MeMe's Last Few Days

First off as I'm writing this President Obama just flew in...the flight line is our view!! We're all moved into the new house. We really like it. I'll post pics soon!

Well, as I'm sure you can imagine we were all VERY sad to see MeMe go. We had such a good time with her here and, of course, she was a HUGE help! Poor Reese tried to get in the car with her when she left...kind of hurt our feelings, but we're moving on :) I think Patrick said it best when he said "It feels like a member of our family left ." Enough about us being sad though...we'll see her again in 11 months...who's counting?! We did lots with MeMe during her last week...

This is the 4/9 market. It's in our town and it's on everyday that has a 4 or a 9 in it. It was fun to see...mostly food from the local farmers here, but there was also clothing and purses, etc.
This was a booth filled with all kind of kimchi's...NOT our taste, but interesting!
This is a bad pic because I had to sneak it when the guy went around the corner....it's a rug store...oriental rugs and Persian rugs. My Mom got four...a couple from Afghanistan and I can't remember the other 2. It was really neat to see and listen to him explain it. They are a pretty good deal, too...way better than US prices!
Here we are at the Flower Market. It was AMAZING! It was 3 huge warehouses just filled with flowers and they were a GREAT deal! I got 2 dozen roses and 6 sunflowers for less than $8!! We'll be going back there a lot!
Here's Mom and Laina in front of the poinsettia's...I can't wait to decorate for Christmas!

Laina and I in front of some orchids...we are now the proud owners of 1...we'll see how green my thumb is! She really liked these blue roses!
I just thought this was a pretty picture!
This is how they sell the flowers...it's really neat!

More flower stalls.
It was a good day at the flower market!
Mom and I went and got pedicures at "Dr. Fish". It's very popular in Asia and everyone told us we had to do it. You stick your feet in this pool full of fish and they feed on the skin on your feet. I did not enjoy it that much. I thought it tickled and was kind of gross in general. Mom was a much better sport than me. You're supposed to leave your feet in for 15 min. I lasted 3-4 and Mom about 7.
Mom was laughing at me because I kept making these faces.

We decided to take the kid's the next day. Aiden got into it. Laina...not so much!

Here's Aiden with the fishies munching on his feet!
MeMe finally got E to dip her toe in the water. When she was done she said "So, the fish are doctors?" Out of the mouths of babes, huh?!
I keep saying things just get lost in translation! This was on the main road in Itaewon...the shopping center right outside of Yongsan, the Army post in Seoul.
Us in front of the Itaewon arches.
We met up with the Balettie's again and this is all our babies hanging out! Mom and I in front of Seoul Tower in Itaewon. We had an early birthday party for Aiden, so he could open presents with MeMe...he chose a football cake...pretty cool, huh?!
MeMe with her sweet grand babies!
With his cool Star Wars toys from MeMe!
Elaina ate lunch leaning on MeMe like this...it was really sweet!

The last supper...we went to an AWESOME Brazilian Steakhouse called Fogo.
This is the kitchen...if you look in the last pic you'll see our table was right next to it. He just stands there grilling...he was dripping sweat...we felt sorry for him.
They make dessert in the middle of the restaurant...it's the Korean version of Banana's Foster. They call it Banana Cream and it was DELICIOUS! The Smiley's have a new Friday night tradition!

My Sweet Aiden

Since this is somewhat a family scrapbook I wanted to write this down, so I wouldn't forget it. Aiden will forever be our "sweet" baby. Not saying that Ms. Laina Paige isn't sweet, but trust us...she's got nothing on her big brother. Anyway....I woke up not feeling so hot today and decided I would go the doctor since my Mom is still here (sniff, sniff, sniff...she leaves tomorrow:( we're all so sad. Aiden asked her if PopP could just move to Korea!) Again, anyway....I got home from the doc with a we're not sure...just rest and take tylenol and advil. Aiden went and got the chicken noodle soup out of the makeshift pantry and said "Here, Mom, you can have my soup. I'll make it for you. Chicken soup always makes me feel better. " I said " Thanks, buddy. That's so sweet, but Mommy can't eat chicken noodle soup." He said "No, Mommy. Look right here. It says gluten free for gluten free Momma's"! My heart melted. Then, I said I was going to lay down for a little while and take a nap and he said "I'll come with you Momma, you need someone to snuggle you to get better." Truly...does it get any better than moments like that?! I SO love that little guy!

Everland, Kojeun and Dongdaemun Market

I know, I know...it's been 10 days since our last blog. We've been busy!!! Which is good for a blog posting! Last week Mom and I took the kid's to Korea's version of Disney World. It's called Everland. It was fun, but definitely NOT Disney World! They have the "It's a Small World" ride just like Disney, but it smells awful because they have to do so much to treat the water. They also have a haunted mansion ride, which is not at all haunted. You get a little gun and shoot at green dots all over the wall...that's it...I guess they just wanted to copy the name. However, the kid's had a blast and we got season passes because the kid's want to keep on going back!

The kid's and I with Everland's version of Minnie Mouse...I can't pronounce her name...notice all of the Christmas stuff. They have it all set up and it's really pretty and fun to see over here, since a lot of Koreans don't celebrate Christmas!

Mom and I with the kid's in front of the Everland stage.

Aiden going on a ride all by himself for the first time!!

