our lil' helper

This guy...

...has learned how to crawl into boxes and things...

 ...which means he has been quite the lil' helper as we have cleaned out our drawers. 

This boy loves a good obstacle to climb through or in.  He put himself in these spots all on his own.  It's pretty funny!

garage sales

One fun fact about my charming husband is that he loves garage sales.  Loves them.  Now don't get me wrong, I like a good sale from time to time but Tom has a much deeper appreciation (and really perseverance) for garage sales than most. 

We're both excited to head home this summer and check out what kind of deals we can snag at sales in KC, but before we head back to the States I got to see Tom in his garage sale glory...in his classroom. 

We've been trying to clear out our apartment in preparation for our move and Tom has done such a great job of taking the lead in getting us ready to go.  I knew Tom was taking this stuff to school to "get rid of it" but I had no idea he would set up a mini-classroom sale at school.  Love it.  My husband rocks.

pics

We got our family pictures back from our photographer, Heather Meinen.  They turned out great! We're right in the midst of finalizing grades and moving (the movers come TODAY!) so I'll just post one pic as a teaser.  Hopefully we can catch our breath and post some of the other highlights soon.

moving

On June 5th we will be moving across the world.  We'll leave our Korean lives and relocate to Kansas City, MO.  We actually won't return to KC until June 9th because we have a long layover in Honolulu.  We've been asked a lot about HOW we're actually going to move so here's a few answers to commonly asked questions.

Q: What will you do with all your stuff?
A: For the past few weeks we have been purging our apartment.  Our apartment came furnished by the school, so a lot of our big things (couch, TV, kitchen appliances) are owned by the school and will stay in the apartment.  Anything that needs a power cord that we bought here we have resold to our community (the voltage is not the same in Korea and the US).  Ultimately, we're bringing back a new piece of furniture, clothes, and Everett's stuff.   We do have a storage unit back in the States, but we're not sure how beat up our stuff will be after four years in a metal shed.  In a lot of ways we'll be arriving in the States with a blank slate.


Q: How will your stuff get to KC?
A: We will be taking our summer clothes with us in suitcases for our flights but the rest of our stuff will be taken in a shipping container.  A shipping company in Korea will come to our apartment and box up all the stuff we want to take.  Our stuff then goes on a truck down to the tip of Korea in Busan and from there it boards a ship.  Next, our junks sails across the Pacific until it lands in California.  From Long Beach, CA, it will go on a truck and drive to wherever we are living in KC.  The whole process will take 30-45 days. This will cost about $2,500USD (which the school will pay most of) and the company insures all of our belongings.

Q: What will you do when you get to KC?
A: We will stay with Bonnie's parents until we buy a house.  We will also need to buy cars, cell phones, laptops, insurance...basically anything you would need to start your life from scratch.  If you have any connections or deals on anything like that let us know!

Q: Will Bonnie be working?
A: To be determined.

family photos

We had some family photos taken today.  It was super fun and our photographer was great. Here is a sneak peak of the pics: Meyer Family Pics

Thanks Heather Meinen!  We love your work.

10 Months

Everett is 10 months old and is learning new things every day.   Just yesterday we realized that he could walk while holding something.  Incredible.

kiva

For my birthday this year Tom got me a really cool gift--a gift certificate to Kiva.  Kiva is a microfinance organization that is fighting to end poverty.  Check out this video to see how it works:

With the gift Tom gave me we were able to loan money to four different women around the world--two in Mongolia and two in Bolivia.  The cool thing about Kiva is that it's not just a handout, it's a loan.  That means in 12-14 months the loans we gave will be repaid and we can loan to other people around the world.  It also means that people in developing nations have a chance to get the help they need to "create better lives for themselves and their families."

Here are some cool statistics about Kiva:
It was founded in 2005 and since then there have been....

• 765,861 lenders
• $312 million in loans
• 98.94% repayment rate

98.94% repayment rate?! That's incredible.  It is evident that this organization is successfully empowering people around the globe.  

Korea ROcKs--Part 9

In America if you want a special ice cream treat you need to get in your car, drive a ways, buy your ice cream treat, and then head home.  This isn't a big deal but on a lazy night I'll mostly likely bypass going through the hassel of driving around for a 20-30 minute roundtrip experience.  In Korea it is dangerously easy to get a special treat.  Walk out our apartment door, go down the elevator, and then walk right into the "Acro Mart." That's right, we have a little convenience store in our apartment building.   These types of stores, called a"kagae," are everywhere in Korea AND they all have a wide variety of ice cream treats.  On nice summer days they even put plastic chairs out so you can enjoy your beverage or treat outside. 

