Dr. Rob

When we moved to Seoul, we were fortunate to have many good friends. Rob Fowers is a friend and member of our Branch. He and his wife Danielle have 7 wonderful kids. He happens to also be an OBGYN at the hospital here and was able to help deliver Lucy when she was born. The Fowers are going to be moving to Missouri soon so we wanted to get a picture with Rob before they went.



We love the Fowers and wish them luck. They're going to need it-- they're moving their big family into a 3 bedroom cabin. With 7 kids, two piano's, a gerbil and a parakeet, it's going to be one cramped house.... OK, so there is no gerbil and parakeet. But don't you think it was a nice touch?

The Window Washer

Next time you think your job is bad, just think what it would be like to be a window washer. Imagine dangling from a rope sometimes 20+ stories above the air with nothing but a hose and a squee-gee for company. Also imagine wearing black waders and a plastic hat when it's 85 degrees outside. I can feel the heat just thinking about it!! But I must say that I am grateful for the window washer. Since he came the sun shines brighter and my view is more clear. Thank you window washer guy.

The View

We recently discovered that it's fun to go up to our roof an look out at the city scape. Seoul is a huge city that goes for miles and miles in every direction. We thought you might enjoy these pictures of a beautiful sunset and the skyline.

Ode to Book Club and Good Bye Kelly

In our branch we have established a book club. We just get together once a month to discuss a book we've all read. It's a great time. We read a lot of Newberry award winners which is fun for me because there are so many I have not read. This last month was my turn to choose the book. I chose to do Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It's a book I've never read, but have always wanted to. The book took place in Denmark during WWII. One of the little girls in the book talks about how much she wishes they could have cupcakes with pink frosting so for the treat that night I made cake with pink frosting.



(Left to right: Karen Ratta, Laura Hubbard, Me and Tiffany Witt) The cake says "We'll miss you Kelly" because our fearless Book Club leader Kelly is moving to Iowa.... or maybe it was Ohio... It's one of those Midwestern states.



Kelly and I were pregnant at the same time and had our babies a week apart. She is great friend and I already miss her very much. Before she left a bunch of us got together and had a little goodbye lunch for her.



(top left: Tiffany Witt, Kelly Tagg, Melissa Bamfo, bottom left: Jennie Mathison, Kathryn Tripp) And just for kicks, here's a picture of Tiffany with her gorgeous salad! Doesn't that just make you hungry?!?

All Rolled Up

Lucy is a roll-a-holic. If you put her on the floor she just rolls everywhere! From one end of the room to the other! I used to be able to put her on the bed while was getting dressed or putting away clothes, but last week she rolled off the bed so we can't do that anymore. She has also discovered its fun to roll herself up in her blanket. Its so cute!

The "IV" Tree

Whenever I walk from my apartment to the military base, I pass a certain tree. One day I was walking home and noticed an IV hanging on the tree. At first I thought, "some runaway hospital patient has ditched his IV and left it on this tree!" I laughed to myself and walked home. The next day on my way home, I noticed there wasn't just one, but two IVs on the tree! It struck me as funny so I took a picture of it. As time progressed I noticed that the tree seemed to be dying compared to those around it. I guess in Korea if your tree is dying, you give it an IV or two. Life support for trees.... hmm.

Ghana and Korea's 30th Anniversary

Our friend Jeffery was sent by the Ghana Board of Tourism to study tourism here in Korea. Since I have not been to Ghana yet, he has been so kind go bring us some DVDs on Tourist attractions in Ghana. It looks like such a wonderful place and I can't wait to go there. On June 16Th he invited us to a presentation by a group of dancers from Ghana which is part of a celebration commemorating 30 years of diplomatic ties between Ghana and Korea.



In this picture you can see Fred, Lucy and I on the right and Jeffery on the left. I guess this goes to show that even though you may be far away, you can always find a piece of home if you look hard enough.

Our Piano!!!

After much convincing, I was able to coheres Fred into buying me a piano. (He knows how to make his wife happy) We looked for about 3 hours one day and finally found one we liked for the right price. Thanks to Fred's expert bargaining skills and Lucy's cute face, we were able to get them down a quite a bit on the price! The people we bought it from made it easy.



The price included a piano bench, delivery and set up (which included a tuning). They even threw in a frilly piano and bench cover. I don't know if I'll ever use it, but it was sure nice of them.



