Nothin'

"God is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." 


There was a beautiful funeral yesterday. We were able to grieve with Jake and Marsha's family. I feel so blessed to be part of this family. They are so strong, and will undoubtedly come out of this stronger than ever.

While I'm here, here are a few things I've noticed about Idaho that I didn't really appreciate as much as I should have:
how good it smells here!!
how beautiful everything is. (all the grass, how clean it is, no half built/half torn down buildings)
ohhh the food. no wonder Americans are fat. have you seen what everyone else is eating???


We'll be back to blogging soon. For now, we're enjoying time with the family. 

Coming together

Last night, Mom, Dad, and I finally made it to Los Angeles.  We very nearly missed our connection in Chicago which I think would have thrown us all over the edge once again.  We needed to get here and having to be delayed even more could not happen.  Mel is in the air over the Pacific headed from Seoul to Seattle and onto Boise.  She will get in sometime after 7 PM tonight, Thursday.  By the time she returns to Libya she will have circled the globe completely.  Going from Tripoli to Dubai, to Seoul, to Seattle, to Boise, to New York, London and Tripoli again. 

It's nice that we will finally be able to all get toeghether after a week that has been as awful as it gets.  Family needs to be together and when tragedy happened it was made worse by being spread out around the world.  Please continue to pray for our family.  I can't imagine things can get better anytime soon and prayers have been appreciated.  We love you all,

Last few adventures...

Life really is a little crazy...

Here are a few more pictures that Catie took,
 from our trip to Seoul...                       







          
      "Nothing God makes is useless" True, but do we     make a play about it?? I guess we do.

Rocco, chillin' in his seat while we tourist it up.








Some of the shirts they make are too funny! The english is...a little off.

Again with the funny English. It isn't wrong really, just said so funny. I try not to buy it all, but I had to get a couple things that say funny stuff. It just makes me laugh so much.
They have soo many cute little things here. Namely, the stickers! I don't know why, but I am a sucker for stickers. They are great. Tiny little pictures you can put anywhere...what's better than that?? Okay, a few things. The stickers here are so tiny and cute though. Maybe you will never understand this unless you have the same love for tiny cute stickers...but I'm okay with that : )

This is us at the restaurant owned by Catie's neighbor. It was a fun little place with about five tables, which were all full.
We had some kind of soup, and there was kimchi....and a bunch of other stuff. I think I'm getting old, and less adventurous...I tried like, half of the things though. : )

wow, I am a hunchback. It's hard sitting on the floor to eat at a tiny table : )

Rob is on his way to California right now, with the rents. They have a very long trip ahead of them tomorrow. He said a 12 hour flight. They also have a beautiful family to see when they get there, which makes the trip more than worth while. Due to the volcano in Iceland, they had to take the long way. It was a 40 hour trip in all, but they stayed the night in Amman, Jordan. I'm so glad he is getting to go back with his mom and dad. I think they all need each other right now.
Baby Johhny went to be with Jesus yesterday. I am so sad that I wasn't able to meet him, and am battling so many feelings about the situation. I just wish for Jake, Marsha, Allison, Phillip, and Emma to know that we love them all so much, Johnny will always be remembered, and will always be in our hearts. This has touched my heart so much. I know it has for everyone. I think it's impossible not to change after something like this. I know that I will appreciate my family so much more, and hope to never forget that every day spent with them is a blessing from God.
I hope to see Rob soon, I miss him very much.
I'll be leaving Korea tomorrow afternoon. I'll be so sad to say goodbye to Ben and Catie. They have been amazing hosts! I've had such a good time here. We have laughed a lot, and it has been a good distraction from things. Now I need a distraction from the fact that my distraction is ending soon.....oh great!

Spoon Friend

Dear God,

Please heal our hearts.  We're too broken.

Amen

Itaewon

    Here are some pictures of this weekend in Seoul. It was a really fun time, and a great birthday thanks to Catie and Ben!

here we are at Cold Stone

    

Rocco and I on my B-Day...the big 24!                         seoul

                                         there are so many of these beautiful magnolia trees here

The second day we were there, we went to the Korean War Memorial Museum of the History of the Art of the Old Things That are Gone. I think that's what it was called...

                                           "Don't Go Up"

I didn't make it...

                                              Waiting for our train...

                                               Free babysitting!

We are now back in Daejeon. We received horrible news about my nephew and are praying hard for the whole family. Everyone is so heart broken. Your prayers would be so appreciated.

Sleep? No thank you.

