The process we’ve been on to get her visa and figure out what comes next for our family has been a long one, but the times we’ve had while waiting to see what would come next have been great.  The opportunities we’ve had to see Korea, meet new friends and enjoy starting our family couldn’t be had anywhere else.  The hardest part now is thinking about actually leaving Korea.  I can say, I’m not looking forward to it but I am looking forward to getting on with our lives and settling down.  As things wind down here, I’ll try to get on and post updates on this blog on a more regular basis.

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This years show was just as good and we got to experience some wonderful Korean hospitality on the gwangali beach. When we got to the beach at about 6:40pm it was already very cowded and we were trying to find a seat. A Korean lady with a bunch of little kids near her waved to us and gave us some seats on their blankets. The little girls gave us some cookies and had fun trying to talk with us. It was also really fun to listen to their excitement throughout the show.

After the 45 minute long show (felt like 10 minutes) we then headed back to the subway station. It was a scene reminiscent of the Japanese train stuffers and the streets were like rivers of humanity.

Check out the pictures posted in our gallery.

In typical fashion for my dad, it wasn’t enough to get me this amazing kite… He had to go over the top.  At a recent kite show, for the National Anthem my new kite was flown by the same lady who flew the one at the show I first saw a similar kite at 5 years ago.  The announcer also mentioned that this flag was made for me and would be shipped to me right after the kite show.

One of the really cool things about this kite is the colors are all separate cloth sewn together.  Every star was cut out and sewn in separately.  The quality of the workmanship is very impressive.  I’ll post some more pictures of it after I’ve had a chance to fly it (something I haven’t found a good location for in Korea yet)

Anastasia's Beautiul Eyes

So much going on in our lives right now. Work seems to always have another emergency or a hot situation that needs attending right away, projects keep piling up, more VIPs want to visit, more people keep making dumb decisions or turn it shoddy paperwork that wastes my time… but overall, I don’t think I’ve never been happier than I am now.  The job I have for the navy is the best I’ve ever had and I think I’m doing a pretty good job at it.

My home life with my wife and daughter are better than I ever imagined it could be.  Just look at the picture of Anastasia, every day she does something new that puts a smile on my face.  A couple weeks ago she said Papa for the first time!  While I heard her say, “Mommy!” once when she was 3 months old and we say that was her first word, she has yet to repeat it so her first word she can say repeatedly is Papa or Abba!

I’ve also been working a lot on the setup of what I hope will be our future.  I don’t know how much longer I’ll be staying in the Navy but next, I’m getting out and instead of going to work for someone else, we’re trying to start our own business.  So much to learn though, so much to setup, but I know that God has blessed us and it seems that at every step along the way, He provides exactly what we need for the next step along the way.  There have just been TOO MANY COOINCIDENCES along the way to think that this doesn’t have a divine blessing.

It’s really hard to believe how much Anastasis has changed in the time I was gone. She learned how to crawl, she started making a new face that is hillarious, lots of new sounds and even just her appearance. She’s getting more and more beautiful every day.