My Intention V. The Reality

Hey Y'all,

So... I was planning to write one post a month (at minimum) but as we can see I missed January by a few days. Therefore this is going to be one of my smorgasbord blog posts where I just talk and share pictures from the last month or so.

For Christmas Phuket was the family Christmas gift so other than our parents sending us clothing we didn't have any gifts for one another or Baby GAP.  I would really like to teach him that Christmas is about giving so as he grows up I hope to do a lot of ministry serving with him involved throughout the year.  Then around Christmas I would like to do a big serving project (to be determined) and he can get New Year presents instead of Christmas presents so he is isn't the weird kid at school with nothing to write about for his inevitable writing assignment of "What Did You Get For Christmas?"  Unless by then this is so offensive that schools stop doing it. 

We went to The Garden of the Morning Calm again making that three times last year.  We went in the spring, fall and now winter.  Spring was my favorite as far as weather and natural beauty (http://defyinfinity.blogspot.kr/2017/06/) but it was pretty cool to go see the lights in December even though it was super cold out.  Baby was a trooper in his over-sized snowsuit and rolling in his stroller.   We did Airbnb so stayed in an actual Korean place that had heated floors which I appreciate for Baby's sake since he is crawling around and having a warm floor is nice for him.  We found ourselves also sitting on the floor a lot too though, it was just oh so cozy!

Baby GAP got to go to a trampoline kid's cafe for the first time in his life.  It was pretty fun to watch him explore and observe.  When he gets older it will be more fun for me to actually get to interact with other adults rather than have to watch him the whole time but we'll get there.  I went with some of the ladies from my bible study and their children.  They rented out the place but GAP got to be there for free since he is under age.  GAP was curious as usual but it was also a bit overwhelming at times.  He got bounced from sitting position to his knees to crawling position within like 2 seconds and he didn't like that popcorn situation although it was quite hilarious to observe. 

In November I started doing some training for families at church who are in the process of adopting.  Currently there are 5 families in the process of adopting from our church and one family that is joining their community. One baby boy was successfully adopted last month but that family has since gotten a new born, unfortunately.  It's always great to know he has a good family willing to accept him but sad that he can't stay with his own birth family.  Anyway, the trainings are every other month and so far going well.  It's great to have a network of people back in the US that I can run things by when things arise that I have no answer to so I am not alone in my assistance of the families here. 

That's all for now!

Lots of love,
Camille

Pajama Day during spirit week at work! 

My mother in law got Daniel, GAP and I matching jammies (footie-onesies with but flaps) :-)

Playing at the kid's cafe.

Just a few of us from the Bible study at a cafe together.

Training the families at church.

It was cold and pretty...

See the frozen water?  That's how cold it was, plus it's night time so...

...Baby GAP is bundled up and I was warm with the exception of my gloved hands.

Colossians 3:12-17

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Thailand. The Jury Is Still Out

Hello All,

We recently went on our very first family vacation to Phuket, Thailand.  It was an eventful trip and one to never be forgotten.  I wish it were for good reasons only but that is not the case my friends. 

We had a good journey there.  Two flights that spanned several hours and ended Thursday late night/Friday early morning depending on how you look at it.  Gabriel did great flying.  He was interested in everything and everyone so a bit busy but no crying or anything.  We even got blessed on both flights by first not having anyone in our 3 seat row and then the next one being able to move up to empty seats and more leg room.  One flight we sat next to an Israeli family and they had a one year old little girl that Gabriel found interesting.

Our first 3 days were a great combination of chilling and site seeing.  We had a rental car and of Daniel got to experience right side of the car left side of the road.  He said it was easy but I had to remind him a couple of times that he was on the wrong side of the road when he would initially make a right turn.  Plus the inevitable turning on of the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal...  Anyway, the place that we stayed was really nice and had a private pool which we didn't use until the very last day because there was just too much going on.  Gabriel enjoyed crawling around and surprisingly it was kind of more baby friendly then our apartment in some ways. 

We drove around and saw things new to us such as shacks next to temples, and beautiful houses next to shacks, and dogs EVERYWHERE just doing their thing.  Lots of bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and other fruit trees were everywhere plus people on the side of the street with little mobile huts set up selling drinks, fruits, and various Thai dishes.  We went to the beach, ate some fusion German-Thai food as well as Thai food as well as fusion American-Thai food.  We went to old Phuket, I think that was my favorite part of the trip. I liked seeing the colors and buildings and all of the people selling various products.  There were A LOT of European people there and apparently they make up about a quarter of the population on the island. 

We went on a 2 hour ferry ride to Phi Phi Island and walked around there for a little bit and ate then headed back.  Then the story turns...

