We're a Bit Rusty Here

Well, it has been over a year since out last post. I think that we will be trying to do a little better. Facebook has been keeping us up to date on everyone, but it isn't quite the same as when we had this blog up and running like we used to. Give us some time and be easy on us if we are a little slow to post. It's gonna take a little time to get back into the swing of things.

Children: our gift to the world

pieces of you
and pieces of me
our gift to the world
is what they will be

before their birth
we prepare a place
where they can grow
from grace to grace

we barely know how
but this much is true
our children, our life
both husband and wife

we'll give them our all
a task that's not small
with all of our hearts
we will try to impart

all that we have
is theirs 'til the end
that it may one day
be a benefit to them

but now is the time
while young and small
to instill in them
what's best for us all

kindness and love
patience and joy
forgiveness of faults
sometimes hard to employ

share with them happiness
share with them joy
share with them caring
don't ever avoid

all of those dear things
near to your heart
lest they may stray
from what you impart

trials will abound
I fear it is true
but never forget
in all that we do

our children will love us
if we love them
raise them in righteousness
and keep them from sin

one day when they've grown
with kids of their own
and share in the blessings
of house and of home

they'll pass them on
these gifts that we gave
gifts to be used
from cradle to grave

the gift of love
and all that it's worth
the gift of fidelity
for better or worse

the gift of honesty
trust is hard to be won
the gift of friendships
that can't be undone

they'll take all these gifts
from you and from me
and pass them on
to all that they see

they'll share them through smiles
they'll share them through hugs
but most important of all
they'll share them with love

by
matt pettijohn

Now this is a Santa

So which one is caught up in the magic and which one is not in the mood to be on a big guys lap dressed in Red. My kids hide their emotions so well.

My Cute Girls

Happy Anniversary Babe!

On Thanksgiving this year we were thankful for our 4th Anniversary. Four years and two beautiful girls later, I couldn't be more grateful or blessed to have such a wonderful hubby and family! The only thing that would make it better is if we were able to have spent it together!

My handsome hubby spent it doing this. I love this picture...makes him look so tough!

And I spent it doing this. I had to have a fun hernia repair (they found 3 hernias from a prior surgery), then spent the holidays at my parents house where they took care of the kids while I recovered. Thanks mom and dad for being there. I can't tell you how much much it meant to us that you were able to be there for me and the kids while Matt was gone!

Playing Catch Up

Once again I am playing catch up. Since matt's been gone I've had the chance to help time pass by faster by doing a little traveling. We've been to Kennewick and Utah to spend time with some long lost friends and family. It was so great to visit with people that I haven't seen since before Korea. It was fun because Ava and Hazel got to know their cousins better, and play with some of my close friends kids. We were able to spend time with Marianne and Heather (my roommates) and it was so fun for me to see our kids playing together. We also had a little "singles" ward reunion, and was happy to reunite with some special people in my life, and catch up. Thanks so much for everyone who was able to come, and those who couldn't were missed!

Some other highlights were going to the Pumpkin Patch, Hazel's 3rd Birthday, Spending time with Aunt Michelle, Ava's ear infections (103 fever), A fun reunion with two special friends from Korea, lunch and playdate with Jeanine and kids, and being able to spend time with my awesome Brother and Sister-in-Law and their family! Hazel still talks about Uncle Dave and rolling down the hill! :)

All in all it was so fun, and we can't wait to come again. I added a few slideshows of our trip for your entertainment. Hope everyone is doing well and are enjoying the holidays! We love you!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Off to the Desert

Well we knew it was coming and now we are one week in to a year long deployment to Iraq. Matt left last week and is currently in Kuwait waiting his turn to join the adventures in Baghdad. He is doing well but really can't believe how hot and sandy it is. I've spoken with him while it is early in the A.M. there and he is already hot and sweaty. The girls and I are here in Washington holding down the fort, and will be doing a lot of traveling over the next year while Matt is gone. We've been gone a long time and have two years of visiting to make up for. We really missed spending time with friends and family...and as Hazel keeps telling me..."Friends Awesome". Here are a few pictures from the day that Matt left. As he says, we are doing our best to look happy about the situation. lol

Back on Track

Wow...I guess I took the summer off. A lot has happened over the past few months. I'm just going to summarize since there is so much to say. We moved back to the States which we are loving, have gotten reacquainted with friends and family, Hazel broke her leg on my parents trampoline, Ava had her first birthday and learned to walk. I won't talk much because there are so many photos, and I will once again vow to do better at updating so those who don't "Facebook" can keep up with us. I hope you had a great summer too!

