15 Months . . . Part two.

The half hour cab ride to Holt was filled with a lot of praying and deep breathing. . . You know the kind, cleansing (holy moly this is about to get crazy) breaths.  We looked around a lot and talked only a little.  That's how I remember it, anyway. 

When we got to Holt, we took one more deep breath and up to the big glass building we went.  We were joined quickly in the lobby by our new friend, now photographer, Mylinda.  Just having someone there that we "knew" made it a little easier somehow.  And I was grateful for that.  Also, grateful that our friend, Merilee, covered both her and Mylinda's school classes that afternoon so that Mylinda could be our family day photographer. 

DJ, Our social worker, came to meet us next in the lobby.  We greeted with hugs, grateful for the labor of love that DJ accomplishes everyday. . . Matching children with forever families, handling heart-wrenching family day meetings and pulling off all the crazy paperwork in between.  She truly is an amazing woman. 

We took the elevator to the second floor where the family day meetings take place and as we got off the elevator, DJ said, "Your daughter is already here.  She was early."  Before we could even process that, She called into the little meeting room, "Hui-manga!" and out she came.  Our tiny, perfect, momentarily-quiet, beloved daughter shyly strutted out.  DJ picked her up and handed her quickly but gently to me saying "Omma" which is mommy in Korean.  Alyvia looked and looked.  She did not cry but she looked.  I could tell she was uncomfy, if not even afraid, in my arms, so we quickly entered the meeting room and I set her down toward her beautiful, foster Omma.
Seconds after we sat down, Omma had Alyvia offering us her snacks.  She seemed fearful but willing to share and come nearer to us.  Alyvia spent the rest of our meeting time sitting near and being doted on by her foster Omma.  I loved seeing them interact and did not fear that Alyvia was not warming up enough to us.  In this moment, I wanted them to have their last moments together to play, talk and touch.   It really was about them.  We would have forever with Alyvia and this was foster Ommas last moment with her beloved (foster) daughter.  Hopefully, we can bring Alyvia back to Korea someday but for now this was their time and we were enjoying seeing them together. 

With permission, we set up our video camera on the chalk board (the tripod broke as John was putting it together in the room).  Mylinda was click, click, clicking away. 
DJ asked if we had questions and off we went. . .  Thanks to AP friends who have gone before us, we had 3 pages of questions for our foster mom.  DJ (who was our interpreter) was kind about the length of the question sheet;  I think she knew that the questions (however many) would benefit not only Alyvia's transition but also her future.  This really was our only chance for information from Alyvia's current foster family and we made the time count as best we could.  We found out so many neat things, i.e Alyvia loves to draw, she eats anything and she loves to be outside.  She is busy, social and hardly ever cries.

After the questions, it was time to exchange our gifts.  Our foster mom was most touched by the chalk sketch we had done of Alyvia for their family and by the necklace of Alyvia's Korean name that we had made for her.  We had a letter of thanks translated for their family which she did not read in our presence as she recalled crying her way through the last letter we sent.  This woman (Alyvia's foster mom) truly is a special lady.  Alyvia was only their second foster child and she said that they may not foster again as they were having such a hard time emotionally letting Alyvia go to her forever family.  Heart wrenching. . . Sad and beautiful.  We are so grateful for the way this family embraced Alyvia as their own until we could get to Korea and bring her home. . . forever. 

We were thrilled to receive thoughtful gifts of clothing and food for Alyvia.  I will remember especially the numerous containers of seaweed (her favorite) and snacks, including grape yogurt.
Also, included in the clothing was an adorable blue skirt and the Hanbok Alyvia wore for her first birthday/Tol.  We had not received any photos from the foster family during our wait (some families do and most don't), So our most treasured gifts for Alyvia from her foster family were the three little photo albums of her with her foster family.  TREASURES for certain.  I didn't want to spend every second looking at every photo but I'm glad we started looking through them because there were pictures of Alyvia with numerous family members.  I was so glad to see them and be able to ask who each person was.  Alyvia's foster Halmoney (grandma) was her favorite and her two older foster siblings.  The pictures speak volumes of love that these people shared with our daughter and we are super, simply, forever grateful. 

