Merry Christmas from Korea

Christmas 2006

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Merry Christmas everyone. We had a good day. It really did not feel too much like Christmas, being so far away from home. We missed our yearly tradition on Christmas Eve to get milkshakes and drive around looking at Christmas lights. Instead we had my friend Mimi's girls over to bake Christmas cookies. They had never done anything like that before. I think all the kids had fun. After finally getting Cheyanne out of bed, Christmas morning, we opened presents. We went over to Mimi's house and began to cook. Our dinner was a mixture of American and Korean foods. Everyone ate too much, but we all enjoyed the company. I hope you all enjoyed your day. We missed everyone a great deal.

O' Christmas Tree

O' Christmas Tree

Ok, lets try it this way!

We have our christmas tree up. I think it looks pretty good considering the store display for this tree looked like Charlie Brown's. Having my own ornaments really helps, thanks Lawana. To see the pictures just click on the picture above and you will be sent to our online web album.

technical difficulties

Sorry everybody! I don't know what is going on, but I have been having trouble posting. I can not post pictures at all. If this continues I will have to shut this on down and start another blog. I will let ya'll know if this happpens.

Everyone is doing fine over here. Trying to stay warm. It's about 14 degrees right now. we actually recieved about 4 inches of snow Sunday. The kids had a great time.

Happy Birthday Dalton!! 12-01-2006

I can't believe he's actually thirteen. It seems like not that long ago he was that little kid who never met a stranger, lived to eat, and always made everyone smile. Ok so maybe he hasn't changed that much! Love ya man!!!

dalton

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YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I went a registered both of the kids for school today! I was told by both schools that they do not like to keep kids on the waiting list and will do there best to get them in quickly! I am so excited! So are they. I feel like the more I try to home school them the dumber they are going to become! :) So everybody keep your fingers crossed and hopefully it will happen soon!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a bunch of Brian's friends over for lunch. In all I think there was about 16 of us here. They easily went through 5lbs of mash potatoes, 5lbs of potatoes salad, 24 ears of corn, four cans of green beans, three cans of collard greens, a turkey, and a ham, two loafs of sour dough bread, a large dish of reg. stuffing and half that of oyster stuffing. I do believe they all left full! Happy Thanksgiving to everybody.  

Stilll here

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't posted the last week. I guess I'm still trying to get a routine down here. We are all doing good. Starting to miss home a little more. I'm going to register the kids for school tomorrow, hopefully they will be able to get them in really soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thirteen Thursday

Ok, I just realized we've been in Korea for 13 days, and it's a Thursday, so I thought now would be a good time to copy off of Mindi and start Thirteen Thursdays.

Thirteen things I miss about home:

1. TV-- I miss dish network and my DVR. We have plenty of cable channels but with the exception of about two or three they all speak Korean. I would so love to watch Grey's Anatomy, Nip/Tuck, and Days of Our Lives.

2. Driving--I miss knowing there's a vehicle outside I can get into and drive where ever I want.

3. Wal-Mart--I would love to be able to get everything in one place. I have to go to the commissary to buy groceries then to the PX to buy everything else.

4. I miss trees and fields. There is absolutely nothing growing off the base, except cabbage.

5. I miss outside smelling good. I have heard of Korea being known as the land of a thousand smells, and oh my God is it. You can be walking down the street and smell something cooking then half a block later it may smell like there's something dead.

6. I miss my friends. I hate having to think about what time it is there before I call.

7. I miss my kids going to school. I think they may drive me crazy before the are able to get in.

8. I miss living in the country. I hate not being able to get loud in fear of someone hearing you.

9. I miss my things. Being with Brian is wonderful, but it just doesn't feel like home yet. Hopefully once our boxes start arriving with family pictures and such things will be a little more comfortable.

10. I miss my job! I miss the patients, the atmosphere, and the wonderful people I was able to work with. I will never find such a wonderful place to work again.

Ok so maybe I don't have a full thirteen, I promise to do better next week.

Around Town

Okay lets show ya'll around town a little bit. There is so much to show, but here are just a few:


Happy Teriyaki (Japannese Fast Food) This is a resturant a couple blocks from the house. I have yet to try it, but Brian loves this place.

Mama's Place! Please don't let the appearence fool you. This is probably my favorite place so far!! You can order fried shrimp, fried stuffed pepper, yakey mando (not sure of the spelling), cheese sticks, chicken on a stick (yes, Tara it really is chicken!), and a lot of other things. We can each get one order of what ever we want and the total cost is $8. To be able to feed my family for anything less than $25 is wonderful!

