Coming Up Next...

We wanted to take same time to give an update on what we have coming up over the next several weeks. It has been a blessed, busy summer, and things are not about to settle down, but we are loving every minute of it!

My Grandma and her husband Tim will be here on Monday and will be spending 3 days with us before they continue to travel around Asia a bit. The weekend they leave, July 26-27, Justin and I will both be having LASIK! This has been something that I have wanted to get done for years, and it is a fraction of the cost here versus in the States. We will update you after the operations!

Just a few days following that, on July 29, we begin Summer School, and that goes until August 14. We are really looking forward to this time. We have a tremendous group of teachers working, and it will be a good opportunity for Justin to get to know his new class.

Following Summer School we will have about 10 days before the normal school year begins (August 26). We will have some school meetings and orientation events during those 10 days, but we are excited to (hopefully) not feel so lost this year. They have been busy finishing up our new building and field at school as well as renovating parts of the old building. The gym, field, and cafeteria are particularly exciting for us and will make a huge difference in our school. They have also torn down a wall between my classroom and an office, so my room will nearly double in size for next year! All of the offices in my hallway will be moving, so all of them are being turned into rooms for Early Childhood. We have endless ideas about how we're going to take advantage of that space. I'll be sure to post pictures and updates about all of this when everything is done.

There are some exciting things happening at our Church too, and we have a meeting about them on Sunday, so I'll keep you posted when we know more!

Just a few weeks into the school year we will be heading home for Andrew and Keren's wedding! We leave just 8 weeks from today! We know that time will fly by, and we're SO EXCITED that we'll be able to be there.

You can be praying that we will find time to rest throughout all of the craziness of schedules and starting a new school year. You can also be praying for us as we go into our LASIK operations and that we would both come out seeing even better than we do with contacts.

Jeju Island

Jeju Island is called "Korea's Hawaii." We finally had the opportunity to go while my parents were here. Thankfully my Dad was able to easily get his international driver's license so we were able to rent a car and explore at our own pace. It was a beautiful place! The pictures don't do it justice.

Our first stop was not planned but ended up being a hidden gem!

Part of the foot bridge

Notice the reflection in the water

Sunrise Peak

550 steps to the top

We also had the opportunity to visit another waterfall, some caves, a traditional folk village, and a YWAM campus that Justin's Grandpa helped design. 

Pslam 8:3-4  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Jangsan Mountain

Before we moved to Korea, Justin found a picture on Google Maps of a spectacular view of Marine City, the Gwangan Bridge, and Haeundae (where we live) at night. We were so excited to find this view, but up until this week, we had yet to find it. This was not for a lack of trying, but rather a lack of being able to navigate Korean hiking trails without really being able to read Korean.

Justin's parents LOVE to hike, so one day while they were here we set off to find the peak. We didn't quite make it to the top, but only because we found our view before that! One of these days we'll get all the way up there, but our real goal was achieved!

Our first glimpse of the city

Gwangan Bridge

About to go up the last steps to the top

Almost there...

Haeundae and Dalmaji

Our beautiful city!

Our apartment is 403 - the building to the right of 404

Now we just need to go back at night to see this view!

Family Visits

We have been incredibly blessed by having so many people in our lives who are willing and able to come visit us. With our fourth set of visitors now gone, we would like to share some of our favorite pictures from our time with our parents. It blessed us to be able to share our lives with them - our home, our church, our friends, our school, and Korea in general. Below you'll see pictures from places we took both sets of parents - Dongbaek Island, Haedong Temple, Nampo, and various other places.

At our favorite Korean BBQ restaurant

Haedong Temple

Climbing the rocks on the coast

View of Haeundae Beach and Dongbaek Island from Dalmaji Hill

Screen Golf!

UN Memorial Cemetery

My parents brought "Flat Chuck" from the news. 

The biggest lobster I have EVER seen!

Proof that Koreans are shorter than Americans?

Physical Park Fun

Notice the difference in form between Justin and the lady on the left.

"It's all in the hips!"

Justin's parents on Dongbaek Island

Year 2: Cotton

Justin and I took a day this week to celebrate our 2nd anniversary! Justin is so creative in his gift-giving and sent me on a scavenger hunt around our part of the city with my friend Laura as my guide. He had clues leading to each stop where I found a yellow ribbon and a puzzle to put together. (I LOVE puzzles!) Once I had the puzzle together there was another clue on the back. He sent me to a gelato/coffee shop, a park, my favorite clothing store (complete with money to buy something!), a flower shop, the bakery, and a few other stops on the way back to the apartment. Once I had all of the puzzles they then formed a larger puzzle full of pictures of us from this past year.

Finding a clue at Cafe Bene

Once I put it together, the clue was on the back

Looking for the puzzle at the park

Finding a clue at the subway station

All the puzzles together

The traditional gift for the second year of marriage is cotton or straw. Justin got me Bamboo sheets, which are AMAZING. We saw them in Alaska last summer and heard all about how wonderful they are, but of course they were outrageously expensive there. I got Justin Couple-Set T-shirts, which are very popular in Korea.

We spent the afternoon playing games and hanging out before going on a dinner cruise around the nearby coast. We got delicious steak and were able to enjoy a beautiful night view of part of the city.

Playing Ticket to Ride...Justin won...

Course #1: Sea food... and something very strange

Course #2: Salad

Course #3: Mushroom Soup

Course #4: Onion ring, mushrooms and clam

Course #5: Delicious Steak and Mashed Potatoes...

...and Kimchi of course.

Courses not pictured-

 #6: Sushi bar

#7: Fruit for Dessert

This panoramic didn't quite work since we were moving at this point...but you get the idea :)

We were blessed to have been able to spend our second anniversary in Korea. I wonder where we'll be for it next year!??! Korea, the US, or somewhere in between on vacation? God only knows, right now.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3  If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.