Overdue Update!

Wow! This poor neglected blog….

So much has happened in the last 5-6 months. It would take me forever to go through it all in full detail. I will run through it briefly to catch everybody up and bring you all up to date.

So, August 2013 we prepared for our move to Arizona. As we were looking into it, Mom wanted to check and see if we could get some grass-fed beef from somewhere (because who farms in Arizona?!?) We found a Ranch called Double Check Ranch…and happened to notice they had a doublewide on the property for rent and a position open to an enthusiastic person to run his cows and bring more industries to the ranch (ex. Chickens, pigs, etc…..) . “How fun?” we thought….we could live there, Dakota could work for this guy and Dad could commute to work. So we emailed him and got the communication going. He was all excited about us and thought we would be a perfect fit and we were really starting to like to idea as well. OH! Little did we know just how much we would love it and how much God had in store. Our move from Korea to Arizona took us across a sea, and through at least 20 states visiting just about everybody in our family and friends. We arrived in Seattle and traveled through Oregon and down the California coast seeing the Redwoods, driving through Yosemite (closed due to that government shutdown) and San Francisco , cut over to Arizona to see our house and meet the ranch owner, then to Kansas, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky,  Georgia, then all the way back to Arizona. It was the longest road trip I’ve ever been on….I think we put 10,000 miles on the truck. ;) Dakota and I actually stayed behind in Georgia because the storage company delayed when we could pick up our storage we had there and dad had a deadline to be back by. So, Mom and Dad and the two littles went on ahead and Dakota and I got the storage truck, loaded it (With lots of help from friends…thanks!!), and drove it all the way to AZ. I think we impressed some people… ;)

So, now lets jump ahead to now. 

It’s March of 2014!! Wowzers……

We are living on Double check ranch. Dakota is working part time for Paul Schwennesen (the ranch owner) and working on getting some complimentary businesses started. He has 60ish test batch chickens out in the brooder almost ready to be put out on pasture. He has a gorgeous and amazingly sweet milk cow that thinks she is a pet and is as docile as they come. Her name is Chloe. She is really the sweetest…most of the time ;) She will be calving sometime this month or next. Mom and Dad currently own 46 laying chickens. (I think they are obsessed with chickens ;)) Mom also has a small garden on the side of the house. She claims that as soon as she brings a plant home that it commits suicide as soon as it looks at her. J I know this garden will prove her wrong….just wait! Go mom!!

Dakota and I run one of the farmers markets in Phoenix every few Saturdays…Selling Double Check’s yummy grass-fed beef! We have found a wonderful church with great people. We are so grateful to the Lord for giving us a good church.

We live in the boondocks…really. We are and hour and a half from Tucson. And that same distance from Phoenix. Dad has to commute that to go to work! He says it’s worth it if it gives us this life. He sacrifices so much for us….

Yep, that’s as brief as I could make it. On to some pictures… :)

Double Check

The view from the hill by our house. ^That's our abode.... :)

No small supply of these guys around here!!

I was so excited when I saw this guy while collecting wood. I just had to capture him and bring him back to show everybody. I'm sure we'll be seeing our fair share come summer....

You'll never know what you'll find around here....Is it a lizard or a toad?


Out doing what he does..... ;)

Babysitting the ranch owners little girl. :) Such a sweetie

Loading up the trailer full of meat for the market!

In February, Dakota, Dad, and I ran a Spartan Sprint with our pastor and his 3 oldest kids. We had a blast! Spartan is an obstacle race....complete with mud, dirt, water, and more mud. The one we ran was 5 miles long with about 20 obstacles. (walls, ropes, sand bags, cement balls to carry...)

I had so much fun!! The above picture is the gladiator pit at the finish line.

Jumping the fire...right before the gladiator pit.

BEASTLY. ;) ^note the broken hand?!? Dakota broke his hand while using a power drill on the corrals. He wasn't about to let that stop him....GO KOTA! :)

 All finished and feeling fine!

Our full team!

Oh yes....the roads of Arizona. (Leapyear anyone?!) Haha....

Kade is so in his element around the ranch. He just romps around and explores all day!

Mom and Dad's little chicks. Do we really have to wait 6 months until these girls lay us some eggs?! I can't wait!!

Chloe the gorgeous cow!! :) She runs to greet you when you are anywhere near....and if you don't say hi she'll moo until you do. She loves attention and is super curious. We thought she had mange there for a bit...(it was just shedding! Thank you Lord!) and taking all precautions we smeared her down in motor oil. The next day we had to bathe her...and she loved it. We soaped her up and scrubbed her down...she just enjoyed the moment. The other day when we had her just grazing the yard, Mom and Dad came home from town and she went running over to say hi. Dad was trying to get the groceries out and she kept sticking her head in the trunk nudging everything. She is just the funniest thing! :)

The view from Picacho peak.

Kade was sick and laid up in the wagon while we had friends over. Stella the ranch owners dog that lives out here with us sat by his side "And took care of me" says Kade.



Well there was a peak into what's going on around here.....
I will try to do a better job and post at least more regularly than every 6 months... :/

K.K.M.D
Romans 1:1-2

Visitor from America!

  

My Aunt Lydia was our first, and most likely our last, visitor! We'd been really wanting someone to come here so we could experience Korea together. Someone who we could reminisce with, someone who would get our Korean jokes, someone to take around and show all of Korea's neat little goodies. :) We were all tickled pink when she said she was definitely coming!!

 

At the airport....

Brother and Sister :)

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1: "Camp Coiner" beef and leaf for lunch.

