well, I guess you could say we are finally settled here at Fort Lewis. So much has happened the last 2 months. And with being on the move I have not had much time to update all of you. So this might be a long post. :)

We finally reported here in March. Housing was not available so we ended up in a temp apartment off post in Puyallup until it was ready. About 6 weeks, long enough to un-pack only to pack it up and move on post again. We are lucky though, the boys will be here at the end of this month, and having joint custody helped us get into a 4 bedroom. So space will not be an issue!

The kiddos fly in, along with Marie, Caydee, Nelson, Mendy and my aunt Cathy! So we will have a ton of visitors for a few days. I am stoked to spend some time with them.

Having a hard time though, my little sister is due with my niece in June, and its going to be rough not being there with her. I cannot wait to meet the baby! She is going to be a little doll face.

We have been a few places here, Seattle, Forks, and some beaches. Its gorgeous but rains so much. Seriously, more rain than you would believe. I am hoping the summer is better than the spring. Some days are colder than others, and we have had a couple really warm nice days.

I havent really met too many on post. The neighbors are okay, just not my Michelf or Jes. Or anything like my Korea girls. And that is a hard adjustment. I guess we all learned to lean on each other being 7k + miles from our homes. I miss some of them so terribly. Especially Bobby Kitchen and Monica. I hope they are doing well. And we love you if you all check in here!

Words cannot express the feelings with the boys on their way! I cannot wait until they get here!

No definitive date on deployment yet. I will obviouslly not post it. But it will be late summer. Family will know I believe, but I will know more specifics here soon I imagine. I am dreading it. And its all I can do not to pack up and go home when he leaves.
I got to meet Peter Facinelli, and that was really neat!
The babies are doing well. We are fighting a bought with the flu. Dear Lord, I hope it passes quickly. Its frustrating with the little ones being sick.

We also got a new puppy love! Well I suppose he isnt a puppy, he is 4. A little brown weenie dog. His name is Elvis. He is amazing the kids, although tends to favor Kyle much more than Miss Erica.

We got to spend so much time back home. But it is never enough. I got to hang out with my mom and sister in Eureak Springs, that was fun! And we spent a lot time at the Browns. And with Aunt Cathy. It was wonderful!

We love you all and miss you all. Keep us in your prayers! XOXO

Hello and Goodbye...

2009-01-29T15:35:00.006+09:00

It seriously doesnt feel like our time here is up. It went by so fast! It was definitely the hardest thing we have been through so far in our lives. Being away from Luke and Tylor, and away from our family...we go home in 2 weeks and we are so excited! Can you believe it? 2 WEEKS! I am so nervous about our flight, although we fly straight to Chicago and only have the one layover, it is still nervewracking to think about another anywhere from 14 to 18 hours on airplanes. At least we can stretch our legs in Chicago. And I am sure that ride will go by so fast, its the llooonngg one before that, lol. My nerves are shot!

We have been so busy here lately, getting ready to leave. Everything is happening so fast! And we have friends in and out trying to sew up goodbyes when it seems we only said hello...

Kelsey and Kyle Atkinson are following us up to Washington, we are stopping in Kansas to pick them up. I am elated to see the other Atkinson and Danielle...and we have several other friends there as well. We have heard wonderful things about Ft. Lewis, and have been told how lucky we are to be going there. I am just praying a change in circumstances and Clint will let the boys go...if not, then we will contend with the summers, I suppose. I am just having a really hard time being away from them. When I think about all the distance it is horrible. At least when we get home we will have almost a month there. And once in Ft. Lewis only being a few hours plane ride away is better than the 7 thousand miles like now!

We are just keeping positive, working on our savings, and shopping for a car. We will have to buy one when we get there. We only have a few things for the trailer.
I cannot wait to get home and set up all of our Korean furniture too! We have acquired some beautiful furniture and such while we are here. I will add some pictures. It will be so nice to be in American housing again! And I am so tired of the big city.
I am just so excited to see everyone! I love you all and cannot wait to be home! 2 weeks is nothing compared to the 9 months I have been here. It really is the final countdown home, I dont feel like we are going to be in Korea forever.

Love to you all, pray for an easy flight and transition for us! We shall see how pleasant our flight is with the two munchkinsn in tow.

XOXO

Merry Christmas! The countdown to home begins!

2008-12-26T16:08:00.008+09:00

Well, here we are, I cannot believe it is the day after Christmas already. Where has this year gone? I mean, seriously, did I not just step off of a plane and land here in South Korea, and now we are less than 2 weeks away from clearing to go home? I hope the next few weeks fly by! We are so excited to get home and see everyone, I will let you all know when we are supposed to arrive in Springfield. It should be February 12th, which, as some of you know is Miss Ericas birthday. We have had a great month, long, expensive, lol...but good. Yesterday morning we got to spend 3 hours on the webcam with my family, and even got to play the trading gift game. Technology is amazing! It was marvelous to see you all and we miss you so much! I was a cry baby the whole time, but its hard. And I miss my boys so much, they are so handsome and so big now. I cannot wait to be home with them! We had a nice Christmas party last weekend, and over Christmas had a ton of soldiers camping out here. It was good for them, and good for us all to be together and just be thankful to have someone to spend the holiday with. We had a great time! Kyle is recovering so well from his tonsil surgery, and has already gained 3 lbs! Doctor Duke says that they rate tonsils from a 1 to a 4, and Kyles were a 4! Holy Moly! He is sleeping and not having any more sleep apnea, or snoring...eating like a little horse! I just want to tell you all how much your prayers are getting us through! There are so many people we have to see when we get home, and when we head to Washington we are going to try to see some of you along the way! Here are some pictures to enjoy! Sending lots of blessings and prayers all your way. Ricky baby is doing amazing with is new family, and Michelf, if you read this I am so glad Daric is home for you guys now! Love you all! God Bless and Happy New Year!

Busy Busy Busy!

2008-12-05T22:04:00.005+09:00

yes, I know...no update lately. Well, 2 weeks ago today Kyle had to have his tonsils out, that was an adventure to say the least. However, hard the trip to Yongsan was, the outcome has been tremendous! He is doing amazing!