Here are some pictures from today and yesterday.
Rocco found his new favorite thing...a wooden spoon. He cried if we tried to take it away, so it went to the Lotte Mart store with us.

We went to a market today. It had a lot of traditional Korean clothes, and lots of food and produce. As you can see, it's very colorful. It was fun. The ladies there Loooved Rocco, and had a lot to say about him. None of which I understood.

Tomorrow we leave for Iteawon! We'll be there until Sunday evening. I'm going there to look for Mr Khang. By the McDonalds, on the same side of the street, but down some stairs. I hope I find him!
We're also going to find Cold Stone, On the Border, and Quizno's. All traditional Korean cuisine! From what I've read, it's a more touristy part of Seoul. We're excited, it will be a fun little trip.
We're still all praying hard for Johnny Carter and all the Rinards. Please remember him in your prayers.

Funny...

Had you told me when I was 13 that I would now be arguing with Catie over who WOULD do the dishes, I never would have believed you... : )

Jet Laggin'

Here we are! We made it. It was a very long trip, but Rocco did so well. We flew Emirates, and I loved them. Everyone was so nice to us, and so helpful.
So far Rocco and I have had some jet lag that has weighed us down, but we are still having lots of fun! It's so fun to see a new country.
Catie is a really good cook, and has made us lots of food to eat! Good homemade food is better than eating out any day : )

Catie made Rocco some really cute little toys : )

more to come...

Also, if you could please pray for my new little nephew Johnny Carter, he's pretty sick right now.

Why you want to leave meee?

And they're gone.

Mel and Roc are on the plane now and should be taking off for Dubai soon.  It's going to be a tough trip for Mel but I think she can handle it just fine.  She's good like that.  And I know she will have a great time so I'm happy she is able to go.  Now I may be bugging everyone else around here a lot, like Mom and Dad, and Bryson and Dan when he returns from Rome.  He gets back tomorrow and I'm happy for that.  It's much more boring at work when he isn;t beside me in the afternoon. 

So, I ate Camel!  I didn't mean to and didn't know until the next day when I was about to eat it again.  But I was back for more so I can't say I didn't like it.  I was thinking it was lamb but I wasn't sure and then a van driver asked the guy at the restaurant what it was.  I think I would have tried it even if I knew what it was, but I can't say that for sure.  Pretty sure, though.  It was slightly grainy but almost not noticeable.  I"ll be honest, it doesn't sound that appetizing to me when I think about it but I have now had it 3 times.  I actually just realized that I went back a third time yesterday. 

Well, I would really like to play some ping pong and work on a puzzle.  Not at the same time, that's just silly.  But both of them, at seperate times, sounds like a good time.  And I know there's a ping pong table at the Arkno where Bryson and Dan live, so maybe sometime this week I will get one or both of them to play.  As for the puzzle, that is going down at Palm City on Mom and Dad's coffee table.  It's a picture of a bunch of dice.  A pretty sweet one.  And puzzles most always make for a good time.  Well, probably many are not so juch fun but this one I think it.  Okay, well I am a bachelor for a while. I hope I survive.  She takes care of me so much I might just not.  See ya

April Fools! or Not?

Hi Everyone.  It's been a while since I've done anything on here.  And my email must not be working correctly because I never got all the emails from you all asking when I am going to write again.  I'll check on that later, perhaps my spam blocker is working too well. 

Malta was wonderful.  Weather was great, company was enjoyable, at least the ones who were not walking zombies, and the food was delicious.  Well, it was Hard Rock, McDonalds and Burger King mostly so it was nothing special to anyone else.  I look forward to heading back to malta near the end of May and enjoying it for a few more days then. 

And this weekend I go to Tunis for a couple days.  It's actually Carthage where we will be and I'm looking forward to it.  We ordered the all-inclusive package and the pool is supposed to be huge and awesome.  Now we just hope for good weather.  This time of year you can get some good rain apparently, and that is predicted as of now, but we'll see what we get.  I also have a tee time for 8 am Friday morning so I really hope the weather is clear enough. 

