Korea

Here's my very brief recap of our trip to Korea. Considering we took over 300 pictures there's no way I can show them all. So here are the highlights! If you are friends with me on Facebook some of these pictures might be a repeat, but I've tried to add different ones to my blog just for the sake of something different to look at.

We were gone 9 days, 2 of which were traveling. We knew it would be really hard to take Emmett with us on such a big trip so we decided to leave him at home with Grandma (Mike's mom). I had a lot of anxiety leaving Emmett for the first time. We booked tickets 1 month in advance and I swear I didn't sleep well the entire month leading up to the trip. He did great though and it ended up being nice to have a break for a week!

For those of you who don't know, about a year and 1/2 ago my dad got recruited to work for a company in Korea called Woongjin. They are there for at least 2 years and he is working for them as a chemical engineer and helping/consulting for the company as they build a new polysilicon plant. Which is what he has done most of his career in the states. They live in a town (population about 70,000) in the middle of Korea called Sangju. We got the tour from my mom while we were there and they are the only Americans in the town. Lots of people stared at us while we walked down the streets as towns like this don't get tourists. Most people do not speak English there. And if we really needed help getting directions or something we tried to snag a teenager or young adult as usually they were the only ones who could pick out a few English words for us.

We took a bus into Seoul and spent 2 days there. There's a temple in Seoul, and it has dormitories in the basement for people to stay overnight if they are traveling from far away. So we did a session there and slept at the temple too. Other than the fact that men and women were separated in their own "dorm" it was a rather cozy hotel for the night.

While in Seoul we did a lot of shopping, road lots of subways, and sightseeing. Its a huge city (about 11 million) so there was lots to do and we probably only saw a smidgen of it.

We got to go on lots of hikes to see various Buddhist temples. Buddhism is the main religion in Korea and there are temples everywhere. They are always on mountainsides and its very remote and actually quite peaceful and beautiful. Monks live in them and people go there to worship and say their hundreds of prayers.

This guy was banging the drums as part of the monks sunset ritual.

If you saw shoes outside the door then that probably meant someone was inside praying....(or sleeping, not sure which)

This picture was probably a little inappropriate of me to take, but the lady on the far right is doing her prayers to Buddha. Shortly after taking the photo a woman came up to me and shooed me away saying "no picture".

Kimchee pots. A type of Korean food that they serve at every meal. They sit in these pots and get "ripe" or rot. One of the two.

The rock wall on either side of us was made by people stacking rocks one on top of another. There was no mud or cement holding them together. Supposedly it means good luck when someone makes a "rock stack" (sorry don't know the real term).

The food...oh the food. It was really hard to eat. Koreans eat the weirdest food. The boys (Mike and Nate) loved it. Krista and I on the other hand had a harder time. I don't like fish, and I don't like spicy. Both of which are very popular in Korea. There were moments when I thought I was going to starve and then there were times when I thought I was going to lose whatever food was left in my stomach. But mostly I ate out of my mom's cupboards as she had quite a bit of American food. But there were SOME edible Korean dishes that I tried as well. So I can't say it was all bad.

And I have to throw this picture in. Here's a picture of a funky little squirrel we saw on one of our hikes. It had really tall furry ears.

It was an awesome trip and when we got back we were so glad to see Emmett again! For the first 2 days he kept repeating "momma" "dadda" and pointing at us like he couldn't believe we were actually there. So I think he'll forgive us for abandoning him for a week, however he refused to go to nursery on Sunday without Mike in plain sight. I think he's a little nervous now. :)

My Husband, The Food Snob

The other day I was talking to Mike about how I scored 2 free packages of Bar-S hot dogs at the grocery store that day. Emmett likes hot dogs and I was happy with myself. He was not that impressed however and replied to me how gross Bar-S hot dogs were. He said, "They're made of scraps and junk." And I responded, "Sorry, but all hot dogs are made that way". He said "Not the ones we buy." I was confused, "Which ones are those?" He said, "You know, brats".

I got a good chuckle out of that. I never ate a bratwurst in my life until I met Mike. Mike is the type of guy that loves to eat good food. Not just tasty, but good for you food, too.

