Our Almost-Home

The builder of our home is going to let us move in before closing. So today we unloaded the Penske truck into the garage, and Monday we should be able to move in after they finish touching up the paint and installing blinds. Anyway, I thought it was probably safe to post some pictures.

Our pretty front door with a Texas star.

When you walk in the front door there is an office/extra room immediately to the right.

The living room.

Walk way/hallway to bathroom and kids' rooms.

Hall bathroom.

The kids' rooms are identical.

The dining room. I'm a huge fan all the light that comes in these windows.

The kitchen.

Master Bedroom

Master bath

Master closet

Hope you enjoyed the little tour.

Update On Us

Sorry for the lack of fun/interesting posts with pictures.

After Clint and I found the house we wanted we loaded up the car and headed back to Utah to move our household goods that have been in storage since we moved to Korea. We were able to spend Thanksgiving with our families and it was so great. Our first Thanksgiving with them since 2005!

The night of Thanksgiving I decided, last minute, to armor up and battle the troops at Wal-Mart. I headed over at midnight, then went to Best Buy, stood in line for 2 hours for a washer and dryer that I didn't get, went to Target, got home at 6, left again at 7, went back to Wal Mart, went to the mall and finally got home aroung 1 pm. I think. I had absolutely no intentions of going shopping on Black Friday, but I ended up going and I got all my Christmas shopping done minus 1 or 2 things.

On Saturday after Thanksgiving we loaded up our Penske truck. We were planning on leaving Sunday, but Utah got hit with another snow storm, so we didn't make it out until Monday morning. After 27 hours straight of driving...we made it to Texas and went straight to a meeting with our realator and an inspector.

The builder of our house said we could move in upon loan approval, so we were expecting to move in soon. We hired an inspector to check things out, just to make sure everything was up to code. Unfortunately he found a few minor things that needed to be fixed and we aren't going to move in until they are fixed. We're hoping it will happen by this weekend, but who knows. So for now we are, once again, crashing with family.

I'll continue to keep you posted :) Because I know you're all SOOOOO curious!!!

House Hunters

Have you ever seen the show House Hunters on HGTV? Well, that is NOT how house hunting goes!!

Before arriving to Texas I looked at about 140 houses online. When I got here, I looked at about 32-35 of those houses in person. When Clint got here we looked at about 12 of the houses.

It just so happened that one day, when we were out with the realator, she got a phone call from another agent saying "hey, if your clients are hungry we're having an open house at _____ address." So, since our realator had to meet another couple to close on a house, we stopped by this open house.
We ended up LOVING the house. We put in an offer yesterday and it was accepted today. So, its not actually ours yet, but we're one step closer!!!!

We are leaving Texas tomorrow (Sunday) night and heading back to Utah. We'll be there for Thanksgiving and then the weekend after Thanksgiving we are loading up the Penske truck and heading back to Texas. So we won't be back for long, but at least we'll be there for the holiday.

So we left Utah on Thursday morning around 7 am. We made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico at 7pm. The kids were really good. The classical music idea worked (actually I used soft Christmas music lol), unfortunately, it worked well on me too. So I really had to limit its usage. I listened to The Work and The Glory on CD (Thanks Ande). That really helped me stay awake. I ended up buying the kids a portable DVD player which was probably the best thing I could have done.

We left Albuquerque at 8am on Friday and made it to Copperas Cove, Texas shortly after 9pm. The kids were a little more restless on Friday, so it was hard, but they were still really good considering. I'm blessed to have such good babies. They are adjusting to the time change just fine (even with Daylight Savings) and they are getting along with their "new" cousins very well. Morgan and Ambria are only 3 weeks a part and could be twins!

I'm staying with a friend in Copperas Cove for a couple of days. Nikki and I met in Korea. Another friend of ours from Korea recently moved to Copperas Cove, and at church yestereday, I ran into yet ANOTHER friend from Korea. Aviation is a small world (thank heavens!!). We also have some friends from flight school living here and a couple more people that Clint will be working with here, he also worked with in Korea.

Morgan misses her grandparents already and was crying for her cousin, Ellie, on the way down. Oh, and she cried for her cat, Sammy. But she just absolutely LOVES Ambria and Braydon. She calls Braydon "friend". He is 9 years old and takes such great care of his little sister and cousin. He's such a good kid!

I'm starting the house hunt today! Wish me luck!!

Oh goodness

I have so many updates to put on here, but I just haven't been able to find the time to blog lately. Tomorrow morning the kids and I are leaving for Texas. We are driving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, staying overnight, and then continuing on to Fort Hood. I have to admit I'm nervous for the 20+ hour drive. I'm mostly worried about how J will do. I'm sure M will be fine with her DVD player, 3 new Strawberry Shortcake movies, and snacks GALORE. We're going to stay with my good friend, Nikki, who lived near us in Korea. Then we'll go stay with my brother who just PCS'd to Texas in September. Clint will get to Texas in a couple of weeks and then we'll be coming back to Utah for Thanksgiving and to move our stuff from storage to Texas. Our household goods from Korea arrived in Texas a month ago!! If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for LOOOOOOOOONG car rides with little ones, I'd be glad to hear them :)

The Trip

Tuesday August 31, 2010

In the Seoul Airport waiting for the plane.

These 2 cute Korean kids were facinated with Jackson.

On the plane.

"hello"

Made it to Seattle

Unfortunately we got stuck in Seattle because the plane was having mechanical issues. It took over an hour to finally get issued new tickets for a later flight. But once we got the tickets, they announced that the plane was fixed and we were going to board. So we had to get our tickets changed BACK so we could board our flight. It was a mess.