Ava in Training

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Some May Pictures

I'm not really going to share much right now...I just wanted to post some pictures and let you know we are all still alive and well. We've got less than two weeks left here so life is crazy busy trying to get everything done. We've really enjoyed our time in Korea, the best part having Ava while we were here...however we are ready to get back to the states and see family and get settled in our new home. We've done a lot of prep work which will make it easier on us when we get there...we've already mentioned that we've bought a van, so that will be waiting for us when we get there. We've also rented this cute little house in Washington where we are moving to. The day after we get there we are having the Internet/cable installed and 2 days later our stuff from storage is being delivered. It actually couldn't of worked out better. (I hope I just didn't jinx it!) Oh, and I forgot our awesome Blackberries are already in hand so we can jump right in to American Culture...lol. Well that's all for now...catch you on the flip side...or live from Washington!

Easter Weekend

Easter morning was funny. It was Hazel's first time being old enough to understand that something cool was going on. When she came out of the bedroom...she did a beeline for the stash. Her eyes were wide with excitement...and all she said was "Woooo-ow!" (it was in two syllables) We don't really give her a lot of candy, so she was really excited when she discovered that if she barely put pressure on a plastic egg with her foot, it would pop open and M&M's would fall out. She would hurry and eat them really quick just in case she wasn't suppose to...it was a pretty clever technique. She really loves her new shoes too. The first day after she got them she woke up at 6am almost shaking with excitement saying "Shoes, shoes." She has to have them on anytime she is not sleeping. She also got a soccer ball. She's gets excited every time she sees one so the Easter Bunny brought her one. I may literally be a soccer-mom someday, a dream come true. :) Overall it was a fun family day that included Hazel and Daddy-time making cookies. I can't wait until we have a kitchen that we will all fit in so we can have more moments like that! I also attached a fun video of Ava laughing at Hazel saying "boo". It goes on for awhile because she just kept laughing at her so I kept recording. Funny kid!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What can I say...she's a fan!

I've been wanting to get Ava on video for awhile now. She loves being able to go wherever she wants. Most of the day she is right on our heels, we all have the bruises to prove it. Poor Hazel, she asks to wear shoes all the time because she needs the extra protection. The best part is how fast she can go. It never fails, when Baby Einstein is on...she comes a runnin'. Enjoy the video, and I apologize for the lame mommy commentary!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pettijohn Getaway

I had no idea that it had been so long since we last posted on our blog. Almost two months have gone by. I guess we have had other things on our mind. As many of you know we are getting ready to move in a couple months and have been focused on that a lot lately. We are so excited to get to our new location and be close to friends and family again. As a matter of fact we spend much of our time on the Internet looking at houses and other things that we want to get when we arrive back in the states. Furniture, stuff for the kid's room, and much, much more. Actually, one of the things that we were looking for was a new car (new to us) for when we have to travel with the kids. A sedan just isn't gonna cut it anymore. We found a 2005 Honda Odyssey online that we just couldn't pass up that was located in Portland Oregon. We had a good friend go and check it out for us. Turns out it was a great deal, so we bought it. Our friend picked it up from the dealer for us just last weekend. We will pick it up from his place just as soon as we get back (Thanks Dave). Well enough about that (didn't include any photos of the van......it's just a van, THAT ROCKS!).
On to our recent trip....This weekend we went to the Chinhae (Jinhae) Cherry Blossom Festival. Chinhae is located all the way at the southern tip of Korea, right on the Sea of Japan (Koreans call it the East Sea...they don't like the Japanese). It took a little over six hours to drive there. I can't wait to get back to the States, where I can really put the pedal to the metal. The speed limit here is like 55...ugh. Well, we finally arrived at about 8PM on Thursday and checked into our hotel. A super nice suite with a full kitchen on the US Navy base in Chinhae, for only $30 a night. During our weekend we didn't do too much, as this was mostly a getaway to relax for a few days. However, I will recount a couple highlights from the trip.

One evening we went out into town where the festival was in full swing. There were horse drawn carriages and we thought that it would be fun to take the girls on a ride. What we expected would be a nice leisurely ride through town turned out to be a little more adventurous than planned. After hopping into the carriage we headed off down the road at a slow trot. It was beautiful seeing all of the lights in town and the cherry blossom trees lining the roadway. When we had gone down the road a bit, it was time to turn around. The driver cut the corner too short and ended up getting stuck on the center divider. This scared the horse and was causing it to get excited, it wanted to run and was beginning to rear-up. But with the tire stuck it was unable to make forward movement and was obviously frustrating the horse. Finally, the driver was able to get us back on course, but not before we heard a loud grinding and what sounded like the wheel about to be torn off. Then the horse took off, running to catch up with some other carriages that were in front of us. The wheel continued with the grinding sound and we both held onto our girls tightly and also the carriage, in case one of the wheels did fall off and flip us over. Needless to say we were very anxious for the ride to be over. As the ride was coming to an end a Korean man drove up next to us saying something then gesturing to the bed of his truck. There was the rubber from the wheel laying in the back of his truck. I guess that explained the loud grinding during the last half of our ride. The carriage was riding directly on the wooden wheel. There is a photo with the rubber from the wheel laying next to the carriage. After it was all over, we were just glad that it was all over.