Our hour in the meeting room ended with us chit chatting with DJ about her family and her spiritual  interests.  As she apologized for our twice as long as projected wait, we assured her that we knew it was not in her control and that we were grateful for her hard work to bring our family together. 
A friend of ours who had adopted from Korea last year had posted a mega progress video clip of her son on FB the day before, and with my friend's permission, I asked DJ if they would want to see the video.  She was eager to see it and called the other office worker over to see Greer's video.  They were so very impressed with Greer and his skills.  The smiles on their faces made that 5 minute detour very very worth it.  They also got to see a Sophie (Greer's twin) clip and would have sat all afternoon looking at their Holt babies who are on my FB list.  But we had a daughter to attend to and
with questions answered and gifts exchanged, it was time to go downstairs to have Alyvia's very brief travel physical. 

On our way to the doctor's office we got to stop and pay our Hotel bill--worth every penny.  And give the flowers (see earlier post) to the doctor who spent the most time caring for Alyvia during her time in Holt's foster care family.  We only saw 4 other babies in the building that day and did not recognize any of them.  boo.  But we did get to see Holt's newest set of twin boys. They were only a few days old and so perfect.  My heart broke for their birthmom and her needs.  I pray these beautiful boys become beloved sons in the perfect forever family.  

On our way toward Dr. Park's office for Alyvia's Physical, Nurse Lee stopped us and gave us a back pack for Alyvia.  It seems it is a tradition for them to share these little backpacks with the kids who are leaving to their forever families.  I've seen photos of them on the backs of several of the toddlers coming home this summer.  But I still knew it a special gift from a kind nurse who truly cared for our little Huimanga. 

Off we went to Dr. Park.  On her foster Omma's lap for the last time, Dr. Park gave Alyvia the quick once over.  Ears, Heart, Lungs.  Before we knew it, we were headed down the hallway toward the door.  I was so broken for Alyvia and her foster mom.  I asked foster Omma to hold Alyvia's hand down the hallway, this was her daughter.  You can use the word "foster" if you want, and yes, the relationship between this woman and our daughter was always intended to be temporary, But Alyvia was loved by her more than words could convey.  For 15 months theirs was the love of a mother and daughter and their parting was the second sacred moment of our trip to Korea.   

I had asked our photographer the day before to honor the fostermom by not taking photos of her grief and oh what grief it was . . . more than we all could bear it seemed.  Foster Omma crouched down and spoke private words with Huimanga . . . words of comfort and love and encouragement, no doubt.  Foster Omma sobbed and hugged our girl and we all cried too.  At some point, during this moment, DJ had gone outside to grab us a cab.  She put our gifts in the trunk and gave the cab driver directions to our hotel.  We came outside on what had been a rainy but now simply overcast day,  foster Omma was holding Alyvia and asked her for a kiss.  Then she asked Alyvia to kiss me which she did.  Then she handed Alyvia to me and backed away toward the building.  I had hoped to embrace the woman who had loved our Alyvia all these months, but it was not meant to be, not on this day at least. 

DJ helped us into the cab and told us that the cab driver knew where to go so not to worry.  Our sweet Mylinda got a few photos of us in the cab and with that we were seven.  Our family of six in that moment filled with emotion and sadness and loss and gain became seven.

BRAVE. . . that was the word that came to mind first at the commencement of our drive to the Somerset.  This little 21 pound 2 year old was so very very brave.  She was overwhelmed and afraid but still present.   At first her little body moved as if she were holding in the biggest cry of her life but she did not cry. She did not shed one tear in the cab--Part of me wishes she had.  She leaned against me and played with my necklace and sat in a silent but not still sort of shock. 

John spoke kind words of comfort to her then he started to sing. 

 

God of the Ages, History's Maker,

Planning our pathway holding us fast. 

Shaping in mercy all that concerns us. 

Father, we praise You.  Lord of our past. 

 

God of this morning,

Gladly Your children worship before You trustingly bow.  

Teach us to know You, Always among us. 

Quietly Sovereign, God of our now. 

 

God of tomorrow, Strong Overcomer,

princes of darkness own Your command. 

What then can harm us?  We are Your people.  

Now and forever, kept by Your hand. 

 

God of past ages, God of this morning,

God of our future, Help us, we pray. 

Teach us to trust You, love and obey You.  

Crown You each moment, Lord of today.  

15 months after we first saw your face . . . Part One

We truly "saw" your face. 

Let me back up a minute . . .

