Seoul: I get it now!

I can not believe yesterday (well, I am not sure what day it is now) we said good-bye to the city of my children's birth.

It has been alot to process over the past few days and I apologize for not posting sooner.

Before we left for Korea, I could not wait to drink it all in.

I heard so much about it from my friends and I was chomping at the bit to see what it was like.

I'm going to be honest here.

After our first few days in Seoul I just wasn't sure what to think.

I mean, its big and its nice, but I was not "in love" with it like I thought I should be.

I felt kinda ashamed I felt that way, after all this is where Luke was born.

Then we got Leah.

The sun came out and we went for a walk as a family of four down the street and my mind was changed forever.

I get it now!

Seoul is amazing and I can not wait to go back to visit.

I'm not even sure words can say what its like there or what it means to me now.

The past few days have been very emotional.

We won't go into details as it is a very private nature, but please pray for Leah's foster family.

They are having a difficult time without her, and my heart is breaking for them.

I am sure I looked like a crazy Westerner to the Korean people as I spent alot of time crying in public just being over whelmed with the emotion of it all.

We are so thankful for our new friends the Australians (not that I am labeling them by race, but its easier and more generic than giving their names).

I really don't know how we would have survived without them.

We spent Saturday walking about with them for a while and soaking it all in and getting a little lost in the process.

Aussies: "you sure you know your way back?"

Us: "totally!"

Reality...nope! oh well! we got to see more and I really got to work off all the baby weight I had gained over the past 8 months.

(lunch at bulgogi bros, good call!)

(changing of the guard)

Monday before we left we visited the Seoul Tower.

Its beautiful and the air is so fresh.

Its like being in the country or mountains while in the midst of a big city.

(Both Luke and Leah have the two keys that go to this lock. We have them on a necklace chain to give to them to symbolize their birth country and first home).

(people love children here. everywhere we went people wanted to take pictures of our kids, pick them up, or pat them on the head. Leah has some serious stranger danger as her foster mother said (a good thing right now!) and was not to fond of the attention she was getting)

We also made a mad dash back to Nadumum (totally can't say it or spell it) Market to get some toys and shirts for the kids before we left.

Shopping has never really been my thing, but I could totally do that kinda shopping again!

(got the hook UP on Pororo toys!)

We headed back to the hotel to get our luggage out of the Australians room (check out was earlier than our driver was coming so they let us hold it there-have I mentioned how much I love them?!).

I seriously could not thank them enough for all they did for us while we were there.

And then we were off...

Both kids did great on the plane rides home.

We had issues when we landed in Chicago getting through customs and immigration.

Thank God again for wonderful people in this world.

Everyone was very tired and cranky and it the line to get through customs and immigration was out of control (basically there was lines to get into the lines).

All Luke wanted to do was get on that plane and go home.

He kept screaming "Luke! Airplane Ride!", really loud and repeatedly.

I in the mean time caught a cold and was very sleep deprived and not feeling so hot.

I think people took pity on us as some how we were ushered through hundreds of people to the front of the line and yet somehow still managed to miss our plane ride back to Kansas City.

We were booked on the next one just a few hours later and just like that we were on our way once again home.

When we landed we were greeted by wonderful friends and family who were all eager to meet miss Leah.

I honestly totally protested the airport party (especially after being spit up on, pooped on, and not showering for over 24 hours and being sick), however it was so nice and thoughtful to see everyone!

Wow...I have great friends and family!

The signs rocked!

 

We got home to a beautifully cleaned house and fridge stocked full of milk and bananas.

The kids were up partying till 1 am (love jet lag), and finally we all crashed.

I can not believe how well everyone is doing.

I am fully aware and prepared for things to head south, but all in all life is soooo good!

I promise to blog about Leah tomorrow.

Good night and thank you for the prayers!

(pics from the hotel)

No, thank you!