Pictures

Our tour guides

Concert at Insadong mall

Jana eating an popsicle before we left & loving it

First morning with us and Jana is a happy girl

Jana after a few hours with us (after napping)

Mommy & Jana together at last!

Boys being silly about town

Boy's with Julian's Foster Mom, her sister & Mrs. You

Our Hotel- it was awesome

Pool at Hotel

The boys food on plane- they gave them so much

My 3 boys on plan

Getting settled

I can't believe we have been home for 3 weeks now.

We arrived home on Tuesday evening July 6th into JFK and were greeted by Karley, My Mom, Bill's parents, Judy & Joe, Alicia, Joe & Pastor Steve. Sally arrived about an hour after we did and her and Joe brought our luggage home. As much as we enjoyed the trip it was great to be back and be a complete family.

I was going to post airport pictures but I have none. Somehow I deleted them from my camera and I know our camera was the only one to have a family picture so I'm so disappointed :(.

Since we have been home we celebrated Kai's finalization day on July 8th and his referral day on July 11th. We celebrated Jana's 1st birthday on July 14th with lunch as Korea Garden in Blue Bell. We dressed Jane in her Han bok and had lunch and a great cake from Agape Bakery.

I'm still in shock but it only took Jane 2 days to get on our schedule and she has been sleeping 12 hours thru the night since. She also takes a great nap. She is very happy all the time unless she is hungry or tired. I'm not able to switch up her schedule much but we are working it out.

We went swimming at Mom Mom & Pop Pop's, Uncle Chuck & Aunt Patti's and with Georgeanna, Chuck & Kevin and Jana just loves the water. All 4 of the kids are fish so I'm glad everyone likes the water.

We are planning on a few days at the beach so I'm hoping that goes well. I don't have much time to post these days but I can't complain things are really settling in and I'm so happy to have Jana home with us at last and moving on. She fits right in as if she has been wit us forever.

We haven't had many visitors yet but Jana does great with everyone she meets. I think her adjustment has been one the the easiest so far. I am so thankful to God for the amazing blessings he has given us.

I wanted to add some pictures but for some reason they are not adding right so I'll do a separate post for them.

Part II

Sorry it took so long to post this but life has kept me busy. Most of this post was written in Korea and has been saved as a draft. I hope you enjoy our account...

When we got back to Holt after lunch we walked in to find Tae & her Foster Family waiting for us. I barely got a glimpse of her when DJ pulled me to the side to tell me the Foster Mom on her way in was fostering a little girl from our agency. I was anxious to take some pictures of Lucy for her family as I told them I would if I saw her. While I was meeting Lucy and her Foster Mom I missed the initial meeting of Tae & here everyone went upstairs to the meeting room. After I snapped a few pictures & DJ gave me an update on Lucy I realized my family was gone & DJ took me upstairs.


When I entered the room I found everyone sitting around fussing over the baby. I was instantly in love when I saw her. She was so much more beautiful in person and has such pretty eyelashes. We were so lucky to get to meet the Foster Dad & their daughter as well. With the boys we only got to meet foster mom.


It was obvious how much the FF loved our daughter. The fd was reluctant to let us hold Tae but the FM gave her to me for 1 minute when the daughter came & took her back. We sat with them for about 20 minutes or so asking questions and taking pictures of her and taking turns holding her. Before we knew it it was time to go meet the Doctor for the pre-flight physical. It wasn't the usual doctor and this guy just listened to her heart & lungs and said she was good to travel and sent us on our way. DJ took some photos of all of us with the FF then we went back upstairs to exchange gifts and for one more good bye. The FM gave Tae a bottle and then gave her to us with a bag with some pictures, 2 big cans of formula, some clothes, her favorite pillow, a stuffed animal we sent for Tae, some toys for her for the plane ride and some snacks she likes and a han bok for her 1st birthday. We told them we would have a traditional 1st Birthday celebration for her and send them some pictures.