This is one of our favorite ice cream snacks--the bag shake. 

It's a milkshake in a bag (a bag shake).  You just squeeze it in your hands until it softens and then you can use the top like a straw.  In the winter time we would throw them on our hardwood floors because we have floor heating and it would soften it right up.

I will miss having ice cream so easily accessible, but it is probably better for our health that there will be more distance between us and these special treats in the future.

translation fail

"Love is the most important thing in life. 

Even it loved horse can stop, love can stop." 

Korea ROcKs--Part 8

Korean person (usually a child): Hello! How are you?
Me: Fine. How are you?
Korean: Good. Thank you. Where are you from?
Me: America
Korean: Ahhh.... (giggle)

This is the conversation we have had a million times while living in Korea.  Seems normal enough, right? Except it's the exact same conversation over and over.  Why would it be the same conversation all the time, you may be asking?  Because it's the textbook conversation Koreans learn at their hagwon (English tutoring center).  Although foreigners are somewhat common there are not a many of us, so when they spot a waegukin (foreigner) they use us like target practice for their English skills.  Over time we have learned that they don't really know what to say to us outside of they script you see above, so occasionally we respond with random phrases and words just to throw them off.

Korean: Where are you from?
Tom: Suwon (The city we live in here in Korea--we have lived here for 4 years. It is our current home)
Korean: (Stands silent with a confused look.  In their head they are thinking, how can this be???! A foreigner FROM Suwon? Hm...that's not what I learned at my hagwon.)

Then occasionally you get an even more bold Korean that targets you for a class assignment.  Like this guy:

This guy suckered us into being recorded having a conversation with him for five minutes for a college course he was taking.  We were just trying to enjoy a nice beverage in Starbucks and then BAM...here comes this guy out of no where ready to nail us.  (To his credit, stalking foreigners in a Starbucks was probably a good call.)

However, my favorite memory had to be while I was nursing Everett in the airport a small class of 5 or 6 first graders all stood in front of me while their teacher asked if I could help them practice some vocabulary.  Really teacher??? You want me to help them while I'm nursing my son???

Although from time to time I have gotten a bit annoyed with the, "HELLO! How are you?" conversation, I have really loved getting to be a part of this culture.  In general, Koreans have been so welcoming and kind to us.  I think there is a small (very small) part of me that will miss being starred down, pointed at, and targeted for language practice while I'm out and about.

the mud house

One of the big reasons we chose to go to Daecheon Beach a while back was because of the Mud House.  In Korea every town has numerous public bath houses (referred to as "saunas" or the "jimjilbong").  You leave your clothes in a locker and get to soak in various tubs in the body God gave you.  What sets the Mud House a part from a regular jimjilbong is that they have a mud station where you can paint mud over your body (see the statues below for examples) and they have a mud hot tub.  The mud is suppose to be great for your skin.  

I think these statues are so funny!

As you can see below, the Mud House also has their own line of beauty products that are made from mud.  I bought the body wash and I'm not going to lie, it's top notch.  Don't worry--it smells good.  

As you can see from the pictures this community knows how to celebrate mud.  A lot of their artwork is designed with the "mud theme" because once a year they have a HUGE mud festival.  We've never been because it always happens during summer break but we hear that it is incredible.

We only spent one night in Daecheon and E woke up at 4:45 am so he had an early morning nap while we strolled around (as you can see below) and waited for the Mud House to open.

Everett also got to experience the awesomeness that is the Mud House.  People of any age are welcome at jimjilbongs, so Everett got to go in with Tom.  Tom said Everett had a lot of fun and his favorite part was the shower because he kept trying to catch the water.  You aren't allowed to wear clothes at the jimjilbong, so we were a bit worried about E having an "accident" while in there.  Aside from peeing on his daddy, E did a great job!

Everett on the mend

Over the past 24 hours Everett has shown some good progress.  He was fever free all day today and that means that he will probably head back to daycare tomorrow.  He still has a cough but that is getting better too.  His breathing still seems like it needs to shape up a bit more but the doctor said that could take a few days.  Thanks so much for your prayers and comments.  It was a long week here but God is good.  It is amazing the difference 24 hours can make.

E was a little tuckered out after all the running around to doctors appointments yesterday:

rudolph and the elephant.

Bubs loves chewing on anything and everything.  Everything he touches goes straight to his mouth.  And sometimes that leads to a humorous outcome.  Case and point:

With a simple toy to the mouth our baby is transformed into Rudolph (the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and an elephant.

