Tomorrow...

Hello Everyone!!!

Well, we decided to celebrate our American anniversary today, since for you all today is July 22.  And we finally went to a Korean Restaurant.  Bulgogi Brothers, they call it a Korean barbecue place.  Don't get excited...barbecue in Korea is totally different from barbecue in America.  Totally different!!!  

Once again, we woke up super early.  I was able to go back to sleep for just a little bit while Aaron watched movies.  We decided to eat the Korean food for lunch.  This restaurant is right down the street from our hotel.  It was very interesting.  Of course the language barrier does not help when ordering.  We picked something simple, that we thought we could both eat but they told us it takes to long so we had to pick something else.  We didn't know what to do.  The waitress suggested something and honestly I had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.  So they start by bringing us all these very weird things that did not look like anything someone should eat.  Aaron tried almost everything and I tried to try most of it.  We weren't sure if these things were the main meal, we were really clueless the whole time.  Then they bring out some raw meat with some onions and potatoes.  So we found out that Korean barbecue is where you cook the meat yourself...at your table.  It was crazy.  So we ate some bulgogi.  I was very proud of us for trying it.  Aaron of course ate a lot more then me.  I could eat it again if I had to.  :)

Our first course of some sort of corn with those pea things and potatoes. 

I ate the potatoes and the pea things.  

Aaron is showing off his mad chopstick skills.  

I, on the other hand, had to pretty much eat with my fingers.  

Here is where the crazy food begins.  We had no idea what most of this was.  Some onions in there and some jalapenos.   Couldn't do it!!!   

And there was more!!!  I tried a few of these things.  I was so thankful I asked for a coke to try and wash them down.  We weren't sure what any of this was.  We're a little stupid when it comes to Korean food.

This is the bulgogi being cooked in the middle of our table.  Pretty cool.  I ate some of that.  

This is our hotel.  

This picture doesn't even come close to showing you how big Seoul is.  It is massive with over 10 million people.  

After lunch, we desperately needed something sweet and good.  Aaron got some mint chocolate chip from Baskin Robins and I got some yummy pretzel from Auntie Anne's.  Love that place!!!

We also stopped by Eastern today and ran into several couples that were meeting there babies for the first time.  It was great to talk to another American, well besides Aaron.  We also went to the nursery at Eastern.  This is where the babies stay until they are placed in a foster home.  I was overwhelmed with emotion.  There were babies everywhere.  Some of the cribs had 3 babies in the crib.  It was heartbreaking.  Our prayer is that each of those babies finds a caring forever family.  

In just a few more hours we will be meeting Pryce.  I'm so nervous!!!  Please pray that is goes well!

Our Anniversary in Korea

Hello Everyone!!!

We got to celebrate our anniversary in Korea.  And I guess we could celebrate again tomorrow since in America it's the 22nd.  Yes, two anniversaries!!!  

I think I'm going to nickname Korean "the land of sweat".  I cannot believe how humid it is.  I literally pour sweat all day.  And I think part we are still on Oklahoma time.  We keep waking up around 4 am.  Or I guess we could just still be on Jett time.  :)  We started our big day with a trip to one of the many Dunkin Donuts.  The donuts were definitely different but still donuts.  And they had milk.  It was awesome.  We both love milk and haven't had in any in a few days.  The milk was the best part of the breakfast.  Then, we met up with our tour guide for the day, Joann, she is Aaron's sales reps' daughter.  She was awesome and showed us all sorts of stuff.  We went to several markets and malls, rode in our first taxi and saw lots of crazy things.  It was a great day.  Of course I was exhausted by the afternoon and ready for a nap.  We were going to have Joann take us to eat some Korean food but once we saw the menu we started looking for an American place to eat.  We decided on Outback Steakhouse for lunch, and Aaron and I were going to hit up a Korean restaurant close to our hotel for dinner.  We didn't quite make it to the Korean restaurant for dinner because we feel asleep in our hotel room at 5:30.    So that was our big anniversary.  Maybe our second anniversary tomorrow will be even more adventurous.  

Seoul Tower

This is as close as we got.  It is way up there and apparently even more humid.  I said "no" immediately to climbing that mountain.  

This is Joann, our tour guide for the day.  She was so nice and tried to teach us some Korean.  This is a really tough language to learn.  

A woman in the market making Korean crackers.  

The happy couple on our Anniversary.  

We are just one day away from meeting Pryce.  I can't believe it.  I'm get a little more excited and nervous each day.  

A Day of Exploring

Hello Everyone!!!

Today was the day of walking.  We walked all over the place and are exhausted.  Plus, it is sooo humid here.  I think the temperature would be great except for the humidity.  We were sweating like crazy.  Although, I hear you Oklahoman's are doing some sweating of your own with 100+ degree weather.  We feel for you.  