Long story short we all got sick.  Unfortunately, Gabriel got it first and the worst of the three of us.  Scary times for new parents in a foreign country with no friends to help out.  I'll spare you all the details, just know that everything worked out just fine but it was unsettling for us for a bit.  We were pretty much out of commission for a couple of days after that and then it was time to head home.  The trip back not being as smooth with a recovering baby, daddy and mommy and a red eye flight.

We survived and came out giving God all the praise.  I think we got closer as a family and learned our lesson.  No more taking babies on overseas vacations!

Enjoy the pictures without the drama, you're welcome :-)

Getting ready to fly!

So many beaches everywhere!

Such cute little pants right!?!

From the outside looking in...

Family picture!

Driving on the "wrong side" of the road and car.

Their money is pretty!!!

First time on a boat/ferry!

It was a long boat trip.

Wood, leather, glass, marble, granite...

Looks good but let's be honest, pretty impractical.

Never even used the tub...

Glad it was a King!

This is what I woke up to every morning and went to sleep to every night :-)

Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.  By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Love you and miss you!

Camille

Love the Love!!!

Hey All,

It breaks my heart to hear people share stories from their life, past or present, of really bad or non existent relationships with their parents.  We all have our ups and downs, as any relationship does, but some people really, solidly have unhealthy, detrimental situations that they grew up in or current life circumstances that have never healed.  We all get to an age where we can no longer blame our parents for "why" we are the way we are because it gets to the point where we choose to be that way, no excuses.  It definitely helps to have a parent apologize and accept accountability for their part in the hurt we experienced but sometimes that doesn't happen.  We can't live in the past or make decisions in the future strictly based on the past.

Daniel and I just experienced a month filled with love as both his parents and my parents came to visit us and baby Gabriel.  It was great to share stories, meals, laughs, friends, and to make memories in the process.  They were a blessing to be around and it was WONDERFUL to have Gabriel spend that time with his grandparents.  He soaked it all up!  He was laughing, babbling, drooling, smiling, trying to walk, trying to crawl, etc.  I've been having a rough few days of getting him back used to being able to play on the floor with his toys and not have to be picked up or sat with the whole time.  Honestly it's a welcome burden for me and one I anticipated.

In the time they were here loving on him and us they blessed us with clothes and other things for him and also time for Daniel and I.  They cooked and hung out and tried some new foods.  We all went out and about a bit around the country (mostly neighboring areas and Seoul).  A good time was had by all and I really appreciate them making the long trip to and from Korea just to see us.

To those of you who are in the group of people that have rough relationships with your parents, I pray that God would help you to forgive them whether they apologize or not.


Colossians 3:12-14
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Gabriel with Grandma, 7 months later!

Gabriel meeting Grandpa for the first time!

Honey, Pawpaw, and Gabriel playing on the floor!

When grandparents come to town we do stuff like take them to get bubble tea at Daniel's favorite place...

...or go on the Seoul City Bus Tour and visit the Seoul Tower.

God's Love,

Camille

Celebrating Life

Hey Guys and Gals,

We went to a couple of life celebrations in the past month.  One was for a couple of Korean baby boys celebrating their 100 days.  Another was for an American baby girl celebrating her 1 year old birthday in a mixed culture sort of way.  In Korean culture you are considered 1 at your birth and your 1st birthday is actually your 2nd birthday to them (and each new year you are a year older... that part gets super confusing so I'm not going into detail because I don't fully get it).  It's weird because we aren't used to it but I actually have grown to like the piece of being 1 year old at your birth.  I love that they believe that life starts at conception not only at birth.  So if you ask a Korean how old they are they will ask if you mean their "Korean age" or not.  An example would be if someone had the birth date February 21, 1983 we would say that person is 34 but their Korean age is 36. They are 35 because of the new year and then 36 when their birthday comes.

In Korean culture they traditionally celebrate a baby turning 100 days old because that was a good sign that the baby was strong enough and would live.  It's sort of a bittersweet thing, historically.  Now a days it is common for babies in Korea to live past 100 days of course but people continue to celebrate this milestone.  At our church there are currently 3 families in the process of adopting some Korean baby boys and 2 of them are around the same age.  They had a 100 day celebration and we were invited to attend.  Now, it was not the traditional way that Korean's celebrate given that it was non-Korean families doing the celebration but it was still interesting to attend.  We had desserts, fruits and other small foods.  You are welcome to look up information on this tradition, there is plenty of information and pictures out there to do it more justice than this little blip.

The 1-year old birthday party we attended was for an American little girl who is in a family that has adopted a Korean little boy.  Her party was mostly American (eating a piece of cake) however there was a Korean piece brought into the mix.  She was placed in her hanbok dress and positioned crawling distance from a plethora of objects.  In this tradition the baby crawls towards and grabs an item and whatever they grab it means they are going to do something with that career.  For example her options were: an apple to resemble a teacher (which is what she picked), a whisk to resemble a chef, a tambourine to resemble a musician, a ball to resemble an athlete, and a stethoscope to resemble a doctor.  Obviously, her parents know she will go into whatever career field she wants when she gets older, it's just them trying to incorporate the culture of their adopted son and current residents into their home.

