From Thanksgiving to Christmas Decorating

Welcome back, everyone!  I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families.  Dave, the kids, and I enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving at home relaxing.  Dave's co-worker, Jeff O'Loughlin, joined us for a catered meal.  YES!  I said catered.  My wonderful husband ordered the meal so that I would not have to stress with cooking since we have been so busy recently.  So I had one more thing to be grateful for on Thursday. ☺☺☺ Although Dave had to work the night before, he and Jeff spent A LOT of time outside playing tag with the kiddos.  And then, we all sat around and watched a little TV!  Couldn't have been a better day.....except if I had been in GEORGIA!

let's eat.....

so we can play some tag

glad Jeff was there to play, so I just watched ☺

in a stand off with ......

Mitchell!

she thought she would be safe up here

he got his prisoner anyway!

in jail

please, don't go Daddy

LOVE his smile!

she always has to be in the picture

some Korean girls just "hanging out"

onward, Mr. Jeff, onward!

can't have Thanksgiving without a wishbone

or without Joey's head stuck in a turkey ☺

The Best BLESSINGS are FAMILY!

On Friday, we were ready to get in the Christmas spirit.  After a quick trip to the PX for some lights and a photo with Santa, we got started decorating the apartment.  I am happy to say that although we may not have a huge tree this year, our decorations bring out the spirit in us.  We had such a good time listening to Christmas music and putting up all of the stuff.  Everything was going well until Dave got terribly sick Friday afternoon and we ended up at the after-hours medical clinic on post until midnight.  I am so grateful to our good friends, Choi and Ron, who came to the rescue to watch the kids.

they SOOO did not want to do this pic

Daiso has Christmas stuff.....YAY!

as you can see he felt just fine early in the day

it wouldn't be Christmas without ROCK music right?!?!?!

it hit him so fast and hard....this was about 9:30pm

when we got home at 12:30

I HAVE to take pictures of my sleeping angels

Of course, we stayed home on Saturday.  Dave slept most of the day and the kids played.  I went to an origami class, where I learned how to make a Hanbok and stars.  It was fun even though it was me and a bunch of little Korean girls learning.

the LOVE of Legos has brought them together

making the Hanbok

isn't she precious!

half of my star

so CUTE!

proud of myself for making these...now I have ornaments for the tree

And that brings us to Sunday.  We were able to skype with my Dad, my Granddaddy, and Jan.  We also finished decorating since Dave was feeling a little better.  So I hope you enjoy our Christmas presentation to you.

so grateful for SKYPE

Our Christmas Decorations

And that my friends was our week.  I'll be back again next week, as always.  Until then....

Annyeonghi geyseyo

From Korean Fishes to Friendship

This week's blog post picks up where last week's left off.  If you recall, we were in Seoul on Sunday visiting the Seoul Lantern Festival.  So, on Monday morning, we wanted to find something to do since it was Veteran's Day and Dave, of course, had the day off.

The first thing we thought to do was to visit the Korean War Museum, BUT they were closed.  Instead, we decided to take the kids to the COEX mall, which according to the travel guide, is the largest underground shopping mall in Asia.  It is not only a shopping mall with more than 250 stores, but it also has a cineplex, an aquarium, a kimchi museum, and a casino.  The mall is located in the Gangnam area of Seoul, which is the inspiration for "Gangnam Style" by PSY.  I posted a link to that video in "From Hanji to Hell in a Handbasket" a few weeks ago.

Anyhoo.... here are the pics from Monday.  We ended up spending most of our time at the aquarium, but had to get past a few obstacles first!

not the WHICH WICH I'm used to

the names of places always make me giggle

Darci headed straight for the accessory store

notice the kids running like their lives depended on it

I thought we might need a stick of dynamite to get them out of here

playing a 3D game

loving the look, babe

we didn't have $23,000 to take it home with us

a dual play video game.... same screen, but each player sees something different

finally made it

not another picture, MOM!

One of the most "Korean" things about the aquarium would have to be the tanks made out of just about anything, you know, the ones where you just scratch your head and wonder why......

a extinguisher inside an aquarium extinguisher 

why not have an aquarium in the fridge underneath

your fish sticks!

the headboard idea is kind of cool

an aquarium (although, fake) inside an aquarium

a mailbox (I think) with plastic Spiderman toys makes the

perfect atmosphere for the fish

and drum roll PLEASE.......

  

easy disposal when the fish dies!  Not to mention that the squirrel

now has somewhere to pee

these fish would follow you moved around

see they followed me to the other side

love this one!

African manatee

he absolutely LOVES animals and I LOVE that about him

he was beautiful

like father, like son ☺

she was so EXCITED because she loves JAWS

just had to force the kids to do the LOVE check

because an aquarium wouldn't be an aquarium without a love check machine

The next few days went by really fast.  Between school and getting prepared for the Girl Scout Thanksgiving Celebration on Saturday, I was one pooped lady.  I am so grateful to Dave for helping me make the place cards for the tables and for cooking dinner and entertaining ALL of  the children on Friday while I finished the cornucopias.  I couldn't have done it all without him.

didn't know I had 5 kids did ya?

(glad the Golicz kids got to hang out for the night)

Mitchell was giving Anthony a chess lesson

Friday Night FUN!!!! 

the finished products

On Saturday, Darci and I headed over to Camp Casey for the Girl Scout Thanksgiving Celebration with the Korean Girl Scouts.  It was a wonderful opportunity for both groups to learn and share about their Thanksgiving traditions.

My friend, Aubrey and I, with the Daisies and Brownies

waiting for the program to start

the color guard

the Girl Scout Promise in English and Korean

the Juniors and Cadets performed a skit about the first Thanksgiving

the Korean Girls taught us about Chuseok, their Thanksgiving

too cute

the Juniors and Cadets served our guests

I think they were a little unsure of the food

my little pilgrim ☺

arts and crafts

can't leave without a group photo

my friends, Christine and Nancy

my friend, June

meanwhile, in the lobby......

You would think that would be enough Thanksgiving for one weekend, but no!  On Sunday, Dave, the kids, and I went to our community Thanksgiving dinner at Humanville.  There was a TON of food (some of it courtesy of the Girl Scout meal on Saturday), lots of friends and great conversations!  It was really nice to get to know everyone.  And the kids loved being able to run around with their friends.

Darci and Abby

Dave and Ron

Dan and Tammy

goodness, look at the food

Tammy, Abby, Ava, and Darci

So that wraps up the events of the week. One thing is for sure..... WE ARE BLESSED with so many wonderful opportunities and friends!  Thank you for reading.  Thank you for caring about us.  Thank you for being you!  I pray you have a Blessed Thanksgiving on Thursday.  Until next week....

Anneyonghi geyseyo!