I'm so lucky I have such great kids. This laptop was a HUGE success. Morgan played with it the whole time we were in Seattle.

We arrived in Salt Lake City 2 hours later than scheduled. We were exhausted, but the kids did so great on both flights. We flew into the Salt Lake Valley as the sun was setting over the Great Salt Lake. It was a breathtaking sight and I have to admit, it brought tears to my eyes.

Jackson meeting Grandpa Kent for the first time.

Jackson, Grandpa, and Dad

Morgan and her cousin Carson hit it off right away. They are 2 peas in a pod. They play so well together.

Today We're Leaving South Korea

Words can't express my mixed emotions right now. The last 2 years we've been in South Korea and they haven't been easy for me. The first 6 months were the hardest. I've hated being so far away from home. I've had a hard time not being able to jump on a plane and be there for every family event. I've had a hard time not living close to a large military base.

But once I got over that and decided to make the most out of our time here, I realized things weren't so bad. I've made some lifelong friends. People who I will never forget. People who have left an everlasting mark on my heart and soul. I have learned so much (about life and about myself) from being here and from the friends I've made. I love you all so much. I am so thankful that you came into my life. I'm so thankful that we all have the technology to stay in touch. And I hope and pray our paths will cross again very soon. Thank you for everything you've done for me, and everything you've taught me. Thank you for being my family.

God be with you all until we meet again.

All my love,
Katie

Saturday evening we got to the hotel. Its a huge hotel on post at Yongsan. Right in the heart of Seoul. Its very nice and we're glad we chose to spend 10 days here. This is the view from our room.

That night we walked down the street to Burger King. We let J try some Sprite. Needless to say, he loved it.

And he made some pretty funny faces when we didn't immediately give him more.

My favorite:

Did I ever mention he finally got his first 2 teeth in about a month ago? Well, there they are, if you look closely.

Oh, and Morgan wanted her picture taken too. Of course.

Lunch With Friends

On Saturday we finished cleaning our apartment and then checked out with the Landlord and Realator. Then, we went to lunch at a very authentic Korean barbeque restaraunt.

May, Ellie, Clint, the kids, and me.

Jackson loved this pickle. He's the only one in our little family who does.
May and Jackson

Moving: Day 2

Friday August 20th

The movers came to get our household goods.

Sammy finds the silliest places and positions to fall asleep.

The kids and cat staying out of the way.
"Look what my legs can do! They can hold me up!!!"

"And I'm down."

Moving: Korean Style

Wednesday, August 18th

Some movers came to pick up our military-issued furniture. Its kind of hard to see in the picture, but they are using a crane-type thing. One guy loaded furniture onto it from our house, then the guy in the truck operated the crane (I'm not using the right word) and unloaded the furniture into the truck.

This is how J kept himself entertained while the furniture was being moved. He liked to throw the ball and watch Sammy chase it, then soot over to it and throw it again.

Crazziness

Things have been crazy. As I've mentioned before, the movers came last Friday. They packed up our stuff and moved us out pretty fast. We spent the rest of the day cleaning furiously. That night we stayed with our friends, The Dance's. After a wonderful waffle breakfast we went back to cleaning on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we checked out with the Landlord, went to lunch with our realator, then packed up our stuff from the Dance's and moved into a hotel. On Sunday we went to the beach with some friends. We really wanted go before we left the country.

The rooms here are nice. They gave us 2 joining rooms so the kids are sleeping in one and we're in the other. There's a nice little kitchenette thing. The first night the kids had a rough time. They both woke up twice. The second night was much better. Morgan slept all night and J only woke up once. I think they're both having a rough time with the whole moving thing. But they're adjusting. Morgan is bored out of her mind with only a few toys to play with. She's acting out a lot more than usual, but thats to be expected. She keeps saying she wants to see Gwamma. She's asked to go home a few times too. There's an outdoor pool right across the street and a big playground right outside. Unfortunately its been raining since we got here, so we haven't been able to get out. Hopefully we'll see some sunlight tomorrow. Getting some energy out would help with the acting out and rough nights I think.

We'll be in Utah in one week. It feels good to have the hard stuff behind us (the packing and moving). We're excited to just relax this week and have a fun vacation once we get to Utah.

"Details"

I say "details" because we all know how nothing is for sure with the military until after its already done. So here's what we "know" so far.

Clint was offered the IP (instructor pilot) course after we leave Korea and before we get to Ft. Hood, Texas. We are supposed to leave Korea August 19th, but the earliest class he could get into starts September 24th. So we will be staying in Korea a few extra weeks. If all goes according to plan (which it hardly ever does) this is what will happen:

We will leave Korea mid-september (hoping its before mine and J's birthdays) and fly home to Utah. We will be there a couple of days before Clint flies to Alabama for the IP course. The kids and I will stay in Utah. Clint should finish the course around November 18th and fly back to Utah. Hopefully he will be able to get enough time off that we can be in Utah for Christmas. Hopefully. Then we will load up our stuff that is in storage and move to Texas where we will live for at least 3-4 years (probably 4). As far as we know, the unit Clint is going to will be deploying in April 2011, so that will happen shortly after we get there. In case you were wondering.

We're crossing our fingers that plans don't change TOO much.

We're Moving.....

Details to follow when they are obtained.

Moving Again Is Fun To Do

So, like I said, we finally moved out of the barraks and into our own apartment. Here's just a few pictures from the move.

We were living on the 6th floor, so this is how we got our stuff down the elevator :)

Morgan was such a good helper. Everytime I would be packing a box she would take things out so I could pack them again! What a sweetheart.
Helping some more.

Mom, I can't lift this by myself!!!

Lots of hard work, time for a potty break!