We had a very quiet Thanksgiving. Kind of self loathing to be honest. Missing our family and friends. So many have gone home in the last few weeks its been so hard on us. Christmas dinner will be much better planned and a huge get together. Another wife arrived a while ago and is venturing over, she is great with the kids and is a lot like me. She misses her sister terribly, they are peas and carrots, much like me and sister. So we will lean on each other the next 2 months.

Good news, we come home in FEBRUARY! We are on the downward slope now! *yahoo* We got our official orders to Ft. Lewis and are so stoked to be with our people again! We already know several families there, and we are very close to them so that will certainly be a blessed transition! However, I am still sad we wont be close to home or Kelsey and Kyle! I miss them so so very much! xoxo Their little baby boy will be making his appearance soon! Kelsey, Kyle, My Hotskins, Kellie and Joe, and our MC and Shawn...WE MISS YOU GUYS!

Something I would like to talk about...lots of people talk about "army buddies" "military friends" for the soldiers. But what you dont hear enough about is the bond that so many of us wives end up having together only to have to let go too soon. I feel like I havent had enough time with so many of you, but even through the hard time of saying goodbye, counting my blessings that I was even blessed enough to have you all!
Our family has learned to be so strong through some of the hardest trials a young couple could ever have to go through. That I hope too is on the down slope. I am so excited to get back home to my boys! I miss them so much. We sent their Christmas gifts this week and I am hoping they will love them! They have been asking for guitars for a very long time now, so that is what they will be getting along with some other things.

I miss you all back home so much! Its getting harder, and harder not to pack up and catch the next flight home. I have to push through. Jeff will deploy this August, so I guess the trial of coming here was to give us that extra time together after all the sacrifices he has made for me and my children. He is a wonderful husband and father! Sister...I miss you so much! Next to the boys, probably the most (and my Marie). I miss hanging out with you goofy two. I think about those funny nights running the auction all the time. It was worth all that effort just to be with you two.
I love you guys and we will be home soon enough torture you! Remember we will have to have a place to stay for a month! *muwahahaha*

Love and prayers to you all!

Where to start?

2008-10-21T15:41:00.008+09:00

Okay, so when we moved in here apparently we were using the old internet service and it eventually got shut off. It has taken us this long, yes this long, to get back up and running. LOL...but we have also been so extremely busy around here it didnt matter b/c I wouldnt have had much time to chat anyhow.

The last 2 months have flown by. My dear friends are all heading back stateside and eventually leaving me here by my lonesome. We had a huge lunch for Kelseys last one, and then Kelli left...now after tomorrow its just me and MC. My lovely Danny leaves in the morning even after MC and I begging her to stay another month. But alas, the US calls with too much to do before any of us settle back home. We all leave a month early to start getting the new nests ready before the men come home. I am dreading the ten hour flight, but excited to come home in January and be with my family.

The kids are doing wonderful, Erica had a modeling shoot in Seoul a couple of weeks ago, and she did marvelous! It was for a catalog here.

Kyle is having his tonsils out on November 21st which is really, really nervewracking. Especially knowing I will be all by myself without help. Not too mention the surgery in South Korea. I know he will be fine, but still my anxiety is very high.

We had a trip to Everland, and this last weekend we went to Soyasan Mountain, only we did not climb all the way up. With all the holidays coming up I would imagine time is going to fly by and we will be even more busier than ever. So hopefully I will have tons of pics to post.

Stephen is doing awesome and we are so excited and proud of him!

The big boys are doing great too, sister sent me a ton of pictures so we have them all posted throughout the house. I cannot wait to get back to them, I am having such a hard time sharing. Not my best quality at all.

Right now, we "might" have orders, just waiting on some verification in the next 30 days and I am really hoping we get them because it is an amazing post.

I miss you all and love you all terribly! Pray for us and keep us in your thoughts as you all are always in ours. Let me know if you stop by! Going to overload you with pics now. :)

And the "21st" BIRTHDAY PICS!

2008-08-25T17:05:00.003+09:00

Last Wednesday at our weekly lunch some of the wives plotted and had me a little birthday party. Complete with a "21" birthday candle! :) I just to tell you all how much it meant to me. It was a rough week spending it without my kids and my sister, but you all made my day. Jeff was amazing too! Here are the pics from that, I know the posts are out of order, but hey! Who cares! :)

