Our last days in Seoul...this trip : )

I could also title this post "In food Heaven" because on Saturday and Sunday we truly were : )

In January of this year, we were fortunate to be matched up with an college exchange student from Korea named Yooseok. He's been a blessing to our family over the months we've known him, but one of the best gifts he gave us was the opportunity to meet his family while we were in Seoul. His parents and sister invited us to spend two days with them, and it was a wonderful two days!

First, they invited us to their home for a spectacular lunch! Look at all this food! It was sooo delicious! I miss it already! 잘 먹었습니다! (I ate well!) His mom is a wonderful cook! I'm going to try one of her recipes in a week! Hopefully I can come close! Yooseok knows to lie to me if I don't! lol!


And see the longing in my younger son's eyes? He's in heaven, too! This baby loves food!


And it turns out it was his sister, Seoyeon's birthday! And we got to celebrate with them! So thankful I knew how to sing "Happy Birthday" in Korean! lol! Isn't the cake beautiful? It tasted just as good! They were so sweet to include us in her birthday celebration!


And then Micah and Asher decided to visit Yooseok's room! I think Micah missed his hyung and wanted to go through his drawers to feel a little closer to him! haha! I missed getting a picture of that but not of Asher trying to pocket Yooseok's coins from his desk! And Asher MinOh might have also left some strawberry remnants in hyung's room! I like to think of it as little"hello" from Asher to his hyung!

And then our biggest surprise of all...


Jeramy got a hanbok...


and I got a hanbok! We were stunned! Yooseok later told me that my hanbok is actually one of his relative's wedding dress! To say that we shocked and completely overwhelmed by their generosity is an understatement! They also had a hanbok for each of the boys! This is a gift I will treasure forever. I wish I had been able convey to them adequately in Korean how much this gift meant to me. Thank you just isn't enough sometimes. And the fact that Jeramy's and my hanbok fit perfectly makes me wonder if Yooseok somehow secretly took our measurements and sent them to his mom! haha!


Next, they took us to Children's Grand Park. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom when we were in Seoul and the park was filled with them! And you see the cooler that Yooseok's mom is holding? Yummy kimbap for our dinner at the park!

And then we had what I like to call "fish on a stick". I don't remember the name for it! But it was good! Asher liked it, too. Micah, of course, wouldn't even try it!

As you walk to the other side of Children's Grand Park you come across a university. Hyung's university! We knew this and wanted to take a picture in front of it! So here we are...how come his sister looks so cute doing the double victory sign and I just look like a dork? Hmmmm...

To finish off our night, his parents treated us to a traditional Korean dance show. It was beautiful and spectacular! Asher was transfixed the whole time and made nary a peep. Micah didn't make a peep either, but it's because he slept through the whole show! How he did that with the drums and music, I'll never know but he did!

So while his parents had to be exhausted from the long Saturday with us, they still invited us out to lunch on Sunday! They even bought toys for the boys and a beautiful scarf for me! They took us to a beautiful, traditional Korean restaurant.

While we were eating we played a game called, "Who can keep the baby from bothering the other diners?" Guess who won?

The baby, of course!

I forgot to take a picture of the food beforehand, but this is the after picture! So much food still left! It kept coming and coming! And again, I ate well! His dad said this is where they go for special occasions so we were quite honored that they brought us here!
I have rarely met people who are as generous as these three! I was so overwhelmed by a kindness I will never be able to repay. They are a beautiful family, and I can't wait to meet again! Next time though, I promised that my Korean would be much better! Also, the picture will be complete because Yooseok will be home (hopefully! lol!) when we visit Seoul again in a few years!

Our last day in Seoul...

was sadly enough spent eating McDonalds! He ate a whole happy meal by himself! I think I'm in trouble!

At Incheon Airport, sucking down my $7 mango smoothie...good thing you're cute, kid!

And finally...back home in Chicago! Waiting for Nana to come pick us up!