After a full and enjoyable day, we slept well on Wednesday night.   Praise the Lord! 
We woke up Thursday morning knowing that this was THE day.  The day we had been waiting for since first we had seen Lyv's face almost 15 months before.  The day we would meet our beautiful daughter and finally claim her as our own forever. 

We got cleaned up, ate and skyped with the bigs.  Then we spent the rest of our morning getting our hearts and our minds prepared for the enormity of what we were about to experience.  I am always amazed and grateful for the Holy Spirit's use of God's powerful Word in my heart.  God has been so faithful to me. 

*********************************************************************************

This week in Korea and this day in particular were a real test for my frail kind of heart.  I KNOW my heart and life belong to the God of the universe and I am a member of His worry-free, already victorious Kingdom through faith in His Son's death alone BUT my self-focused heart screams an allegiance to the kingdom of this world to what is temporary to what I think I can control. 
SO . . . I struggle with anxiety at times. I fear things and worry about things that do not deserve my fear or my sinful worry.  BUT GOD . . . always answers me when I humbly lay my weak, sinful self at His gracious and merciful feet.  He always forgives.  He always strengthens.  He always provides for my spirit when I ask (read beg) for His sustanence.  For me it really is a daily, even hourly, discipline to surrender my weakness to His strength. . . My pseudo control to His sovereign control. . . My worry to His almighty, trustworthy plan.
And this day, this moment and the weeks since have provided non-stop opportunities to either fear and worry or trust and rest. 

I posted this section here for a couple of reasons. 
1.  Keeping it real folks.  Sometimes people think that someone else certainly has it all together.  No one really has it all together.  I think, The people who have it together the most are those who realize how untogether they really have it and rest on the Grace of God to sustain and grow them today and over their spiritual journey that takes a lifetime.

2.  Maybe worry and fear are battles you face, too.  The two Bible-based books that have been the most helpful to me in this area are Running Scared by Ed Welch and  Overcoming Fear, Worry and Anxiety by Elyse Fitzpatrick. 
   
We now return you to your regularly scheduled "Family Day" post.

*********************************************************************************

In Korea, gift-giving is a treasured tradition.  Our agency encourages its families to give gifts to the foster family, the social worker and the medical and office staff at Holt Korea.  It was a daunting task to consider and buy meaningful gifts for the people in Korea who have done so much to help our daughter become our daughter.  But we did it, over time, mind you.  We did it. 

We had planned to buy flowers for our social worker and for the doctor who had done Alyvia's bi-monthly well baby checkups.  We found a flower shop around the corner from our hotel and it seemed to be open all the time.  So, we had just planned to go to that shop on the morning of our family day and buy the flowers we needed for these two special ladies. 

As luck would have it =), we went to that flowershop a little before noon and IT WAS CLOSED!!! Ugh!  We even knocked on the window.  I have no idea the cultural implications of knocking on the window of a closed business, but we were desperate.  Still no one came. 

We decided to go get our chocolate milk treat for our first meeting with Alyvia then come back and hope the shop was open by then.  We prayed on our way that God would please let the flowershop be open when we came back.  We verbally yielded to His will in this matter. 
15 minutes later with chocolate milk (which she hated BTW) in hand, we returned to the flowershop.  And it was OPEN. Whew and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO! 

We lost a little in translation, but ended up with some beautiful flowers for two beautiful women.  =)

We needed to leave for Holt by 12:45 and when we got back with the flowers it was 12:35.  No time to worry now.  We needed to grab our stuff and head to Holt. 

And guess what??  I'm out of blogging time. . . I guess this will be a two parter. 

 

 

 

Happy Saturday, All!

I hope you spend your Sunday with your church family corporately worshiping the Great God of the Bible, being equipped for every good work and as always simply grateful for the adoption as first born sons He offered to you through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Breath-Taking!

Ok, so where did I leave off?  Ahh, yes, Wednesday evening . . .  Post RC sock fiasco.

We got back to our hotel and waited only a short moment to meet two new friends.  YAY.  Please, see God's loving hand of provision in the people we met in Korea.  We met some A.Mazing peeps there and He was in it all. 