DMZ

2008-08-25T16:32:00.010+09:00

Well, at the beginning of yet another busy week, I am really, really missing home! Good news though, we will be coming home in February, we are not staying another year. *YAHOO* We are excited. And excited to go home. Jeff will not re-enlist at the end of his 3 years in the Army. We are going to come back home and settle somewhere close. You learn as you get older how important roots are, and while we both enjoy the travels we want to be home. To be able to come back home, be with our friends and family we miss so much! We have no idea where we will be going when we get our orders, but anywhere will be closer than South Korea! I am missing the boys something fierce, and with school starting, I know they will be busy now. And hopefully will help them with this adjustment. I cannot wait to have them in my arms again. Over the last 5 years of our lives together Jeff and I have always tried to do right and keep our family strong. I am feeling some failure in that department. It helps knowing that we didnt make this choice selfishly. I try not to get too upset about it b/c it gets to Jeff. Here is this wonderful man who gave up everything for a divorced gal with 2 little men to raise. And he has tried too terribly hard to give them everything they have wanted and or needed. I swear he fell in love with them before me, but then again, they are pretty darn irresistable! Anyways, I am rambling, just love them and miss them so much. And I am missing my sister, my little bro (who we are so proud of) and my mom and dad, and my Marie too! The next 6 months better fly by for us! So Saturday Kelly and I went on a tour of the DMZ. Which is the barrier between the North and South Koreas. It was scary and exciting in the same day! I was very nervous, we were not allowed off the bus at the JSA. Apparently there were some people there in a meeting and too important for us to be in the mix. But we got some amazing pictures of "The bridge of No Return", the JSA area, and the NK and SK soldiers facing off at the border. First we went to the JSA, which is the Joint Security between a ton of UN. There were some pretty major players there apparently so we couldnt even get out of our bus. Usually you get to go in a building and see the table where all the peace talks take place and take your picture on the North Korean side of the room, with the guards staring you down. Literally. I only got pics of the border between the lines with the NK soldier and the ROK soldiers with their noses to the wall. Then we went to "The bridge of no return" where when the Korean war ended and the POW's were returned, they could either go North to NK and China or obviously south. But the kicker was they could never return after they chose. There was also a bloody massacre over a huge poplar tree blocking the ROK vision of the observation tower #4they sent 15 ROK and American soldiers out to cut it down and were ambushed by NK soldiers. 2 were axed to death. The observation deck in the DMZ was next. But you can only take pictures behind a certain line, if you cross it and attempt pics, the ROK soldiers will take your camera and delete them. We are talking maximum security! I got some good pics (obviously far away) of "Propaganda City"which is the mock city NK built right beside the closest SK village line to put out communist messages and entice the SK to cross the border. I got an awesome pic of the North Korean flag, which is the tallest flag in the world. It is 160 feet high, the flag is 30 feet wide, and weighs 600 lbs. dry. Then we went to tunnel 3. NK over the last 50 years built a series of tunnels that were slowly discovered to get into SK and ambush Seoul. We literally went down a 45 degree angle slope almost a half mile (I believe) down into this tunnel. It was crazy! I wasnt supposed to get any pics down there but snuck a few in. Everyone did. Our tour guide just basically said hide your camera. It was amazing, and crazy to hear all the history and stories. There were landmine signs everywhere, and I got a picture of the ones running aside the highway. There is only 1 highway joining NK and SK. I tried to get pics, but I think Kelly got better ones. When she comes over this week she is bringing her card so I can copy those too. I got a picture of me with the NK flag flying in the background. Enjoy, and ask me anything, I will try to remember the answer. I was really nervous b/c it is really dangerous, but can research if I seem to forget, lol.Here is a link to the DMZ too to help describe the tunnels better. It was amazing to say the least! I kept reminding myself of all the fallen men sent there from our country, and how different it would be for them this time around. South Korea has came so far and continues to grow and stabilize as their own nation. We went to church on Sunday, and had dinner at the Atkinsons, with Kelsey and Kyle too. The kids went and played on the soccer field for a while. And Jeff and I walked almost halfway home. Kyle has a doctors appointment at the end of this week about his sleep apnea and his tonsils coming out. I am nervous as heck about him having surgery. He will be in good hands, and I know in the long run it is best. But not having my mom or Marie here to help will be hard. The support I will miss the most. Erica cut her toe open this week too. Talk about suck! I was cooking and she was standing in the kitchen with me and dropped a can of mandarin oranges on it. It busted open and she bled all over! It was horrible poor pookie. We were supposed to ride the bullet train this weekend down to the coast, but not sure at this point if we are going to go to Seoul Land for "big" Kyles birthday. I know they are wanting us to do that badly. And we are budgeting ourselves tightly the next 6 months to purchase a car and re-furnish our next home. As well as save up money for when we get home and have to get the big boys to our new location. I am so stoked! We are seriousy on a tight budget, but together I know the discipline needed to do it will come. Jeff and I have certainly learned to function together. And I must say being here has only made our marriage and commitment stronger than ever. I do not doubt his love for us and our family. We made some videos for you all to watch, we miss you so much. The nights are hardest for me b/c I know you all are just waking up and my thoughts tend to take over and not let me sleep. But we are on the downhill slope now and will push through. I am getting excited for fall. It is my absolute favorite time of the year! I love you all!

Our trip to The Childrens Grand Park and some other busy stuff...

2008-08-14T15:10:00.011+09:00

Hello everyone! First of all I just want you all to know that my baby brother graduates from BCT in Kentucky tomorrow, the 15th and I so stoked and proud of him I cannot express it in words. He has went down a long, hard road to get here and really is an exceptional person and has overcome so much, send a little prayer for him as he heads off to AIT training this weekend, and a little prayer for my mom and sis who bless their hearts are going to spend some time without me and Stevie there the next year or so! I love you all so much and miss you, we will be thinking and talking about it tomorrow, and expect a call from us. Take lots of pictures for me and get them out asap! I love you!

Second, my big guys start school tomorrow and they are so excited, especially Luke to get out and not be so secluded at home with his dad. He is getting so big and doing so good for his mommy. :)

I cannot wait to hear how his day goes tomorrow, and know he will do so great! I am so proud of the way my family seems to overcome the obstacles thrown in our path and I know after weeks of praying that we do have a purpose and we will be together forever and overcome any fear we have. Our love will stay strong! I dont have a scanner, but sister sent Kyle a birthday card packed with some pics of his bubbas. Miss you sweet boys, and there is not a day that goes by you are not in my every other thought going through my head. We will prevail, and with the Lord on our side there is not much we cannot endure. I have been pretty cynical and depressive the last year, but I have to perk up and realize that these trials are not permanent and we are strong, loving, and faithful creatures of the Lord and he does love us and will get us through all that comes our way. Every time things get rough, I do know that it is for a reason, and I used to not believe that. I do now, I can see the lesson or purpose in so many of our trials, and our small family has made it through them all, together, in tact and we will stay that way.

So last weekend we made it down to the Childrens Grand Park, and had a marvelous time with the Atkinsons, who for those of you know them, are AMAZING forces of God and really have helped me through some rough times here. They are a blessing, and I am so in love with their little family. We had a blast, the kids had a blast, and took tons of pics. They had a zoo, and amusement part, as well as some authentic parts like a "Korean barefoot park", which by the way, was painful! lol...Joe says it isnt built for us fat Americans..heehee...

Kids loved the animals, and they had a great little water area and they played so much there, it was really hot, but they loved it. They also had a great little animal theater, they play was Snow White. I never knew you could incorporate monkeys, birds and seals into Snow White, lol! The kids didnt take their eyes off of it once.

On Thursday of last week, Jeff and I took a long walk out into the rural areas not far from here, and it was so beautiful. The weather and landscape is a lot like back home, and if I stopped and closed my eyes it was like being back home. Oh how that pulls at your heart! Makes me count our days even faster, but maybe the adjustment a little more easy? And yes, the dogs are farmed for their meat in the picture, Jeff wanted to take a pic so you all could actually see it!

We had our weekly lunch this week and it was fun! Sissy got her first hold of a 5 week old baby, and she adored him. Although our plans involving our family dont include a baby for a while, she still loved him and it was good to know. We are talking with another family down in Osan who has adopted while here, and also trying to find out the easiest, best possible route to add to our brood. Jeff and I both feel the tug of adoption, and the options here are many. I will keep you all updated as soon as something seems more solid.