What a trip! Blessed beyond words doesn't even come close to describing our experience in Korea this time! It was more perfect than I could have ever imagined! We still have so much more to do and see there! See you in 3 years, Korea!

Forever our son

I am finally getting a chance to post about Friday, the day we became a family of four!

As I added this first picture in to put on the blog, I noticed the background. What you see to the left is a picture of Senior Dr. Kim surrounded by children. Dr. Kim is the founder of Eastern who we had the privilege of meeting when we adopted Micah in 2007. He is now retired and in his 90's. His daughter, Dr. Kim, who took over for him says he still prays for all the children twice a day. I find it fitting that the picture was captured within this picture, the day we became a family of four! And the other awesome thing about this picture? Micah took it!

The sweetest words I've been hearing lately? "No, no, no, little brother." Micah says these words in the sweetest, sing songiest way! Even when little brother is squeezing his hyung's (big brother's) cheeks together or taking a toy from him, Micah is staying patient and non-violent. So far anyway...

When we adopted Micah, I felt so sad for his foster mother and thought how hard it must be for her, but it didn't hit me as hard as Asher's parting from his foster mother. When we adopted Micah, I hadn't been a mother yet. I didn't know how deeply you love a child and how fiercely connected your hearts become. I had no idea. Which means I had no idea how much Micah's foster mother's heart was being torn in two that moment she handed him to me and let go of him to be forever raised by someone else. Now I know that connection that a mother has for her child, and the thought of letting go of either of my sons is beyond anything I can bear. These women who choose to foster are the bravest, most loving people I will ever know and I am forever grateful to them all, but especially to the ones who raised my sons until it was time for them to be forever mine. 감사합니드, 민혁 엄마! 감사합니다, 민오 엄마!

My boys : ) I imagine they will have many fights in their lives like I had with my sisters, but I also see the hope of two brothers being each others' friend and greatest supporter when celebrations and trials come like my sisters have been for me. I hope to give them much in life, but the most important thing I have given them is each other because as my dad always said, "Your family is forever."

Seeing foster omma and appa again after 3 years!!

We were so excited when we found out that Micah's foster parents would be able to visit with us while we were in Korea picking up Asher MinOh! Today was the day! Micah has been excited about this all week!

We had brought some gifts and pictures for them, and Micah happily explained the pictures for them! He showed them his cousins, grandparents, and friends. They were happy to see the pictures of Micah from Chuseok and Seollal in the hanbok that they had given him and all of his friends in theirs!

As the meeting was drawing to a close, they asked us to go out to lunch with them. It was an awesome lunch! We had Shabu shabu which is a Japanese hotpot. Very similar to fondue! There was so much food!!

There was salad, a pickled food plate (for lack of a better term!), beef, noodles, dumplings, vegetables, rice cakes, rice and seafood (octopus, shrimp, clams, what appeared to be a baby lobster)! So much food! It just kept coming! And so yummy! While I am not crazy about seafood beyond fish, I decided to be adventurous and try the octopus and clam that foster appa put in my bowl! They were very chewy...

Foster appa did the cooking in the hotpot! He even fed me and Jeramy off the tongs which I thought was sweet. I'll have to ask my Korean friends about this!

Micah took the next two pictures! I have to say that he did pretty well!

Foster appa-VICTORY!!

Foster omma-VICTORY!!

On the way back to our hotel, foster appa suddenly pulled over. We thought he needed directions. Instead he grabbed Micah out of the car and took him into a toy store so he could pick out a toy from them!

Micah explaining to foster omma who all robots on the box were!

Back at our hotel it was time to say goodbye unfortunately. We told them we'd be back to Korea in a few years to see them again. They were so generous and kind and loving to Micah and to us, and we are so grateful that they were Micah's foster parents.

Tonight as Micah was going to bed he said, "I want to see my foster omma again." I told him we would see them again in a few years and until then we had their pictures and happy memories. Then he said, "I love my foster omma. I love my foster appa." I'm so grateful that my son has these two people to connect with in his birth country!

