Seoul for Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is a family holiday for Koreans so the masses exit Seoul and head to their hometowns.  My parents just received their shipment and were moving into their apartment the day before we planned to come so we decided to make the drive on Friday night (which ended up being less that 5 hours).  Ben had to go back to work on Wednesday so he drove home Tuesday.  E and I stayed and flew home on Saturday.

We had a great mix of helping the parents get settled and having fun.  We can't wait to go back in a few months when it isn't so cold!

One of the big outings was to Lotte World which is one of the biggest theme parks in Seoul.  Thankfully they have an indoor park.  The rides were fun with lots of cute ones just E's size.  Despite the looks on her face, I think she had a good time.  She also loved the parade and riding the train.

While in Seoul we took advantage of the American restaurants (Outback, Friday's, On the Border).  It didn't take long for E to discover her new favorite, Krispy Kreme.

We spent one morning at the Samsung Children's Museum which was 3 floors of fun!

We also went to the COEX Mall Aquarium.  The mall is huge and seemed to go on forever.  Inside was a great aquarium.  E later told her daddy that we went to see "fishies and sharks and Nemo fishies and FISHIES!"

We loved walking around the crowded 'hip' market streets at night...just wish it wasn't so cold (I guess we'll try again in a few months).  Seoul also got a few inches of snow while we were there so E had a super fun time throwing snowballs at grandpa!

E took a fond liking to my parent's driver, Mr. Kim.  He was sweet and gave E some money for Lunar New Year (a Korean tradition).  He was great to play with her while mom and I were at the grocery store.

We found the fabric market and I felt like I was in Pintrest heaven.  Can't wait to get my project list together and head back!

It was great to see my parent's new place and spend some time in Seoul.  They have a great new penthouse apartment in town and next to the mountain.  We are lucky to have them closer and can't wait to go back!

Home for the Holidays: Utah with Her Side

The second half of our trip to the U.S. was spent running around Utah with my side.  We left the cabin in Island Park and drove about 9 hours south to my grandparent's cabin in Pine Valley, Utah.  We got to spend just a short time with my dad's side in their fantastic cabin.  It was great to spend a little time with my grandparents and see some of the family that we haven't seen for a while.  It was fun to have the 4 generations together.

We then went back to Murray to celebrate our late Christmas and New Years at my brother's house.  We all ended up getting sick but were able to squeeze in some fun (after spending New Year's eve at the insta-care facility for E).  The boys went night skiing while the girls went shopping, we took family pictures, took the girls to an indoor carnival and got together with my mom's family.  One of the best memories was unwrapping all the re-gifted things my parents brought up from their house. It was fun opening old CD's, games, toys, and junk from their house.

(Family photos taken by Barrus Photography http://barrusphoto.com/).

The time passed quickly and part of us wanted to stay in the comfort of the U.S. but it was a surprisingly nice feeling to come back home to Korea.  We weren't sure it will feel like home but after 8 months we feel comfortable and happy to be here.

Home for the Holidays: Idaho with His Side

We did it.  Our first trip back to the U.S.A.!  I admit it was a little strange to talk to the store clerks and waiters in English, shake hands with people, have an endless supply of anything you could ever want to buy (thank you Wal-Mart and Target), and eavesdrop on conversations while out and about.  There was sure a great feeling about being 'home' and around our familiar things!  I feel bad I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have.

We spent 2 weeks with Ben's family.  The first week we did A LOT of shopping and eating out.  I think those were our major goals of the trip.  We stayed up way to late, laughed a lot, spent a ton of money and prepared for Christmas.  On Christmas Eve we drove up to Island Park to spend Christmas with Ben's mom's side in a huge cabin.  This is the 3rd year I have been a part of this every-other-year cabin trip and it just can't get much better than hanging around, eating, playing games, riding snowmobiles, etc.  Here is a look at our time.

   (Credit to Jeri's Keepsake Photography for the family photos.  http://jeriskeepsakephotography.blogspot.com/)

American Thanksgiving in Korea

We were so fortunate to have my parents here for Thanksgiving.  Now that they are in Seoul we will get to see a whole lot more of them!  Because we live in an area with plenty expats the locals cater to our needs.  B's company put together a huge, nice pot luck dinner.  They provided turkeys and everyone else brought the rest. It was a great dinner with tons of food.  I will say that holidays carry a little different meaning when you are abroad...hard to describe it...maybe they just don't feel as important.  Regardless we had fun and were happy to spend time with my mom and dad.

We didn't do much over the weekend because of E's condition.  One morning we took a walk to the waterfall.  The fall colors in the mountains were beautiful!  The favorite thing was watching grandpa and dad throw sticks in the trees attempting to knock other sticks down.  In E's works "daddy and gampa throw sticks and daddy missed."  In dad's defense he really ended up knocking them down...

We also went to the POW camp on the island.  It was interesting seeing the history of where we live and how different it was only 60 years ago!

We now look forward to Christmas in the U.S. and spending time with both families.  We will then spend Lunar New Year back in Korea with my parents.  We sure love having people to spend the holidays with!

Life in a Spica Cast

I don't know much about Spica casts but what I do know is they are super hard to sit up in, make carrying a child very awkward and heavy, are uncomfortable for a kid to sleep with, and they sure get stinky!  With every new change we've had over the past couple months coming home with a Spica on was super frustrating for all of us. E couldn't do all the things she used to do, she couldn't sit up very well, and she needed mom to do everything for her.  Somehow we managed 6 weeks.