We met our friends at our hotel lobby (thanks, ladies).  We took a 3 minute walk to the all-American Subway restaurant.  Man, they get it right every.time.  AND they had a bread choice we do not have in the US.  Uh huh.  I'd like to say we heard a lot from our new friends about their lives and ministries in Korea, But when it was time to leave Subway, I was the one carrying my sandwich out the door.  Apparently I was doing most of the talking.  =)  Actually, I remember talking some but I was mostly asking Merilee and Mylinda lots of questions.  Really.  You gotta believe me.  =)  

We grabbed a cab.  Actually, they grabbed a cab.  We don't grab cabs in the heartland.  =)

And we were off to an adventure of breath-taking proportions.  It was dark and we were headed straight to the Seoul Tower.  YAY!
The North Seoul Tower is as you would guess, A tower in Seoul.  I really have no idea how tall it is.  Ya'll could google it.  

Anyway, There are two special things about the Tower.
 One the view is truly amazing.   I am so glad we went at night.  The lights of the city were so beautiful.  Really, nothing can describe it.  So, you'll just have to go yourself someday. 

Please, note two OTHER things. 
1.  Our new friends were so much fun to be with.  We GOT to ride in a much too full swinging cable car to the base of the tower (YIKES).  Then we GOT to hike some serious steps to the tower itself.  Neither of our friends LOL when I nearly needed an inhaler to make it to the top.    Kindness came flowing out of them in many ways that night.  We really enjoyed our time with them. 

2.  Oh and do you remember the film crew we met at our traditional Korean meal on Monday?  Did I even blog about that?? Anyway, We saw them again at the top of the Seoul Tower.  How unlikely is that?  In a city of 10 million.  Funny and unlikely.

Ok, 2 paragraphs ago I mentioned the two special things about the Seoul Tower.  One is the view.  The second is the "Locks of  Love" that lovers and more recently adoptive families Lock to the tower signifying their never ending love for each other.   We bought a lock for Alyvia and locked it to the second tree on the tower path.  We picked the second tree because she was turning two one week from that day we locked our lock of love to the tree. 

We grabbed the next swinging, not quite as packed, cable car down from the tower.  And the girls grabbed us a cab and dropped us off safely back at our hotel.  Are we totally spoiled or what???
 

Our Wednesday in Korea did not include our desired trip to Ilsan but God did give us the perfect Wednesday in Seoul.  In fact, EVERY DAY in Seoul, we would end our day thanking God and saying outloud, "could this day have been any better?"  We were then and continue to be simply grateful for our life-changing trip to Sweet Seoul, South Korea. 

We interrupt our Korea Blog Posts . . .

To bring you 14 things we know about our Alyvia Huimanga after 14 days.

1.  She is very, very smart.
2.  When she is relaxed, she talks (in Hangul) a lot.  I wish we knew what she was saying.
3.  She likes to sing and dance. The three bears song is her fave.
4.  She is extremely cute.  She knows how to flash her million dollar smile at just the right time.
5.  She adores her siblings and is extremely fond of her Appa (daddy), too.
6.  She may eventually make friends with our family pet.  Right now they are kind of scared of each other.  As it should be, I suppose. 
7.  She already signs "more" and "please" at appropriate times.  I told you she was smart.  =)
8.  She will try any food you ask her too and while she eats almost anything, Rice, seaweed and  hard  boiled eggs are her faves.  She also really likes candy corn. =)
9.  She is great on the steps.  Praise be!
10.  She is sleeping like a champ.  She has slept from Midnight to 10AM for 3 or 4 nights in a    row. MORE Praise be!

11. She misses her foster family.  They loved her very very much and she returned that love for them.
12.  She loves legos, drawing and coloring.
13.  She is very very brave.
14.  She is a huge blessing to our family.  We will love her as our cherished daughter forever. 

Simply grateful to God for the gift of another daughter  . . .
 

Wednesday . . . sweet Wednesday

No Ilsan . . .

Let me say first that our hopes for our Wednesday in Korea included a trip to Holt's Facility in Ilsan.  It is a combination Care facility, School and Vocational center for perfect Image-bearers (most of whom have developmental and/or physical disabilities).  There is also a museum there detailing the Holt family's pioneering work in international adoption and the Holts are buried on the property. 

If you know me well, you know that I have a huge spot in my heart for people with disabilities.  And in my heart, I really wanted to meet and love on some of the special people at Ilsan.  We had purchased some donations for the kids and adults that live there and were pretty sad when our agency said our trip there could not be worked out for our Wednesday in Korea or anyday for that matter.  =(

But God . . .

