Sledding & Snowmobiling FUN!

Over the Presidents Day weekend (Jan 15-17) we went to Oregon to visit my (Brandy's) parents. My dad likes to ride snowmobiles and we thought it would be fun to take the kids sledding and snowmobiling. The kids really enjoyed having grandpa take them back up the hill to sled down, rather than having to WALK all the way back up the hill! Haemin was very reluctant to get on the snowmobile at first because he said it was too noisy. He did not want to get on, but I told him to try it once, which he did. However, after another hour or so he tried again and he soon realized how fun it was and had a great time. He said snowmobiling was "AWESOME!" We also made a little campfire and Haemin was able to roast his first marshmallow and eat his first "S'more," which is a graham cracker with a roasted marshmallow and piece of chocolate sandwhiched in the middle. I think you can tell by the photos that he likes S'mores! All of the kids had so much fun and are ready to go again! In these photos you can see pictures of my mom - Pam, dad - Larry, and their dog, Sara. Haemin really likes Sara because she is much older and calmer than our puppy! (I do take a lot more photos than I post on the blog, but it takes SO long to upload them, and I can only upload a few at a time so I just choose a few)

Busy Busy!

We have been busy! Last week there was a lot of adjusting to do since it was the first week after the break. We went to the Ada Library and picked out books for the kids to read. Haemin found a lot of books about Eagles and Birds of Prey, and he found a couple of transformer books as well (of course!). Wednesday we had a home visit with Mr & Mrs. Lee and Mr. Beckman. On thursday Haemin attended scouts with michael - he seems to really enjoy scouts! On friday my boys had haircuts after school then we attended a potluck at our church. It was a soup/chili night and Haemin LOVES chili... well the sauce anyway. He doesn't like the beans! it is funny to watch him try to scoop out the sauce and leave the beans in the pot. On Saturday we went to an indoor playground called "Planet Kid" where the kids could just play and get some energy out. It's still pretty cold here (in the 30's) and my kids never last long outside when it's cold. We also went swimming at the YMCA that evening and everyone had a great time. Sunday we went to church again in the afternoon and just played games and had family time in the morning. It's our day to rest and relax, getting ready for the upcoming week. Yesterday we were invited to eat dinner with Kevin's host family - the Shane's. Haemin really enjoyed getting to be around another Korean student and we are looking forward to having them come to our home sometime in the next week or two. I have a few pictures from the indoor playground, but did not take my camera to the YMCA.. (I don't want it to get lost or stolen!) Tomorrow Haemin will get to have Dinner with all the Korean students at the home of Mr and Mrs. Lee. He is REALLY looking forward to a good Korean meal! Thursday will be scouts again, then Friday we plan to drive to Oregon to where I'm from and my parents will take the kids on snowmobile rides and we plan to go sledding as well! It should be a fun weekend. I am also hoping to arrange for a time to ride horses while Haemin is here as well. (click on the photos to make them "bigger")

A typical school day for Haemin is to get up around 7:30, get ready for school, catch the bus at 8:25 - Then school starts at 9:05. The Bus usually arrives at school 10 minutes early where the kids can play before the bell rings. He gets a morning recess, lunch time (which includes recess if he doesn't take too long to eat) and an afternoon recess.. and of course there's some school work mixed in with all the fun. School ends at 3:45 - they take the bus home and I meet the bus around 4:25-4:30. The kids usually like to come home and play for a little bit before dinner. Since it gets dark a little after 5pm here, there isn't much outside time before it's too dark. It's usually starting to get pretty cold by that time too - so luckily they have around an hour of playtime each day (recess at school) Unless we have another activity going on (such as scouts), the time after school is used for play, homework and reading time. Haemin also has a journal to write in with specific questions to answer. I usually have Haemin go to bed between 8:30 and 9:00. When he goes to bed much later than that he seems to have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning (and so do my kids)!!

A New school

Here is a quick post about Haemin's school. Yesterday was his first day at Spalding Elementary. He had a great time. Sometime during the week I will go and take a few more pictures, but I wanted him to get settled in to his class before bothering them with photos! He handed out the magnets to his class and gave the gift to his teacher. I will also take some photos of our home and post those later this week too. These are photos of him just in front of the school and with his new teacher, Mrs. Hallowell.