The time just flew by and we forgot all about the video camera. I had carefully planned everything so we wouldn't miss a single minute of our meeting and the day just passed and I missed too many pictures and taking a video. I wish I had someone there who would have captured it all for us.

Words can't express the amazement of meeting our daughter and holding her for the first time. Watching as she interacted with Julian & Kai and how she took to Bill so quickly. My post certainly doesn't capture the beauty of this amazing day but it is something I will forever hold dear in my heart. After such a long wait she was finally with us.


DJ walked the family out then came back to review Tae's file with us and give us directions about clearing immigration at the airport.


DJ walked us out and grabbed a taxi for us and told him where to take us. As we got into our taxi we saw the FF outside in their car just watching us and crying. It absolutely broke my heart. We got in the taxi and set off for our hotel when Tae started crying and calling for Oma. She cried the entire ride home and for the next hour until she fell asleep. My heart was breaking for her and her loss. I felt so bad for the boys they were upset as well to see her sob. Kai got upset, started crying and said "I made a mistake, we need to take her back. I shouldn't have wisher for her". I felt so bad for him but explained that baby Tae was meant to be with us. Although she would have a hard time adjusting she soon would become comfortable with us and settle in because we are her family and we are all supposed to be together. It definitely was one the the hardest afternoons of my life.

While Tae was sleeping on my lap we asked the boys what name they liked. They both were calling her Jaci at the agency but I told them they needed to look at her face and decide how they thought she looked like and not just pick a name because they liked that name. Julian quickly said although he liked Jaci he though she looked like a Jana and Bill agreed. Kai wasn't sure at first but then decided he agreed.


After Tae woke from her nap she was smiling and so happy. The boys really wanted to go swimming so we took her to the pool and she loved it. She stayed in for about an hour with Bill and didn't want to get out. We returned to our room and everyone was exhausted. I washed Tae which she really didn't like and then she ate and started crying again. After about 30 minutes I got her to sleep. She slept for a short time and woke hysterical, I couldn't settle her down so Bill took her and after about 20 minutes he was able to get her to sleep.


We were all exhausted so we went to bed. Tae woke at 3am, we gave her a bottle & called my Mom on Skype so she could meet Karley. After a very short talk we went back to bed and got 3 more hours sleep. Once everyone was awake we called Karley again and this time Aunt Judy & Uncle Joe met Tae too and she was on the floor dancing & playing with the boys.

Our Last Day

We went down to breakfast and Tae loved eggs and rice. After breakfast we went for a walk to Lotte mart, love that store and wish we would have found it sooner. They are like WalMart but much cooler. On the first floor it was like a supermarket but then you can take the escalator up with your shopping cart and there are clothes and bedding, a Toys R Us, a section with a few CD's.... this store had everything. The boys picked out Hello Kitty flutes for both girls and we bought the baby some clothes because everything I packed was too big. We got some baby food and then had to get back to the Hotel to pack. I could have spent an entire day in that store but we were out of time.

We took a taxi back to the Hotel and ran up to our room. Bill convinced them to give us to 2pm to check out so we could pack and i really needed the time. Before we knew it we had to leave. Our trip was amazing and our time went way too quick. As we sat in the hotel lobby waiting for our taxi back to the airport we talked about all the things we just didn't have time to do. We decided we really need to go back in a few years as a family. We thought this trip was a once in a lifetime trip but we realized we really need to come back as a complete family and really plan our trip better so we can do alot of sightseeing.

At this moment I can't single out the best part of the trip because there are so many memorable things that I will treasure forever. I know my account is no where as moving as our experience but I do hope if anyone reading this has the opportunity to travel they should definitely do it. It's truly an experience you will treasure forever. The thought of traveling with 4 children 7 years form now is overwhelming but we will start saving now and maybe have the help of a travel agent to plan it out but it's something I want to do for our family. I am in love with Korea and look forward to our trip back. How could I not be, it's where our lives changed from a couple to a family, and now a family of 6.