We started our morning by walking down to Eastern Social Welfare Services.  We wanted to see where we would be going on Tuesday.  It's about a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  Ours was a little bit longer since we couldn't find it.  Thankfully the Korean people are more than willing to help you out.  However, there is a huge language barrier.  HUGE!  Also, on our walk back from Eastern, we saw a Navigator's sign on a door.  Being the adventurous people we are, we went in to check it out.  I guess the staff were having their weekly meeting and so we got to talk to them about being in the Navigator's in college.  They were very nice and gave us some juice of some sort.  We walked around for a while, going into a shop or two to check stuff out.  Then it was lunch time.  We have only eaten American food since being here.  I'm scared to try Korean food but we are supposed to go eat Korean with Aaron's sales rep tomorrow.  We have eaten Papa Johns' Pizza, TGI Friday's and Pizza Hut.  I'm so glad they have American food.  After lunch we went on the subway for the first time.  It was a little confusing at first but with some help from a nice Korean man, we finally figured it out.  We went to the biggest book store I've ever seen and the busiest.  There were books and people everywhere.  The book store was a bit overwhelming.  In the children's section, you couldn't even walk because of all the people.  We exited there and went to a Palace.  And after all that I was so hot and exhausted that I just needed to come back to the hotel to rest and cool down.  It was an adventurous day for us.  We will see what tomorrow holds for us.  Just 2 more days to meet our little Pryce.  Oh my goodness.  Thanks for the prayers!  Keep them coming!!!

View from our 9th floor room.

This was the nice man that helped us get to Eastern.  

Eastern Social Welfare Services

Can't believe we will be there Tuesday meeting Pryce!!!

The Navigators

The Gyeongbokgung Palace

One of the guards at the palace.

We are wearing our Oklahoma shirts today and there were some American's at the palace that noticed our shirts.  They knew the OKC Thunder and the OSU Cowboys.  It was nice to hear some familiar words.  

The Flight

Hello Everyone from Korea!  

It is 6:20 Saturday morning in Seoul.  We had a very long trip getting here but thankfully it was not too bad.  We left Oklahoma Thursday morning and got here Friday afternoon.  The first flight was good but the second flight was amazing.  Honestly, I didn't really want to get off the plane.  Well, except for the fact that we are going to get our son!!!!!  It was wonderful, like a mini vacation.  We flew on a 747 which I know nothing about, but Aaron was soooo excited about.  Apparently, the 747 is a double decker, and we got to sit on the upper deck.  It was great.  There were only a few people up there with us so we had plenty of room to walk around. We each had our own TV with tons of movies and TV shows to watch.  Our seats would lay all the way down.  It was awesome!!!  We were able to sleep a little.  Of course Aaron didn't get much sleep because he was watching movies.  And we had great food.  After dinner, we had ice cream sundays.  AAAAHHHHH!!!!  

We don't get to meet Pryce until Tuesday (which would be Monday for you all).  We are very excited but honestly I'm a little nervous.  I'm just not sure what to expect, and I'm so afraid he is going to hate us.  Please pray for everyone...Pryce, his foster family, and us.  This transition is going to be difficult for everyone, and we are hopeful that Pryce will attach to us quickly and feel comfortable with us.  We will have a couple of days to win him over before we get on the airplane for the long trip home.  Pray, pray, pray please!!!!

Tomorrow, we are meeting up with one of Aaron's Sales Reps.  His family just happens to be Korean and in Korea right now.  I'm not sure what we are doing yet but I'm sure it will be an adventure.  I'll take lots of pictures to blog about later.  

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support!  We could not have made this journey without you!!!!

These are the 747's lined up ready to go.  They are huge!!!

This is our plane that we flew on for 11 hours.  

Aaron giving the "peace" sign.  Notice all the room we have.  Thank you Aaron for being so smart and saving all our airline points for many, many years.

Here we are.  This is before the 11 hours on the plane.  It was great!  

It has been a wonderful experience so far.  Of course, we are such homebodies that we miss home but are excited for the adventure.  

See you all soon!

Spring has Sprung

So I know it's not officially Spring but it certainly feels like it here.  We have been playing outside all week.  Jett has discovered the art of picking flowers, really they are weeds but he doesn't know that.  Not sure what they are called, but they are those little purple flowers.  I remember when I was little, those flowers covered my Granny Bond's yard.  I would go and pick handfuls of them to give her.  She always acted so pleased with my presentation of weeds.  

And of course the bouncy house.  All we hear is, "I want bounce bounce."  And so the bouncing begins!

  

I love this picture of his hair.  What a mane this kid has?!?!

I think most of you have probably heard the latest on Pryce, but in case you haven't here it is.  Our paper work was not submitted in this first batch to the Korean government.  So we are still just waiting.  Our adoption agency is saying we will probably get to travel to Korea at the end of July.  It's been so frustrating and hopeless at times but it has been a time to really rely on God and His timing.  Hopefully soon that adorable little Korean will be joining his family!!!

New Pics

Hello Everyone!!!!  

Here are some new pictures of the adorable and growing Pryce.  He is starting to look like a little boy and not so much a baby.  I am so sad that we are missing out on his life but hopefully soon he will be home with us.  By the way, please pray for us.  The adoption agency in Korea will be submitting some paperwork soon and we are hoping and praying ours is included.  This would be a HUGE step for us.  

 ADORABLE!!!!!!

Pryce's Room

I know...I'm updating my blog again.  Can you believe it????  

So this is Pryce's Room.  I took pictures from day to day while we were getting it ready.  And I had to brag a bit on the stuff that I made for him.  

Day 1:  What a mess!!!!!!

Day 2:  Still a mess!!!!

Day 3:  Much better with a lot of help from Aaron.

  

 I made him a rugby stripe duvet cover for his bed and curtains to match.  

Day 4:  Ready for that sweet boy to be home in his room.  

Okay, are you impressed?????  hahahaha

Keep praying.  We have a home study on Saturday (our second one because it has taken so long to get him that we have to update it).  We are still hopeful that we will travel in April even though we have heard of more delays in the process.