He knew that our Wednesday in Korea would be the perfect day for us. . .

Our morning started our with breakfast and skyping with the Bigs.  We were blessed to be at a hotel with a WONDERFUL buffet breakfast included daily and We were blessed to be able to Skype with the Bigs almost daily.  So great to see them and talk with them and air hug them while we were gone.

After breakfast we headed back to Insadong to continue knocking out our shopping list.  Thanks to our many cyber adoptive friends and their advice, we had a well established list of special things we wanted to bring home from Korea.  We did well to stick to our list and find the things we wanted at a decent price.  Having this extra morning to shop really did make our time in Korea more relaxing.  Who would complain about an extra morning to shop?????  Please, note the shopping also included Starbucks which tends to make everything a little sweeter.

We got an email from our US agency that we would get to do one of the 3 special things we hoped to do in Korea. . . Visit the Holt Reception Center in Seoul.   The Reception Center is a group home for Babies for whom there is no foster home available or who need a little extra medical care.  There are usually 10 babies at the RC and usually 6 caregivers for the babies on each shift.  These babies get tons of loving.  They are extra well- fed, clean, loved and developing well for their age.  AND THEY ARE VERY VERY CUTE.  More about that in a minute.
We needed to be at the Holt office at 5PM on Wednesday so we spent our early afternoon organizing our donations and gifts and chilling (just a little). 

Our first glimpse of Holt and the RC . . .

Around 4:15 we grabbed a cab and headed to the brand new Holt office.  We must have looked the part because when we got in the cab with our bags of donations and gifts, the cab driver said "Holt?".
Apparently, we Holtees have a unique look and often come from a certain hotel.  In a city of 10 million people, it was odd (funny actually) to be accurately identified as adoptive parents. 
Anyway, the address we had with us was to the old Holt office which is where our cab driver took us.  Fortunately, the new building is in sight of the old office so we just pointed and said, "new Holt."  He smiled and took us the extra block and a half.  =)

We got to the Holt office thinking we were waiting for our social worker.  We were told she would meet us in the lobby so we waited about 10 minutes then went looking for her.  She actually was unable to take us to the RC at 5PM as she had another meeting come up.  We went upstairs and finally found the very helpful man who explained DJ's absence and that he would gladly guide us to the RC and give us the tour of that building.  (DJ asked the next day how we liked her boss, the man that took us to the RC.  We did not know he was her boss.)  He was a kind and humble, helpful man and we were glad to have met him. 

Anyway, he offered us H2O in the Holt office and thanked us for the things we brought as donations for Holt, Ilsan and our daughter's first foster family in Daegu.  Then we walked a very short walk maybe two blocks or less to the Holt building that includes the RC.  This building also includes a floor for education, counseling and family preservation ministries and another floor that is the Holt Guesthouse. 

If the details are too much, forgive please.  I'm writing this for Alyvia trying to remember every little thing I can about our incredible trip to her Korea.

Anyway, as we arrived at the RC we were greeted with slippers for inside the building--that's when it dawned on me--every day in Korea I had worn socks.  Every single day  . . . except today.  I was mortified.  I knew that I would need socks to go into the baby rooms.  ugh. . .

That being said, we had purchased "thank you" gifts for the RC staff women that were on that day.  The gifts were my favorite chapstick and soft socks.  I seriously considered grabbing a pair out of our gift bag and putting them on, But I knew I only had 6 . . . just enough for the day's workers.  boo.

We went first (barefooted, mega ugh) to the older baby room.  These babies (all beautiful boys) were between the ages of 9-15 months.  They were so cute.  I melted at the sight of them.  We had brought them one new toy.  That stackable donut one, you know it, I'm sure.  They were surrounded by toys in their stimulating environment, but when that new toy came out, ALL FIVE of them went straight for it.  Each one grabbed a piece of it and they were in heaven.  I loved that sight.  One simple toy made them all so happy.  We were permitted to take photos of the boys.  We hugged them all and kissed them all.  And squeezed their chubby little thighs.  Oy vey.  I love chubby baby thighs. =) 

Anyway, I asked if any of the boys had been matched with forever families.  The staff said two of the five.  So I went to both of those little boys and told them their mamas loved them and that their mamas would come as soon as they possibly could.  Now, I have NO IDEA who their mamas are, mind you.  I just know that their mamas love them and that their mamas will move heaven and earth to get to Korea ASAP to bring their boys home.  It's what mamas do. 