So getting to what I think is a funny story, related to the title of this blog entry.  Last Thursday we were leaving for Malta and it happened to be April 1st, April Fool's Day.  So that morning I emailed the travel agent who sits behind our main office building and told him about April Fools and asked that he email the guys who were going and tell them that the flight was cancelled and we couldn't go.  I don't hear from him so I email him again, still no response.  Later I go over to the main office building, where I spend my afternoons working, and I get a call from the travel agent asking that I come see him.  I enter and he is on the phone yelling at someone and I hear him say the word "Malta," so I know it';s related to why I'm here.  He hangs up and turns to me and at this point I figure someone is turning the joke on me as he begins to tell me that our tickets were not issued and we may not get to go.  Obviously I don't believe him and this is a pitiful attempt to turn the joke on me and I am not falling for it.  But he never gives in and insists its true that I do not have tickets for Mel and myself.  I go up and grill Dan to figure out if he is in on it, as I still do not believe this is true.  Haha, very funny, I know you guys are trying to trick me.  Dan has no clue what is going on and as it turns out, we really didn't have tickets.  Which is why he never resonded to my emails about the prank because he had been trying all morning to get us tickets!  What a coincidence!  As you know we did end up going to malta when he got the tickets about an hour later, and at that point this whole story became pretty funny to me. 

You have to admit, it would have been a pretty good joke if he had been able to help me with it. 

So, I need to get going to bed now.  Start of another week in the morning and most of it I will be alone.  Mel and Roc head out to Seoul on Monday.  I hope I can survive the next two weeks without them.  I know I can, but I certainly don't look forward to it.  Good weather in Tunisia should help pass the time.  Talk to you later

Four Chubby Cheeks

I brought Rocco to the doctor yesterday. He is 19lbs, 29 inches. 

We looked that up online and he is in the 68% for weight, and 97% for height.

 He's a tall boy!

"Fer cryin' in the mud"

Alright guys! The votes are in. I don't know if you noticed, but we have a poll going. It goes something like this...

IF YOU HAD TO LIVE FOR THREE YEARS IN ONE OF THESE FANTASY PLACES FROM TV/FILM/LITERATURE, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Aaaand the winner is... In Bobby's world! Who would have thought? If you ever watched this show as a kid, read about it HERE. It brought back such great memories! I use to LOVE this show. 

It's about 4 year old Bobby, who rides his little plastic tricycle with a handle into his own imagination...it was great.

   A close second, was NARNIA. Which is what I voted for. I really loved both Narnia movies. They were so beautiful. I guess all the fighting and wars weren't exactly what made me choose this one though...more the snow, and awesome animal...people. (not that I want to see one outside of Narnia.) I have read a couple of the books, but I'm always more a movie person myself. I know, gasp! Reading is great, I'm just not as drawn to it as most people. I know, I know...SORRY.

Anyway, make sure you vote on the next poll!
(whoever voted first, I had to fix it, there was a typo, can you vote again...sorry : )

The Basics

I guess we think we're pretty funny... : )

Just another Manic Monday…

 

    Well, today was fairly uneventful…except Rob’s parents are here, and that was great to get to see them again. We went over to their house and had dinner, while Rocco squawked at me

 for forgetting his pacifier.

On a side note, I have been trying to feel him real foods the last few days with no avail. Any suggestions? I’ve tried cooked carrots, cooked potatoes, rice, banana, and cooked apple. All of which I put in the baby food mill. I hear oatmeal is a good option, maybe I’ll try that next. It’s just so frustrating when I’ve gone through the process of cooking, and blending, then smooshing, and he just throws back his head refuses every second of it! It was just a week or so ago that he was eating with no problem…I’m not so sure what happened.

Also, it’s APRIL! That’s my birthday month, so I hope everyone is celebrating appropriately.
Cheers!

“I’m mad about it”

-Charles on WWE wrestling (also, he meant he loves it, not that he is angry about it.)
We’re back!  Malta was a great getaway. It’s a nice little touristy island. I think I would compare it to maaaybe, Las Vegas? I mean, it’s nothing like Las Vegas really…but it seems like people really just go there to party and lay out at the beach. I could be wrong, but it seemed that way to me. I, on the other hand did neither. We walked around, ate good food, and lay by pool some.
                 

                                             This is Rob, in the taxi on our way to the hotel. Charles was our driver. He was so nice, we called him again to take us back to the airport.

Well, here’s what happened here, and why it looks like Rob and Bryson are laughing at me….Bryson wanted me to stand on this step, to take a picture of the bay, the boats, and all the…sights. Well, I thought he wanted me to take a picture of  he and Rob, so I thought better yet, I’ll stand on top of this little column. So, he was too nice to tell me that I was being stupid…after I had already explained that from this angle, they will look skinny, and I had already taken a few pictures, Rob got around to telling me that I was being stupid. Maybe you had to be there…but it was funny.

 
We are now capping off the weekend with food from New Chinese Restaurant, catching up on internet fun, and watching Smart People. I’m sure if I left anything out Rob will fill you in with the rest.