Another incident that happened, that was kind of funny, happened at the festival bizarre. At the festival there is a huge bizarre, with literally thousands of people walking about. We went there with the kids, each in strollers. It was pretty tough negotiating the crowds with those strollers (I sure am glad we didn't try to bring the double stroller). Koreans seem to be extremely fascinated by kids with pale skin, blue eyes and/or blond hair (white kids). They are not afraid to come up to them and touch them, bend down and talk to them, give them things to eat (basically, constantly stopping us in our tracks to kindly smother our babies). Hazel has never had much trouble with this, but Ava recently has had a tough time when strangers get close. Anyway, we are heading along down one of the isles in the bizarre when one Korean lady (wearing a surgical mask, making her extra scary) stops Nicki and Ava. She bends down in front of the stroller and gets right into Ava's face. At this point Ava is getting quite disturbed and you can tell she wants to make the bad lady stop. But as other Koreans see their opportunity to see a little white kid up close they jump at the chance and begin to huddle around (about 15-20 of them). All of this while the scary lady is pulling up Ava's socks holding her hand and talking to her (in Korean) through the scary mask. Without fail Ava begins to cry, only encouraging the lady to try to comfort her....(it's not working lady). Finally I think that the lady got the hit that it was her that was causing the outburst and she got up and moved on, and the crowd magically dissipated as quickly as they had gathered. Hopefully Ava won't be overly traumatized by the incident.

Finally, I (Nicki) will do a little explaining about the photos of the gravesites in our slide show. Matt pointed them out to me While we were driving south from Seoul down to Chinhae, and explained that traditional Korean graves are mounds of earth usually found on rural hillsides in scenic locations. After learning what all those mounds were, I became fascinated with the way they littered the hilltops along the freeway. I found myself wanting to learn the story behind each mound. I noticed that some were unkept, overgrown with weeds and brush, and others that were meticulously manicured on a regular basis. There were some that were coupled, what seemed to represent the two were married, and some that were obviously surrounded by family. More than anything, I wondered how the crap some of them got up there, and how they would ever be found again. Anyway, I took some pictures and wanted to share them with you. Don't worry, I won't be offended if you don't find it as interesting as I did. Since we've been home I've thought about it a little, and think Matt and I should be buried in mounds...I found it quite romantic.

Okay I think we've reached out literary limit. Thanks for hanging in there if you've made it this far. I'm going to add a video as a special treat of Hazel on our road trip. She really loves to sing the chorus to a song by Adele and she didn't know I was videotaping her. She has this really squeaky voice that makes me laugh, not to mention she does some goofy stuff when we're not watching...Enjoy. Hope you're all well and we can't wait to see some of you soon. WOOT WOOT!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Four Day Weekend

Matt had a four-day weekend because of the holiday, so we decided we were going to finally take advantage of our time left here in Seoul. For Valentines Day we hired a babysitter then went on a double-date with some friends to Outback Steakhouse. That's right I said Outback...and it was everything I had hoped it would be. They don't have parking there so we've never gone due to it's inconvenience...but we grabbed a cab that dropped us right off it front... and it was so worth the wait! After dinner we walked around a bit and did a little shopping then headed home for some Rockband! It was great...and boy our friend Tiffany can sure play those drums. She was playing them on the hard setting and her hands were a-flyin'. I get stressed on the easy setting so she totally has my respect.

Monday we took the kids to the Coex Aquarium located at this huge Underground Mall. We had a great time, and it was there that we really understood Hazel's love for turtles. That's why there are so many pictures of them...including her souvenir turtle backpack. I tried to see if she liked the seal or the penguin one better...and it was all about the turtle. Or should I say, all about the "Shellys". lol. She wasn't to pumped being so close to an alligator, I could tell she was a little nervous being by it's big teeth. Afterwards we did a very "American" thing and had lunch at McDonalds that was located outside the aquarium in the mall. It's nice to know you can take care of your "Big Mac Attack" in any country.

It only took us 15 minutes to get to the Mall from where we live, so on the way back I started bragging about how well we are finding our way around in this huge city of 8 million. (23 million if you count the surrounding areas) Well I bet you can't guess what happened next. Yep, we took the wrong exit off the freeway and took a little detour north of Seoul. We arrived home about two hours later so we really aren't as good as I thought. Thank goodness Matt speaks Korean, because I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't be home if I were alone. It was nice to see another part of Seoul while the girls got their naps in, and we even got a picture of Dongdaemun Gate which is at the end of the slideshow. We really enjoyed the entire day and look forward to our next adventure.