A little bit of home! (and I mean a little) Brian has yet to get a sandwich right. It's just nice to be able to read a sign and know what it is.

Jerseys! You can buy jersey's for any player you can think of for $20, and if you can't find who you want they will custom make you one for $30.

So that's just a little bit of the things around town. I hope to get out and about this weekend so there will be more to show soon. 

Thought I'd Share

Music Video:AMERICAN SOLDIER (by Toby Keith)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

I thought I'd share this song and video with ya'll. It has always given me goose bumps, but now has extra meaning.

Brian at work

This is a HEMTT otherwise known as a Heavy Equipment Mobility Tactical Truck. You can't see it in this picture, but Brian's name is in the drivers window.

Brian, Dalton and Cheyanne by the HEMTT
Dalton and Cheyanne sitting on a Humvee
Dalton and Cheyanne standing by a Medivac Black Hawk

This past Saturday Brian had standby, that means he works from 9am Saturday morning until 9am Sunday morning. We ventured his way to bring him and the guy he was working with lunch. I think he was proud to show is around the yard. Now we a little more about what he actually does!

Views from the rooftop

This is exactly why I won't drive even if I could! I guess I've lived in Mena way too long!
I hope ya'll weren't looking for anything too glamerous, because Anjeong-ri is definatly not that!
These are the homes of our Korean neighbors
Cabbage Patches! I don't care how small the patch of dirt is, they plant something there. This is actually the largest garden we've seen. I will show ya'll the smallest one next time.  

Our Apartment

These are pictures of our apartment. This is the view of our kitchen and living room from the back door. I love all of the natural sunlight.
The opposite view from above. The door to the right of the picture is Cheyanne's room, and the door to left is Dalton's.
Views from outside. The building is partial brick, partial stone. We live on the third floor, so the balcony you see to the left is ours.
More from the rooftop to come. 

Laundry Day

Today was laundry day! Cheyanne and I loaded up our dirty clothes, drug it down three flights of stairs, strapped it to our handy cart, and began our walk. We have to walk to the base to do our laundry, which is about a 5 minute walk mostly up hill on the way there. When we get to the base we go through the I.D. check point, then head to the laundry mat which thankfully is just across the street. After everything is washed, dryed, and folded, we load it all back up strap it down again and head home. For some strange reason the walk home seems to be up hill also! :) Then back up the stairs! The first day was sucessful, wish us luck when the weather starts to get cold! 

We're here!!

We made it!! We are actually living in Anjeong-Ri South Korea. Our trip was great, (as great as a 20 hour flight could be with two kids)! We got to the airport in Fayetville in plenty of time Friday morning, which was a good thing since when we went through security I was randeemly chosen to have an extensive search. We're talking, she patted me down and scanned everything in my bag individually. All I could do was laugh. I thought to myself, if this is how the trip is going to start, exactly how much "fun" are the next two airports goning to be. Of course not chemicals or explosives were found amoung my things so I was able to proceed. The flight was delayed due to weather, of course!! Thank goodness Jae was able to get a pass that allowed her and Cole to get through security. Leave to to her to find a way to do this with the terrorist threat at orange!!! If I never have to get on a plane as small as the one from Fayettville to Atlanta again, that's fine by me. Cheyanne was scared to death, of course so were Dalton and I, but her being only nine years old she was able to really show her feelings, and boy did she! I really thought she was going to hyperventalate before this plane took off! All she kept saying was that she wanted her Daddy! All I could tell her was that we have to do this to get to him, she did not find much comfort in that. The flight was only about 1 1/2 hours long, and by the end of it she was hooked. When the pilot said we would be landing in about 10 minutes, she informed me that I had to trade seats with her so she could watch us land, and so that we did. Dalton did well also. His seat was actually three rows ahead of us, but there was a younger man sitting across the isle from him, who talked him through it. Ok, so we get to Altanta, which was my worst fear because of the size. We were at our gate for Korean Air and checked in, in less than 15 minutes. Of course then we wait. We were slightly delayed again because of weather! Finally getting to our seats, which were all the way to the back of the plane, we settled in. Cheyanne and I on one side of the isle, and Dalton directly across. Thank goodness for the tvs on the back of each seat, they kids could watch what ever they wanted. We did our best to rest, Cheyanne was able to curl up in her seat and sleep. Dalton, not having anyone next to him or behind him as able to stretch out and get some rest. I on the other hand have never been so uncomfortable in my whole life. I may have sleeped a total of two hours the entire time. We flew over Minnisota, Canada, and Alaska, then back down over Russia to Korea. We landed in Korea and have to go through immirgration, no problem, then we had to get our luggage. At this point we knew Brian was close, but did not know how close. As I was looking around, the doors on the other side of customs opened and there he was. We waited and waited for my last bag to come around. Finally there it was! Okay now they are all loaded on a cart and we are going through customs, which was no problem since we had nothing to declare. Through the sliding doors, and we had finally made it, there was Brian! There were quick hugs and kiss all around. We now had to rush outside to catch a bus. Yes a bus!! We then rode on this bus from Soeul, to Pyongteak, then got a taxi, okay two taxis. One for us and another on for my luggage and Sgt. Key, who came with Brian. We were in this taxi about ten minutes and then we were at the apartment. Total time from the airport to home 3 HOURS!!! Sounds like fun doesn't it! Oh wait then we have to haul all this luggage and my tired body up three flights of stairs! Finally home!!!! The apartment is beautiful! 3 bedroom, 2 bath, hard wood floors, large windows, so plenty of sun light which I love! The livingroom and kitchn are on large open space, which is pretty cool. Of course we have to get our redneck kids to understand there are people living just below us. Really they are doing great. Dalton has met a few of the neighbors, and Cheyanne is pretty much stuck at Brian's side. Right now it is Tuesday morning about 7am here, that means about 5pm yall's time. I'd call but the phone we got does not work so we will buy another one today so ya'll expect calls to start soon. There is still so much more to tell, and pictures will be coming soon also.