We found ways for her to sit up.  A camping chair without arms worked the best but her tricycle also did the job.

And we found ways for her to lay down.

We found good, safe ways to get around town (yes, riding in the front seat of the car on mom's lap is totally safe).

We came to realize that when you get hurt you get more presents than your birthday and mom gets more meals brought in than when she had the kid...yes, we have some really great friends!

Our evening routine of bathing turned into blow drying the cast because of urine leakage.  Yes, it was as disgusting as it sounds.  They sure don't make those casts very easy for diapers!  Plus the poor girl was just potty trained then had to go back to diapers.  What a mess!  I'm pretty sure when I signed up to be a mom I didn't agree that I would have to potty train the same kid twice.

We got really good at moving around with that thing on!  And most of all...we learned how to adjust, make it fun and be excited about what we COULD do and not what we couldn't do (a valuable lesson for mom).

To get an update on E's progress check out this post.

Sat on the Wall...Had a Great Fall

I can usually look back at most mishaps in my life and laugh...not sure about this one.  As we were descending from the Great Wall the unthinkable happened.  We were on a switch-back ramp in line for the toboggan slide that takes you down to the village.  Being responsible moms we were holding hands the entire way as the guard rails were very minimal.  E let go of my hand for a second to grab something, got bumped by her friend, tripped over the 1-inch concrete ledge and started tumbling down the side of the mountain.  I have a few visual memories of what happened next but not many.  There were several feet of ground that was only slightly sloped until it dropped off.  I jumped after E thinking I would catch her.  Her momentum had her going quicker than I was.  She rolled down the mountain and I was able to slide on my feet and bottom until we landed about 10-15 feet below.  E was immediately crying which was good (because she didn't pass out) and had blood on her head.  I picked her up and took her to get cleaned up.  We were both shaking but got the cut on her head cleaned up a little.  When I tried to pick her up to carry her the most painful screams came.  I noticed she had a huge knot in her leg and I was pretty sure it was broken.

I won't go into much detail about the medical care and support in China...just know it is not what we would expect back in America.  After getting down the mountain we arranged with our 'tour guide' to have a local restaurant owner take us back into town (about and hour drive) and help us catch a cab to the hospital.

Finally, the 3rd hospital we tried would take us.  We ended up at the Beijing Children's Hospital in the ER.  We got our x-rays and confirmed that she broke her right femur...clean break, right in half.  The rest of that evening was a nightmare.  After going back and forth from the ER to the doctor they finally decided to treat us.  We tried to get it casted as it was so that we could get back to Korea to take care of things.  The doctors must have not understood us as they only splinted it.  E was in shock and pain and was in no condition to leave the hospital.  We decided to check her in and give her some antibiotics until she was stable.  I stayed the night with her while my friend tried to make arrangements with B who was back in Korea.

The next day was long, hard and scary.  We were trying to coordinate our plans and treatment and there was lots of waiting and confusion.  B's company contracts with an international medical help program (ISOS) in the event of an emergency.  We were able to work with them on the recommended plan of attack.  After a long day in the hospital (we were in a shared room with 7 other sick kids...not ideal at all) we got E in a temporary plastic brace to get her home.  My parent's called a long time family friend living in Beijing to come and help me...LIFESAVER!  We were able to check out of the hospital and figure out how to get back to Korea.

These pictures are pretty sad...but true.  Poor girl was in so much pain and bored and confused.  The hospital conditions were poor.  We were ready to get out!

We were released on Tuesday night.  Our scheduled flight was early Wednesday morning.  It was questionable whether or not the airline would allow us on flight with a brace or cast above the waist.  We thought we would try to make our flight.  At the same time the ISOS was trying to arrange with ExxonMobil to charter a medical flight for us back to Korea.  I got a call in the middle of the night with the good news it had been approved!  In the morning we headed to our friend's house to wait for the flight arrangements.  (We stayed in our hotel this night with our travel buddies thinking we'd go to the airport with them in the morning.  When we got approved for the medical flight our friend left on our normally schedule flight).  Later that Wednesday evening we were picked up via ambulance to take us to the airport for our private flight back to Korea.  We are eternally grateful to whoever approved the flight.  ISOS arranged for an ambulance to take us to the airplane's side, fly us, pick us up in Korea via ambulance and take us to the hospital in Korea with 2 assisting doctors.

The airplane was tiny.  E was on a stretcher and I was in a seat next to her.  The 2 doctors were in reversed seats directly behind the pilot and co-pilot.  We had to be airborne by 7:00 p.m. in order to land before 9:00 p.m. in Korea (as the airport would only accept our plane before then).  The airport in Beijing stopped all flights and opened a runway for us so we could get off.  We landed in Busan at 8:58 p.m.

When we got to the ER in Busan we were so thrilled to see daddy!!  I'm pretty sure the feelings were mutual as dad climbed into the ER crib with E to read to her.  The hospital was such a step I thought I'd never be so happy to be back in Korea!  After a short time in the ER we were checked into a private room.  Emma was scheduled to be placed in a SPICA cast the following day (Thursday).

E was placed in her hot pink SPICA cast on Thursday evening.  We were told to stay in the hospital through the weekend as they monitored the swelling and the placement of  the bone.  My mom was previously scheduled to fly in that Sunday.  (They are moving to Seoul and were coming to start getting their new life situated here).  It was so nice to have her here the first week.  E was equally as grateful to her gaga with her.  Everything looked great with E's leg and we were released on Monday.  The next set challenges then arose as we had to learn how to live our life with a busy girl in a body cast!