We are planning a trip this weekend to Osan Air Force base and I am excited to get down South. I will take a ton of pics for you all!

We got a call this afternoon about Kyle possibly doing a commercial, so cross your fingers that works out, it would be a wonderful way to supplement finances and a good way for me to get out and keep busy if he is successful, or they take interest in sissy too.

Love you all, keep praying my beautiful boys get to join us, something has to happen! We are fighting too strongly to keep our heads up for it not too. I honestly do believe that together, Jeff and I complete each other, and with the help of our Christ, we will accomplish whatever it is we are spiritually capable of. On a straight and narrow road now to really building on the success of an honest, loving, amazing family we have!

XOXO

Dongdaemun Market

2008-08-06T11:43:00.007+09:00

Since Kyles birthday we have been super busy around here. Looks like we will be here for another year, so planning finances and trips home has been a big topic of discussion. We are looking at getting 5k of Jeffs bonus in September which will be able to get us home in October or November, and then after some penny pinching and taxes in early 2009 we will be coming home that late Spring, and hopefully able to talk Clint into allowing the boys to come here for the summer. By the time that rolls around we should have enough miles with United or whomever to get our tickets home again that late fall, early winter. I am super excited as it seems we are falling into a routine and having everything planned out with finances helps a ton. We will have a ton of miles building up after all this flying we are doing.

So I got to spend Saturday with just a few of the girls. No kiddos, no strollers, no long train rides with screaming toddlers...and it was wonderful. We went down to a place called Dongdaemun Market and it was amazing! Such a huge part of the city. Its really cool because the old gate is still standing in the center to what would have been the ancient city. The streets were packed and the shopping was amazing. It is such a girly heaven, lol. There were just streets of shopping. And the craft market was a 6 story warehouse full of nothing but silk, embellishments, jewelry, and anything else you can imagine. I got some beautiful silk for $3 a yard and we plan on going back again in 2 weeks to purchase some more. I am asking for a sewing machine for my birthday and Kellie has promised me she would teach me how to use it before she goes home. I am excited to be able to go down and get some stuff to make and take back home with us. There is also an antique market set up in Dongdaemun stadium but we didnt have enough time for that. I found a pair of Korean socks with my name on them, seriously, 7K miles from home and they had socks with "Tiffany" on them, how funny is that?

We hit up a train stop in Seongbuk on the way back and found the equivilant of a $1 tree but Korean style, it was awesome! I picked up some great stuff for the house.

We spent Sunday at church, and then at a friends house, then we went bowling after dinner. It was super fun! The friends we have found here are amazing.

We also spent some time at the soccer field last week and let the kids run wild, they loved it!

I am missing home quite a bit though, and just getting by here and counting the days until we make it home. I love you all and miss you! If you stop by, leave a comment so I know you were here reading our little story. Love and hugs to you! XOXO

A real Korean meal...not one of my favorites.

2008-07-28T20:01:00.008+09:00

Ha! The title says it all. We had a really laid back weekend, really not much of anything going on, and it was kind of nice. On Saturday just went and ran some errands on post, then came home and hung out together. A quiet weekend is just what we needed.

Sunday we went to church in the afternoon. And afterwards some friends from the church called and they wanted to take us out for dinner. We went to a traditional Korean buffet. I must say that although I tried some of it in good sport. I will probably never eat it again, lol.

Going in to the restaraunt we had to take off our shoes and drop them at the door, in true asian style. I had not even thought about this and of course was in flip flops, so I had to suck up my barefoot OCD fetish and go with the flow. We sat at long table with a little almost mongolian style grill in front of us. The waitress turned on our grill, which later we would do ourselves as needed. At the actual buffet there were loads of food. But here is the catch...its raw. Yep, you read right, absolutely unequivicably raw. Ew. If you know me, then you know my OCD fetish with touching raw meat as well. There were all sorts of pork, calgogi (beef), seafood and veggies. You load up your plate, take it back to your table and cook it yourself. When it is done cooking you add a grilled garlic, whatever veggie you like a piece of meat only to roll it up into a big lettuce leaf and shove the entire thing in your mouth. That wasnt so bad. But to be a good sport the weird stuff I tried was baby octopus, and although it went in my mouth, I couldnt swallow it and spit it out in my napkin. Then I moved on to try the sushi, and it wasnt anything spectacular. Finally my last adventureous taste was the eel my lovely hubby cooked up for us. It was nasty. I actually chewed it up and swallowed that one.

So we are sitting there and I happen to look over at Erica who is sitting with her "big" Kyle. And see that she is sucking and chewing on the remnants of our little baby octopus. Can I say I almost threw up? Um, yeah. But not wanting to put my feelings regarding the food into her head I had to look away and let her chomp away. She didnt get too far into it before she decided she was done, lol.

All in all, it was not tasty for me. BUT it was something that I will remember and cherish simply because we experienced it with good friends and good company. The owners were sweet and enjoyed the children. We all got an ice cream before we left and she even let me keep my Pepsi bottle to take home mom. ;) They rebottle and recycle here like crazy, just like the old days. Bottlecaps and all.

We have been battling the monsoons the last couple of weeks and I have gotten some great pics. Its not flooding too terribly bad, but we shall see whats in store for the coming weeks. Its very humid and hot here, just like back home. Although I really miss a good thunderstorm. But until we get home we will have to be content with the good ole' sound machine in the bedroom.

Kyle had a wonderful birthday and is doing great. He misses his brothers very much, as do Jeff and I. I just want to wrap them up in to my arms. Sissy walks around with their pictures kissing them, its so cute. Kyle "make believes" they are here and plays with them. We talk on the phone a lot so we tend to need to buy minutes more and more. I miss them so much its really hard to deal with.

School is starting soon and its tough to think we wont be there. We are going to try to come home in October, if the tickets stay reasonable. Its looking like for "Army reasons in the works" that the possibility of us being here another year is more and more real. I am not happy about it. But if we can just push through we will be back on American soil soon enough, Jeff is dead set on NOT re-enlisting. He wants to use his GI Bill when he gets out, get his degree and go back into law enforcement, it really is where his heart is. Along with being with our family back home.