Meeting Baby Tae & the boys Foster Mom's

I prepared this post in Korea but needed some time before I posted. This post is really personal but in hopes of giving a realistic account I've decided to share this information.

My account of Tuesday July 6th in Seoul Korea
Today is a day I have been waiting for since we got our sibling call on August 21st while food shopping in Genuardi's. We were at the egg case as the boys like to remind me ever time we are food shopping. This is a call I had once dreamed about but never dared believe would happen. What are the chances that a birthmother would have 2 babies she couldn't keep. And having a daughter 7 years after having a son. We had 3 amazing children on that day when I woke up. I was a Mom to 3 children that I never imagined I would have. I was settling into having 2 boys and 1 girl and we were done, so I thought. Just 2 days before was the conversation we had that we had been blessed with 3 amazing children and to hope for more was testing fate. Not to mention we live in a small townhouse and were not getting any younger. It was time for us to start focusing on the future and not a time to start over, or so we thought.

On this morning our lives changed yet again which brought us to today. It's been a very long and difficult journey but never did a day pass that we didn't know God was leading us down this road. It wasn't always ease to have the strong faith we needed to have but none the less we did have faith.

We had planned on taking the subway to our meeting but as it neared 11am and I looked at the 16 bags of gifts we needed to get to Holt in one piece we decided to take a taxi. We made it to Holt 5 minutes early and arrived at Holt more stressed than I had ever been. I had packed the backpack with 2 camera's the boys video camera's, disposable camera's and our video camera. I had such plans on how we would record this day but the moment I stepped out of the taxi that all was lost somewhere in the back of my brain.

We walked up to the second floor and there was a foster mom talking to someone so we had to wait to get past. Finally after standing in the hall for a little bit Bill excused himself & went to find DJ. She took us right in to see the boys foster mom's who were already waiting for us. It was amazing, they both looked exactly the same. They jumped up and grabbed the boys and hugged them, Of course I wasn't prepared with the camera so I didn't capture this moment. Kai's Foster Mom made him climb up on her back, it was really cute. DJ later told us his FM said he loved being there so she put him on her back to see if he remembered being there. We enjoyed some light conversation and updated the FM on what they boys have been doing. They both had a handful of pictures with them, Julian's fm had pictures of when he was a baby and we enjoyed looking at them. She told us she was happy to see he cut his hair shorter. Kai's fm had current pictures of him and they all shared the photo's. We shared pictures of the boys with Karley and some of the new baby. The boys fm's happen to be good friends so it was nice that we were all able to meet together.

After what seemed like a way too short visit we were off to lunch. Kai's fm walked out with us but couldn't join us because she had a baby at home to go care for. She reminded us that she has a grandson the same age as Kai. I remember from the pictures she had given us that her son & wife lived with them and they had a baby very close in age to Kai. She gave us all a big hug and left us then. It was so sad to see her go so soon but Kai was happy for the time he got to spend with her. They were walking hand in hand and it made me cry to see them together again.

Julian was much more quiet and shy. He sat with and walked with his fm but he was too quiet. He walked to lunch with her but all the time was looking over his shoulder for us. When we arrived at the restaurant he didn't want to sit with her but sat across from her next to Kai. He started to get filled up and asked me to please come sit beside him. If he could of climbed inside of me he would have. Julian is a thinker but has a hard time expressing his feelings, were still not exactly sure what was going thru his head but he was scared. In the end he told us he was really glad he got to meet her.

We had lunch at a Vietnamese place close to Holt. It was really good. Julian didn't want to eat so I ordered something to share with him. Our conversation was light and we got a chance to know DJ better. Julian's fm & her sister were worried about him because he wouldn't even look at them and most of the meal he looked like he would break down in tears. I offered to take him outside or the bathroom to talk with him but he didn't want to go. He was so scared but at the same time didn't want to miss a moment of this meeting. By the end of lunch he was doing much better. He walked back to the agency hand in hand with his foster mother and she was so happy to have this time with him. I took lots of pictures but some are missing from my camera so I'm not sure what happened. It was so hot and the humidity was 98% so I think my camera wasn't working properly.

