Seoul Tower at Night

After seeing the lights downtown and then getting a hamburger at Kraze Burger (I think we were more in need of thawing out than of food), we caught a taxi and went to Seoul Tower. Cars are not allowed to drive right up to the tower so we could either walk up a ton of stairs in the freezing cold to get there or take a cable car. So, even with my fear of heights and being on something that doesn't seem stable, I held on tight, closed my eyes and we took the cable car. Then, at the base of the tower, we took a short elevator ride to the observation deck. Along the windows of the tower there were mileage to different areas of the world. We couldn't miss taking a picture of how far it was to the United States. Being up in the tower, you really get a sense of how big Seoul is; it seems to go on forever. The first picture is from a few months ago, but since I didn't get a picture of Seoul Tower tonight, I added it.

Downtown Seoul

We went downtown tonight to see the Christmas lights with another couple from Osan AFB here in Korea. It was very cold, but we had a great time. Enjoy the pictures!

Korean Zamboni

We went downtown to look at Christmas lights and we came across a Korean Zamboni. Since we have been here, we find that things are sometimes not quite right. Well, this gentleman was pushing this ice scraper along the ice and pouring water out of the kettle behind the scraper. He never went back over the water with the scraper to even out the ice. We took a closer look at the ice and noticed it was full of cracks and divots from iceskates. I wondered why they made people wear helmets to skate there and now I know. :-)

Christmas Morning

The kids were up bright and early this morning to open presents. David woke up first, ran to the Christmas tree and then into Katie's room to wake her up. She didn't want to wake up (I guess she forgot it was Christmas morning) so he went back into his room to wait for her to wake up (such a sweet brother). We got up and helped him wake up Katie. They both enjoyed their presents as you can see in the pictures. As we do each year, we also made a "Happy Birthday Jesus cake." The kids get to ice it and then we sing happy birthday to Jesus. We had a joyous day celebrating our Savior's birth. We are truly blessed.

Snow is Falling

We suprisingly woke up to a couple of inches of snow this morning and the kids had a blast playing in it. It all had melted by the next day, but it was fun while it lasted.

Children's Christmas Program

David and Katie sang in our church's Christmas program. They did a wonderful job and we loved watching them.

Running Club

Katie is now part of the running club. As many of you know, I am training to run a half-marathon this spring. On our short runs during the week, I push Katie in the jogging stroller. Today after our run, Katie came home and put her baby in her stroller, got her running hat on, put the head band on to keep her ears warm and went running around the house. She was even breathing hard like mommy does on those tough hills. So adorable!

Dance Class

Katie is now in a new dance class and she really enjoys dancing and singing. She does ballet, tap and gymnastics. The class is fast paced and she enjoys the fact that she doesn't have to wait in line a lot like she was in gymnastics. She comes home and shows her moves to David and Daddy.

Putting up the Tree

We put up the Christmas Tree today and the kids helped out. When we left the states, I packed a few decorations for the house, but we left our big tree and all the rest of the decorations back in storage. I am so glad I found this little tree at the thrift store here. We are ready to celebrate the season!

First Snow in Korea

Well, you can't really see it in the pictures, but it snowed last week for the first time this winter. It snowed for about 15 minutes and then turned into rain. Nothing stuck to the ground, but Katie was so excited to get a chance to dance in the snow. David was at school and was a little upset that he didn't get a chance to play in the snow. I assured him it would be back and would stay around for a while. The kids just look so cute in their winter gear that I had to take a few pictures to share.

All Bundled Up

It is getting very cold here in Seoul. We had ice yesterday morning on our car and it was even colder this morning at about 18 degrees and with the wind chill it feels about 10 degrees. So, after bundling up this morning to get David to school, I had to take a picture of our sweet kids. There is a chance of snow today and tomorrow so I may have to post a few more pictures soon.

Itaewon and Namdaemun Areas

I thought I would post a few pictures of Korea for you to enjoy. The first three are of an area called Itaewon. It has a strip of shops and lots of restaurants. I will try to get a picture of the shopping area on our next trip there, but for now, you get to see just how congested it really is here. These pictures are taken from a hill on base looking out toward Itaewon. The tower you see in the picture is Seoul Tower. We are going to take a trip sometime soon to the tower and we will make sure to take the camera. The last two pictures are of a shopping area called Namdeamun. It has been crazy busy every time I have been there. It was raining the day I took these so they aren't as good as I hoped, but you can get an idea of the shopping markets here. Some are indoor and some are outdoor and they sell everything you can imagine. Everyone wants you to buy from them so they are willing to bargain, but it helps to have someone with you that speaks Korean. I haven't really come across any amazing deals to tell about, but if I do, I will let you know.

1st Real Field Trip

David had his first real field trip to the Korean Folk Village. I went along as a chaperone and Katie stayed back on base at the child care facility. It took about an hour bus ride to get there, but we had a great time. We learned about how Korean's lived in the past. He had fun pushing the millstone, watching Korean folk dancing and seeing all the neat tools they used to use to make food. The last picture is of David and his friend standing on a bridge that had no railing (all too scary for mom, but I did stop to at least take this sweet picture). It was a little bittersweet for me going on my son's first field trip. He is getting too big too fast for me.

Monkeying around

Some pictures from our outing to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. It is a huge zoo and we didn't even get to see all of it. The leaves are changing colors making it so beautiful and we couldn't ask for better weather. David and Katie really enjoyed it here. It has all the usual animals, but we did notice more than once that the zoos in the states have much better living conditions for their animals.

Getting Our Energy Out

David has been in Taekwondo for almost two months and is now a yellow belt. He enjoys it and says he wants to be a black belt before we leave here. Katie started a gymnastics class and is just so adorable. She thinks she is in "ballet" so we may have to try out a real ballet or dance class down the road. These have been enjoyable classes for them and they definitely get their energy out.