3 weeks!! What?

My Mom promised she'd come visit us in Korea. We've lived here almost 1.5 years with no out of country visitors! (I know, it shocks me too that Korea isn't on most people's "must see" lists!) Anyway, my Mom held to her promise. She visited for THREE weeks! We all thought we may want to kill each other after 3 weeks, but that was far from the case. I wish it were longer. It was so nice having her here. The kids enjoyed chatting, laughing and playing with her. She brought them all sorts of little goodies, brought me some favorites from home and we all tried to soak up each minute we had. Chris and I worked during much of her visit, which was too bad. I tried to space out some days off in between to take her to some local attractions. That seemed to work well. She accompanied us to China which was incredible. She and I went to Happy Quilt where she was in heaven! We actually ended up making 2 trips to that place. $3/yard for name brand fabric. Amazing! My Mom is a huge sewer/quilter--huge (just to give you an idea of how big--she travels all over the country going to quilt shows and makes quilts for each retiring teacher in our town as well as each family member/child who is born). She works to perfection and can make anything to professional quality. Truly. Anyway, I still have to mail 2 boxes full of her treasures. It was a pricey trip, but it is hard to pass up such a great deal. I have to say I enjoyed myself too. My sister and brother in law are expecting their first baby, so I helped pick out the fabric for their little guy's quilt. I also chose fabric for us should we have more children down the road :) So fun!

All over Korea wishes are made by writing them on ribbons, locks, etc. and hanging them on a gate or fence. 

Not so friendly competition of propaganda. This one is "who has the tallest flag and largest flag must be more wonderful."  This is actually the N. Korean side of the border. The buildings in the distance are not even habitable. The flag takes 60 soldiers to raise and lower.

The Bridge of No Return. This bridge was used for POW exchanges . Once you crossed, there was no return.

Another little trip we took was to the DMZ. That was a crazy morning as the gate to the base was backed up, we were late dropping the kiddos to school; therefore, almost missing the bus. Amazingly, although we were sort of hoping it would leave without us--we made it. It was a very interesting experience, although the tour involved stops at a train station (nope, not for a ride, but merely to  look at a train station, which supposedly was built for tourism. More specifically, to bring people from southern South Korea to the DMZ area.), a visit to a mountain area where prayer temples are set up so people who escaped North Korea by entering the South can reconnect with their ancestors. In true S. Korea irony--at this location of prayer and remembrance, there is also an amusement park type place about 50 yards away. So odd. I ventured down tunnel #3. It was supposedly comparable to walking down 20 floors in a hotel at about a 45 degree angle. It was very steep, uneven and had a very low ceiling. What a crazy experience! Kind of an eery feeling knowing that tunnel was built for the sole purpose of harming others. The walk up was 50 times worse than the walk down. I was sweating and huffing by the time I made it back up ;) Supposedly there are 20 tunnels yet to be discovered. We also went to the Conference area where the talks occurred between the two nations. Again, strange. We ventured through the area on bus, checking out stops along the way. There is actually a town in this area where people are paid to live. They don't pay taxes and receive their farmland for free. In return, they must stay in the town a certain number of days each year. This is somewhat propagandaish as S. Korea is trying to show the N. Korean side how wonderful life can be, whereas N. Korea constructed a similar town on their side of the border--except their buildings are empty. Supposedly, they were built bigger and better, but no residents actually exist. Odd. Odd. Odd.
Other than that, time seemed to fly. We enjoyed a movie, Arthur Christmas, at the base theater, shopped a bit at Kojeon--a local antique store where the owner insisted we stay for a Korean lunch (I bought a funky old stool that I love as well as a neat wooden rice bucket), ventured to Seoul to check out the Express Bus Terminal (fresh flowers, jewelry, Christmas decor),  Dongdaemun Market (wholesale sewing supplies galore) and Naemundun Market (mix of everything--only picked up cute hair things for our girls), took the kiddos shopping for their Christmas presents from my parents since my Mom and Dad haven't been able to see our kids open their gifts the last couple of years. Claire was thrilled to choose a barbie pool and barbie storage case. This kid has been talking barbie for so long, but I didn't think she was quite ready. She is going to have a Christmas of barbie! Mya chose a small cabbage patch doll that she loves to snuggle and a marble run game that I had already purchased for my Mom and Dad. We've been building, building and watching them roll each night ;)
My Mom baked, cleaned and baked some more. She cooked us meals quite a few nights and kept my work crew in line. We were in the process of making our Thanksgiving meal one weekend (since we were actually in China on Thanksgiving) when we lost electricity to our kitchen and bathrooms. This also included heat. Yep. Torture. Thank goodness we were in Korea. They send people to your home at any hour of any day. The poor guy came, took forever to figure out the problem, but finally fixed the heat and a couple outlets in the kitchen. The crew came back the next day to finish the job. I still have holes in my walls from their handiwork, but at least I can plug in my gadgets with no issues. Gotta love Korea!
Three weeks went by way too quickly. I really miss my family. Having my Mom here was wonderful and made me realize even more how lucky I am. I am very blessed. Blessed that I can count on my family to be wherever I may need them, do whatever I may need, and support me in whatever way I may need. My family is the best. Each and every one of them.

My Mom returned home on Sunday. It was a very sad goodbye. I hate good-byes anyway, but knowing it will be at least another 6 months until I see her again, makes it even more difficult. Our house is quiet   our life is back to the same old same old, but I am so glad to have had my Mom here to enjoy some of our Korean experience.