Happy FIRST Birthday, Moriah (and other adventures with Jenni's parents)

Everything about my parents' 10-day visit was wonderful except for one thing ... it was too short. What a fabulous reunion!!! Here is a (somewhat chronological) photo journey of our time together! Needless to say, it was a HUGE blessing to just be with them, to watch the girls play with them & relish their undivided attention and to introduce them to our new world here.

My mom (Holly or "Halmoni" to our girls) and my dad (Peter or "Haraboji") landed late Thursday night and went straight to bed after their long journey. I was too excited to go to bed right away so I spent the next hour or two just going through all their suitcases (not their personal one but the ones they had packed with lots of treats & supplies for us!) That was sooo much fun!!! Thank you especially to my parents (for shopping and packing for us), to Jen Moore and Jill Bergman (for tracking down necessities at Target for me), to Lisa Kopitzke (for picking up after-Christmas sale items for me), to an anonymous donor in New York who sent a suitcase full of new clothing for our girls, Uncle Jacob (for all his treats, including the long-awaited newspaper clippings about the USC / UCLA game) and to all the other friends & relatives who sent in cards or small gifts with my parents!! We received them all and we are so blessed by your generosity and thoughtfulness! (Also, if you mailed your Christmas card to my parents' home, we received those as well! Thank you!)

There were many things I wanted to do with my parents in the city and we were able to hit most everything on my checklist. The photos above were taken during a leisurely morning on a boardwalk right by the sea. The girls especially loved going round and round the train track.

I think Verity felt proud to be able to show her grandparents around her preschool (left photo). Right after we dropped her off, we went to a small grocery store nearby and Annalise loved being pushed around in the shopping cart by her Haraboji!

My childhood memories of the New Year holidays always included the game YUTNORI, a traditional Korean game played with four sticks. (Can anybody else relate?) It was such a treat for me to be able to gather some friends, eat some traditional Korean food my parents prepared (yes, even my dad helped assemble the man-doo) and to teach them how to play yutnori. Surprisingly, my parents (the yutnori veterans) were eliminated in the very first round by a couple who ended up winning the whole tournament (and who, I might add, were the only ones who researched the game on the internet the night before! Smart move!)

It's unbelievable how much rich history there is to explore in this city. We took my parents out one morning for a sightseeing tour in the older part of town. Inside this carpet shop, the vendors allowed our girls to model their traditional hats.

There are so many historical buildings, religious landmarks, windy roads and cool archaeological finds in this old part of the city. We can't wait for more of you to visit us so that we can show you around!

Yet another perk of toddlerhood ... when you're tired from all the walking, just ask Daddy if you can jump in his knapsack! Once Annalise tired of scaling the windy, hilly roads on foot, she enjoyed a nice ride in David's bag! Wish these came in adult sizes!

We have only lived here for 4 months now so this was our first time exploring some of the buildings in the old city. I'm so glad that my parents' visit gave us the opportunity to finally see some neat landmarks. After a fun morning of sightseeing, we took my parents out for a national meal at a place where travelers and their animals (caravans) rested as they traveled the Silk Road, carrying goods along this famous trade route.

And of course, one of our major highlights (and one of the main reasons my parents chose to visit us in January) was celebrating Moriah's first birthday!!!! We started her birthday morning with gifts (and as expected, her two older sisters were "very helpful" by showing Moriah how to tear off the gift wrap!) The gift she is opening above has become a favorite with all 3 girls ... it is a doll made by "Language Littles" which speaks when you squeeze either hand. It will first say a phrase in English and then repeat it in Korean! The girls learned how to say "I love you" in Korean right away. She had a few gifts to open from us, from my parents and a few that arrived in the mail (from loved ones like David's parents and Toula Touliatos!)

For any of you who are Korean (or have Korean friends), you know that a baby's first birthday is a really big deal and that Korean first birthday celebrations are steeped in traditions. We have tried to continue two of them with our girls ... receiving the traditional first-birthday gold ring from their grandparents (and my parents have never forgotten to do so) and wearing the traditional Korean han-bok. (The han-bok that Moriah is wearing was also worn by Verity and Annalise on their 100-day birthdays AND first birthdays.) If you look closely in the left photo, you can see Moriah playing with her new gold ring from my parents. Her ring will join my gold ring (yes, a very old one from the 70's!!!) and her 2 sisters' rings in a jewelry box.

And to top everything off ... some strawberry cake for the birthday girl! She whimpered at first because she couldn't lick all the chocolate off her fingers but after awhile, she got into it and her piece of cake was quickly finished! Thank you, Halmoni and Haraboji, for braving the long flight to join Moriah on her first birthday! We had an amazing 10 days with you and can't wait to do it again!