Conversation with Ben

A Conversation with Ben

My favorite food: Kimchi
My favorite sport: Track
The best show on TV: Ned Declassified: Survival Guide to School
The coolest person on Earth: Me!
My favorite thing about school: I get to stay home with mom
I am most awesome at: Soccer
If I could change my name it would be: Bob (15 Animals by Sandra Boynton)
If I could go anywhere in the world it would be: the center of the earth
My favorite color: black
My favorite toy: Ipod
When I grow up I want to be: a professional soccer player and professional track athlete
My favorite movie: Harry Potter and the Goblin of Fire
My favorite song: Illusion by Ross Lynch
My favorite book(s): Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban
Three words that describe me: Weird, awesome, and competitive
When I was little I use to: wear diapers
My favorite season is: winter
The snack I could live on is: spicy cheetos
One food I don't like is: Beets
My best friend is: Josh
If I had one wish it would be: A capsule that only I could go in after scanning my hand and I could have portal doors that I could go anywhere
My favorite memory is: Going on the cruise to the Bahamas

CHUSEOK 2012

With perfect weather and lots of wonderful people, we celebrated Chuseok at the Korean Presbyterian Church.  Chuseok is the biggest holiday celebrated in Korea. It is a holiday similar to Thanksgiving. The celebration usually takes place over 3 days and includes lots of food and gatherings. We were entertained by Dan Bliss with Tae Kwon Do. Dan and friends also did a skit explaining what Chuseok is and why it is celebrated. The Hanji crew was on hand doing crafts with the kids. 

In addition to rice and kimchi, this year’s menu included some favorites:

Jat-nang-chae (a salad mixed with hot and sweet pine dressing) (잣냉채)

Veggie Jap-chae (잡채)

Bulgogi  ( 불고기)

Mat-tang (fried sweet potatoes) (맛탕)

Songpyeon (송편) – Korean rice cakes. 

As always, there was great conversation, lots of fun, and lots of wonderful food.  We are so thankful for a group of people that we can connect with throughout the year to keep Korean culture a part of our childrens lives.

Tug of war - Ian style

Brewers, Air Force Marathon, and Family Fun Fest

Life doesn't slow down in the Marthaler house.  We will soon need to scale back on the busyness of life once Alex comes home. For now, we are full speed ahead!

Friday morning Justin left for Ohio with some friends to run the Air Force Marathon.  After a long drive and a meeting up with our friend, Paul, and son Ethan for dinner, the guys headed to bed.  They got up early and ran their race, Justin coming in at 3:14, under the 3:15 time that he had hoped for.

In Madison, the kids spent a fun evening at Animart Petstore watching a movie and learning more about pets while mom came home and got some laundry done.  On Saturday, we juggled Korean Language class, a birthday party for Cami's friend, a sleepover for Ian and Cami and Tom and Tammy's house and a Brewer tailgate and game for Dana and Ben.  On Sunday morning, we met Tammy and Alexis at Door Creek Church for services and Family Fun Fest.  Games, pony rides, food, balloons, music, and so much more for an afternoon of fun.  

Monday morning brings another week of paperwork processing (hopefully) moving through Karen Slaney's office at the State, in Madison, and then onto USCIS in Milwaukee.  They said to expect up to 2 weeks, but hopefully she moves quickly on it so it can get to Milwaukee, approved and then on to the National Visa Center.  We are waiting anxiously for the I600 approval!  We are getting close!  Once his papers hit the Visa center, we are able to track it though phone calls. We can "see" when he is logged into their computers and when he is logged out and approved.  We will be able to get a better idea of travel once this step is done.  The kids have a list of things they would love to do in Korea.  Lotte World, CoEx, Seoul Tower, eating, palaces, Tae Kwon Do match, Soccer match, the list goes on and on. We may need more than 10 days! 

Shutterfly Plate

Plate

View the entire collection of cards.

Ben and I worked on a Christmas project today.  As we get closer to travel to Korea, my goal is to have most, if not all, of the Christmas shopping done.  I am at a loss as to what gifts we are bringing to Korea for foster parents, social workers, etc, but I feel that at least I can work at finding the right gift for friends and family this Christmas.  Here is a sneak peek of one of the gifts.  We love Shutterfly and love finding great picture related gifts to give family.

Legals

After a very, VERY long wait, our legals have arrived from Korea.  AIAA will send them to our social worker and we should be able to sign them tomorrow.  Our legal paperwork and I-600A will be sent off for approval, hopefully tomorrow.  The wait time has been short for I-600 approval, but I won't get my hopes too high since this has not been a very quick process.  

We continue to ask for your prayers as we continue this wait.  We also pray for the people involved in processing the paperwork.  We pray that they do it correctly and QUICKLY.  We would love to be with Alex before his 1st birthday, although anytime next month would be wonderful!

Pesto

Each year our CSA farm has a day where families can come out to the farm and make their own pesto.  We love this!  The kids help pick basil, wash it and get it ready for the pesto.  Mom sets up the supplies, peels the organic garlic and gets ready for the basil.

Cami did a great job helping pick basil.  She and Ben picked regular, purple, lime, and lemon basil.

 Ian enjoyed washing it off after harvesting from the field.

 Ready to pick off the leaves

 We had a great time and ended up with a nice variety of pesto to eat now and freeze for the rest of the year.

YUM!

Long Weekend

It was a perfect weekend to head up north.  While we don't have things set for baby Alex, we definitely need the time away.  We headed up north for rest and relaxation and a great time with Neil and Sandy.  The kids love the space to run and play, time with Grandma and Grandpa, fishing, campfires...the list goes on and on. Justin and I looked forward to time to relax and get away. It is nice to visit and catch up with family.  We were able to spend time with Keri and Joe and Natalie, who are expecting baby boy any day now.  We can't wait to meet him!

Here are a few snapshots from our trip!

Cami is following in mom's footsteps with the camera

Ben loves to hang out with grandma

   Ian loves being silly   

The tire swing is always fun!

There is no better way to end the evening then with a campfire!

SUNDAY

We headed to Burnet State Park for the annual Krizan get together. The kids love being outside hunting for frogs or in the lake looking for salamanders and frogs.  Ben found a painted frog at Grandma and Grandpa's        house, but decided to let it go free by the lake.  The kids love spending time with their cousins, Kevin and Renee. 

What a wonderful weekend!