One Sunday a couple weeks ago it was time for dinner and there was not much in our cupboards since I hadn't been grocery shopping that week. Mike was tired and hungry after he got home from his Sunday meetings. I suggested making some grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup (something that requires a whole 3 ingredients that we had on hand). Mike went on to say how he wasn't in the mood for "that kindof food", and I didn't feel like waiting for something else. So we decided to make our own separate thing. Sometimes we do this if we're in the mood for different food. So I proceeded to make Emmett and I some grilled cheese sandwiches and Mike miraculously wound up making beef and bulgur pilaf with mint. After that day I have since dubbed him "The Food Snob"

Mike loves to cook. Not just your regular old mom-type recipes (which is my specialty) but gourmet food. Recipes that includes various ingredients like falafel, bulgur wheat, Asafoetida, chickpea flour, or garam masala. He really enjoyed the movie Julie & Julia, and even contemplated buying her cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" but instead he decided to purchase a cookbook online called "Savoring India".

His latest adventure is cooking Indian food. He bought a bunch of Indian spices and one of them was stinking up the house so bad I made him take it downstairs. In the basement. In the unfinished cement storage room, just to get away from it. Sunday night we ate Aloo Tikki (potato patties with spicy pea filling). Monday night we had Makhanni Murgh (buttered chicken) with basmati rice. Then on Tuesday I cooked, and we had Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Thankfully, my husband enjoys any simple thing I cook and eats it gladly, as long as its not Bar S hot dogs. Which is now in the freezer and will wait to pull them out until the summer BBQing months arrive. We'll see if I can surprise him with a hot dog on the 4th of July and if he'll really know what it is.

Pic taken about a year ago. Mike busy making granola.

Haircut

I saw this a little while ago as I went to get Emmett up from his afternoon nap.

A little bit scary, but still cute nonetheless. When I saw the hair on that head, I knew it was time for a haircut...So we called Aunt Krista.

After a sucker and movie....this kid was looking sharp.

You'll have to wait little ladies. I've already claimed him.

Monday, Monday

Today was not looking out to be a very good day. Emmett is teething again, which makes both of us want to shoot ourselves. Poor kid. I think he has it worse than me though. Its funny how you finally figure it out. It takes a day or two of some crappy days (mostly from irritability on his part, and impatience on my part) until it finally dawns on me, and then suddenly I feel sympathy for the poor kid, because of the pain, and because of my impatience with him.

Today I went to put him down for his nap at his usual time, 11:30am. He gladly laid down and I happily walked out of his room anxious for a shower and some me time. That is until I heard him begin to cry about 10 minutes later. I thought "I'll wait and maybe he'll fall back asleep". I was wrong. The crying got louder so I went in and tried to calm him back down, which didn't do the trick. So the teething thing dawned on me, and I gave him some Tylenol and rocked with him in the glider until he fell asleep. Ahh....peace and quiet.

Wrong again. He immediately woke up and started to cry when I laid him in his crib. I gave up and let him out to do whatever he wanted. I thought maybe a 30 minute run-around the house might help him get tired again. Wrong. Skip ahead to 3 HOURS later, and a couple more attempts at laying him in his crib. I was ready to give up and just have him stay up all day long (which he's never done before). This wouldn't be a problem except for 2 things. 1) I NEED a break during the day, this is critical. And 2) When a toddler is up all afternoon long, it doesn't mean they're happy. This toddler in fact, was not happy. He was whiny, sad, needy, and most of all tired. But he simply refused to take a nap. And I couldn't understand why the Tylenol wasn't doing the trick. Well, by 2 oclock, which is his typical lunchtime, and when he's usually waking up from his nap, I plopped some leftover casserole on his high chair tray and went into the other room. I came back a few minutes later, his lunch was eaten, and his eyes like this:

Nothing that a full tummy can't do for a tired little boy.

He didn't even flinch when I went to clean him up.

They sure are cute.

When they're sleeping. ;)

Update on E: 15 months

He is 22lbs, 18th %ile

He is 30 inches tall, 19th %ile

And his head circumference is in the 85 percentile. This kid has a huge noggin.

But that must mean he's got big brains right? I think so, which is why he's turning into such a smarty pants.

He can say about 7-8 words. Momma, Dadda, Jesus (zethus), water (wah-wah), ball (bah), banana (nana), woof-woof (whenever he hears or sees a dog), and doggie (he says "gie").

I try to work with him on picking up new words. This is a hard age when he knows what he wants, but he can't tell me other than pointing and yelling which can be frustrating for both of us. I can't wait until I hear a please and thank you out of him after all this too!