We miss you all and love you so much, sometimes the distance is a little overwhelming to me so keep the emails and pictures and myspace comments coming. If you get brave and want to call and wake me up then do so! I sleep with my phone on in case anyone needs us. If there ever were an emergency please know that you can only reach us and it be legitiment through the American Red Cross, and we are on Camp Hovey.

Keep us and the boys in your thoughts and prayers and enjoy the pictures this week. Remember we are basically as close to North Korea as you can get so some of these are the "real" South Korea pictures. ;)

Love you all! xoxo

Yongsan, HRC, and a Big Birthday Bash!

2008-07-21T14:13:00.008+09:00

Well, getting through this month has been a hard one so far. I am missing the boys terribly, and with Tylors birthday on the 8th it was really hard being here. We are just getting by and counting down our days until our family is whole again. Praying for a change in circumstance and making sure those boys know how much we miss them. I sent another package full of pictures for them last week. They really like the photos. Its hard for me, seeing only half of my kids in them, knowing how much the big guys would absolutely love it here. Just keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we make it through our journey here.

We went to Yongsan last Friday to the War Memorial again, didnt stay long there though. We ended up at Hard Rock Cafe in Itaewon for some good ole' American food. It was also one of the guys birthdays so we had them come out and sing and bring him an ice cream sundae. We had a great time. The guys had to go back on the bus, so the girls and I stayed down at Yongsan and went shopping, then later took the train home. It was a good time.

Saturday night we had Kyles birthday party a little early. Everyone was already going to be here for the usual "two week dinner" so we just combined it. He had a blast! Got lots of gifts and had so much fun with his little friends. He got a kitchen, and tons of Diego and Hot Wheels stuff. I had to make a homemade cake and improvised, Kyle was impressed, although he might have been the only one, lol! ;) It was really hard to have his party and no one from the family be here. I didnt realize it would choke me up the way it did when they were all singing "Happy Birthday" to him. And although we miss our family so much every single day, our adopted military family here has turned out to be so caring and reliable. It really has helped us get through these hard times.

Sunday was a trip to E-Mart. I had to pick up some things to organize the playroom. I dont know how, but the kids stuff seems to multiply on its own. I took got some pics of the awesome escalators! It was fun, several others went with us, however it rained cats and dogs. We are in the middle of a typhoon apparently, which to those back home isnt much more than a really bad storm there that lasts a few days. Lots and lots of rain! Bucketfulls!

Other than those things, we have just been spending time with friends and making out time here the best it can be. Last week I rode with a girlfriend who is command sponsored here so she drives. We went down to the Yongsan PX to get Kyles kitchen, and we had to take it out of the box for it to fit in her car. It was very different riding all that way by car on the freeway, rather than taking the train. People drive crazy here! I mean crazy. You would not believe it if I told you how badly they do not follow traffic laws. I need to get some pictures, scooters just riding down the sidewalk, people parking on the sidewalk...its nuts!

Trying to keep up with the blog weekly, sometimes I forget or really dont have much to post about and have already talked to so many on the phone. The rains are coming and going weekly now, so we have to get out when we can in between down pours, although it isnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. I think we are supposed to be in the eye of the typhoon tomorrow and will try to get some good pics of the heavy rain. They say it gets windy here, but what I have seen isnt worse than back home in Missouri. When I think storms, well, I think black skies, 60 mph winds, and hail, lol. So really, it isnt much here.

We did get our tv finally which completely rocks, we have like 70 channels and only a small handful are American, lol. But still, its better than nothing. The kids are mesmerized by the cartoon channels here. Jeff got his "plant" finally. He has been wanting one for a while. And we finally got some curtains so the Koreans dont see us in our skivies, lol! I will post some pics of the new living room today too.

Love you all and if you stop by leave me a comment! Kyles actual birthday isnt until Friday, we will probably take him to do something special for that day. Sending lots of love to you all! xoxo

Lotte World, 4th of July and much more!

2008-07-09T13:33:00.008+09:00

So we had a huge week last week, sorry for the delayed update. We really have had no down time since the beginning of last week. Jeff got off early the on Thursday and had a 4 day weekend ahead of him so that was absolutely wonderful. We got Tylors birthday gift to him and he loved it, we ended up getting him a portable dvd player and some movies, and I sent the boys 150 pictures to add to their photo album. I am getting a huge care package ready to send them in the next week which will be complete with mink blankets, chop stix, and a few other goodie, some for their keepsake boxes like receipts in Korean and such. I miss them terribly. Please send lots of prayers that it goes well!

Friday night we had a huge 4th of July celebration on Camp Casey. It was wonderful and we spent the entire day there. There were concerts, lots of stuff for the kids like magic shows, bounce houses and such. The Korean National Cheerleaders were there as well and they adored Kyle and Erica. I forgot my camera but have some pictures sent from friends and more coming so as soon as I get them I will post them as well. The 50 cannon salute was beautiful, and you really do not realize what you miss until you are a world away from it. The 4th was hard for both of us not having the big boys and missing family. It has always been a favorite for us. We got home very late that night, but made curfew and the kids crashed as they were tuckered out. :)

Saturday we had the usual get together with a few friends. Last week I had a rough time and prayed very hard for the Lord to take some of my burdens away and send me a message for a way to get through our time here. Low and behold one of our families that came for supper happens to be LDS. Jeff and I have been feeling the pull to get back in to church for some time and Kellie is the Relief Society president of all things. It was a wonderful blessing for the families here to see just how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Sunday morning we got up early and prepared for our first church going here since we arrived, it was such a small ward! But very nice to finally be where we needed to be. Kelsey and Kyle went with us which was such a nice blessing. These two are wondeful people and adore our kids and are expecting a little one of their own. I ended up with a nasty migraine late afternoon and spent it in bed while Jeff looked after the kids. He truly is the most amazing man I have ever spent time with. Such a wonderful father and husband, I couldnt ask for more. These last few months apart have made us stronger and really made me realize just how much he needs me and I him.

On Monday was our trip to Lotte World which is the Korean Disney Land. It was a total blast! I rode some of the scariest rides I have ever ridden in my life but it was exhilerating to do so, and made me feel "not so old" lol! I got pictures of us starting one, and the other pictures you can only see our feet on the Gyro drop, it was insane! It spun you as it rose about 20 stories and then stopped and all of a sudden dropped. So crazy! Kyle rode quite a few things and he loved it there. Sissy wanted nothing to do with Lotte and Lorry so we didnt do pictures, but she adored the parade. And of course being a celebrity baby here, we couldnt go 5 feet without someone taking her picture. Or stopping to give her gifts. By the time we got home she had scored a teddy bear, a little toy, candy and crackers throughout the day.

