Thankful for Skype!!

I am so thankful for modern technology.......especially Skype! What a blessing to be able to see the sweet faces of our friends! When we left the States, we knew we were going to miss out on a couple of important events....... ones that we didn't want to miss. Last weekend, a very special young man married a darling lady....and we so wanted to be there.

And we were!
Sort of.
Via Skype!

Thank you dear friends (The Sanders) for thinking of us, including us and setting it up so we could be there! You are just precious. Ethan did a great job with the IPad. It was like watching the ceremony on TV!

We have the bestest friends in Georgia. We miss you all so much. We appreciate your letters, emails, Skype calls, phone calls. Thank you and we love you!



Cleve and Lise. Our front row seat to the ceremony! We snapped several snapshots with Skype. I think they turned out rather well.

This is what it looked like for us.

HA! Sitting on the couch, in our pajamas watching the two ceremonies at 2 AM. Seriously...I think this is the way to go. No more tight shoes. No more figuring out what dress to wear. I didn't even have to do my hair.

Again, I don't think y'all realize how special this was and how much it meant to us. You are such dear friends. Miss you....love you...and can't wait for a visit soon!

Jessica.......for the rest

Happy 16th Birthday Kennedy!

"I can't believe she is 16 already!"
"Time flies. One minute they are babies and the next they are driving!"

I will avoid the overused cliches, however true they may be. We celebrated 16 wonderful years with Kennedy Kayla Marie on November 27. She is a precious gift, a darling daughter, sweet sister and fun friend. (Wow, note the alliteration. I didn't even plan that!)

I brought Kennedy into the world the day after Thanksgiving in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1995. She was a sweet, sweet baby. Hardly ever cried, always smiling......and just the cutest thing you ever saw.
Dakota had just turned three and loved his new baby sister. We were all just enamored with her.

In this photo, Kennedy is about 6 months old. We were living in Germany. Kennedy learned to walk pretty young at nine months old. She was a busy little lady. She got into everything. Everything. She made messes quicker than I could keep up with. But still a sweet, smiling little girl.

Kennedy has always adored her Daddy. And she still does. It is a bit eerie how much they are alike.


Kennedy, age 4

2001
I have always been so thankful to have Kennedy as a daughter. She is often my right hand....and my left too! She is a tremendous blessing to me. She can run this house as well as I can. In fact, she recently potty trained Kade. (YIPPEE!!!) She is always busy doing something around here to help me out. Thank you, Kennedy, for doing the dishes, washing clothes, taking Kade potty 50 times, sweeping, mopping, dusting, scrubbing and all the other things you did today. You are awesome!


Kennedy has always been a funny girl. She is the life of the party. Her smile is contagious. And that laugh. Oh my, that laugh! I have to have my inhaler around when she gets going. She is incredibly funny....and will say the craziest things. She has always found interesting things to keep us in stitches. She grew up with a big brother that she idolized so she often was playing "guy things." Here she is the Lone Ranger.


Kennedy, you are a delightful young lady. I am so thankful -- and blessed -- to be your Mom.

For Kennedy's birthday, we celebrated with a chocolate chip cheesecake. Super yum! She also requested jalapeno poppers, french fries and taco dip.

Happy Birthday Kennedy! We love you!

Rejoicing in Heaven!

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.

Luke 15:7

During family devotions over the course of a week or so, Isabella had been asking many big questions. She wondered who went to heaven and who went to hell. She wondered how we could see God and how He hears us. Daddy answered her questions each night as she continued to ask them. One night, Isabella told Daddy that she wanted to ask God to forgive her. Joel and Bella prayed together.....and Isabella asked the Lord to be her Saviour.

There is rejoicing in heaven and in our home. We praise God for calling our sweet daughter to Himself. Before the foundation of the world, the Lord God predestined Isabella to be our daughter and His. Praise God!

Lantern Festival....

The other night, we went down to the river to look at all the lanterns at Seoul's Lantern Festival.
It really wasn't too overly busy. All the lanterns were displayed along the Cheonggyecheon stream, which is a man-made stream that runs in downtown Seoul.

The sounds you hear: people talking, taxi's honking, and policeman whistling.
The scents you smell: a yummy chocolatey smell, cotton candy, a disgusting dirt smell coming from the grubs, and, of course, every now and again the smell of the squid jerky. :P
The things you see: People! and lanterns...and buildings :)
Now imagine it all together...there you go! You are pretty much there with us..... :)



We looked at it all from the top of the river. It was a bit too crowded down closer.

"All those days......and at last I see the light....." ;) I'd love to send one of these into the air. :)

fishy lanterns...

I loved this one! We are in Korea and it's the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

It's a fire breathing peacock! It'd be hilarious to see it blow in the wrong direction and catch it's feathers on fire. ;)

In the distance, you hear a little Korean kid saying..."fiya, fiya, fiya" in a cute accent. :)

This one is to frighten the wits out of the children.

"Hey look, 'the' star is out.."

Very elaborate

cool street...






I hope all of you have a great week!!

K.K.M.D
Psalms 119:18

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Oops...this is a somewhat belated post! :)
We celebrated Mom's 35th birthday a few weeks ago (the 31st of October). We are so blessed to have her as our Mom. She is awesome! We love her so much!
"Who can find a virtuous wife? or her worth is far above rubies." Prov. 31:10


It was also the 20th anniversary of Mom and Dad's first date. :)

Mom and her babies!!


Posing with her new scarf and yummy whoopie-pies. :)

yum..yum!!



Happy Birthday Mom!! We love you so much.

K.K.M.D
Prov. 31:10

Bukhansan Park.....

Recently we went to Bukhansan National Park. Our first time getting out of the city. ;) The weather was beautiful and the leaves were gorgeous. We had a great time hiking and just enjoying God's creation.


Little bitty town......compared to Seoul. :)


Faithful backpack carrier and video-taker. ;)

Temple...


Little cabbage's lives are spent dreaming of becoming Kimchi......Someday! :)

Fall colors



Another video for you....





Have a great week!!!
God bless!
K.K.M.D
Romans 13:6

Bella the Rock Star!

Ever wondered what it is like to be famous? To have people watch you, stare at you, point at you, take pictures of you?

I am starting to get a tiny glimpse of what that might be like. We attract an obscene amount of attention when we go out in public here in Korea. Perhaps maybe not so much us, but our children. We walk onto the subway and every head on the train turns our way. Folks want to touch Isabella's hair and skin. They want to take pictures of her, posing with her. One lady, while we sat and rested in the city one day, pointed, waved and started screeching in Korean. She was calling friends over to come and look at us. They want to pick the children up and hold them. We have had people follow us in order to get a look or a feel of my children. They point, they wave, they give us a thumbs up sign. They want to "high five" the littles.

What baffles me is it isn't a particular group of people. Little old ladies, single young men, teenagers, groups of middle aged women. Anyone and everyone. Usually it is amusing. Sometimes it does get old, like when we want to get somewhere and we have to beat off the crowd. While we were at the Palace last week, Kennedy and Bella walked over to the restroom. The rest of the tour group decided against using that restroom because of the long line. However, we found out later that the long line was not for the bathroom, but a gaggle of girls wanting to see Isabella!

One day last week, Dakota happened to catch the scene on video.
Anyone want Bella's autograph??