Birthday Party

Today we had Marley's birthday party at Little Bear.  She had such a wonderful time playing with all of her friends.  I know she is really going to miss every body when we finally leave here this summer.  Two of my friends took pics at the party and I will post them as soon as I get copies.

Exam week

It has been a while since I blogged because I have been bogged down with school.  I am taking finals this week and then I start my next semester on Monday.  It has been a whirlwind of classes and tests and homework and papers, but it will be worth it in the end.  After this semester I will only have 9 more classes to go and I should be in my last semester as we are leaving here this summer!! 

Right now we are supposed to be out of here no later than the 4th of July.  I am sure we will be home a little bit before that.  All of us are ready to get back to good ole American conveniences.  I cannot wait for 24 hour shopping, businesses that open before noon, parking lots, drive thru anything, normal bathrooms with normal toilets (no more squatty potties), my own car, Mexican food, freedom, and choices!!!!  I swear the first night I get home I am heading to Walmart at 3 am and I am going to take pictures of all the choices and send them back to my friends still in Korea and say nah nah nah nah nah!!!

Halloween 2010

Marley and her best friend Alex

At the PX getting ready for trick or treating!

 Getting ready to head out trick or treating.  We stopped to meet up with all of our friends first.  Some people went to the haunted house that some of the soldiers built, but Jackson and I both said NO THANK YOU!!!  Last time we tried to go into a haunted house someone banged too hard on the safety glass and it shattered all over us and cut me.  Not to mention, my imagination does not need any help in the scare department.

Here are the kids before we headed out for the evening.  I spent 45 minutes painting Jacksons face!  Once Marley saw me painting on her brother, she had to have her face painted too.  She told me she wanted to be a "scary witch" so I painted some crazy eyebrows on her forehead, a spider, and a spiderweb.  I really should have gotten a close up of Jackson's face, cause it really did turn out well.

We had a great time trick or treating this year.  A lot more of the houses on the base were giving out candy and so it felt more like home.  Marley had a hard time understanding why we could not stop and sit down and eat the candy as we went, but she got the hang of it. 

On Sunday we went to a Halloween party that my friends and I had organized for the base that we live on.  We told anyone and everyone to bring baked goods, drinks, and candy to pass out.  There was such a great turn out and all of us ended up with major sugar hangovers the next day!  I sure hope that the women here will continue to do this kind of thing for the community after we all leave.

Mimi and Pops Go Korean

Marley loved showing off her new tutus for her Mimi and Pops.

The kids had quite the captive audience this week.  Mimi played board games with Jackson and playdough with Marley. 

Here is Marley on her first bike.  I cannot believe she is old enough to be learning how to ride a bicycle.

Mom got a real kick out of Dr. Fish (the place where you put your feet into the water and little fish are supposed to eat off the dead skin).

Just thought this was a cute picture of Marley and Mimi eating breakfast.

We had such a wonderful time with my parents and they were real troopers the whole time they were here.  They were so exhausted from all of their sightseeing in Japan, but they made sure that we all got the love and attention that we had been craving.  I am pretty sure that they had seen all of the temples they wanted to see and did all of the walking around that they could handle while in Japan, so we mostly spent our time hanging out.  On the first night they arrived in Korea, we took them to eat at our favorite restaurant to have what the Americans call "beef n leaf."  I was very proud of how open they were to trying all of the strange and wonderful dishes.  The next day we pretty much stayed around the house and just went out to the park so that they could rest up a little.  On Thursday we decided to take them to Seomun Market (the largest traditional Korean market).  They got to see all of the crazy vendors selling all kinds of random things.  Friday we ventured downtown and introduced them to "food on a stick" and yackimandu.  They were not all that crazy about the food, but they were good sports about it.  Next we walked over to Dr. Fish to let them see what we had been talking about.  The minute we all put our feet in the fish seemed to swarm to Pops.  As soon as we got Mimi to put her feet in the water she started to giggle.  The little fish must really have been tickling her.  Saturday was the day that Mimi and I had decided that we would head to Osan to do some purse shopping.  We headed out for the 2 1/2 hour drive with my wonderful friend Jen at 8 am that morning excited about the adventure ahead.  After we stuffed our faces at Chili's we were off to haggle for some purses.  Mimi got such a kick out of having to crawl through tunnels and walk behind hidden walls to get to "the good stuff."  I ended up leaving with 6 purses and two mink blankets.  Jen was the good one and only walked away with 5 purses.  Mimi, on the other hand, walked away with 10 purses (3 as gifts) and 1 mink blanket.  We had such a nice day and it would have been perfect if the drive home had not taken us 4 1/2 hours.  While Mimi and I were in Osan, Jason and Pops took the kids to the zoo here in Korea.  They all seemed to have a good time, but we were all exhausted.  The last few days we have spent our time playing, talking, and enjoying each other’s company.  I have had such a wonderful time having them here that I really hate to see them leave tomorrow.  I just want to say thank you so much Mom and Dad for coming completely across the world to see us.  We love you more than words can ever say!  Our time together over the last ten days has been such a wonderful gift that I will treasure forever.  Thank you.  Thank you. Thank you.

Ballet

Marley started ballet the other day and I cannot tell you how excited I am.  This is what I have been looking forward to ever since I found out that I was having a girl.  She loves her new tutus and she did so good listening to the teacher.  I cannot believe that my baby girl is getting so big!

Jason's Birthday

For Jason's birthday he decided to spend the day golfing.  One of my wonderful friends watched the kids for us so that I could go with him and drive the golf cart.  I had such a good time driving the cart that I told him I would go back with him once a month.

First Haircut

Marley got her very first haircut!!  The wonderful lady took 3 inches off her hair.  Marley sat perfectly still and was awesome the whole time.