Back home we ask for your prayers, Jeff found a huge mass in his back and yesterday went for X-rays and it turns out they think he has a blown disk in his back, he has an MRI tomorrow to make sure that is what it is. The mass is a muscles spasm that isnt going away due to the disk. He has to go through physical therapy, he is on meds, and if none of that helps he will have to have surgery. Right now he is on profile for the next 30 days which means no lifting and easy PT. I am hoping they help him and that the pain goes away for him.

We miss you all very much and hope you enjoy reading the blog. I am trying to keep up as much as possible with it. I am missing my sister and my kids a ton so just trying to keep on holding on to that glimpse of being home, back in the country with everyone. Love you all and keep us in your prayers! xoxo

Breakfast at Tiffanys.

2008-06-23T13:32:00.006+09:00

We have had a busy last couple of weekends. The monsoon season starts very soon so we are trying to get out and see as much as we can rain-free. In the next coming week, the 4th of July will be rearing its head and reminding me of back home where we could all get together and do whatever we wanted, shoot as many fireworks, no matter how big they were. Here it will obviously be more restricted, which, in laymens terms really sucks big time. But we will make it work. There are a few things planned over the next 2 weeks I know most of you will really enjoy seeing pictures of. Our group from the FRG will be going to LotteWorld on July 7th, and the guys have a basically 5 day weekend which rocks! And Camp Casey is having a huge fireworks display too.

We have been getting together with some of the other families here every other Saturday. So we all pick a theme and every one brings a dish to cook. The first one was bbq, then we had Mexican (authentic, Alvarez cooked his grammas taco recipe, yum.), and this past Saturday we had breakfast for dinner. Appropriately enough, Breakfast at Tiffanys. *lol*

When Jeff got home on Thursday night, I had had a hard week, missing the boys and missing my family. He decided to take me out to dinner which was really good, we had steak at the Warriors Club. Last week when we went out with the Staleys we had passed a pet shop that had the cutest little maltese puppy who I fell in love with. Well on Thursday Jeff took me back and worked a deal with the pet shop owner so we are the proud new owners of "Bubbles". She is adorable, and will be the perfect companion for Moosey when we get back home.

Friday, Ashlee and Kelsey came over so Bubbles could have a play date with Toots, and Sydnee. She did well. That night we all decided to take a trip to Uijongbou to head to Mickie D's. Which I might tell you is a walk to the train station, a ride on the train, and a taxi to get there. But it was so worth it. I am sure we looked like a bunch of fat Americans with our overloaded trays. I ate 2 Big Macs myself, lol. It was so good. We walked around the town a little while and came across a cross dressing kareoke singing Korean man. Obviously we needed a picture with him. He was scary looking, but funny too. Apparently he was watching nakie woman on his little monitors in front of him, I missed that part. Gross!

Saturday was a busy day too, the kids were so pooped they slept until 10 o'clock, which was wonderful. Then a trip to the commissary, and cleaning the house to get ready for the dinner. We just got to hang out, play Taboo, and oogle over Joanna and Samuels 10 day old baby boy, Gabriel. Who I might add is beautiful. New mom had a good time, and it was good for her to get out. We all decided to head down to Yongsan this weekend and go to the Korean War Memorial again. It is beautiful down there and so much to do. I am sure we will run into something we have not yet came across. There seem to be little surprises in all of these little towns, lol.

Sunday turned out to be busy too. Jeff and I went for a walk down in New City and they had closed off some of the street for a childrens street fair. They had rides, animals, and there is a huge fountain to play in. So we called the "gang" and met some back at the house and walked back down to New City so the big kids could play too, lol. The guys got to ride the little motorcycles with the kids and play in the fountain. Then we headed to Camp Casey to grab some dinner. After that we took the train to E-Mart. We got off at Deokjeuong, which we thought was the right stop. Turns out we had to take a detour route under the train station and through some rice fields. And actually, I am glad we did because we got some great pictures. We all played around at E-Mart and then headed home. Jeff and I finished off the evening with a movie, and headed to bed. Poor guy only got 4 hours last night! Will have to let him sleep in this week.

I have to go to my rations meeting tomorrow to get our rations card. All the families here are rationed on groceries and a few other things. You have to take a class and then you get an id. They have a tour too, but I will bypass the tour because I already know my way around the camp and vicinity.

I hope you all are having a a good week, will post some more this week hopefully. The last 2 days have been gorgeous here, and the yellow dust is so low. I can actually see the blue sky instead of haze, which can take a toll on your mentality, lol.

Jeff talked to Clint today about bringing the boys over again. He is going to tell me tonight what he said. Just keep praying that he sees the light and changes his mind. I miss them terribly,and with Tylors birthday coming up it is going to be hard. I have never spent time away from my kids and it is killing me. Just keep us in your families prayers and keep thinking positive.

We love you all and miss you very much, if you stop by and read the blog leave me a comment so I know you were here watching over us. Love you all! xoxo

If there are lots of typos today, the kids are all over me! *giggles* deal, Julia. heehee...

Busy last week...

2008-06-18T12:39:00.008+09:00

I know those of you who have stalked wanting pics are realizing that I have not posted in over a week. We have been so busy, I just got a ton of pics loaded on to the computer and finally posted at Myspace.

Last week several other wives and I started doing lunches once a week over here at my house so the kids can play and we can socialize. It has been wonderful. The kids have a blast and so do the big kids...*lol*. I met Tina, who is at Camp Stanley on the USFK forums before I even got here, and she is wonderful. The rest are in the same unit as we are, and it is really nice to finally know everyone here who matters for the most part. We have had FRG meetings, and a Family Day which was a blast. The kids loved it.

