I can't believe it's no longer July!!!

I started writing this post in June and never got back to it and now its August!!! How did this happen?!  I haven't posted in almost three months! What happened to May, June and July? Well everything is the answer. I have so much to post about now it is not even funny!

I have stuff to catch up on that we did back in January that we just did again in May with my parents. Yep, my parents were here! They love me so much they traveled across the world to see me! Well, not just me but the kids, and Mike and Korea. We had a great visit and stayed very busy. Dad was here for about 10 days while Mom got to stay for about 5 weeks. We also took a vacation to Jeju island, the southern most island in Korea, while Mom was here, but more on that later. On top of them being here, I have been crocheting like a mad woman trying to get all my squares done for our "Happy Hookers of Korea" Granny swap. I have completed some other projects as well. I have also been spending extra time with some of the very special people we have met here. Quite a few of them have left over the last few months or will be leaving very soon. We have also celebrated four birthdays including the Army's, Father's day and our Anniversary! So all of that left me with no time to sit and blog. I am going to try and catch up a bit now....

Some of the squares from our swap project! Thats right thats not even all of them. Since this picture was taken there have been probably twice that swapped overall.

Our squares laid out on swap day, again not all of them! 

The kids eating their pizza Korean style on the floor. This was our last get together with the Rauhala family before they left. We miss them terribly!!!

Within the same week my friend Darla and her son Matthew left as well. We miss both of you too!

My sweet friend Dasha also left in early July. These are the flowers she gave me for my birthday.  I miss her too!!!

At the beginning of July my friend Kathy and her family also left. However they are only gone for the summer and will be back! But we still miss them and having play dates!

And finally, last week we said see ya later to another great friend, Bridgette. This is the afghan some of the "Happy Hookers" made for her as a parting gift. We will miss you too!

One thing of noted importance is we (the kids and I) have officially been here for a year! That seems like such a weird thing to think about. I was very used to saying "we have been here almost a year", when the guy next to me getting a pedicure asked me the how long have you been here question. I went to respond and realized it had been exactly one year that day! Thinking about that really makes me miss everyone back home, but it is nice to think that we are way over the hump and only have a few months left! As for finding out where we will be going next, Mike thought we would find out in July. However it turns out we are on cycle 2 of the branch assignments so it looks like we may not know until Octoberish. Our date for leaving here is still January and that will not change.

The day we arrived at the Incheon International Airport. Rhyon not even able to walk by himself yet! Those darn kids grow so fast! 

Rhyon turned two last week! I can hardly believe it. He is talking more an knows the whole alphabet now. He has been much better since his surgery at the end of May. For anyone who didn't know, he had some minor surgery in May at one of the Korean hospitals. That was an interesting experience to say the least. By that I mean they took really good care of him but some of the things they do in the hospitals here are much different then our American ways. For instance, in the states the patient would be in a room either by themselves or with one other person separated by a curtain. Here Rhyon was on one bed in a room with 5 other patients and no separation curtains. My Mom called it ward style. Being the only Americans in the room was also a fun addition to that situation as my very blonde haired blue eyed kid was the main attraction to several family members of another patient. Another difference was that the surgery was supposed to start at 8 and it did! In fact at about 7:45 the poor Doctor must have been running late and came in winded to talk to us and explain stuff before hand, and then ran off to get ready right away! They also put Rhyon to sleep in my arms, which would never happen in the states. Mom said something about there being an unprotected airway and that being a really bad thing to do. However, I think Rhyon and I both preferred it that way. The other really nice thing they did was there was a screen in the waiting area that showed each patients name and time for the surgery start and end. This was a really nice feature, knowing exactly how your kid was doing. Within a couple of days Rhyon was much better and with a greatly improved attitude. I am also hoping to work on potty training soon but my biggest challenge right now is even getting Rhyon to sit on the potty at all. Wish me luck!

Rhyon doing some art at Ms. Lauries'.

Rhyon before his surgery.

Ward style room at hospital.

Another view of Rhyon's room.

Ellie giving Rhyon his present.  

Everyone playing with the racetrack I made Rhyon for his Birthday.

When in Korea, get a Pororo cake from Paris Baguette!

Balloon says Happy Birthday in Hangul. Sorry its upside down, it was taped on the ceiling. 

Every cake comes with streamer poppers! Yay!!!

Me and the birthday boy.

He is so sweet to share his cake with Mommy!

Opening presents, he really likes his "Cars" book.

As for Giulianna, she has been busy just being a kid and making me crazy. She turned 4 at the end of May. We didn't really do much for her Birthday, but she did get to bring cupcakes to school and wear her Birthday Crown around all day. We had a little confusion with her school registration for the fall, but thats fixed now. Its been really hot and humid here so its hard to be outside sometimes which means pent up energy and much more TV watching then I would like for her. Yesterday we were on post hanging out with some friends there and on the way home Giulianna wanted to stop and paint pottery at the Arts and Crafts building so we did. Last week to expunge some energy we walked to McDonalds for lunch. We take places like that and their drive-thrus for granted in the states. Going to McD's here is a very rare treat and a major effort! We would be spending more time in the pool, but the one here on Hannam has been closed for repairs for the second time this season, which means having to take the bus to post in order to use a pool. Not impossible, but a pain! Thankfully one of Giulianna's best friends lives two doors down so she gets to play with Avery a couple times a week. She finally got called to model for the first time a few weeks ago and I will post pictures from that in the future. She is signed up for another gig next week too, so thats exciting!

Giulianna with the Ariel I made her for her birthday!

Thats Giu in the middle with the pink crown.

Happy Birthday!

Giulianna at a modeling gig. (More in future post)

Lovin on her brother.

Mike has been pretty much doing the daily thing, going to work, coming home, sleeping and repeat! The biggest change for me has been joining Thirty-One gifts. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, its a company that sells some really awesome bags and organizing totes etc. I have my own website, www.mythirtyone.com/RachelSchuster/. I have been trying to get some parties booked to get my business up and running but, no success with that yet. On Saturdays I get to have some no kids time while Mike stays home with them and I go do whatever, which has been really nice. For our 6th Wedding Anniversary Mike and I went and saw Wicked at Blue Square Theatre. It was awesome as usual, and this time included Mikes commentary on the flaws in the storyline. I pointed out to him that its hard to take a very awesome novel and turn it into a two act play with out changing a few things. We are now both planning to read the book, seeing as I only read half of it the first time.

Mike and I.

Picture of the stage for Wicked. Notice the telepromter screens. They narrated the whole thing in Hangul since the actors spoke English. I think it would really suck to have to read subtitles during live theatre.

They had all these cases with props and costumes from the show. It was awesome to see this stuff up close. You miss so much detail as an audience member.

Someone clearly didn't want his picture taken....

Close up of Elphaba's dress. It was so beautiful!

The famous shoes!

Me with the dress of Glinda.

Dragon just like the one on the stage. It was very cool. And Mike is smiling, he actually enjoyed the show! 

My dinner.

An example of our awesome friends, not only did they babysit so we could go out, but Laurie and Ben also made us special Anniversary cookies! Yum Yum!!!

Sorry about the long time between posts. I hope this one fills in some of the missing blanks for you as to what we have been doing. Its amazing sometimes how fast time flies with just the silly day to day stuff. I will try to crochet less and blog a little more and get caught up on all the stuff I have to share! There is lots and lots more to come.....