Here's a picture of Lucy and our favorite realtor, Sara Yee. She has been so good to us! We don't' know what we'd do with out her. She has made our stay in Korea so nice. Thank you Sara!!

Insa Dong and McDonalds

In Seoul they seem to group like stores together into one big market. If you want fabric, you go to the fabric market where hundreds of vendors meet to sell their stuff. If you want flowers, it's the same. And so it is with musical instruments. Insa Dong is what some would call the "music district". If you're looking for an instrument, any instrument, you'll find it there. Today Lucy and I took our good friends Tiffany and Sammy and her son Mateo to the music market. There are stores all over the area, but we just went to one building where there are floors and floors of music stores. Everything from drums and violins, to keyboards and hand bells. They have EVERYTHING.



Here's a picture of Sammy, Mateo, Tiffany, Me and Lucy in front of the Music market. After an hour or so of piano shopping, we decided to stop at McDonald's for some lunch.



McDonald's may be everywhere, but it's not the same everywhere. Instead of getting the "BIG MAC", I decided to try the shrimp burger.



It was actually pretty good! Here's a cute picture of Mateo at McDonald's.



Koreans are big on recycling so if you are dining in, you are given real cups to drink out of instead of paper. When you go to leave, you sort all of your garbage into it's appropriate trash receptacle.



I think it's really cool. I think us Americans could learn a thing or two from Korea.

Daddy Daughter Time

Lucy just loves her daddy. She loves to watch TV with him. Check out this sweet moment between father and daughter caught on camera.



Fred is also Lucy's favorite chew toy. She loves to grab his hands and chew on them. She may be little, but she's got a strong bite.



Fred may be smiling, but it hurts!



In the words of John Mayer, "Fathers be good to your daughters."

Splish-Splash I was takin' a bath...

Bath time is so fun with Lucy. She loves the water and had a ball splashing around in it. She has come a long way from her first bath when she screamed at the top of her lungs the entire time! After her bath we put her on the bed and Mom will sings songs and play games with her. It's some serious fun! Enjoy these bath pics. There is nothing cuter than a freshly bathed baby!!

Smiles and More Smiles

Lucy is the smiliest baby I have ever seen. She smiles all the time. All I have to do is look at her and smile and she smiles back. And I'm not talkin about any smile. We're talking one of those smiles where your nose wrinkles and your cheeks hurt. That's Lucy for ya. We hope you enjoy these cute pictures!

I LOVE MY FEET!!!

Lucy has found her feet. It's like finding something she never knew she always loved! (you might have to read that last sentence again). She loves to grab them and stick them in her mouth. She likes to suck on and bite her toes. They are her favorite teething toy.

Brittany and Nicole

Sometimes Koreans are funny. I love them, but there have been instances where I've wondered if we're living on the same planet. A while ago I was at the Paris Baguette (my favorite pastry store :o) and I was visiting with a lady who worked there. We were having a nice conversation in broken English and as I went to leave she paid me a nice compliment and said how pretty I was. I said thank you and then she added "you look like Nicole Kidman".



I almost started to laugh, but instead I restrained my laughter, thanked her again and left the store. I don't know if she's ever seen Nicole Kidman, but I'm pretty sure we look nothing alike.

I was recently talking with my good friend Tiffany Witt and she told me a similar story. A Korean friend of her husbands told her he thought she looked like Brittany Spears.



She laughed and smiled, but in the back of her mind she was thinking, "has he ever seen Brittany Spears? We look nothing alike!!" Sometimes I don't know what what's going through their heads. I have included this picture of Tiffany and I last December. We bought matching crocheted hats at a local market. I would love to know what you think. Now you can tell your friends you have a picture of Brittany Spears and Nicole Kidman in funny hats. Enjoy.

And the Landlord of the year award goes to...

We have a great landlord. He as been very kind to us ever since we've moved in. Because we were foreigners, he gave us an expanded cable package at no extra charge for us so we could watch something we could understand. Every time we have something in our apartment that needs to be fixed, he comes in person to make sure it gets done right. The last two times he has come, he has brought me food from his wife. It usually consists of a variety of things, (nothing that I'm familiar with) but it all tastes good. I think it's tofu and eggs with cut up veggies. If you dip it in the sauce, it's not half bad. The last time he came, he also brought me a HUGE pack of toilet paper. Now that's what I'm talkin about!!