He hates, despises, and gag's at the idea of drinking milk. I've even tried chocolate milk and he acts as if he's eating a lemon as soon as it touches his tongue and he spits it out. His preference for quenching his thirst is always his wah-wah, (even over juice). His Dr. told me to try soy milk, but I think its the creamy taste that he hates so I'm not going to get my hopes up that he'll like it. He has some funny quirks with his eating habits. Another thing I've discovered he hates is macaroni and cheese. I thought all kids liked mac and cheese? I made some for him one day and plopped it on his tray. He gave the "I'm eating a lemon" look and spit it out. So i thought to myself, maybe I'll add something to go with it to get him to start eating and then he'll just gobble the whole thing up, macaroni included. So I added green peas. Guess what he did? He picked out all the green peas and ate them, and left the macaroni. What kid does that?!

He is starting to get the idea of folding his arms to pray. This one will take some time (especially during longer prayers), however just yesterday we told him to fold his arms to get ready to say a prayer and he did it all on his own. Once he got a reaction out of us, he kept doing it over and over. Cutest thing ever.

He's starting to climb onto anything he can. This phase makes me nervous. I don't want to walk in the room one day down the road and see my toddler standing on the countertop or the stove top (which is basically a 2nd counter in our tiny kitchen). But whenever I catch him by surprise standing on something he gets a huge smile and acts as if he's conquered Everest. Yesterday, I was unloading the dishwasher and putting some things away when I hear him say "Wah-wah" so I turned around and he was like this pointing at my glass of water sitting on the counter.

This was the other day at the Dr.'s office stepping on those exam table steps. Like I said before...what he climbs may not be anything big, but either way, he sure feels like he did something pretty spectacular when he does it.

He is starting to mimic us too. Whatever he sees us do, he'll try to do it the same. This morning Mike was heading out the door to go to work. I was sitting on the family room floor watching Emmett run around. Mike bent down and kissed me good bye, as I turned my attention back to Emmett, there he was, his wide-mouth wet kissy face waiting for me to kiss him too, which I gladly accepted.

A Normal Day

I came across a great quote tonight that I thought I'd share. It goes like this:

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are… Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect Tomorrow. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

-Mary Jean Iron

Am I the only one that feels like their life is quite boring? Every day is the same. Every day is normal. Nothing spectacular or glamorous going on around here.

Today I read one of my favorite blogs called CJane Enjoy It. Its about the only one written by someone I don't know, but read regularly. The author is a mother of 1 who lives in Provo. She is an amazing writer and I love to read her posts. Today she wrote about how motherhood can sometimes resemble the idea of Groundhog Day (you know like the movie?)

It was one of my favorite posts. So if your a mom, and feel like your life never changes and all you do is wipe messy mouths, and feed hungry kids, and change messy diapers day after day, this is a post for you.

This quote makes me thankful for all my normal, not so interesting days.

Which is also why I haven't updated in 3 weeks.

A December to Remember

We had such a fun and busy December. My parents came back for a 3 week visit from Korea. They've already been gone a year! Only 1 more to go! We can't wait. We miss them.

Here's some of my favorite photo's of the past month that I'm going to share on the next 3 posts. Its easier than trying to write everything down, and these pictures make me smile when I see them, and sometimes laugh, or even cry.

The following pictures are from my the Lundstrom family Christmas Party (my mom's side) held at my Aunt's house:

I love this picture because its of all the great grandkids with my Grandparents. The pictures from that night were the last ones taken with my Grandma as she passed away only 13 days later.

We had such a fun time with cousins, and all of my extended family eating and even did a little caroling (shown above) at my Grandpa's request.

Emmett was in a mood that night and wanted nothing to do with Santa (who was actually uncle Nate). This picture taken was his 2nd time on his lap because the 1st one lasted less than a millisecond as he arched his back so fast and slid right off his lap we couldn't even snap a picture.

My mom telling my Grandma that someone's going to take a picture of them together and where to look (she was almost completely blind).

There we go! Cute picture mom.

Dad, me, Krista

Lillie, my niece

Krista and Nate

Aunt Kris, our fabulous hostess, on how she's really feeling!

Christmas at the cabin

We spent a week up in Island Park at my parents cabin. It was cozy, and fun. We spent time snowmobiling, playing ping-pong, Rockband, eating, and playing (and learning) new games. Some new games we played were

Hit or Miss

Killer Bunnies

This Charades game was my favorite. If you haven't heard of it, its similar to regular charades except a whole team acts it out, and 1 person tries to guess what they're doing. I'm warning you though... uncontrollable laughter begins to be a problem when you can no longer act out the cards.

Here's a couple pictures of the boys acting out "Guitar Hero"

Emmett and Lillie

We had so much fun, thanks again Mom and Dad for the good times.