We went to a really cool antique furniture store called Kojeun Antique. (We bought a new entertainment center or at least that's what we are going to turn it into. It's an antique and was definitely not designed for a flat screen tv) They put your kid's up on this Chinese Princess' bed with a bunch of toys. The kid's thought it was so neat and keep asking to go back! I still can't believe they let them play on it. It was like 250 years old! We also went to Dongdaemun marketplace and it's the arts and crafts market. It is truly a designers dream. They had stalls with millions of buttons, different beads, broaches, sequined patches, bow making things, ribbon, you name it and you could find it. It was really amazing! This picture is of one of the bead stalls. We had to sneak it. They did not want pictures taken of there stalls!

This is us in front of a doughnut stand outside of Dongdaemun. Imagine every one's surprise! Koreans are not typically big sweet eaters. Dad and the kid's tried them....they said they did not compare to a good Meche's (Lafayette place) or Krispy Kreme doughnut, but a fun treat!
This was the BEST surprise we've gotten in a while! We were coming out of the subway station and who do we see coming down the stairs??? The Balletie's...they were our best friends in Tucson. It was definitely a God moment...we randomly ran into each other in a subway station in a city of 20 million people?! We've stayed in touch through the years and are SO happy to be stationed close to them again. The last time we saw them I was 3 months pregnant with Aiden. That's why we love the Air Force...you never know who you're going to run into and where!
The whole gang at dinner that night at a restaurant they took us to called Olive & Vino....GREAT Italian food.

The Kimchi car and Korean Driving Lessons

Driving in Korea is about the craziest thing we have ever done. The streets are narrow...about the equivalent of 1 1/2 lanes in the US with people parked on both sides. You don't have to stop at red lights...in fact 9 times out of 10 people don't! They just run right through them. It's truly like nothing you have ever seen. And you can forget courteous drivers...it is every man for himself out there. They also don't have stop signs....at all, anywhere! Therefore, we have a "kimchi car". It's a jalopy! We paid $1,500 for it. We could care less what happens to it. I have already run into a column and broke one of the side mirrors (look closely in the pic), our front gate slammed into it 3 times, I broke the door handle off and the battery has already died once. The beauty of it all...WE DON'T CARE! The motor purrs like a kitten (or a very sick one at any rate). The shocks are basically shot and for some reason there are about 10 speed bumps on the way to our house, so my goal is to try to see how much we can bounce when we go over the speed bumps....the kid's LOVE it! They tell me to drive crazy like a soldier (no idea where that came from). I have to take my drivers test pretty soon and I can't even begin to imagine what's going to be on it because like I said...they don't even have stop signs! Bottom line...when we get back to the US drivers beware when the Smiley's are out on the road...I'm thinking these habits will be hard to break...especially running red lights..you really feel like you're getting away with something, you know??

The kimchi car...see the mirror!

Our other car! You're only allowed to have one car here, so the hubby's all ride there bikes to work...and yes, the reflective belt, helmet and flashing light is all Air Force required!

Korean Folk Village/Halloween

This is yet another bombardment of pictures, but hopefully you don't mind and enjoy them. We got up early on Halloween and drove up to the Korean Folk Village. It was very interesting and educational. After the village we drove home, did a quick change and went trick or treating on base in the towers. We never thought we would be excited about trick or treating in an apartment complex, but last night we were so grateful because it was pouring down rain! Our Ariel and Batman had a great time and got tons of candy....which Dad was the first to go through and "taste test"! At then end I'm throwing in a couple of extra pics of some of the other things we did this week! Keep checking back for more updates...we've got a lot going on!

In front of a traditional Korean Prayer Tower. They pile up rocks and then say a prayer. This tower was already built, so they tie there prayer requests to the tower. All the white paper is prayer requests.

This is a fence...isn't the detail amazing?!

At a traditional Korean wedding. They said this is considered a very expensive wedding (I wonder what they would think of our "traditional" $30,000 + weddings!

We just wanted to show off the BEAUTIFUL fall colors here...really reminded us of Colorado...it's neat here, but we really miss home!
The girls with the fall colors in front of some kimchi pots.

Korean Pagoda...just love all that detail.

Making paper...really cool to watch....it's a lot of work!

On a real log bridge...pretty cool, huh?!

Eating lunch...you take your shoes off and sit on the floor almost everywhere...please note that the kid's are eating lunchables....totally NOT Korean!

Who knew Korea could be so beautiful!

Aiden and I trying to work an old fashioned mill. Trust me it's not as easy as it looks...that took some real talent!

In front of a worship spot (look at the Buddha right behind Elaina's head).

We have no idea what these are, but they made a good picture!

They had a traditional Korean dance contest going on while we were there and these were the musicians....they only played drums.

The dancers...they all wore different masks and some of them were a little creepy.

It's Batman and Ariel! Must be time for some Trick or Treating!

Mom and her little Trick or Treaters!

We got issued our "chem gear" at the beginning of the week...these are our gas masks...really creepy! I'm sure we won't have to use them, they are there as a "just in case". They have a plan set up should North Korea try to do anything stupid that involves getting the kid's, me and Reese out before anything major would ever go down.

We went to "E-Mart" the Korean version of Target and they have these REALLY cool escalators for your buggy! USA...take notes!