Happy New Year!

Henry viewing his path of destruction. (Really that is just a fraction of what it gets to be. But oh does he have a good time doing it!)

Wordless Wednesday

Cousins

Henry was a very happy boy the past two day's. He was very excited to meet his cousins. He met Ellie and Emily on Sunday afternoon. They brought him lots of toys that they used when they were his age! I think that they had fun going down memory lane listening to what used to be their favorie toys. As they were getting ready to leave Ellie was giving Henry a hug and he lunged into her arms and she got to hold her wiggley little cousin. It was a quick grab the camera moment! I am sure that Henry will have lots of fun and be a little spoiled by his adoring older cousins. (Hmmm... maybe someday Ellie and Emily will make great babysitters!)


Henry also met Hunter and Brody today. Hunter was VERY excited to finally meet his cousin Henry. He has been asking to see him for a long time. It was pretty funny to watch him interact with Henry. Henry and Brody also checked each other out. The both use the same kind of pacifire and as I predicted Henry stole Brody's pacifire but do not worry for Brody he tried to grab Henry's. He was just not fast enough!
It is a good thing that it is not emberressing to show up in the same outfit when your one. Brody and Henry where both wearing their new outfits from Great-Grandma Jo. It was a couisidence but it turned out to be a very cute couincidence. I am sure that they will have many more matching outfits! (I know they have at least 4 more waiting in their closets!) Hunter was such a good big brother and cousin trying to hang onto 2 busy boys!

Smiles

This is the smile that makes our hearts melt! We are seeing more and more everyday.

Home

We have been home for 3 days now. Henry is doing fantastic! We are blown away at how well he is doing. We are starting to see lots of smiles and giggles. He is loving eating big people food. He likes his highchair and loves to be able to feed himself. He is not the hugest fan of baby food, he would much rather be eating what we are eating. He had banana's for breakfast and they were a hit! He still drinks formula every 4 hours. We are not planning on changing that any time soon. The less changes for now the better.

Merry Christmas!!!

Day 8

It was a very long and emotional day for us. We woke up early Wednesday morning. We finished packing our last minute items and made a breakfast in the kitchen. At exactly 8:00 am we loaded all of our luggage into the elevator. When the doors opened we were met by the driver and our social worker. Our bags were whisked into the waiting van. Henry and his foster mother were there waiting as well. You could tell it had already been an emotional morning for her. Mrs. Kim the President of the Agency arrived and said a prayer for Henry, his foster mother and our new family. Afterwards we went to the van and Henry was placed in Jason's arms by his Foster mother. It was a hard moment and very emotional.
Once in the van Henry fell asleep in Jason's arms on the 45 min drive to the airport. Once at the airport we were taken care of by Korean Airlines. We were taken out of the general boarding line and brought to a family check in. In security and immigration everyone did everything they could to make things easier for us. Henry fell asleep shortly before we boarded the plane. He actually slept through all 4 take offs and landings! He was a trooper through out the entire trip. He would play, sleep and eat. He was fussy for about 20 minutes total on the 12.5 hour flight from Seoul to Chicago. We left Chicago a little late but were very fortunate to arrive before the snow storm hit.
My mom, dad and Jason's mom were at the airport to meet us. After 26 hours of travel were exhasted but VERY happy to be home in MN!

