Papa & Mimi's Visit: Itaewon

Since Papa & Mimi were trying to adjust to the time change, we decided on Monday we would do something low key and close to post.  We ended up taking them to Itaewon, which is located right outside one of the gates on post.  Itaewon is Seoul's international district and while there are stores to shop at the main thing we go there for is the food!!!  There is such a variety of different types of yumminess to eat....Italian, Thai, Mexican, African, Indian, etc.  This is our favorite place to go for  date nights!

Our plan was to take them to one of our favorite restaurants, Wang Thai, but we didn't realize they were closed on Monday's.  What is one to do???  Turn to plan B and take them next door to another favorite, Vatos!

The older three kiddos were at school, so we just had Michael with us for the day.....this plane kept him entertained for the entire time :)

Vato's is famous for their Kimchi carnitas fries and I couldn't wait for my parents to try them!  They are basically fries covered with braised carnitas, kimchi, melted cheese, sour cream, cilantro and red onions, then topped off with their spicy red sauce.  My daddy loves spicy food, so I thought for sure he would like them, but I didn't know about my mama.  

Well,  they both absolutely LOVED them!!!!  I was impressed that they ate them all because they are spicy!!

My mom did have to wipe the sweat off my dad's forehead toward the end....lol, but like everyone else who loves them, he just couldn't stop eating them!

Next up was our main meal!  My mom & I got the fish tacos...my dad & Josh got the chicken tacos ( below).  Both were super yummy!

Finally, it was time for dessert!!!  What better to have than Nutella Nachos with vanilla ice cream!  Another hit with the Faircloth family :)

Michael said "This is the best day ever!!  These are SO good!!"  

Until Next Time,
Michelle

A Sentimental Good-Bye to Our Friends...

When you are in the military, goodbyes are a regular part of life.  Very seldom do we stay in a place more than 2-3 years.  I've come to accept them as inevitable, but they are still hard, especially when you become really good friends with those you are having to say "good bye" to.  This week we are having to say "good-bye" to our dear friends, the Sanders.  The Sanders family were one of the first families we met when we moved here last summer and we just hit it off right from the start.  In a matter of months, they have become really dear friends of ours.  We are truly thankful that God placed them in our lives and we know we will be lifelong friends!


Last week, we went out for our last double date night with them in Korea.  We decided to try Braai Repulbic, a restaurant in Itaewon that serves South African food.  We were not disappointed!!  The food was SO good!

After we ate our meal, I though it would be nice to order dessert, but I totally forgot that Beth & John were giving up sweets for Lent.  The Sanders, being the sweet people they are, didn't even speak up.  It wasn't until the dessert came out and they didn't eat any that I remembered :(.  I felt so bad, but it didn't phase them one bit.  John said he would just enjoy his salad while Josh ate his ice cream......lol

After dinner we decided to go to an 80's pub & grill!   They played 70's, 80's & 90's music...how fun is that??  The music was great, but the company was even better.  We laughed a lot that night! We are really going to miss our date nights with Beth & John :(

We also had a girls night out later in the week!  We ate at a really great Korean restaurant called Foody Goody.

Would you like to know what this is????  It's octopus, suction cups and all!  My philosophy here is I will try something once, if I don't like it, I just won't eat it again.  

Well, I can say this is something that I've tried and don't plan on eating again........it tasted fine, but I could not stand the texture, especially feeling the suction cups!!

After we finished eating, it was off to Dongdaemun for some night shopping!! Night shopping in Dongdaemun was an experience too! They have markets that are open all night long!  Even at 2 am, the streets are full of night shoppers and the area is packed with bags full of wholesale purchases from buyers all over Korea.  

To John & Beth,

  We are thankful to have had you as our neighbors & truly blessed to now call you our friends.  You all made our transition to Korea a much easier one.  We know God has great things in store for your family in your new home & can't wait until we see you all again!  Be blessed!!

Until Next Time,
Michelle

Papa & Mimi's Visit: Arrival & Easter Sunday

 It feels like Christmas around the Craig household this week.  Do you know why?  MY MAMA & DADDY are here!!!!! YAY!!!!!!  To say we were excited about their visit is an understatement.  This has been the longest that we have ever gone without seeing them & it brought joy to my heart to see them walk in the door of our house!  They arrived here on Saturday afternoon.  Josh and one of our neighbors, John ( who happens to be moving this week..that's a whole other post in itself ), went to the airport to pick them up!  I knew once they got here they would be tired from the flight and from jet lag, so I had planned for their first two days to be low key. Once they arrived, they relaxed a little at the house and then we headed to the Dragon Hill Lodge on post to eat dinner!

Don't they look great :)

The next day was Easter Sunday!! It was so good to have family around to help celebrate the holiday.  Our Sunday started off super early!! This year our praise and worship team was asked to provide the music for the post wide Sunrise service, so Josh & I had to be at the Dragon Hill Lodge at 5:40am.  Since my parents were here they stayed home with the kids so they all could sleep longer.  After the Sunrise service was over, Josh helped move the sound equipment back to the chapel & I headed home to pick up my parents & the kiddos!  Of course we had to take our annual Easter pics!

One of my favorite pictures <3

Trying to get four kids to pose for a good picture is ALOT of work!!  This is how I want the picture to turn out....

However, the majority of them looked like this....lol

Then it was off to church!  Here we are rehearsing with our worship team....we are blessed to work with a wonderful team!

After church, we walked across the street to the Dragon Hill Lodge for lunch!  Their Easter buffet was FANSTASTIC!!  

The Jenkins' family joined us for lunch too!

After lunch we headed back to the house!  Usually we have the kids Easter baskets out in the morning for them to find when they wake up.  However, since we had to be up so early on Sunday morning for the Sunrise service we decided to give them out when we got home! 

  

 We had the kids close their eyes before we brought them out...notice Caleb peaking...lol

Of course, I had to put a little bit of Korea in their baskets this year, so they each got some character socks, which are very popular here!

Every year, we also get them sunglasses & new bathing suits!  Ethan loved his shades....

This cracked me up...Michael exclaims "Look, we got grass too!!  I love grass!!"

After the kids opened their baskets, we sent Ethan on a mission to "egg" our dear friends, the Sanders!

If you have ever been "Boo'd" at Halloween, it is the same concept.  Basically, Ethan had to sneak over to their front yard, hide 12 eggs (one is empty to represent Jesus' resurrection), leave an empty basket with the note attached, ring their doorbell, and then run!! Since it was daylight we didn't know if he could pull it off or not, but he did!!  We loved peaking out the window and watching them "hunt".

Next up was our egg hunt!! This is where we had to get creative.  We usually have an Easter egg hunt in our backyard for our kids, but here we really couldn't do that. So we decided to do what we did for trick or treating...have an indoor hunt!!  Our kids are so easy to please and they loved the idea!! So we sent them upstairs as we hid the eggs.  Then called them down when we were done. 

Ready, set....

GO!!!!!

Ever since we started this tradition (8 years ago), Ethan has always found the lucky egg.  Rachel was SO excited because this year she was the lucky one!!!  Do you know where she found it.............

Here..lol.  I bet you can take a guess at whose idea this was :)

She also found the most eggs!

By the time Easter was over we were all exhausted!!!  

Until Next Time,
Michelle