Lucas and Tylor are doing well. Tylor is rocking it at baseball! I talked with them this morning, and my sister says he is the best on his team. Which is good, we tried soccer and football last year and they were a no go, lol. So he finally found his sport. Luke is doing well too. He is so grown up right now. I am so proud of the little man he is becoming. Only 8 more months to go and I will be back in the State closer to my loves! My sister is getting some pictures for me of them at baseball and they went and spent the day with her last week. I miss her terribly too. I am counting the days now. As is Jeff. Kyle misses his brothers like crazy and I wish Clint could see just how badly he longs for them. Today sissy was kissing their pictures. It is very hard when we go do things because Jeff and I always turn to each other and think about how cool the boys would think it is.

We went to the COEX Mall and Aquarium last Saturday with Kelsey and Kyle, it was a blast. This mall is amazing. The Aquarium is more like art exhibits with some natural habitats mixed in. It was reasonable to get in, and only an hour and a half on the subway. It is in Samseong, and there was so much to see. We even got to eat at McDonalds which was heavenly, and Coldstone. Yummy! I have an insane amount of pictures from the day and I posted them all at our Myspace, so if you want to see them all you can go there. And we have no idea what the buttons on the toilets do, Kelsey nor I had the nerve to go pushing them. The hand dryers rocked though! lol!

I also got some great pics of some storms that rolled in a couple nights ago. The rains will come soon so over the next 2 weeks we are going to try to get down to the beach, Kyle is begging his dad to go to the beach. However he believes that Diego is there and will be sadly disappointed to find out he is not, lol.

The Korean people are so infatuted with Erica, she is not going to know what to do when we get home and no one goes crazy over her. We cannot go anywhere without someone kissing her hand or patting her chubby little legs. They love her eyes.

I will try to update you all a little bit more this week, we are having our "every 2 week dinner" with all the families on Saturday. This weeks theme is breakfast for dinner. Last time Alvarez came over and cooked chicken tacos from his grandmothers recipe and it was divine. He is an amazing cook, and Erica is in love with him. *giggles*

We seem to be finding our way here, and slowly our journey is unfolding. It still feels incomplete to us without Luke and Tylor, if they were here we would AIP and stay another year, but without them it doesnt seem 100%. I am just trying to enjoy this blessing and appreciate living among another culture on the other side of the world. Adjusting to the daily routines and getting by with the love of my life and the babies. If I stop believing that this is happening to us for a reason it could be very easy to lose hope and fall into a funk. But I will keep my head up and know that the Lord only gives us what we can handle, sometimes it seems like more, but after it is said and done seemingly we are through it stronger and more in love with life than before.

I love you all and miss you all terribly! Only 8 months to go, and those of you who are coming to visit, I cannot wait until you plane lands on this beautiful land.

xoxo

Not too busy of a week

2008-06-06T14:06:00.008+09:00

Well this week has not been very eventful. Jeff got to come home from the field early, so he was back Tuesday night. Which was wonderful. We got a call from the immigration office saying we needed to add a letter from the commander to our packet on file. So yesterday Jeff took off early and we got on the train and headed towards Uejongbou to get that taken care of.

We were both starving so decided we would just eat somewhere there. We decided to go to KFC. Might I add that it is waaayyyy different than our back home. Not very tasty, but we managed to choke it down and get back on our way. I took a few pictures while we were there. We even got a picture of a monk, lol. There was some kind of promotion going on and all these little cars were lined up and playing loud Korean music, Kyle was jamming. People were stopping to watch him bust a move on the street corner and giggling. I got a couple of shots of that. He was funny!

Today we are just hanging around. Hopefully this weekend we are going to the Co-ex aquarium which will be exciting, it is supposed to be really great. We are going to buy a cooler and pack our lunches and drinks for the day. Who knows who will tag along! Possibly hanging out with friends and making chicken tacos too. Alvarez is going to come over and cook for us! Yeah!

Missing the family very much. I miss the boys something fierce. They had a baseball game last night and Tylor scored all of his teams runs, it was only 2, but...hey...thats pretty good. :D My sister is sending some pics this week so as soon as they are here I will get them up. I love you guys, stay safe and keep praying things go our way!

Today is the Korean Memorial Day and there are so many Korean flags flying half mass. And they sounded the sirens this morning. There is a grand ceremony today at the Seoul National Cemetery. I wish we could have gone. I took some pics of all of the flags flying outside our apartment building. Their Memorial Day mourns the loss of life defending their country, just as ours does. I see much respect in their culture for servicemen and the elderly.

I also included a picture of our apartments, building 201, and some of me and the kids outside on the steps. The weather keeps going back and forth from chilly to hot, just like back home in Missouri, lol!

There are also some pictures from the train that I took, just randomn shots of rice patties and the mountains and such. Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_South_Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uijongbu

"THE Living Arrangements" lol

2008-06-02T15:24:00.014+09:00

Things are so different here, yet a lot are the same.

Our apartment is on the 9th floor which is a big adjustment for us. There is only one other apartment on our floor, and the elevator is right outside our front door. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a very large living room, and a dining/kitchen combo. We also have the laundry room and the 2 balcony area which are great for storage. We are very lucky, we have a very nice place. The apartment complex is called Hyundai Apartments, and is very clean and well maintained. The residents seem to be very friendly as well.

The kids enjoy the play area, and it is safe and cleaned daily.

We have to buy trash bags from E-Mart, you cannot use the same we used back in the States. They are expensive to buy, and we bought a recycling trio of bins to keep some of it separated and not use as many of the bags. They are waterproof, and you just take down your stuff and dump it in to the appropriate bin. Obviously, its glass/metal...paper...and plastics. The rest goes in a bag.

We use a washer/dryer in one. Its kind of nice, takes a little bit longer to do, but you dont have to switch it out. It sings a little tune when its done, kind of funny. We only wash in cold water, and have a hanger out on our large balcony to hang dry if we wanted to. Most people here seem to only hang dry their clothes.

Our heating comes from the floor. There are pipes that run hot water through and it actually works quite well. In order to use the hot water you have to turn the heat on. Which is a good way to keep your costs down, as long as you remember to turn it off when done...lol. ;)

We get most of our groceries from the commissary. I went ahead and signed up for WIC Overseas and the lady told me to beware of the produce on the streets because they tend to fertilize using their own well...you know...poop. Can we say ew? I have not bought produce off the stands, and for sure will not now. We dont eat out at any of the small restaraunts due to the bird flu scare and now because of this. On post though there are a couple restaraunts in the PX like Taco Bell, Burger King, and Baskin Robbins to name a few. We will eat at a large chain like McDonalds or The Hard Rock Cafe, and there is even a "Outback" in Yongsan.