Day 7

Today was our last day touring Seoul. It was a bittersweet day today. We are THRILLED to become a family of three tomorrow!!!!!! Yet we have loved our time here in Seoul and we can hardly believe that it is time for us to go. We feel as thought we barely scratched the surface on seeing things here and experiencing the culture. We are already planning things that we want to see and do on our next trip. Jason and I have also decided that we might be Giants.
Today we visited the Korean War Memorial. It was a mammoth structure and grounds. There were many tanks, planes and missiles on display out side. There were also some beautiful statues. Once inside the museum we quickly learned that we were now an exhibit. Scores of Korean school children said 'Hello, Nice to meet you." At one point we were being followed. Jason also was photographed many times. A family from California who are here bring their daughter home also have a 14 year old son. We saw them at the museum and he was a minor celebrity there. There were also many groups of Korean soldiers there on guided tours.
Our next stop was the North Seoul Tower. It is high atop a Mt. Namsan in the center of Seoul. We took a Taxi there from the Korean War Memorial, they were able to drive us up almost to the top. We walked up the last little bit and were blown away by the view. As far as the eye could see there were buildings and high rises. It was then that we understood how 22 million people could live in one city. There is also a restaurant at the the top of the tower. We had a lovely lunch up there. It was a great way to celebrate the last day as a couple and the arrival of one little boy named Henry. We had the brilliant idea to walk down, it was fun for the first 20 min and then got a little old, but we made it! It was amazing to see little old men with their canes walking up past us. I KNOW that we would not have been able to do that. Our last day here in Seoul was in the upper 30's low 40's. It was so nice not to have to be bundled up and have our legs be freezing. I think that this weather is much more normal for this time of year.
At 8:00 am tomorrow morning we will be in the lobby of Eastern Social Services. Dr Kim will say a prayer over Henry. His foster mother and family will say their final goodbye. He will be placed in our arms and we will become a family, the circle will be complete. Tonight as we pack our belongings and prepare to leave Korea we also think of Henry's foster family preparing to say goodbye to the son they have loved and raised for the past year. We pray that God will grant them peace in their hearts and to know that Henry will always know how much they loved him and took such wonderful care of him. When we come back to Korea we can not wait for them to be able to see a grown up little boy.
On our floor here at Eastern there is a family from Australia here on a homeland tour. Their children are 4 and 6 years old and are hilarious and adorable. We were talking with their dad this morning and he was telling Jason that "As long as you get his nappie on right you will be ok." Apparently on their first flight home he put his son's 'nappie on back to front.' I am not sure how you would even do that but now Jason is aware there is a front and back.
We leave Seoul Korea at 11:30 am December 23rd. We have a layover in Chicago and arrive in Minneapolis at 1:30 pm on December 23rd. (I know you are thinking wow, it is only a two hour flight!) We will update you as soon as we are home and are feeling human again.

Henry's 1st Birhday and Tol

Day 6

Jason and I went to our Dunkin Doughnuts this morning for our vanilla latte and blueberry black tea. We sat drinking them by the window watching the traffic and pedestrians walk by. Several things that we observed was that buses come in threes. Two green and one blue, why we are not sure. It was fun to watch children coming with their backpacks and get on the buses heading to school. Children as young as 9 go to school by themselves. Seoul is so safe that parents think nothing of it to send their children by themselves to school. Another observation is that Korean women like high heals. They can run and navigate the streets of Seoul in a 3 inch or higher heal. The young people are very fashion forward and are dressed to the nines at all times.
When we arrived back at Eastern we were walking up the stairs to our room. When we got to our floor Jason and I stopped and we could hear people singing Christmas music. We stood there silently listening to it when Dr. Kim the President of Eastern Social Welfare came up behind us and told us that we were invited to join the staff for their Monday morning worship service. We immediately through our coats in our room and proceeded to the service. We slipped in the back row and were immediately shown a place of honor in the front row. We were also handed a Hanguel/English hymnal. Christmas music sung in Korean is beautiful. I was almost choked up as Jason and I sang 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' in English and they sang it in Korean. The entire service was in Korean but we still received the message and the experience to worship with the staff of Eastern was so amazingly special. These people work so hard and care so much for the children and families here. Some of the few words that we were able to understand were Good Shepherd and we also were able to understand the Lords prayer while they said it in Korean. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The memories of the Christmas music sung in Korean will forever be with us. I will always think of that moment when I here 'O Little Town of Bethlehem.'