It's a done deal!

Well, we did it. We re-enlisted in the Army for another six years. I say, "we" because we decided together that it was the best thing for our family at this time. This will keep us in the military until at least January 2015 (WOW!..big commitment). But we didn't do it for nothing. We got our duty station of choice, Fort Lewis, Washington (definitely looking forward to the clean mountain air). We will be close to home for a change. There was also a $bonus$ that helped seal the deal. Over the last few months we have been planning a path that would take us to out of the military and over to Utah. However, with the current state of the economy and the security we have with the military (free family health care, steady pay check, housing, etc.) we felt it was the right path for us. Above are some pictures of the family at the re-enlistment.

Finally!....A Holiday Update

Actually, just some pictures...have some errands to run today....maybe an update later tonight.

Okay...we're back now and thought I would give you a quick run down of the past month and 1/2.

Matt and I are older now...we both celebrated birthdays this past month...me in December and Matt at the beginning of January. For my birthday Matt brought home some take-out from a favorite place of mine on post that makes yummy sandwiches and the best cheese/bacon fries. I'm drooling right now just by thinking about them. Afterwards we went to the Christmas tree lighting which was fun and then the kids got to see that weird Santa that I posted a picture early in December. For Matt's birthday we actually got the chance to have a hot date without the kids. We met some great friends at a great Mexican restaurant here in Seoul followed by a little street shopping.

For Christmas we had a small family day which was wonderful, Hazel was hilarious on Christmas morning. The whole time I think she maybe said 10 words. She was so quiet, and her eyes were wide with excitement. We think that she was totally overwhelmed with everything...in shock that all the new toys and clothes were for her. It was really cute! She really got the hang of ripping open the gifts. She even took the liberty of opening a couple gifts that we were kind of saving for later. We had no idea she had grabbed and tore into them. She can be so quiet and sneaky.

For New Years we went over to a Friend's house where we spent a few hours chowing and singing Karaoke...then left early to put the kids in bed. At midnight we woke up Hazel so she could watch a firework display...we had a front row seat from our bedroom window. It's handy living on the 7th floor. It's got a great view!

All the kids are doing well and growing more everyday. Ava has been cracking us up because she can push her walker around the apartment now. The other day I was doing dishes and looked back to check on her, and she had made her way down the hallway to be closer to Hazel in the toy room. She loves being around her big sister, and giggles every time Hazel gives her any attention at all. She's a great kid, and has the best smile and laugh ever. I just love her so much!

Hazel has become quite the sponge. She tries to repeat everything these days. I went from understanding 80% of what she says to less then 50% since she has moved from single words to full on sentences. I have felt many times like I'm in Brazil again listening intently trying to pick out the words I understand. I'm exaggerating a little...it's wonderful how much she knows now. She knows a few of the shapes, some colors, can name the numbers from 1-9 and recognizes a lot of her letters. She even sings the alphabet, although a lot of the letters are slurred or hummed. It's pretty entertaining. She helps out a lot with the baby which is fun too. She's quick to say shhhh when she is crying and says "It's okay". It's pretty cute.

We get lots of updates on Maizy as well and continue to have our weekly phone calls with her. She loves talking and singing to Hazel and Ava and gets so excited when Hazel says words she knows. She has been taking Taekwondo, and just recently tested for her Camo belt. (it's just below yellow belt). We received some new pictures of her including this year's school picture that is posted on the right. We really miss seeing her and can't wait until we get back so the girls can really get to know each other.

Well that's all for now. I will try and do better as I always say, at keeping you all up to date on our adventures here. Facebook has really distracted me lately...it's so easy to post pictures and give quick updates that I forget that I haven't been on our blog for awhile. I hope everyone is doing well...just know that we love and miss all our friends and family and can't wait to get back to the states this year so we can see you again!

Ava Live

Ava was cracking us up tonight and we thought we would share it with you. Hang in there and you will see two video clips. You can see for yourself why we love her so much!

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Tonight we went to a Christmas tree lighting here at the housing community where we live. They had a little ceremony with a prayer and a couple choir numbers. It was nice although crowded. Hazel got a little restless while we were standing in line to take pictures with Santa. With the help of a good friend, we did manage to get a couple family pictures afterwards. Enjoy.

You can't really see us in this picture, but you can get a sense of what the lights look like. It was really pretty...it's no "Lights at Temple Square" but I thought they did a good job.

Here is the first picture of the girls with Santa...I was worried that it would turn out worse than it did because he had his beard and mustache pulled down below his mouth so it looked kind of ridiculous. He did manage to pull it back up in time even though he still looks like he smoked a candy cane or two before he came. lol