Gabriel with Mrs. Okamoto who is actually Japanese.

The birthday girl in her hanbok.

The birthday girl choosing the apple.

Here she is looking at her decorations as we sang "Happy Birthday."

Deuteronomy 10:17-19

For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords.  He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.  He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice.  He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.  So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Love,

Camille

My Husband Doesn’t Trust Me

Hey All,

We are more than 3 years into our marriage and Daniel has developed a distrust with me when it comes to food LOL!  If I try to feed him something without explanation it’s typically a solid “no” from him.  As in sealed lips and shaking head.  We do this at least once a month.  Whether it is something new I tried cooking or something from a restaurant.  Recently it was gimbap. 

This is a Korean food similar in look to sushi but not.  The gimbap I ordered was from a gimbap restaurant in the mall.  It was typical seaweed wrapped around rice but the inside was composed of pork cutlet in one and smoked meat in the other.  Inside was carrot, cooked crab, cucumber, and pickled  radish.  I thought that it tasted really great and so offered him a piece.  He questioned me but tried it when I explained that there was nothing in it that he doesn’t already eat.  His response, “Stop making me eat this stuff,” in an angry and irritated tone that made me chuckle.  He didn’t like the sweetness of the pickled radish

We have a Korean-American Festival here each year.  Our church has a booth and we pass out various church related items and attempt to talk with people passing by.  Of course we are limited to speaking only to the people who can speak English but there are plenty since it’s close to outside the base.  Several of the booths have small samples of what they are selling.  This year I tried something that we ended up buying.  It is composed of sweet potato, some kind of sweet root, something like cinnamon, something like asparagus, and some sort of berry but it is dried and turned into a belt like strip.  Surprisingly Daniel tried it too.  Even more surprising is that he also tried a piece of grilled octopus tentacle!  I didn’t even offer it to him.  I grabbed a piece and popped it into my mouth and just commented that it tasted like smoky seafood.  He went and got a piece as well. 

Other things I tried which he did not were a baby crab, squid jerky, guava chips, and Korean sweet potato chip.  Even I was suspicious of the crab but a guy we were with just popped it into his mouth so I figured “why not.”  I didn’t really get why someone would eat it but to each his own I guess.

1 Corinthians 10:25, 26
Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.  For "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof."

What shall we try next!?! J

See ya, miss ya, love ya,

Camille

"Thankful, Grateful, #Blessed"

The title of this post is what it said on the shirt that I wore today to church.  I am writing to you from my laptop y'all!!! One of the deacons at church is letting us borrow an extra router.  I didn't even ask him, he just listened as I explained not being able to get something for the church done without my laptop and he was able to help so he did! I no longer have the dilemma of having to type on my tablet screen, or using my laptop but needing to sit in a strategic (awkward) spot so that it can be plugged into the wall and connected to the internet wire (taking WiFi away from any other device in the house).

I know it seems simple but I think that using my tablet so much contributes to my tendinitis (and holding the baby too but that's not avoidable). The angle at which I need to hold my hand to use the tablet is the area that continues to ache and be painful to me daily/nightly.  Although I do think that the turmeric tea is working, I also started drinking tart cherry juice daily over the last few days.  I can't tell the difference and that is an expensive juice to keep buying if it's not doing what I need for it to do.  Side note on the turmeric... I have minor back acne that is clearing up because of the turmeric.  It was an unplanned but welcome side effect.

Okay so that's really all I wanted to say.  I was super excited and just wanted to share my thanks, gratefulness and blessing.  Now I am going to bed!

Love y'all,
Camille


Proverbs 3:27
Do not withhold good from those whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

Started Off Funny...

So... I was nursing the baby and he fell asleep so I tried to get him to let go of me but he wouldn't. I decided to look up "held hostage by baby" on Google thinking I would see silly stories of other moms whose baby wouldn't let them go.

Nope. At least not initially...

Apparently in May this year some escaped inmate held 2 nurses hostage in Illinois. Oh, & let's not forget in 1991 the guy who held 17 people hostage in the maternity ward of a hospital!!! What in the world!?!

Anyway...

Starts off cute & cuddly, ends up hours of being unproductive.

It is super humid here. When I walk with him in the carrier I sweat but wasn't sure if this was sweat or a combination of sweat & baby pee.

This is my baby snot sucker & I think it's amazing. He had a cold for a few days & I took an abnormal amount of pleasure getting his little nose clear.

Psalm 103:13
As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.