After church we met privately with Dr. Kim with two other CHSFS families. She chatted with us in her office a little about the history of adoption in Korea and Korean history. She is a very gracious and kind woman. After our meeting we were all invited to a traditional Korean lunch (I will say it was catered a little more to our western taste buds. No soft jiggly things) The food was excellent and we enjoyed chatting with the other families and comparing the places we had gone. All three of our babies turned one in December. One family was from New Jersey and another was from California. There were also several families there who are on homeland tours.
We met with Henry again at 2:00. After we were done we headed out to finish some shopping back at Insadong. There were a couple of things that we wanted to pick up that we had seen on Saturday. We also stopped at The Korean Airlines office down town to purchase a lap ticket for Henry on the way home. Wow are we glad we did that today and did not wait to sort it out at the airport. We were there for about an hour. The best part was that they had to charge us a fee to rebook our flight. They apologized profusely for having to do it. When Jason asked how much it was it was only 3,000 won so about $3 dollars US.

Day 5

Today was a little bit of a warmer day. We only needed our hats about half of the day. Jason just looked up the weather for tomorrow and it is going to be 35 and Tuesday our last day for sightseeing is going to be 45!!!! We are really looking forward to the warmer temps. We are both loving our Merrel shoes, they make walking as much as we are a more pleasurable experience.
Today we visited the Gyeongbokgun Palace. It is one of the largest Palaces in Seoul and often depicted in postcards and pictures. The grounds are massive and all of the buildings are beautifully restored. When we first arrived we were just in time for the changing of the guard. It was a great way to set the tone for our experience there. We rented audio tour players to guide us around the grounds. While we were videoing it sounds like we know how to pronounce everything, really we are just repeating what we are hearing in our headphones. The details of the palace were just amazing! The sheer size of the buildings amaze me. We also visited a the National Palace Museum of Korea.
Our next stop was Namdaemun Market. It is a shopping mecca. It is all walking (or motorcycles) and wall to wall stuff. We did not even see it all, many shops were closed because it was Sunday. We were a little overwhelmed and over stimulated, Insadong is a little more our speed. We are going to head back to Insadong tomorrow.
Tomorrow we are looking forward to celebrating our sons birthday. We are meeting with Dr. Kim the President of Eastern Social Welfare at 11:30. After we met with her we are invited to a staff luncheon. The staff eats lunch together everyday, they invite guests to join them a couple of times a week. At 2 o'clock we are having our second meeting with Henry Seong and his foster mother. We are also going to be celebrating his 1st Birthday we will post pictures as soon as we can. We do not always have the most reliable internet connection and post as much as we can while we can.
(Jason just informed me this is the longest he has ever gone without using any Ketchup!)

Day 4

Today was that day that Jason and I truly fell in love with Korea and it's people. Everyone is so thoughtful and kind. We learned that Seoul is the second largest city in the world, second only to Mexico city. There are that many people in an area the same size as Chicago proper. Because of the Seoul Olympics in 1987 there is English everywhere and it is very easy to get around. Someone told us before we left for Korea that traveling to Seoul was like International Travel for Dummy's. It is so true, It is easy to find your way and if you get confused someone will stop and help you.
We had a fantastic day today! We met a childhood friend of my mothers. Nancy and her husband Rick are stationed here in Seoul. They graciously welcomed us to their adopted city. They came and met us at Eastern and then we proceeded to a popular shopping area called Insadong. And boy did we shop, Rick and Nancy personally thanked us for helping stimulate the Korean economy. There were lots of street vendors, we even saw chestnuts roasting on an open fire. (and yes Jack Frost was nipping at our nose!!!! It is sooo cold) There were some traditional Korean drum dancers dancing and praying for peace. People would tie prayers for peace on ropes. That is one thing that South Koreans carry is hope that one day they will become a united country again. Rick was telling us that South Korea has built train tracks and train stations up to the North Korean border in a hope that one day the country will again become united. They sit there unused and empty, but they are there as a symbol of HOPE!
Nancy and Rick were a wealth of knowledge and treated us to a traditional Korean meal. We had our own little room and table. The amount of food on the table could have fed 8 people. It was a set menu, so it was interesting to try foods we never would have ordered other wise. Some were very crutchy and some were soft and chewy. Jason and I both enjoyed these little crab things. We were to slow in eating and trying things (we were talking to much) so the hostess came in and would load your spoon for for you and strongly encourage you to eat. They really wanted you to enjoy the food and the experience.
After lunch we headed to Dongdaemun and something called Toy alley. I am not sure if there are words to describe the craziness there. I am sure that the week before Christmass had a little something to do with it. Wow, the stores are packed floor to ceiling with toys, there is barely room to walk in between the aisle. There was also a room that was filled floor to ceiling with stuffed animals. We found a few things there to give to Henry for his next birthday.
Yesterday was the first time someone said something about how tall Jason is. We have gotten lots of looks and smiles up until now. We were on the subway heading to Insadong, the train was packed and we were standing hanging on to the handles. I noticed a 70 year old man standing really close behind Jason. He then patted Jason on the arm, Jason immediately moved over and gestured for him to take the hand hold. He shook his head no and started pointing to Jasons head. Jason wondered if he was talking about his ear muffs. He again shook his head no and then gestured that his head came up to Jason's shoulder and that Jason was WAAAAAY above him. It was a silent conversation, but they both were laughing and they understood each other.

