he's ours forever.....

The foster mother and brother were so sweet. They gave us many gifts including a hanbok for Oliver which is a traditional Korean outfit. I had given her Oliver's baby book at our meeting on Monday. I asked her to write a letter to Ollie in it. She glued a picture of the two of them in it along with notes from all of the members of her family. She handed him to me and left quickly as she was beginning to cry. We are so thankful for her care and love.

Meeting Oliver

a few things....

Everyone here wears Scottie dog barrettes.

There are no fat people here. Probably because they walk all the time and eat reasonable portions. We ate lunch at Pizza Hut today and they don't even have large pizzas. Just small or medium.

We went to the Korean equivalent of Wal-Mart today. They had an escalator you could ride while pushing your cart.

Koreans are so polite and helpful yet they think nothing of butting in line.

I rode on my first subway today.

more pictures

here he is

I can't stop smiling....

Today was such a great day! We are so blessed! We were early to Holt because I couldn't wait any longer. The place was swarming with babies and I hated sitting in the waiting room not knowing if Ollie was sitting next to me or not. Turns out he wasn't, he arrived a little late with foster parents in tow. He was so smiley and happy. He let us hold him and kiss him. We had an interpreter so we could talk with the foster parents. They gave us an album full of pictures of him. (plus 2 rolls of film to develop when we get home!) They have had him since he was 6 weeks old and they love him so much. They have fostered 2 other babies but they were both escorted home so they never got to meet the adoptive families. They were so excited to meet us and they asked us if we were christians. When we said yes, his FM was so happy because they have been praying Ollie would be raised in a christian home. They go to a large Presbyterian church (where the foster father works) and it turns out Oliver has been going to church every Sunday with them. They invited us to come home with them for lunch. We got to witness Ollie's pre-flight exam and then we all piled in their van. He fell asleep on me on the way there. (they don't use carseats here) He's a thumb sucker!!
Ansley- help me out here, I know that sometimes the families are invited out to lunch by the foster family but have you EVER heard of one that went this far to be hospitable? They cooked us a wonderful, large, traditional Korean meal and then they wanted to take us sight-seeing. We said good-bye to our baby who stayed with his foster sister since it was so cold out. The FM spoke no english and the FF only spoke a little bit. Due to the language barrier, they could never tell us where we were going. They first took us to an awesome palace that was built 700 years ago. Then we took a cable car up a mountain to the tallest building in Seoul. It's called Seoul Tower and it looks a lot like the Space Needle. We went to the top and we saw Seoul from a bird's eye view. Then they drove us downtown to a very ritzy department store. There were several resturants on the top floor and we ate dinner at a steakhouse. Wasn't that so nice of them to show us around Seoul? Well it gets better, they insisted on paying for everything! They even bought us keychain souvenirs! I have prayed that Oliver would have wonderful foster parents and today proves that God provided just that. We are so grateful.
We are moving out of the guest house and into a hotel tomorrow afternoon. The hotel will have wifi so we can download all the pics from today onto our laptop and I can share some of them with you. I am typing this on the guesthouse's decade old computer. I can't wait for you all to see little Oliver!
By the way, his foster parents call him Jun-Seok. Not as cute as thumper!

we met our son!!!!

This is going to be quick because I'm blogging from the home of Ollie's foster parents. They invited us here for lunch. How sweet is that? Oliver is so cute and happy. It was wonderful to finally get to hold him and kiss him. We will blog more later and hopefully figure out how to post our pictures and video.

We've got Seoul!

We arrived safe and sound a couple of hours ago. The flight here was very nice. Our plane had mini touchscreen t.v.'s for each passenger with lots of movies and shows we could watch on demand. It even had Yahtzee and Tetris. So fun! We are off to find some where to eat and then we'll go to bed anticipating meeting our boy tomorrow morning! Thank you all so much for your prayers.

That crazy Chick-Fil-A bunch

Can I just say I have the BEST friends?

Not only have you guys taken us in when we had sick kids and no power. We get our travel call and I have been absolutely overwhelmed with all the offers of help. Jen and Laura came over today and walked me through the day. I haven't been able to concentrate or settle down since getting "the call" so it has been necessary to surround myself with level headed people. They brought me lunch, cooked our dinner, took me shopping, cleaned my freezer out, swept my floors, did my laundry, and organized the many gifts and gift bags we are required to take with us. I love all you guys! Thank you so much for your support!