We do get some snacks and such at E-Mart because they are cheaper, and some are really good. We buy drinks from the vending machine and the popsicles here are yummy! You can fill a bag at E-Mart for only $3.2o which is awesome. The pictures are of Cheetos, Sun Chips, Dasani, and some randomn snacks we have found out we like. The green popsicles taste like honeydew, they are so good.

The views from our apartment are really cool, we have lots of windows so I do not feel boxed in at least. Here are some pictures from the daytime and the night time. The night time is really neat because some of the lights have glitter in them. They are very flashy at times here with their advertisement.

We dont have a home phone, but apparently you can get Vonage and get a number from the states. I am going to have my aunt check on it for me. Jeff and I both have cell phones. And in order to use the phone you have to have Won on it plus your either US or Local minutes. But there is a way of getting around using your Won, so we do that.

I miss the boys like crazy, and we are just using the extra bedroom basically for crafts and storage. I am just keeping hope Clint will change his mind and then they can use it. I miss them so much. Love you boys!

So now the beginning has been posted, on to the good stuff.

2008-06-01T15:55:00.004+09:00

We have now been in South Korea for almost one month. This last week was a very busy week for us. We had to inspect all of our household items moved, which on our claims will have a broken picture, and our priceless family photo gouged and scratched all to hell. Luckily we will be reimbursed for those items.

We had to go to Uijeongbu for our A-3 visas which allows the children and I to live here until February of 2009. And the coveted SOFA stamp as well. It was a little intimidating setting in an immigrations office letting the 18 year old guy go stamping away with our passports. But none the less it is done and I am a little more relaxed now.

Sitting there, I realized how very intimidating it must be for people to come to the United States and sit in my very position. Not understanding our language, or way of life. Our general hustle and bustle and sometimes rude rushed manner. I realize being here that maybe the next time I am trying to communicate with a foreign person in our home land that maybe I should be a little more understanding.

We do not have a Wal-Mart here. We have a store called E-Mart, it is kind of a combination of a Kohls, Target, and Wal-Mart with a furniture store and food court thrown in the mix. It is 4 stories. The escalators are flat and when you put your cart onto them it locks into place with magnets so it doesnt slide. Very interesting, I need to get pictures the next time we are there.

Trash bags are insanely expensive here, they recycle almost everything. Our purchase yesterday consisted of enviroment friendly trash bags, and 3 recycle containers we can just go dump into the appropriate place at the trash collection outside our apartment complex.

Our adventure a couple weeks ago while Marie was here consisted of a trip to Yongsan, Uijeonbou, and to the Korean War Memorial. I will post a couple pictures for you. She had a good time, I was sad to see her go.

We have Skype if anyone wants to chat via webcam, its awesome.

I wish Clint had it for the boys, I am missing them terribly. Luke had baseball practice and hit a home run and caught every ball thrown his way, he is enjoying it tremendously. Kyle talks about his "bubbas" every single day. It is getting very hard. The distance sucks. I really believe the boys would love it here. Jeff has a hard time too. I know Clint is their biological father, but Jeff thinks of them as his own...he loves them and misses them so much. It is frustrating for us because we do not feel complete without them. Mom is going to take pictures this week at their baseball game, and Cathy is going to go get them and let them use her webcam to call so we can see them. Going to send them a package home soon with some pretty neat stuff in it. I bought them a photo album and a box to keep all of their stuff we send home for them. They are such wonderful young men and keep praying that he will change his mind.

Here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago.

The temple is Jongmyo Royal Shrine. So much left to explore, and we need to do a lot before the monsoons hit. They are expected to arrive late June. We are hoping to head to the beach this next weekend down south. And a trip to Everland is in store soon too. It is like the Korean Disneyland, lol. http://www.everland.com/htm/MultiLanguage/english/htm/ pretty cool.

In the beginning...

2008-05-29T15:36:00.001+09:00

There were 6 of us. What lead us to this point in our lives is a long journey through pain and hardships. I do believe all things happen for a reason. The result of this journey has not presented itself as of yet.

Jeff got a really great job offer through a sales company and took it. Making almost 3 times what we were he was doing well. Starting off anyways...We bought a house, decided to try for our last child and seemed to be making it well. The big boys dad was in some trouble with the law and not allowed to see them. A long struggle in itself.

About 7 months into the sales job Jeff was struggling. Obviously sales and marketing were not his strong suits. He lost his job and I was 6 months pregnant with our little girl, Erica. We struggled that next year tremendously. He immediately replaced the sales job with a job at the county jail as a correctional officer. And found his calling in law enforcement. But we were drowning in debt. With no financial help coming from Luke and Tylors dad, and me having 2 under 2 it was hard.
After a few months he came to me with a proposal to join the US military, but wasnt sure which branch, I told him I would do whatever he wanted. At this point we were both working full time and were getting exhausted, and still not financially ahead.
After a few months of going back and forth he decided to enlist in the United States Army. A choice that would change everything in our lives.

We pushed through the months of Basic Training and AIT. Only to be slapped in the face with a one year uncaccompanied tour to South Korea. After the devastation of the information he was on a plane and on his way. Only to arrive and find out it is totally possible to bring your family, live off post with them, and still have the same benefits of being within an army base. After about a month of convincing and 10 coffee pots of research I decided I would join him in South Korea.
A long discussion with the boys father lead to him refusing to sign their passports and not allowing them to join us. Hopefully that will change. I pray for it, the oppourtunity for them to live here is amazing.
On May 8th we arrived in South Korea, my SIL and FIL in tote to help me with the kids. I sold everything owned, shipped a measly 500 lbs. of personal belongings, and kept a small amount of keepsakes for our return.
This is a blog of our journey, the struggles we will see over the next year here. And the joys we have being together again, but obviously missing 2 crucial pieces of our unit as a whole. Luke and Tylor.
I will try to keep up and post a lot of pictures. Hopefully this will keep family and friends up to date on whats going on in our daily lives here in such a far away land. Sometimes, I have to remind myself where I am. It truly is amazing to be here, and be able to witness living in another culture. The Korean people are beautiful, friendly, and truly deserve to have the freedoms that we as Americans take for granted every single day. Simple freedoms.

Enjoy.