After a much needed nap we checked out the area that Eastern is in. It is called Hangok University. And like the name says there are lots of young college kids and they all seem to be on the street in the freezing cold. We assumed the streets were closed off to traffic but then a random car or truck would be driving through.

Day 3

The highlight of day three would have to be meeting Henry Seong, hands down the most exciting thing of this entire trip. But that only took a couple of hours in the morning so the rest of the day we set out to get our first glimpse of Seoul. We bundled up and headed out to try and make it to the Hyundai Department store. We checked our map headed off fearlessly toward it. First we stopped a block away to grab a coffee at Dunkin Doughnuts. It was our first time using Won, ordering and paying for anything. Some how we ended up with 2 lattes and a very yummy blueberry tea. Jason did not mind though it was cold and he enjoyed both coffees. We walked and talked, walked some more, walked, checked the map, walked hmmmm...... checked map again...... warmed our numb legs in random convince stores. Finally we ran into a random British guy and asked him to show us where we were on the map. We had walked in the complete wrong direction for quite awhile. One benefit was we found a cool baby store and were able to buy a couple of things in there. Jason was also excited about seeing a carwash!!! It is all free standing outside. We turned around and walked back to Eastern. We warmed up, regrouped and I admitted I am no longer the master navigator.

We set out in the other direction and amazingly found it!!! It is MASSIVE!!!!! There are 12 floors of amazing shopping and food. We first went downstairs to a large super market and food kiosks. Jason refers to it as a very challenging food court. We bought the food we wanted and there is literal NO PLACE that we could find to eat it. So we went outside and quickly ate our lunch in the freezing cold. It was delicious though. We headed back in and explored the store. Very high end clothing, it was funny to see so many familiar American brands there. Our big purchase was a couple of pacifiers. On the top floor are more sit down restaurants and a bookstore. We bought a couple of English/Hangeul puzzles and letter flash cards.
After our success at Hyundai we decided to venture into the subway and go further into the city. It is quite easy to use and there are English labels on everything. One thing that you do need to be careful about is figuring out which exit you take to get out. If you take the wrong one you could literally be 5 blocks from where you need to be. We found where we needed to go no problem.
We visited the Deoksugung Palace. It was so beautiful and peaceful in there. It is a walled of area of calmness in the middle of a bustling modern city. I think it was so striking to take pictures of something so historic and old and to have sky scrapers in the back ground. They have done and amazing job preserving the buildings and are working on more while we were there. The size of the buildings are so large, the largest was a throne hall used for coronation's and entertaining foreign envoys.
Jason and I went out for dinner and found a great little noodle shop not far from Eastern. There were three options mandoo, noodles and spicy noodles. We had the noodles and mandoo. It was Delicious and super cheap! It was 7,000 Won which works out to be about $7.00. What can I say I am a cheap date. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and talking about our amazing son!
Jason loves that all of the soda here comes in tall boy cans. We stopped at a market today and bought some for in our room, Jason lined them up in the window and pulled the curtin down. It makes it a surprisingly efficient refrigerator.