Seoul's Friends

Seoul is making all kinds of friends these days. Granted, a friend at this age is someone who is there but interaction doesn't always happen. The little girl next door, Halzie, is just 6 days older than she is so it is fun to watch them grow up together. Seoul also loves Halzie's older sister, Kylee. Hayden is a brother in between the girls but I don't have pictures of him.

Grace and Isaac are also good friends. We get to see them on a weekly basis. Funny enough Seoul seems to get more excited to see Isaac but maybe one day that will change.

Blake's mom, Jennie, is one of my greatest friends. He instigated Seoul's first... and second... kiss! His little sister, Caitlyn, is Seoul's new friend also. She asks for "baby Jennie" and both times we've seen them she has loved holding her. She even declined a frosty and playing on the playground just so she could sit and hold her.

This is one of Seoul's earliest friends, Randy Jr. They were really starting to play together before we moved away. No kissing between these two, but yes, they were in bed together!

We laugh (but worry a bit) that Seoul seems to appreciate the "men" in her life more than the ladies but I'm sure that will change... right?? (Otherwise Kelley really better worry! Especially with another little girl on the way!)

Family Beach Trip

We spent a weekend in Seaside with my family - Mom, Evan, Dana, Trevin, Amanda, & Ella, David & Ashley, Mindee, Kelley, Seoul, and I. It was a bit rainy but a good time all together. We hit the beach once and the pool multiple times! Of course you can't go wrong with the arcade and there was even a family round of bumper cars. Seoul's favorite was the carousel - first ride was with Amanda and second was on her own horse. All she could say was "more horse, more horse!" Unfortunately David didn't feel well this weekend but he was a sport and joined in with some of the activities. One evening we had a "kumbaya" night telling stories about my grandpa (we all miss him!). It was nice to reminisce a bit. Then we played the game 'Apples to Apples' and it was pretty funny. Another evening we even played 'Truth or Dare' - good times :)

(Sorry, didn't get many pictures of anyone but the kids obviously :) Also, Kelley had a work emergency so he didn't make it up until Saturday so Seoul & I had an interesting time "roughing it" without our baggage - haha!)

My Hero!

I. Hate. Bees. So when our nieces discovered a HUGE bees nest high up in the tree I was a little perturbed to say the least. Kelley scoped the situation, we called a landscaper who said it would be a few hundred dollars to have it professionally removed, then Kelley took action. (Love those homeowner duties!!) With all the neighbors standing around discussing it with him, he made a plan to take it down himself that night. The neighbors all said it was the hugest one they had ever seen not in the country. EW.

So picture this: 8:00 PM. It's cold. It's raining. Kelley and our two friends/neighbors are out there with flashlights and a tree trimmer. The course of action was to cut down the branch... then RUN. So here goes... Kelley cuts down the branch and it falls. Bzzz... out come some HORNETS. So they smash it with the trimmer and some other tool. More hornets take off, but there is no running involved. They watch, then leave it until morning on the ground. Kelley disposes of it first thing in the morning.

I am watching this from inside the screen door for my own safety (again, I HATE bees). I tried to get pictures but no luck, sorry. I'm proud of Kelley and I'm so glad it's gone!!

(I believe I portrayed the events accurately but Kelley can correct anything I missed)

I Love to See the Temple...

Seoul loves the temple and Moroni and remembers the reflection pond. She first loved the Salt Lake Temple and now knows the Portland Temple. Her favorite thing is to reach up and "tickle" Moroni. Kelley and I sing the primary song "I Love to See the Temple" on a daily basis... for me, it's more like 3-4 times a day. The October Ensign was a special Temples edition and it occupied Seoul for many days... looking at temples, finding Moroni, and finding Jesus. It was super cute and I love that she recognizes church stuff. Now whenever we're in the area we at least go in the driveway.



Happy Halloween!

Seoul loves "the mermaid one" (The Little Mermaid) so she was Ariel for Halloween. She loved her costume and wants to wear it every day. She mastered saying "trick or treat" and knowing she gets candy when she says it. However, she quickly learned she wouldn't get candy from mom every time she said it.

Ready to go!

I'm such a cute Little Mermaid! (notice the pose: hip sticking out with bucket held up a little)

Having fun taking her headband on and off, enjoying daddy carrying her.

Saturday night we went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat where she was a little leery of all the costumes but soon adjusted. Then she had a ball walking around with the cousins trick-or-treating and holding out her pink halloween bucket. She got so excited each time someone gave her candy.

Absorbed in watching everybody... what are these people wearing??

Seoul's friends, Grace and Isaac, as adorable Oompa Loompas.