The staff was so kind to us.  We asked questions, translated through our guide, and they answered helpfully and demonstrated a great concern for the babies in their care. 

We went then to the littler baby room and met the other 5 guys currently residing at the RC.  There were four 6 week old babies,  two of whom were special needs and two of whom were developing typically for their age.  Two of the littles were sleeping in their cribs and the other three babies were being tended to, held and or cuddled by the three staff members in the room. 
The 5th baby was an adorable 7 month old baby that I learned later that night is the son of one of my "cyber" acquaintences.  He was so very lovable, he was strong and appeared bright and healthy.  As is often my custom, I leaned over him and whispered, "Jesus loves you, little man." Boy does He love you.  Can't wait to see this little guy home with his forever family. 
Without taking a picture in this room, we left it.  It seemed to quiet and sacred for photos.  I'm not even sure what I mean by that exactly . . . but thats how I felt in that moment.

We finished our Tour of the RC and made the quick walk back to the new Holt office.  Our host used that time to tell us how Holt came to have the new office building and how God provided it debt free for Holt.  It really is a story of God's provision and blessing on this incredible organization.  We thanked our host and grabbed a cab headed back to our hotel.

You'd think our Wednesday would have been complete but as fast as we got back to our hotel, we connected with two more sisters in Christ (now friends) and had quite an adventurous Wednesday evening.  Unfortunately for our eager blog readers, It's 1AM on Wednesday night two weeks later and I need to get to bed.  If you want to know the details that made our Wednesday night in Seoul Sweet and Memorable, you'll have to ck back (hopefully soon, but no promises) and find out.

Until then . . .  I hope you find your heart simply grateful for the strength God gave you to make it through today and the Hui-mang (bright Hope) He always promises on the morrow. 

Night . . . from the Heartland!

Daegu Dream . . .

For the benefit of our sweet girl, we had dreamed of and asked to travel to her birth city and meet her first foster family.  We wanted to thank them and give them gifts to show our gratitude for caring for Alyvia Huimang for the first 9 months of her precious life.  Those first months are so long and hard and rewarding and we are grateful for their care of Alyvia during this important time in her life.

The meeting with the foster family could not be arranged, but we still wanted to travel to Daegu, enjoy a meal and take some photos of Lyv's birth city.  AND WE DID! 

We met our lovely Korean guide, now friend, near 10AM on Tuesday.  She came to our hotel to meet us which was very kind as we had yet to attempt the Seoul Subway system.  We left our hotel and headed by subway (an interesting adventure) to the Seoul Station so we could catch the next bullet train to Daegu.   We were too late to sneek onto the 11AM train, so we shopped a bit and visited with our new friend while we waited for the noon train to Daegu. 

The trip from Seoul to Daegu on the bullet train/KTX takes about two hours with speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.  It was a beautiful day for this trip that cuts South Korea in half diagonally leaving from Seoul in the NW and ending in Daegu in the SE. 

South Korea is a beautiful country.  It really is covered by short mountains with little plains/valleys for planting in between.  We saw a lot of rice and soybeans growing on our trip and even a little corn.  It seemed like the bigger cities and smaller villages kind of ran together with not a lot of undeveloped or unfarmed areas.  The trip to Daegu would have been COMPLETELY worth the time and money had we only seen the beautiful countryside and turned back to Seoul on the next train north. 

When we got to Daegu the first thing we did was purchase our return tickets to Seoul.  We would be on the 6:12 train.  So we had 4 sweet hours to spend in Lyv's birth city.  Second on the Daegu agenda was lunch.  =)  Our friend had googled "best traditional Korean restaurants in Daegu" which lead us eventually to a unique, small, Korean restaurant with perfect food.  It took a few phone calls from our cab driver to the restaurant in order for us to find it, but we made it. (The taxi cab was the nicest one I'll ever ride in.  Leather EVERYTHING.)  We were so very hungry and we were quickly served the most delicious Bi Bim Bap we will likely ever eat.

