The Eagle Has Landed.....

.....and she brought a little birdie with her.

Bonita and Ever have arrived for their Korea visit.

Bowling

Tuesday nights are dollar bowling nights, so after the Bible Study everyone heads over to Casey Lanes.

With soldiers coming and going, the faces change, so we have spent the past year bowling with a variety of folks. In the meantime, our bowling score averages have increased. Here is Chris (soldier) and Kevin (Army kid) and they are two of our current bowling night attendees.

Of course, cutting edge minds like Erin's can do two things at once. She can bowl AND stack the announcement placards up on end. The stack made it to about 12 high and had the attention of the entire bowling alley before finally toppling. It is a good thing she has Chang, the manager, wrapped around her finger.

Captain D's

The chaplain got wind there was a Captain D's at Osan Air Force Base, and decided he wanted some fish - American style.

After our journey, the chaplain mentioned how his folks used to drive 45 minutes to King's Table Restaurant or over an hour to Po' Boys Restaurant. As a child, he remembered passing all those perfectly good restaurants along the way, because 45 minutes in the midst of hunger pains is a LONG way. He has now surpassed his parents, as we traveled over 6 hours - round trip - for his fish and chips.

There were several vendors there with some type of outdoor festival in the parking lot. Since they were taking down their tents, we managed to buy ourselves an anniversary present at a great discount as we walked to Captain D's.

"Look, point, purchase." That is my 15 minute shopping philosophy.

All dressed up....

Jon and Mira at the Division formal.

I tried to get dressed up, but it just did not work out. I found out the end of April that a formal was scheduled for tonight. Since I was about the last to know, there was no time for mother to mail me the formal I had left at her house for this very purpose. I initially decided to just skip it, but the chaplain asked me to try and find a dress (Shopping! Oh, joy!) and go with him. After a herculean effort on my part that spanned three days, I finally found a dress. Not a perfect dress, but appropriate and (most importantly) cheap.

To make a long story short, in a distracted haste to get off the subway I managed to leave my dress on the train. Since it was not turned in to the lost and found, I managed to spend the evening at home in my t-shirt and flannel pajamas. Cary was jealous.

When I was telling Mira about my dress, she said, "Oh! It is a good thing you did not come. There was another dress there just like it!" Hmmmm...... I wonder if she found it on the subway!

Road Construction

The Chief of Staff of the Army and his wife, General and Mrs. Casey, recently visited Korea. I was invited to attend a meeting with Mrs Casey (2nd from my right) in order to share a little insight into being a non-command sponsored family member. It can be a dangerous thing to ask for my opinion, and here they were giving me an opportunity to give an opinion in a very "official" forum.

We attended a "pre-meeting" a couple of days earlier in order to review the topics. Although I told the chaplain I had been trained in the proper care and feeding of a General's Wife, the pre-meeting was a very good idea because it allowed us to become familiar with the topics addressed. Without any topic overlap, the planning meeting provided the focus that would be necessary for a successful meeting (you know how scattered women can get).

Non command sponsored family members now outnumber sponsored family members about 5:1 in our battalion. Things like housing, transportation, health care, education and financial issues are hurdles that must be overcome in dependent restricted areas like ours. These days, more and more spouses are willing to jump those hurdles in order to keep their families together and with more and more of us living up here successfully then sharing our experiences with other spouses (I call us the "Move to Korea Evangelists") the family members here will only grow. So, while we may look like a group of mild mannered women, we are actually road workers and this meeting was one step in paving the way to making Korea an accompanied tour for ALL Army families.

Baking

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my which bodyis given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Luke 22:19

Since the chaplain has been planning a special communion service, we decided that we wanted to use something besides the chapel's styrofoam wafers for the elements. I went to Yongsan searching for something that would be appropriate to use as unleavened bread, but the one day I traveled down there was the day the commissary was closed for inventory or something. Grrrrrr........

I should not get too growly, because it turned out for the best. I did a little research, discovered whole wheat flour at our little commissary (THAT was a miracle!), and decided to bake the communion bread myself. I found a recipe that made 8 small "loaves," and although I have not tasted it, even if it tastes like styrofoam, it sure looks better!

Sleepless in Dongducheon

After the Manchu Mile, we managed to squeeze in about 3 1/2 hours of sleep before we had to be up and going again. The annual Volunteer Luncheon was held today and we had been invited. 2-9 was named the Volunteer Battalion of the Quarter, and I received the 2006 Volunteer of the Year award.

After the luncheon, we took a bus back to Camp Casey and took a LONG nap! After the nap we headed out to the Food Court to watch the Manchus limp around after last night's march. You can always pick out the 2-9 guys the day after the Manchu Mile!

It's Just a Mile.....

....but what a long mile it is!

Last night 2-9 walked the Manchu Mile again. Here is the 2-9 Unit Ministry Team all smiles before they stepped off.

The Manchus marched and I chased them around - of course I walked portions of the route backwards, so I could meet all the companies and pass out snacks, peppermints and take pictures. I managed to condense my walking into about 8 miles, but the soldiers had to walk 25.

Even after 8 hours, the UMT was still smiling - but this time it was the finish line and a new belt buckle to smile about. Here is a link to the 150+ pictures from the evening.

Soyo-san!

Now therefore give me this mountain.......Joshua 14:12

After seven months, we finally hiked on one of the trails at Soyo-san.

Don't let the stairs fool you, we were just beginning to climb down, and this was the easy part. I do not think any of us knew what we were getting into, but it was fun. Three long grueling hours of fun. It took 2 1/2 hours to climb up the mountain, and 1/2 hour to descend. Not because descending was easy, but rather it was just straight down. After the stairs, the trail really got steep. There were just large ropes in place over the rocks and we just grabbed a rope and hung on while we tried to stay on our feet. We already have plans to go back and do it again.

We are not sure exactly WHICH trail we followed, because when we finally came to a map, the trail we hiked was not on it. We took pictures of the signs, and I will eventually get them translated, knowing a little bit about the trail is always a good thing. There is a temple on Soyo-san, and that is where our trail ended. Here we are near the temple at one of the waterfalls coming off the mountain.

Since it looks like Carolina and I are still going on the Grand Canyon birthday trip this fall, I'd better get used to this climbing business. ;)

Peeps!

I had to bemoaned my sad situation here in Korea to Bonita. I recently read over 600 million Peeps had been sold for Easter, and I had not contributed to the demise of a single one!

Well, Peeps must hatch later on this side of the world, because after Easter, several shelves of 50% off Peeps showed up.

For the past several years, scientists had been tampering with nature and I had to search through chicks in a host of unnatural colors. Then I saw it! I spied "Sugar Free" Peeps. Without even considering the ramifications of this new phenomenon, I grabbed a box.

As I was about to consume this long awaited treat, I noticed something odd. If you will look closely, you will see that this oversized Peep has NO EYES! Unfortunately, that is just half the sad story. This genetically engineered Peep, like his two sugar free brethren did have eyes - they were in the back of his head!!!

Once this box is finished off, it will only be 100% certified organic, free range Peeps for me.

(Nita, can you bring them with you when you come?)