Fun In The Snow!

We got the kids out in the snow in their awesome snowsuits from my mom. It was already dark, but we had a blast anyway:

3 Years - Our Anniversary Trip to Seoul Tower

January 5th 2008 I married the love of my life, Brad. Three years later, we find ourselves in another country, with 1 more kid, a pet, and on a fun adventure. We have never been an a trip for anniversary before. We have pretty much always been travelling home from visiting family since our anniversary is right after the holiday season. This year we decided that we were definitely going on a trip together. We dropped Riley off at school, Elijah off at daycare and headed to the subway. When we finally got off at the stop that is closest to the Seoul Tower, I started taking pictures.

We had to take a cable car at one point... or I guess we could have walked up the stairs that go up the mountain... but it was 15 degrees outside and well... I'm not much for walking all the way up the side of a mountain =) Here are the views on the way up:

We did have to walk a little ways after we got off the cable car, but I got some really great pics of the scenery:

We bought a lock to attach on the fence at the base of the tower. It something that pretty much everyone does when they visit here, so we found our spot and put our little piece of metal on the huge canvas of locks:

Our Lock!

Another part of the fencing that was COVERED in locks

We travelled up into the tower and visited some of the other places that were around like souvenir shops and a little restaurant.

Our Chicken Salad that we had with our meal - YUMMY!

It was a great day to spend together. When we left we got lost in underground Seoul, yikes! That's not something I'm up for again, but we made our way to the Army post in Seoul and shopped at their PX then headed home on one of the buses. What an exhausting but awesome day!

What's Headed Your Way?

I'm going to try and be better about updating my blog this year. I have a few things that you will see on here shortly:

1. Our Anniversary Trip to Seoul Tower
2. Fun in the Snow!
3. New Living Room Furniture
4. Pampered Chef
5. Oh the Many Hats I Wear!

We've been a busy family for the past few weeks even though the holidays are over. Our weeks look like this right now:

Mondays - Emilee: PWOC Bible Study (Beth Moore's Daniel)
Tuesdays - Everyone: Youth Praise Team
Wednesdays - Riley: Awanas
Thursdays - Brad: Weekly Guys Night Out
Fridays - RELAX!!!!
Saturdays - Contemporary Praise Team Practice
Sundays - Church

Phew! It's a wonder we see each other! Thank goodness for dinner together each night or we may never spend time together as a family.

Happy New Years! It's 2011!

We had some friends over for New Years and I served a great midnight breakfast. I had bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits, fruit salad and Brad made regular and chocolate chip pancakes. We also had strawberries and whipped cream, blueberry and strawberry syrups and regular syrup. It was yummy! Our guest list included quite a few people from our chapel worship team as well as a couple that we know from Brad's work.

This years New Years Resolutions:

*Be a better wife, keep things cleaned up and stay on top of my chores and mommy duties

*Read more of the Bible, do devotionals

*Have more patience with the kids (that includes the biggest kid aka Brad)

*Use my sewing machine more

*Have more family time

I think I have my work cut out for me! Now also starts the beginning of our venture with Pampered Chef, as well as a huge savings push so we can afford to go back to the states for a month this coming summer. We have to pay quite a bit per person to fly back and then we want to be able to go on vacations and get some shopping done since there's not much shopping over here. That being said.... Who wants to have a Pampered Chef party???? You can do online or if you're here in Korea we will gladly do a live show for you!

That's my plug to start of a year of good business!!

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas! This was our first time having Christmas as just our little family of four. Although we missed everyone, I have to say it was nice to have Christmas on our own this time. Not only did I make stockings for us, but I also made matching PJ pants for all of us!

We got some awesome gifts!

Riley got a Tag reading system, V.Reader system, some really cute clothes, a Barbie that lights up, a Barbie camera, new Hello Kitty sheets and Comforter and some coloring stuff.

Elijah got lots of trucks, some bath toys, a remote control car, lots of clothes, an interactive DVD and book learning set, and some other little things.

Brad got a new laptop case, snow boots, some books, a neck massager, tools, clothes, a new Nerf Gun, and a really nice hard-shell suitcase that isn't in the picture.

As for me, I got a new camera... a Nikon D5000 to be exact! I also got a new food processor, which I LOVE!!!!! I got a sewing accessory case with lots of new thread, some new clothes, a new foot spa, some new Wii games (Jeopardy and Family Game Night with Clue, Twister, Mousetrap, LIFE, and Yahtzee) and lots of goodies in my stocking!

It was such a great day! I cooked a big supper for us and our friend Daniel that included ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, rolls, green beans and Brad and Daniel made fudge to end the night.

We're still waiting on some boxes to get here and when they do I will update with what's in them. =)

Homemade Quilted Stockings

I told my hubby that I would make us stockings... and 2 Christmas's later I DID!!! LOL! Here's nice little tutorial on how to make homemade quilted stockings:

First you need to make a pattern (don't forget to add extra for your seam allowance):

I used an old store bought stocking as a template

Next you have to cut out fabric using your pattern, the best way is to fold the fabric in half and cut both pieces at the same time, or you may end up with mismatched parts:

I went ahead and cut another fabric for the inside at the same time

Once you have everything cut you can start the quilting part. Take the outside fabric and put it on a  piece of batting and quilt away!

I use a diamond pattern on stockings, but you could use any patterns for the quilting

After you finish quilting you have to cut the excess batting away:

This is a view of the back once the quilting is finished and the batting is trimmed

Now comes the tricky part. I made a simple strip to use as the hanging loop. Then, I layered the finished front (finished side up) then the strip and lastly the inside fabric and sewed along the top to finish the one side:

Notice that there is only a small part of the strip sticking over the edge

 Then, I turned the whole thing right side out and sewed a finishing stitch along the top:

The next part is best illustrated with the picture. It is the same steps as the previous 2 pictures but you have to make sure you have the fabric in the right place:

Lay the quilted back down then place the front with the strip on top of it, lining up the right place for the strap to attach

Then lay the inside fabric on top and sew

 When you flip this one over and finish it you will end up with something like this:

Now the only thing left to do is put the like sides together and sew around the sides and bottom:

I pinned them together first to prevent the fabric form moving

Here's the finished stocking:

From left to right: Brad's, Elijah's, Riley's and Mine!

Ok, so here's the plan...

This year for Thanksgiving we are once again opening up our home to the airmen that are away from their families, including the married couples who cant go see family back in the states. Our guest list is at ten for now, but we have a few more that are going to get back to us. That should make it interesting! Add in our family of four and that's a full house! The menu is pretty much a typical Thanksgiving meal: Roasted Turkey, Spiral Sliced Ham, Gravy, Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes, Pressure Cooker Green Beans with onion and mushroom, Creamed Corn, Bread Dressing, Baked Beans, Rolls, Cranberry Sauce, Cranberry Relish and anything anyone else wants to bring. We will also be having a few munchies until dinner is ready: Artichoke Dip and a veggie tray. Lets not forget dessert!!!! We will have: Cindy's Best Cake, Chocolate and Peanut Butter Fudges, Mocha-Hazelnut Cream Filled Cake, Tiramisu Bites, Mini Cheesecakes, and Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce. I think we should all be STUFFED!!!

Other news for us: We got to see our on base housing today. I like it a lot! It will be so nice to have a real oven, washer AND dryer, American outlets, real closets in all the bedrooms, a balcony that we can have a grill on, walls that you can hang pictures on, a linen closet... I could go on and on... Best of all it wont be 4 miles away from base!!!!! I will do my best to get some pics up on here once we move in next month.