Phoebe spent a day making this cute apron with my Mom while we were in Korea. They picked out the fabric at the market and made it together. Phoebe was so excited to do a sewing project. Since I have minimal sewing expertise, I was glad she had some time with her Nana to make something special. Phoebe LOVES cooking so this was a perfect project for her. It will get lots of use :)
The girls wore their Korean Hanbok dresses to church and looked beautiful. The kids have lots of candy to consume and later today we will have a yummy family dinner at Grandma's. Happy Easter!
Rocks, rock hunting, and more rocks. This is what I have been doing since returning from Korea. I have been rock hunting. I came home and found one of my neighbors had edged her yard with rocks and let me in on her secret of recycling them. Something just clicked in my head and I was addicted. At first I think I did it to avoid laying down and falling asleep from the jet-lag. Then it turned into this need to find big rocks and pretty ones; like a great scavenger hunt. I picked and hauled all of these rocks myself (except for a few of the large ones that Ethen and Phoebe helped me carry). I laid them all out and have spent the last 2 weeks working on it almost everyday, getting them placed just right so they fit together and stand up. I did take 2 days off that were cold, but otherwise it has been an ongoing process. I just love spring and the yummy warm sun mixed with cool air; perfect for working in the yard. I am still not completely done yet, but I am sooo happy with how it has turned out and all for free :)
Another favorite spot of mine this trip was the fabric section of the market. It is full of several streets of beautiful fabrics, tassels, beads, etc. I thought of a couple of my friends that would have gone gaga over this place. My mission was to find some fabric to take home and make drapes for my bedroom. Yes, I have lived in this house for 3 years now and still have paper shades on the windows. Scott and I have tried a few times to put something up, but have not been able to come to an agreement on anything. After spending a couple days looking at the fabrics we decided to just ask how much the cost would be for the shop to make the whole drape. The price was INCREDIBLE and a deal was made :) The nicest family owned and ran the shop. The son spoke pretty good English and was very thorough in being sure everything was as I wanted. They look so much better then I would have been able to do and I LOVE them. It was worth waiting for 3 years. To sweeten my happiness my Mom said she would pay for them as a gift to me! Thank you soooooooooo much. A perfect early birthday present along with bringing us all the way to Korea for an incredible 2 weeks. Now I might just need to have them send me treatments for the rest of the windows in the house!! Oh how I wish this place were here in Texas. 
We were able to have several meals of traditional Korean food. I think Korean food is the most flavorful of asian cuisine. You are served several dishes along with the main entree. If you empty any of these smaller bowls they will come and refill them. Lots of different flavors are in each dish and some are really good and some....not so much. I am lucky that my kids are pretty good eaters and most of the time they were willing to try things and sometimes were surprised at how much they liked something. One night we were at a Steam Pot resturant where you can choose from a large buffet of things to cook for yourself. Luke saw the octopus sitting there and kept asking over and over to have some. I finally decided that this was the probably the time and place to let him have a go at it and he went for it. He started out by licking it to be sure it tasted ok and after passing that test he went in for a bite. Unfortunately octopus is very rubbery and his little teeth had a hard time getting a piece off. He finally did get some and did eat it! I was pretty amazed and think these pictures are priceless.
On the day we went up to Daedunsan Mountain it was windy and freezing. The tram to take us halfway up was only running one more time because there were high winds coming and the ticket lady tried to talk us out of going up with the little kids. We took the last ride up anyway and decided that we could hike all the way down. It was so beautiful even though the sky was a bit foggy. Phoebe was uncertain about crossing the bridge spanning between two cliffs, but with a little prodding she made it. With the wind blowing so strong the bridges were a little shaky. Scott hauled either Paisley or Luke for most of the time and made it down with ease. Ethen was like a mountain goat and bounded up and down the rocks like it was nothing. Even Luke hiked most of the time all by himself. My dad, Scott, Ethen and Luke all took the high bridge up to another peak. It was a little too steep to carry a sleeping baby up. Paisley fell asleep and we took turns carrying her, like a sack of potatoes, up and down the mountain. She didn't wake up till we were almost to the bottom. There are rock-type steps going almost the entire way down the mountain and it was an intense workout. By the time I reached the bottom my legs were already rubbery. As we got to the car it just started to drizzle so we had made perfect timing.
Inside one of the large Buddhas there were more tiny ones and pretty, colorful lanterns hung from the ceiling.
This place was amazing! Full of thousands of Buddhas, tiny and gigantic ones. Monks live here and keep everything up.
There are exactly 1000 of these large golden Buddhas. 500 on each side of the huge one. A spectacular site to see.
This is a very large bell the monks ring. The kids are sitting on the gong used to ring the bell. Behind that is a giant drum that sounded so deep when you played it you could feel the vibrations through your chest.
These bells are hung in remembrance of ancestors. They make the most beautiful sound when the wind blows.
