Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!!...a little overdue

So it's been a while since we last posted, but I can say that we have been very, very busy lately.  November-February are the busiest time of year for us.   We have had to prepare for open class, where the parents come in and watch class for a day.  It takes a lot of preparation and practice before it gets the big "OK" from the boss!  Jeff's class is also preparing for annual performance.  Its the big performance at the end of the year.  The kids have to put on a play and perform two songs.  It's like a mini broadway production!  On top of all that, we have been busy with holiday activities!


HALLOWEEN
We had a room decorating contest for Halloween.  I was in a serious competition with one of the other girls...she took first place and I took second :(

We also made a haunted house that the kids got to walk through.  It was pretty scary, and I even had some kids cry.  My kids were so cute!  Jeff didn't get any pictures of his kids, though.

 My girls!

 My boys!

 Cute little shark!

Korea doesn't really celebrate Halloween, so its hard to find costumes.  Angry Birds are so popular here, so Rachel and I bought some felt and a glue gun and made these costumes for the 5 of us.  They went over really big with the kids!

ST. LUCIA

Over Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to be able to negotiate a vacation into our contract.  My best friend, Christine, was getting married in St. Lucia and I could not miss the wedding!!  It was nice because we had a two day layover in St. Louis, so we got to spend some time with Jeff's family and some friends!

 The view from our room!  Gorgeous!

 Can't complain!

 Best friends!

 Heading to dinner.

 The Pitons!

 Mud bath!

 Jeff and I, Christine and Jason, my mom and dad!

The wedding party

The wedding was beautiful!  It rained all morning, but cleared up just in time for the wedding.  It was perfect!  We felt so lucky to have the time off to spend with friends and family!  

On Christmas eve, we will  leave for our last big trip!  We are heading to Thailand!  We will spend two days in Bangkok, then head south to the islands.  

We have also booked plane tickets to come home.  We will be arriving home March 4th!  Can't wait to see everybody!  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Fall Is Here!!

Fall is here and I am loving the weather!  Hopefully it stays cool like this for a few months and doesn't get cold too soon.  We are excited because we have a few big vacations coming up.  In November we are going to St. Lucia for my best friend's wedding.  We will have a 2 day layover in St. Louis, so we will get to see Jeff's family and friends.  Then, in December we are going to Thailand over Christmas.  We are going to spend two days in Bangkok, then head south and spend the rest of our time on the beaches.  After Christmas we will only have two short months before we come home!  Time flies!


In August, we went to the zoo with our new friends Mark and Rachel.

Mark and Rachel on the chair lift.

 After a long day of shopping, we needed some takeout cocktails!

 Alice and I having coffee.  Alice is our supervisor, our "mom" and our friend.  She's awesome!!

Jeff and I stopped for a glass of wine overlooking the city!

OLYMPIC PARK

We spent the day at Olympic Park riding bikes and playing cards.  It was really fun and nice to get out and do something for the day.

 Jeff and Mark on their bike.

Flags from all countries! 

 Olypmic Park

 Rachel and I on our tandem bike.   I let Rachel do all the work.

 Crazy blue dog!

Playing hearts

FIELD TRIPS

We have had a few field trips  lately at school.  We went to a stream one day and learned about the plants and animals their...boring.  

 Eric wearing my sunglasses

 My little monkeys

 I have the cutest class!

 Isaac!

SPORTS DAY

We had a sports day which was a lot of fun.  We split all the kids into two teams: The Red Team and The Blue Team.  They really got excited and cheered a lot for their teams.  In the end, the red team won, but I'm not sure that was accurate :) 

 BLUE TEAM!

 RED TEAM!

Tug of War

PICTURE DAY

Since Jeff's class is 7 and will be graduating in February, they are getting ready for their graduation album.  The kids have to dress up in their school uniform and take pictures with Jeff.  

 This is exactly how we teach our kids everyday...NOT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

One of my girls had her birthday party this month.  The kids love birthday parties!!

 All the girls!

Nemo class

Hope everyone enjoys the wonderful fall weather!!!

Bali Hai!

I know its been a while since my last post, but since we have been back from vacation we have been BUSY with school work!!  I'll try to be better about updating from now on.

My parents came to visit for a few weeks in July.  It was wonderful to have them here!!  We had fun showing them around the city, but I'll save that for another post.

We had a week off of work so the four of us went to Bali, Indonesia!  It was the best vacation ever!  From the moment we walked in our villa to the time we left, I just kept saying, "This is the best vacation ever!!"

We got to our villa around midnight, and we were greeted (next to our private pool) by five Balinese staff.  They welcomed us with drinks, gave us a tour, and carried our luggage to our rooms.  Our villa was open air Balinese style of living.  Everything was open to the outdoors.  Our shower even looked out to blue sky!  The villa was luxurious and amazing!

Jeff and my bedroom

Our private pool

The kitchen

The living area

Pool from the living room

View from the pool

Open air shower

So, we spent a lot of time at our villa.  They would bring us breakfast every morning, we would go off for the day, come back and relax for a few hours, then head to dinner in the evening.

During most days we would walk down to the beach for some sun!  The beach was about a 10 minute walk from our villa.

Dad getting his $5 foot massage

These offerings were EVERYWHERE.  They would put them our each morning.

Dinner at Biku an Indonesian restaurant

Jeff's Indonesian food

Our walk into town

Mom and I hanging out by the pool.

We took a day trip to see the island.  The pictures can't capture how amazing it was.  We went to see some traditional dancing, a silver factory, sarong making, rice terraces, a coffee plantation, a volcano and a water temple. 

The rice terraces.

Kopi Luwak coffee--the rarest and most expensive coffee in the world.  A Civet cat eats the coffee beans and poops them out.  Then, they are cleaned several times before people pay over $50/cup!

Coffee tasting:)

Dad and Jeff enjoying some cat poop coffee.

Mom and I at the plantation.

At the water temple

There was a ceremony while we were there

Spring water

Creepy dancing we watched

We saw them making these beautiful Batik sarongs.  There were many steps involved!

We sat here and ate lunch!  

One of the best parts about the tour was that we got to travel across the entire island.  This gave us a chance to see what life in Bali is really like away from the beaches!

 

 Now this is talent!

After a long day, we needed to take a trip to the spa for some Dr. Fish!  It tickled really bad!

The beach we stayed on was really rough because it was on the west side of the island.  We took a trip to a beach on the southern tip and it was gorgeous!!

Geger Beach

They were harvesting seaweed down the beach.

She was too cute!  I couldn't leave without buying something from her.

We had dinner on the beach while we watched the sunset.

Our seafood feast!

Many things on the island were incredibly cheap, especially the spa!  We went to the spa almost everyday while we were there.  You could get a 60 min massage for about $10, mani/pedi for about $5 each, hot stone massage for $17, and a facial for $7.  It was too good to pass up!

 The boys getting massages at the villa.

The boys getting mani/pedis!!

We had a great time on our trip!  I could have stayed longer!  It was nice to get to spend so much time with my mom and dad.  Hope everyone had a great summer!!!!

Love and miss you all!