I don't even know how to title this one! It's just so good!

We got our power back. We got Ollie's visa approval in the mail. I received a darling invitation to my baby shower. The girls and I visited Matt and company in their tent located on the Chick-Fil-A parking lot. (I'll post pics of that later) I headed over to the Jeppsens to eat dinner and watch a little American Idol. ( I love Sundance!) What a great day, right? Well, it got better.

While eating dinner I got "the call." The call I thought was still a few weeks away. Oliver is ready for travel!!!!!!!!!!!! The man calling from our agency was so sweet and patient with me as I tried to make decisions about our lodging and sight seeing tours. I just couldn't concentrate. He kept telling me, "On Wednesday, he will be yours forever." I can't wait.

day 11 is a little piece of heaven

We tried the generator for a night and discovered it wasn't for us. Back to the Wilson house we went. Still no power in our own abode but they do seem to be making progress in our neighborhood. We are having fun here but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to getting back to our normal life. My girls on the other hand......they would live with Morgan and Ashley permanently if they could. This has been such a wonderful experience for us and God has taught us SO MUCH! I could write a book!

Day eight is great!!!

We are going home!! Thanks to the generousity of a fellow blogger, we will have a generator until our real power comes back on. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so grateful to those of you who took us in. Matt's grandparents, Bryan and Holly, and Gary and Lisa. You fed us well, allowed us free reign of your washer and dryers, and gave us warm beds. Honorable mention to Lisa for helping me clean up everyone's puke when Matt and the girls got the flu. That's a true friend.

See you at church!

day 6 and counting.....

Tonight, we will sleep in our fourth house in as many days. We are still having fun and making the best of this situation.

p.s.- the girls' birthday party has been canceled

This storm really is fun!

I have changed my tune.

God has been so good to us during this whole ice storm no power thing.

We have gotten to spend time with great friends and family. Matt's grandparents bought the second to last generator at Sam's and that has been a huge blessing. We have heat, a t.v., a fridge, a hot plate, and 2 lamps. I even get to plug in my hair dryer and straightner! What more could a girl want?

Bryan and Holly have been nice enough to let us do our laundry at their house (and use their computer!). We've had so much fun watching movies and playing games.

As desperate as I am to get our baby home, I'm so thankful he's not here to experience all of this. God's timing is perfect isn't it?

This is not as much fun as you said it would be, Jen....

So far.....
Matt has sat on our back porch and watched the transformers blow like it's a fireworks show.
We drove underneath downed power lines and and dodged falling trees at 1:00 am. I have to say, seeing Sunshine pitch black was pretty cool.
Tried to sleep in my in-laws living room with a sick Lucy who is hacking up a lung.
Tried calling 911 to get an ambulance for my grandpa who has not had power to run his oxygen tanks for the last 12 hours. 911 never answered. I finally got a hold of the St.John's emergency room and they are sending someone.
Unsuccessfully attempted to convince my 89 year old grandma to let us come pick her up. She's heating her home with her gas range. Sounds like a fire hazard to me.

What are you all doing?

Happy Birthday, Mandy!

As Laura would say, happy 6th anniversary of your 25th birthday!

I've run out of things to do...

I had a list of things I needed to do before Oliver came home. I've crossed off everything with the exception of catching up on the girls' scrapbooks. That's just not gonna happen.
So.... I have needed something to fill my time.
I blew the dust off the ol' sewing machine yesterday and away I went. This outfit was my first project. I have plans for many more.......

Diet Coke ......Mmmmm....

In other news......I got 6 inches cut off today. I thought I would tear up. Not because I was sad but because it's hard to let go of something you've been carrying around for 5 years. That's how long I've been growing my hair out. Well, I didn't cry. I was a big girl.

I'm trying....

I am drinking green tea. I've only had one piece of cake today. I am eating fruit. Jen and I are walking. (She would tell you we are training for a marathon, I say we are walking 2.5 miles.) I am trying!

Happy Birthday!!

Oliver

17.4 lbs

new foster home
almost rolling over
plays with toys
sleeps 11 hours at night
Isn't he cute?

Happy New Year!!!