I feel like my words are not enough to express the priceless visit we enjoyed with these woman. It was so amazing to see our boys back with these woman after all these years and to see the love gush out of them. Bill and I started out on this trip thinking it was a once in a lifetime experience that we would never get to do again and we are both starting to wonder if we could ever do it with all 4 of them. How amazing for them all to meet these woman again that gave to much of themselves to care for these children just to prepare them to leave them for us. It takes an incredibly gifted and strong woman to do this and we managed to be blessed with 4 of them.

I'm going to leave the post here and continue the rest on another post.

Day 6- Preparing

I wrote this post in Korea the morning we were to get Tae but I couldn’t post it. I also wrote about our first meeting but needed a few days before I could post. I will post that soon.

I'm so incredibly nervous today. Not sure what has me the most anxious but I have so many feeling. I should be preparing for our meetings but I'm kind of stuck.

We headed down to the Hotel restaurant for breakfast and I couldn't really even eat. The boys seem pretty excited but Bill is nervous as well.

We have to be at Holt at 11:30am to meet with the foster mom's then were having lunch with Mrs. You our caseworker then back to the agency to meet baby Tae. I really hope everything goes smoothly today. I'm so worried Tae is going to break down hysterical when it's time to leave her family that's taken care of her for 7 months. I am so worried about her Foster Family, how will they be? I can't begin to imagine how they are feeling at this moment. Their hearts must be breaking, I know mine is for them. I feel a bit guilty for taking her away from them. Today is so much harder than I expected it to be. I do believe this baby is meant to be with us but why do I have such a heavy heart right now? How I wish this didn't have to be so hard.

Every day we have been here I keep looking around us wondering, are one of these women the mothers to my children, sisters, aunts, uncles, brother's, fathers grandparents?? Are any of these people foster families we never met Do any of these people recognise our children? Does Kai & Tae's birth Mother know we are here and are preparing to take this sweet baby girl away from her birth country to raise in the United States? I wonder are we being watched? Are they observing us wondering what kind of people we are and if they made the right choice sending theses amazing children to live with us.

I'm also worried that once the Foster Mother's meet us will they think we are doing a good job with the boys? Do they get the pictures and letters I have been sending every year since they have been with us.
Will they think I'm doing a good enough job? Am I doing a good enough job?

Day 5

Well Day 5 was another whirlwind day. We started the day at Paris Baguette again then off to Church. Our friend Sally recommended us to Seoul Presbyterian Church and an English service. We arrived on time (were usually late for everything) only to find out the English service was cancelled so we stayed for the Korean service and they provided us with headphones with English translations

When service was over we were off to Coex Mall. We were a bit confused and needed to call Sally. Here the mall is actually underground so after descending a few flights we found the shopping Mall. The first store we found was Hello Kitty so of course I had to go buy something for Karley. They had so many cute things but were a bit expensive. Then we were off on our mission for the book store Sally told us about and on the search for a baby doll for Princess Katherine. After several hours we had to opt for a barbie-ish Korean doll but we found the books we wanted.

We stopped back at the hotel to wash up and change clothes it was a really hot day. We set off once again in hopes to complete our shopping. We went back to Insadong in search of the stamp store which we didn't find. We did buy most of the gifts we needed but were missing a few including a drum for Matthew. At the very last store we found that drum YEAH! We had a few gifts we would have liked to get but we just ran out of time.

While shopping Min's brother-in-law called and said they wanted to meet up with us. They found us in Insadong and gave us another big bag of food. This time it was Min's sister, her Mom, brother-in-law & his daughter. They were so sweet and I just love her Mom. We visited for a bit then parted ways. They had wanted to take us out for dinner but we had to decline as we really had to finish the things on our list. When we parted Min's Mom & sister gave the boys a really big hug. I really wanted to take their picture but Min's sister didn't want her picture taken.