Elk Feeding in Donnelly, Idaho

Our ride
All of us! Too bad Haemin's eyes were closed!

We were told not to touch the elk. It was hard to remember that they really are wild animals even though they come right to the sleigh to eat. We had to be quiet (soft talking was ok) and we were told to move very slowly because we didn't want to scare them off.

The biggest one of the herd

Michael, Luke & Haemin

Brynley was a little scared that the elk might eat her!

The elk were SO close!

our "sleigh" driver and host

haemin is enjoying the ride and watching the elk

SATURDAY: Our trip to Donnelly, Idaho was about 2 hours each way. The scenery was beautiful, although we didn't think to stop and take photos until it was too dark. We are hoping to go that direction again at the end of the month for a festival in Cascade, Idaho, and if we do we will take more photos then. We all enjoyed riding the sleigh and watching the elk eat.

FRIDAY: The whole family went to the movie theatre to watch the movie "Alvin and the chipmunks, the squeakuel" It was definately a cute movie. The kids all really enjoyed it, and Haemin wants to watch the first movie now too! Click here for a link to the movie trailer. We also had spaghetti for dinner and this was a big hit with Haemin. Before I knew it, his food was completely gone and the rest of us had just barely started eating!

Haemin has adjusted to the time change now (I think). We have noticed he doesn't particularly like "sweet" things (candy, soda.. Krispy Kreme donuts). This is a suprise to us because we LOVE treats! :o) He fits right in along with the other kids and they all love to play with him and fight for his attention! Today we had church and just relaxed, but tomorrow will be busy again with school starting after the winter break. More pics to come tomorrow! I will post pictures of the school and Haemin with his teacher and classroom.

Dec 31, 2009 Homemade Pizza and a trip to Powell's Candy Store

We had Pizza tonight for dinner - the kids each got to make their own section of the pizza. When Haemin was almost done putting the toppings on his pizza he asked us if we had any corn. This was a first for us - we'd never had corn on our pizza before! We and Haemin all thought it was DELICIOUS!

Haemin is still VERY tired today - after his 4:00 am wake-up this morning. He took a nap in the car while we ran a few errands and then went to the kids' favorite store: Powell's Sweet Shoppe. (a candy store)

Looking VERY sleepy in the candy store!

We had to wake him up when we got there, and I don't know if he was just tired or not, but he told us he did not like candy and didn't want to try, but we were able to twist his arm enough to get him to choose some Chocolate covered peanuts. He also tried a piece of red licorice today and thought it was disgusting! (his words.. not mine!) When I said "No way! It's not gross," he said "Well, it's gross to me!" Too funny. He is enjoying playing with the boys and Brynley is finally not so shy around him. She calls him "our korean boy"

He's Here!

In front of our home

YAY! Snow!

Just getting off the airplane - looking for us!

Hae min with his host family "The Fisher's"

Our home

Hae min with his 2 host "brothers"

(Brynley was too shy to get in the picture too!)

Hae min arrived yesterday at 2:55. He was excited and full of energy! We brought him home (he was suprised to see our big our home was - and how we had an upstairs too!) where we helped him to unpack and show him around, then he played out in the snow for a while with the kids. We went to applebees for dinner, but he was so exhausted he kept trying to fall asleep at the table! He ordered a steak with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. He seemed to enjoy it. He went to bed as soon as we got home. I awoke to the sound of the phone and it was Hae min awake and trying to call home. He was a bit homesick, but we popped in a movie (transformers - his favorite) and he was doing much better. We've been playing games and computer this morning, but we are going to drive around after lunch and show him some sites in Boise. For breakfast was scrambled eggs with ham, toast & jam and Chocolate Milk! It is hard to tell if he likes the food or not because he says its ok and eats it up. I told him it is ok to tell me if he does not like something. He did try some goldfish crackers, which he said he did NOT like! :o) Tonight we will make Pizza for dinner and let the kids each make their own. ALCE has arranged for us to have full membership at the YMCA while he is here, so we will probably hit the pool this weekend as well! We will also ski and watch them feed the elk up near the cascade area. It is fun trying to think of yummy things to have him try, and we're trying to figure out all the things we want to do while he is here!