Busy!

So I owe and apology (kind of) in that I feel like I've neglected the blog for a while.

It's been a busy week!  Here is our week in review:

We had a women's recipe exchange with the women's ministry at church.  The Korean ladies taught us how to make bulgolgi (a common Korean meat dish that most westerners really enjoy) and we taught the Korean ladies how to make potato sausage soup (because, really, what exactly IS an "American" dish?).  It was a fun time and I hope to post the recipe and video sometime in the near future.

We had two new "house blessings" that we went to.  In Korea, when someone moves to a new home it is common to have all the pastors and friends over to bless the new home.  They do a little prayer/worship time and the pastor prays a blessing over the new home and family.  We had two families move this week and have house blessings and there are a few more coming up soon.  They also have an insane amount of FOOD at these blessings. I mean more food than I've seen in one place in a long time and more food than any of us can consume (and trust me, we ate more than enough to stuff ourselves).

The typical meal at these blessings is probably one of my new favorite foods.  I'm not sure what it is called but it is similar to a burrito (kind of).  You take a very thing, sticky (transparent) piece of rice paper (that resembles a tortilla in shape and size and function but isn't as heavy as a tortilla) and fill it with all sorts of veggies (red, green, yellow, orange bell peppers, lettuce, sesame leaves, cilantro, mushrooms, sprouts, cucumbers, avacodo, etc) as well as strips of egg or chicken, hot sauce and wrap it up.  It is INCREDIBLE. So good. 

We got our ergo carrier and have been getting used to it and enjoying it and out walking a lot.

We've been exploring the open market more now that it is so nice out....even got adventurous and tried some seaweed (which is everywhere here and a great source of iron).  It is an aquired taste that I haven't aquired yet but would like to...It's also very long and slimey!

We have had several occasions to have people over to our home for meals and treats and that's been fun.  We also started hosting our "small" group from church (which isn't really a small group, 12 adults, 3 kids, with 4 kids on the way!) each week on Tuesdays and that's been a lot of fun for us.  We enjoy our home being used and cooking for groups of people.  But what we don't enjoy is doing the dishes (especially with no dishwasher to help!) but my sweet hubs has been doing piles of dishes all week after said functions, without complaint.  He also bought me a rice cooker and a blender!!!!! I'm so thrilled.  We left both our rice cooker and our nice blender back in the states and I'VE MISSED THEM SOOOOO MUCH....So I've been really enjoying these thoughtful gifts these past two weeks and they make cooking a lot easier too.

Caleb and I went on a little adventure with some other mom friends (Renee and Corrie) and their kiddos (Victoria, Elisha and Sadie) to a cute little free play area.  Caleb loved the "video game" car rides.

Caleb visibly grew taller this week and out of several of his outfits and in to several other outfits.  This means he can now reach things he once couldn't and that's kept us hopping!

Caleb seems to add to his vocabulary and understanding more each day...It's so fun to see the new things he picks up and watch him imitate us more and more.  He is so much fun!

Yellow dust season has started in Korea.  This is really gross, people!  In the spring in Korea for a period of time it is "yellow dust season" meaning it is the highest pollution time and you can visibly see (and experience) the pollution coming from China.  At times (I'm told) it gets so bad there is a visible dust that settles on things and the air is thick with it.  It hasn't been quite that bad yet and I'm really hoping it doesn't get to that point!  But they do monitor and track it and have various advisories based on how bad the pollution is each day (for example, some days they advise you not to go outside or open windows and it can get so bad they cancel school!).  Above is a picture of the sun and the haze that comes from the dust.  Puts a whole new spin on using/buying things made in China, huh?  Like I said, it hasn't been that bad yet but I'm told we are only in the beginning of it right now.  Please pray for our safety in this! It really bothers me.  This and then I am also told in the summer time they spray for mosquitoes by basically spraying all the cities/towns....including the people.  Yuck.

We continue to work on discipline, on being consistent, and on not whining (that's a big one these days!).  No one warns you how utterly exhausting disciplining and teaching kids can be! Or how hard it is to be consistent. It's hard work!

One of the couples from our small group had their baby (Emma Grace).  We were able to travel to Seoul with the Chapmans (pictured above holding Emma Grace) to visit the Zangers in the hospital.

Not pictured but a significant part of our week nonetheless, we have just felt overwhelmingly loved and blessed by several people this week (you know who you are, Thank You!).  It is so cool to see how God uses people to provide and to uplift and to care in both tangible and intangible ways.  We have felt so blessed and cared for this week.