E Update

As Tom mentioned earlier, Everett has been fighting a round of sickness for the past week.  There has been a lot of sickness spreading around our school and especially at E's daycare.   About seven days ago Everett started to have a wet, congesty-cough.  The next morning he woke up with a fever.   He's been fighting a low fever (100-101.6 F in the bum) for six days now.  After three days of the fever and cough we decided to take him to a local clinic to make sure his lungs were clear.  The doctor said he sounded okay and was battling a cold.

Three days later nothing had changed and in fact his breathing started to sound worse.  Today we took him back to the local clinic and the doctor still said he sounded okay and to come back again in three days if he wasn't better.  This didn't sit right with us so we decided to seek out a second opinion.  We called the big dog hospital, Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, to see if we could get an appointment at the international clinic.  The Lord was totally in this because not only could they get us in right away we got to meet with Everett's doctor who is an incredibly talented and BUSY doctor.  She's been trained in the States and has licenses in both America and Korea to practice medicine.  She is actually a pediatric neurologist but takes rotations in the international clinic because of her great English abilities.

She listened to his lungs and heard wheezing.  Sigh.  This was not the news we wanted.  She instantly put him on a nebulizer and he sounded better after that so she has prescribed a drug that will help keep his airways open.  Hopefully this will help clear things up.

Our doctor did not say that Everett has asthma but she did think he had asthma like symptoms that we need to monitor over time.  This asthmatic or asthmatic-like episode could be from a virus he is fighting or allergies (which there are a lot of allergins in Korea--learn more about Yellow Dust here).

As of now the doctor said the wheezing is not serious but if it and the fever do not clear up in a few days we'll go back to SMC for more testing.

Please pray for our little man!  We believe that we have an awesome, powerful God that loves to answer our prayers.  So if you can, please join with us as we fight for our little guy to return to full health soon.  Please also pray for Tom and I.  We're really worn down between work and taking care of our bubs.  Also as you pray, join us as we praise God for how much he provides for us and loves us.  Seriously, our God is good.

Our boy...

did this all on his own:

Even when sick Everett finds new and interesting situations to put himself in.  He is now on day 6 of running a low fever (100 to 102 in the bum) off and on and having a rough mucus cough.  We are headed back to the doctor today.  He has bouts where he will be fever free (medicated) for up to 8 to 10 hours and then it will just flair back up again.  Please pray that Everett gets healed from this bug ASAP.  Thanks!

mommy time

This year has been baby-mania at our school.  Everett and the three babies on the left were all born this school year!  (You'll notice E and I are missing from this pic. Everett was napping and I was the photographer.) 

It's been a lot of fun to have other friends in this community that are doing the mommy thing so we can help support one another. Just recently we've started to get together about once a week to eat Indian food and spend time together.  I'm sad that we got these play dates going just in time for the end of the school year, but better late than never! 

Below are babies Elliana, Ethan, Freyja, and Emily--we apparently love the "E" names in this community. 

Happy Mother's Day

I'm just going to come out and say it...My mom is awesome.   

Here's a nice flashback pic from before I officially became a mom: 

From my mom I've learned how to:

• make family a priority 
• give generously (Mom, you are the most giving person I know.  E's dresser and toy chest are just a small testament to this!)
• let your husband lead while also being his equal 
• sacrificially care for others 
• stand firm in the midst of hardship
• make a mess in the kitchen
• have a great meal with those you love
• pray diligently  

Seriously, the list could go on.

Mom,
I know that when I was little I could be annoying at times.  I would have a tantrum and cry in my room while looking in my mirror so people would have pity on me.  I was the queen of back talk.   I was selfish and thought the world revolved around me, especially as a teenager.  And now that I'm a new mom I have a whole new respect for what you have done for me.  I'm so blessed to have you and so proud that you are my mom.
Thanks for loving us so well.
Bonnie, Tom, and Everett

Bonnie's first Mother's Day

Happy first Mother’s Day to my awesome wife Bonnie!  You are a fantastic mother to Everett.  It has been awesome watching you grow as a mother over the last 9 and a half months.  I can only imagine how much more awesome you will become as the years continue to pass.  I love you and hope you have a special day! (and of course Everett loves you too, he just hasn’t figured out how to tell you yet.)

Korea ROcKs--Part 7

This picture was taken by our friend, Joe, while we were at the beach last weekend.  I feel like the picture expresses something about Korea that words can't quite articulate.

Daecheon Beach

This past weekend we headed out to a beach on the west coast of Korea called Daecheon Beach.  We were only there for Friday night and Saturday but it was such a welcome break from city life.  While there our good friend Joe snapped a bunch of pics of our little family and our friends, the Ward's.