While the delicacies were certainly scrumptious,  the discussion over the meal was even better.  Our tour guide/friend is also a sister in Christ and we enjoyed our conversation topics including her testimony of faith in Christ, theology, practical Christian living and Christian growth.   God used Ji Yeon to help make our dream of visiting Daegu a memorable reality and we will forever be grateful to Him and to her for this special day.

After Lunch, Ji Yeon asked what else we hoped to do.  We said just walk the city and take pics.  Our dreams of meeting Lyv's foster family not being a reality, our aims weren't that high.  
We ran quickly into a Hello Kitty Diner.  How cute was that!  Ji Yeon said that Hello Kitty is a Japanese thing (as I recall), but it is huge in Korea.  Next, we hapt across a shop with adult Hanboks for sale.  Hanboks are traditional Korean outfits worn for special days like birthdays and weddings.  We really hoped to get Alyvia a Hanbok from Korea, So in that moment it hit me . . . Find Lyv's Hanbok in Daegu.  Get her Hanbok from her birth city!!! Now we had a mission.  Find the perfect Hanbok for our daughter in Daegu. 

At this point, we had about 2 and a half hours left before our train headed back to Seoul, so we needed to get tracking.  Ji Yeon asked in a shop or two where we might find Hanboks in Daegu and the consensus was that there was a "mall" where you could find various vendors selling LOTS of Hanboks.  The mall wasn't really close but not too far either, so we hoofed it and found it.  We had to walk down a traditional Korean shopping district to find the mall and it was amazing.  The atmosphere, the smell, the people. . .  Amazing.  This mall was really like an old Sears store with 3 or 4 stories, one floor of which was JAMMED (think two foot aisles, short ceilings, your basic clausterphobia central) with vendors selling Hanboks and other fabric (think bolts and bolts of fabric).  With Ji Yeon's help (bargaining for prices and telling me when to walk away), we finally found the perfect Hanbok for Lyv.  And we were stoked. 

Side note, we had left John outside the mall and had he tried to find us inside, we would have been seperated FOR.EVER.  It was like a maze of fabric and sellers and o my!

We did make it back outside, we even found the same door.  Whew! 
On the edge of the shopping district, we found our first Pororo stuff.  We bought stuffed toys for the bigs and Super nanny then headed to a safe place to hail a cab back to the train station.  This cab was not as nice and the driver was definitely not the safest man I've ever ridden with.  He used his horn A.Lot!  Just sayin.

We took the very fast and enjoyable trip back to Seoul on the KTX.  We enjoyed more conversations with Ji Yeon.  We really hoped to be an encouragement to her as she was to us.  We even got shushed by the attendant on the train.  I think we were enjoying our trip too much. 

Anywho, Sweet Ji Yeon dropped us safely at our hotel and took the subway 30-45 minutes back to her apartment around 9PM. 

Please, See God's hand of provision all over this day.  Please, praise Him with us for guiding and protecting us. . .  for going before us and using Ji Yeon to help us so very much.  A guide and sister  . .  . now friend.    God was very very good to us on our Tuesday in Korea and we went to bed simply grateful for His continued grace and provision for our every need . . .

City Tour Day!

The words "City Tour" just don't cover what an amazing day we just had.

First up, we got to meet some cyber friends IRL.  That was fantastic!  Laurie and Mark are from the DM area.  We've known each other online for months and to hug them (read her) IRL was such a gift.  We also met the best folks ever from the KC area.  These two couples are adopting with our agency and we enjoyed our day with them more than we can put into words.  They were both just so nice and encouraging and  . . .

Our tour guide was the best gift of the day.  Chae was A.mazing!   She is a Seoul native thru and thru but spent the past 7 years in the states so  . . . she was the perfect tour guide.  She was so beautiful and down to earth and helpful.  We just fell in love with her.  I will be so proud and grateful if our new daughter  is very much like Chae when she is a young woman.  

We had an

 enjoyable time visiting the Gyeong Bok Gung Palace.  The weather was perfect and the colors of the palace were vivid.  WE had lunch  at a traditional  Korean restaurant.  It  will likely be one of my favorite experiences in Korea.  We shopped til we dropped this afternoon, getting a beat on some great deals for Wednesday.

Anyway, this brief summary doesn't do this day justice.  But it will have to suffice for now .  We are hoping to head to Alyvia's birth city tomorrow.  That will be a BIG day for sure.