Micah's Journey Through Korea

So while the reason we came to Korea this year in particular was to bring Asher MinOh home we also made a conscious effort to make this about Micah MinHyeok, too, and make this a homeland tour for him...on a 4 year old level!

We didn't know how he would react to Korea or becoming a family of four, but we knew we couldn't leave him at home for something so important-a chance to see his homeland and bring his little brother home. So far his reactions to his Korea and the people who live here has been beyond our expectations.

The night before we met Little Brother (as Micah calls him!) Micah and Mommy woke up around 3 am. Together we had a little snack, and I remember thinking that we were getting closer to the last time we would be spending together with him as my only child. I got teary...it's certainly not that I don't want Little Brother in our family but it's a strange feeling to know that soon your heart will be expanding to fit two children in and not just the one who began it all for you!

When we went to meet Little Brother on Tuesday, it was such a surreal feeling to be bringing Micah back to visit his Little Brother at the place where we first met him. What memories that brought!

We got to see Dr. Kim, the president of Eastern, on Wednesday and have lunch there with other families adopting and a huge group from Australia on their homeland tour! Here is Micah with Dr. Kim. She is the person who said the prayer over Micah before he was handed to us permanently. Micah gave her the gift we had for her, said, "Kamsamnida" (thank you in Korean) and bowed to her! I was so proud of him!
Obviously one of the big goals was to introduce Micah to Korean culture where it originated! lol! At this point in the day, Micah was so pooped. He did really well despite all the big stuff going on!

Micah at Deoksugung Palace

Watching the changing of the guards at the Palace.

The store owner we bought our hanboks from in Namdaemun Market.

Another store owner! Micah was making friends with lots of people today!

Part of me was worried that Korea would be scary to Micah, but it's been the opposite. He loves his Korea and the people here...and so do I! They have been kind and generous to us and welcomed our baby boy #1 back home!

First visit with Asher MinOh!!!

Our first visit with Asher MinOh totally exceeded my expectations! He was shy at first but once this mommy pulled out the Gerber Puffs I had him giving me smiles! lol! This little baby loves food! His foster mother said the only time he really cries is when he is hungry!
Asher MinOh has the most loving nuna (older sister)! She was so sweet to him and even tried directing him to us! We could tell he was very attached to both her and his foster mother and has been very well loved! We are so thankful to them and will never be able to express how much. I tried to though in my broken Korean!
The pictures of Micah MinHyeok and Asher MinOh just melt my heart! Micah was so good to him! They played ball and Micah fed him Gerber puffs, too!
I was so happy he let me near him without crying! This was after a few more Gerber puffs though!
And even took some from daddy, too!

Micah couldn't stop talking about little brother after the visit! "Where's Little Brother going mommy?" We had tried to explain that little brother wouldn't be coming with us right away but I guess Micah liked him so much he wanted him to come with us!

Yaaay! A big smile for mommy! He figured out he really liked the puffs and I was a major source for them!
Already some brotherly love!
And he really likes the phone, too! He'll pick it up and say "Ne?" meaning "Yes?"

We had a great visit and were given the option to pick up Asher permanently on Friday and have him for the weekend or wait until Monday, the day we leave. We asked the social worker to let his foster mother make that choice since we know this will be a hard goodbye for her and her daughter. The foster mother thought Friday would be best so we'll be spending the weekend with our baby before we leave for home! We'll keep you updated!

Heading back to Korea : )

We finally get to head to Korea to pick up Asher MinOh! I'm not a great blog writer but I will post lots of pictures to make up for that! lol! First post will probably be Seoul time 3am Tuesday morning when I can't sleep! I have a huge list of things I want to see this time around (and yes, k-drama shooting locations are among them!) and don't think I'll be able to fit it all in. Which just means I'll have to return to Korea in a couple of years to finish my list! I love Korea and am so excited for Micah to experience it, too! We're excited to be able to meet Micah's foster mom again and to meet the family of a friend of ours who is from Korea! I have a feeling this is going to be a great trip : )