              Ipark mall

              Lotte World Complex

 

It's the first day, she has had a goodnight's sleep so we jump in the car and go out to lunch. We took her to one of our personal favorites. Camp Coiner is what we call it....because we don't know it's real name. :) Lydia's first taste of authentic Korean food! I think she liked it ;)

 

Trying to figure out chopsticks

"Keep trying Auntie! I know you can do it!!" :)

Bella with her Auntie!

 

Posing with our free after lunch coffee :)

 

 

After we ate lunch, we went to Ipark mall and the Daiso which is like a Korean version of a Dollar General and to a cute little coffee shop.

Mom, Lydia and I split off after coffee and we took Lydia to the Lotte World mall to window shop while Dad took the tired kids home. :)

These things are some kind of German pastry.

They were so interesting and really yummy!

 

Closer look....

 

Walking around the food area can be the most fun.

What is this??!!?? It looks like a unicorn horn...

Koreans LOVE cute! They will make anything cute if they can.

This is how they packaged and sold the melons. :)



Although they may like cute....they have strange fashion taste! ;)

 



This was so funny! Us girls were heading back home on the subway, when this guy's bag started rustling and moving. We stared at it for awhile before this cute little turtle popped his head out. Once he felt it, he pushed him back in the bag and we couldn't help but laugh a bit. :)

~

 

 

Day 2: Gyeongbukgung Palace

            Bukchon Hanok Village

            Hello Kitty Café

            Insadong

 

We are trying to pack in as much fun as we can without tiring everybody too much. :) On this day we went to the Gyeongbukgung Palace and had a picnic lunch there. After that we walked through a cute little downtown-y area. Of course we had to go to yet another coffee shop, so we went to the Hello Kitty Café. I'd been wanting to go there for awhile...we've just been waiting for a good time, this was the perfect time! :) We finished the day off with Insadong and the ten dollar purse store! :)

 

Posing with Mr. Stoneface! :)

Awwww...they're so cute! :)

 

 

 This picture is so sweet! I love it!! Do you think they look alike? :)

 

Touring the grounds....

This is one of the streets through Bukchon.

You almost felt like you went back in time. It felt all vintage! :)

Hello Kitty café!

 

 This place was pink overload!!

I just had to go see what the bathroom looked like! PINK...I should've known. :) 

Auntie's latte. ADORABLE!

 

 Only Dad could pull off being in a Hello Kitty Café eating from a cute cup of ice cream with strawberry syrup and still have all his manliness intact!

 

 

~

 

 

Day 3: Namdaemun market

            Girls date to Busan Galbi and Paris Baguette

 

Dad had to go to work this day, so we took Lydia to Namdaemun market.

 

 Posing with their Hotteoks. YUM... 

 

 Oh yes....let's begin!!

 

 Paris Baguette after a girl dinner date to Busan Galbi.

Paris Baguette has the best pastries ever!! :)

 ~

 

 

Day 4: HIKE!

 

We scaled a mountain! Ok, so maybe we just hiked a mountain....but at some points I felt like I was scaling a wall! :) It was definitely to toughest hike I've ever done, but we had so much fun and felt so good afterwards.

This picture beams with sunshine....I love it!

 



 



 Thanks to the person who put in the little metal cylinder things! :)

 

 This picture is too funny not to post! Caption it...

Yay! Pretty much at the top...

 

It was pretty smoggy....but the view was still splendid!

 



Brilliant! This guy hiked up the mountain with a cooler strapped to his back and at the top was selling popsicles! I bet he walked off the mountain a millionaire....because everybody was running over and getting some. I just can't imagine hiking up that mountain with a ton of popsicles on your back! 

 



 Me and Daddy at the tip top point!

 

Don't look down! :/

 



 On the way back down the mountain.

~

 

 

Day 5: Dondaemun/Cheonggycheon stream

            Myeongdong

            Wizard of Oz play

            the Doota for dinner

 

 

We declared this day "hat day." So, all us girls donned a hat! I can honestly say we looked pretty cute! ;) We made a short little stop in Dongdaemun so that Dad could find a hand tool that Lydia wanted. After that, we went down to the little stream that runs through that area to just sit and chill. We had a little while before we had to go to the play. Once we got thoroughly tired of watching the fish, we walked over to a CVS (convenience store) and picked up some snacks and walked around Myeongdong for awhile.

 

 I think all our hats display our personalities!! I'm actually wearing Dad's hat! :)

 

Chilling by the stream

Mom looking stunning with her rice cake! :)

Caught in the act of taking a selfie!! haha....

 YUM!! Potatoes on a stick.

    These things were so delicious....

 ~

 

 

Day 6: Met Dad for lunch on base

            Starbucks

 

We were nearing the end of Lydia's visit. Everything was winding down. We went to base to meet Dad for lunch, go to Starbucks, and take the kiddos to the park.

 

 ~

Day 7: Farewell.....

Saying goodbye can be so hard! We loved having Lydia stay with us and we didn't want her to leave!! But all good things have to come to an end. :( We had a blast! It was pretty much a vacation for us too. 

 

Thank you airport for making things confusing! Her bag was too heavy. We made a big mess right there in the check-in area as we opened her neatly packed suitcase and rearranged everything. We got it though. The only question I have is....If all she did was take stuff out of her suitcase and put it in her carry-on...wasn't all the weight still on the plane?!? Yeah...smart thinking there plane people! :)

 



 

Lydia, thank you so much for coming to see us! We now have someone who understands the love of manjoos, who gets odjie-mamma jokes, who knows what real Korean food is like, and shares love for Paris Baguette (we will find one in the states and you can meet us there!). :) We loved having you!!


K.K.M.D
Psalms 119:93