It really was so fun having a little kid get into the spirit of Halloween, but she doesn't understand the scary parts yet. We have a candy bowl that has a skeleton hand come out and touch you when you reach in for candy. Seoul hates it, to put it mildly. For days afterward she would say "hand hurt... all gone" (after I put it away in our Halloween bin in the garage).

Fittingly, Kelley dressed as a San Francisco Giants fan and I was a pregnant Asian woman. Ha!

Family Updates

Seoul

What a great little person! She has such a personality and talks up a storm. It's all about new words and sentences these days. So far her longest word is 'calculator' and her longest sentence is "I want my ball." She narrates everything: daddy's milk, mommy all done, Seoul do it (or Seoul's turn), and so much more. Every day we look at her and love her more and more! Each day she asserts more independence, which is good and bad of course. The thing we don't like is this new high-pitch scream. She loves to help, whether it's fixing chairs with daddy or vacuuming with mommy. She loves her new bed and the transition is going well. Nursery is fun for her - this last Sunday she didn't look back when Kelley dropped her off. At meals she likes to sit at the table rather than her high chair.That's our big girl!

Kelley

Hard-working as always, he is now pursuing more education. He has applied for a certification program that begins in January. Should be quite the adventure but he is ambitious about providing for our family as best he can! For the 4th year in a row he won fantasy baseball... woohoo! He loves spending time with Seoul and talks to Sydney. Work is going well... super busy, but he gets some great commendations for his impeccable customer service. What a great man we have in our family! Seoul and I appreciate everything he does for us :)

Joo Lin

Just call me "Large Marge" these days! I feel HUGE but not uncomfortable, just awkward. Being pregnant with Seoul I never had reason to crawl on the floor and lift a small child on a daily basis :) [12 weeks to go!] I don't do anything terribly noteworthy, but I realize I LOVE being a stay-at-home mom with Seoul! Each day is filled with activities for Seoul with a little work fit in between. I feel really good with where I am in life - so blessed :)

"take me out to the ball game...."

Kelley is pretty excited the San Francisco Giants are in the World Series. Ok, that is an understatement. He is beyond excited!! Right now we are sitting here watching the Giants beating the Texas Rangers and hope it continues that way. I like baseball and I'm understanding more of it. I've learned to not bother Kelley when a game gets intense... and I admit I hope they win it in the first 4 games :) I'm not sure I can handle the stress like when they won the National League Championship Series against the Phillies a few days ago... I may just go into labor super early!

This is what we'll be doing for the next few days: (fingers crossed!)

Gm 1 - Wed Oct. 27    TEX @ SF 4:30 PM
Gm 2 - Thu Oct. 28      TEX @ SF, 4:30 PM
Gm 3 - Sat Oct. 30       SF @ TEX, 3:30 PM
Gm 4 - Sun Oct. 31      SF @ TEX, 5:00 PM
   [And if we must]
Gm 5 - Mon Nov. 1      SF @ TEX, 4:30 PM
Gm 6 - Wed Nov. 3     TEX @ SF, 4:30 PM
Gm 7 - Thu Nov. 4       TEX @ SF, 4:30 PM

Happy (late) Birthday Kelley!

This post is long overdue - sorry Kelley! He said he stopped counting at 25 anyway, so what's a couple extra weeks in the scheme of things??

Kelley is great at choosing creative things to do for his birthday. So this year he chose to go to Roloff Farms ... the home of the little people family of "Little People Big World." Although I have never seen a whole episode personally it was a popular idea amongst those who went.

We got to meet the mom, Amy Roloff. She was cool, available to take pictures with people and chatting with all the visitors. Kelley's mom embarrassed him by telling Amy that all Kelley wanted for his birthday was to go to your.... (pause) farm for his birthday. At various times there were other family member sightings. Good times!

They had a little pumpkin house and had some fun pumpkin scenes inside. Kelley laughed a lot!

There were some exotic animals that were fun to see. The petting zoo was fun since Seoul actually fed the animals and got excited to see them. She was real happy about the "baby pig" (as she called it)!

Seoul rode the pony and enjoyed it... until she got confident and waved at someone and then became unsure and wanted off. She did a few rotations, though, and it was a proud moment for us to see her becoming more adventurous :)

Seoul LOVES bouncy houses also... especially when the cousins are there to play with.

I made Crazy Lady Cake at Kelley's request (it's a variation of german chocolate cake). He opened gifts and we spent more time with family and friends. He ended the evening watching the Beaver game. It was a really fun day!

Happy Birthday, my handsome 25-year-old husband!! Love you! Better start thinking of a fun adventure for next year :)