Easter Weekend, Nai-nai's visit and birthday celebration

Well here we are and another week has gone by and I am not sure where they are going. We are getting more involved with life in our community and doing well. Zane and I are going to playgroup once a week and have meet a great group of moms and kids. It is nice to have time with other adults and of course kids for Zane to play with. Well a lot has happened since my last post and I should probably let you all know what has been going on in our lives. Last Wednesday, 31 March, we signed the lease to our new home. We started moving things in the next day after Jim got off of work and finished on Good Friday, Jim had off, YEAH!! We also had our loaner furniture delivered as we didn't know when we signed the lease when our stuff was going to arrive. Well the following day Jim got a phone call letting us know our stuff was here, yes and it is getting delivered this Friday. I am so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and possibly getting a good night's sleep. Of course I am not sure of where we will put everything as Korean homes don't have as much storage/cabinet/closet space as American homes. I will figure it out or get rid of a lot of stuff!!  I am sure that we will be going downtown to find some furniture to help solve that problem but not until our stuff is in the house. I will take pictures of the before, during and after so you can share in our enjoyment!! When we moved in on Friday we didn't realize that we wouldn't have internet connected yet and it took until Monday. How did we ever survive without this wonderful form of communication?

My mom flew in on Saturday April 3 and we had a wonderful visit with her. Zane just stood there at the airport talking to her and couldn't even give her a hug. I think he was so excited that he had to tell her everything. We then took her over to Camp Walker, as we needed to go to the commissary, grocery store, and well we stopped at Starbucks as well.  Here in Korea, mom had to surrender her ID and get a visitor badge so that she could be on post. They wouldn't even allow her to go into the commissary with us even to look. I made the trek into the store to get her Cheerios and a few other items that she so misses from the states oh yeah and Zane his yogurt. We headed back to our home, of course stopped to get her ID first. Mom and Zane played for awhile and then we walked down to the market for our weekly supply of fruit. I am learning that I need to do a bit more bargaining for my fruit as I am paying to much. We pushed Zane down to the market in the stroller and he loved that we had to go over the bridge that spans the train station. He would have stood there all day if possible. He even got to see a train and loved being above the train. We did eventually get to the market and do our shopping. The walk home was a bit more interesting as we used the stair underpass to get to the other side of the tracks and well decided that we could walk up the middle section instead of the stairs as it would be easier to push the stroller. Needless to say it was a great calf workout and a little harder than we thought, next time I will carry the stroller up the stairs or better yet Zane just needs to start walking and building up his endurance.  That night we went across the street to a little restaurant where you cook the meat in front of you. Well it was interesting as I thought I had ordered a plate of mixed meat when in fact I ordered all duck.  We did end up with pork and beef and no duck and know now what we ordered really was and won't order it again.  Zane wouldn't eat and finally after figuring out that was all there was going to be decided to try the meat and loved it! Unfortunately for him there wasn't  much left  but he did get to eat some. We even got my mom to try soju, Korean rice alcohol and she wasn't a fan. Sunday morning mom and I tried out a very small church around the corner. It was a nice little place and I might go back but we are still searching for a church home in our area. We need one with childcare and that is hard to come by but I will keep on looking.  Sunday afternoon we headed onto our small base and took Zane to an Easter egg hunt sponsored by the commissary. All the kids who participated had a great time. We came back to our house and friends came over for a very late brunch and birthday cake. We had a good time and it is always nice to get together with friends.  Monday was mom's last day here and we took a walk and checked out the area around our house. Zane walked and we even checked out day care for Zane but I think I will keep looking. I have heard of a few good schools and we shall see what happens. I would like to help with the English classes on post but need childcare and well that is an issue on this base. It is itself a whole other can of worms that I will work on over the course of our stay here. When we got back to the house Zane curled up in his bed and went to sleep, guess that walking tired him out but he seems to think that when the sun "wakes up," it is time for him to get up as well. I will be finding black out shades as 6:30 is just too early!! Mom made it back to her house safe and sound. We will see her again in June and maybe even get over to China to visit her in August when all of the fall field exercises arrive.  It is nice being a 4 hour plane ride away.  Of course it is nice to have Facebook, Skype and email to keep in touch with all of our friends and family who can't be here with us.
Well Zane is down for a nap and I am going to read or maybe even take a nap myself.

Hugs and kisses to all.

Love and miss you all,
Jim, Liz and Zane