Friends!!!!!!!

Jae and the boys, Morgan,
Brady and Cole


Kelly, Kris, Karson, Shelby
Dalton and Cheyanne


Lawana and sweet baby Joslyn


Cheyanne and Walker


I want to use this entry to thank all of our friends! You all have been a great source of comfort, joy, happiness, and fun times. We appreciate the support you have given us through all of this. I look forward to sharing this adventure with you. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, because every one of you will be in ours. These pictures are just a few of our friends we owe so much to. Thank you, Lawana, Jae, Tara, Kelly, Kris, Karson, Shelby, Mrs. Sandy and Mr. Jimmy, Will, Carrie, Amy and Soloman. All you who have been part of our lives the past 12 years, you will be greatly missed!

**"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes is certain for those who are friends."
--Richard Bach

**"Can miles truely seperate us from friends? If we want to be with someone we love, aren't we already there?"
--Richard Bach

**"If there were no change, there'd be no butterflies!"

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

we got are passports today!! we are one step closer to daddy. as you can see from the smile on my face i am very excited!!!! the one the only gramps is here this weekend!!! what a great suprise. wahoo!!!!!
cheyanne 

Yard Sale!!!!!

We had a yard sale this past weekend! It was absolutely crazy! I think we had like 6 or 7 different families things there, and only three of us working it. At times we actually had lines of people waiting to pay. We did pretty good i think. So as of now the only furnature we have in the house is my bedroom set and a full size mattress on the livingroom floor for the kids to sleep on! It really makes us realize how quickly we are leaving. Only 18 days left.

We're getting closer!!

Well, we are going to try for passports today, wish us luck! :) Today being the 4th of October means if everything works out the way we're trying for, we will be getting on the plane in only 23 days. Every time I think about how close we are getting, my stomach does a couple of flips. Today is also the day my replacement starts work. I really think it's going to be very strange having the person who is going to take my place actually in the office. Of course no one can actually ever REPLACE me!!!! HA!HA!

Baby Steps!

We went last Friday to the Air Force Base in North Little Rock to get our immunizations for our move. The whole trip was pretty eventless which is alway good. Just when I thought I was beginning to get somewhere on my list of things that need to be done, I quickly found out things are not going to go smoothly on my end of this move. If you know anything about my past, you are probably wondering why I even thought things would be easy!! :) Did anyone else not know that you must have both parents present to apply for your kids passports??? If not both parents then written noterized concent from the absent parent. I wish I would have known this a little bet sooner. Brian is in the process of sending be the paper work I need, but I'm afraid this is going to delay our time frame for the move. It feels for every step I take forward, I take two back. I'm learning baby steps....thats all I can do!!!!! 

Our Family

This picture was taken just before Brian left for Korea!

Well here we go! Our family is about to start our biggest adventure ever!( ok so maybe it's our only adventure!! :) ) Of course my part of it began a couple of weeks ago when we found out everything was a go. My notebook now has stickies attatched everywhere. Even my notes have notes!!!!!! ;) We are starting this blog to keep all of our friends up on how things are going. I hope ya'll enjoy.

Tonya