We returned to the Mall in Insadong in search of a gift for my Mom and there was a band playing, they were really good they were called The Big Issue. The girl singer had a great voice and we stayed to watch them for a few songs.

Finally we finished and returned to our hotel about 8:30pm. The boys goal was to make it to the pool every day so we had to go swimming. At 9:30pm I made everyone return to the room as I knew I had a late night ahead of me preparing gifts. I got everyone showered and all 3 boys fell asleep watching TV. I was up until about
12:30am and then felt so sick so I had to call it a night.

I woke several times during the night but wouldn't let myself get up until 6:30am. I'm not exactly sure how much I slept but all I now is that I'm nervous.

Day 5 was a big success, I think, and now we have to prepare for our meetings

Day 4

Yesterday was another good day. Although we didn’t go sightseeing the boys got to experience some traditional markets.

We started the day off at Paris Baguette, everyone was sick of the breakfast buffet at the hotel. After breakfast we took the shuttle to Myungdong Market. We wandered around a little and were able to find a jazz cd that was a requested gift. Thankfully the shop owner knew enough English to help us find a popular choice.

We soon discovered that this wasn’t the best place for us to find what we were looking for and decided to go to Itaewon which was a little more familiar to us. Thankfully we were able to find some things there. We don’t have the means to buy everyone gifts but we wanted to get a few things for the kids and we have a small list of requests we were asked to bring back. It was really hot and humid and the boys were getting tired so after walking for about 2 hours we headed back to the hotel to drop off the things we bought and get rid of the heavy backpack.

The boys were hungry and although they like Korean food they really wanted a burger. We decided to go to Outback which is a few blocks from us. Lesson learned, although it was an Outback they had a menu that was Korean inspired so no burgers. Julian had steak which he loves and Kai had chicken fingers. The portion was huge and we all ate too much. Since we were so full we decided we needed to walk so we headed to Time Square Mall to shop or so we though. When Bill asked the girl at the information desk at the hotel about souvenirs shopping she suggested we go to Time Square Mall since the forecast was for rain. She said it was indoors and we would do much better there. Time Square Mall is alot like King of Prussia Mall with all high end stores and it was packed with people carrying lots of bags. I was amazed how busy this place was, this was a much different experience. There wasn’t a children’s store or toy store so we left soon after arriving. It was so congested there and unless you are interested in high end shopping I wouldn’t recommend going there.

We then headed to Namdaemun Market which is a traditional Korean market. There are vendors all over the place and lots of interesting food. I was looking for some blankets for the kids and this is a great place to get them. However by the time we got there many shops were closed. If time permits we will head back before we leave. As soon as I arrived I remembered it from my visit to Korea with Judy when we went to get Kai, although yesterday was much busier. People were pretty rude & just shoved us around. If you have patience for this it’s a great place to shop. You can pretty much get anything you need there and the prices are much better than in Itaewon and the shop keepers are more willing to bargain with you. Many speak English as well as at Itaewon. We didn’t last real long cause the boys were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel.

Bill took the boys swimming while I cooked the bulgogi Min’s Mom brought us on Friday night. Although it was the best bulgogi I ever had we were all really full from our lunch 6 hours before so we didn’t eat much.

After dinner we played cards with the boys and then they entertained us. I’d love to share what they did but we have been sworn to secrecy (I do have them on video). :0)

We finished off our day by calling a very special your man to sign Happy 13th Birthday to and then the boys headed to bed exhausted.

Once again I was up way too early and it’s catching up to me, I’m now exhausted. Kai was up at 6, bill shortly after 7 and Julian close to 7:30 so I think they are all rested now.

We just finished our Skype call with Karley and we are going to head to church today then possibly the Coex Mall in search of a baby doll requested by Katherine. I’m planning on making it an early day cause I have lots of gifts to prepares for tomorrow and I want to try and get as much rest as possible as this many be my last chance for rest once the baby is with us until we get home.

I’m so anxious about tomorrow so please keep us all in your prayers