Sweet and Savvy

What to do with all of that Halloween candy?













Margaret opted to eat hers. She ended up with two root canals and two silver teeth.

James on the other hand, opted to sell his. The sale was a hit and he ended up putting a little silver in his pocket.

Almost Two

Happy Birthday Gracie!

She's thirteen. Now what?

Kipboom- 3 Months Old

I can't believe I'm posting about a dog!

Happy Halloween

Kitchen Help

Who Would Chews a Puppy?

In these pictures it may look like Boom is listening, but he's not. This surprises me. We chose the German Shephard dog because this breed was described as being, "responsive and highly intelligent".

Life with a puppy has had its challenges. Two days after we got him, we discovered that he had parasites. I thought using a breeder would safeguard us against parasites, but, alas it did not. We got through the parasite ordeal and then we set up shop for a dog. We built a fence in the stairwell, cut a hole in the door and got him a nice heated bed. It wasn't long before we realized that we would need to have water on the roof, so we had a hose installed. Then we faced the dilemma of what and how much to feed him--that was tough considering the fact that we could not read the packages. At times it seems it doesn't matter what we feed him because he chews on everthing and lots of what he chews ends up being swallowed. He has chewed through three of our neighbor's internet cords, chewed up the upholstery on my porch swing and chewed through and then into pieces the cord to his heating pad. He chews up shoes, hats, gloves etc.

Chewing isn't his only problem. He is a mischief maker. One day, when Susan Grace was cleaning up the roof, she left the hose running in one corner while she cleaned in another. While her back was turned, Boom, picked up the hose with his mouth and carried it into the stairwell of our apartment. One hundred gallons of water later, Gracie realized that the hose was dumping into the stairs, not the drain on the roof. Flood! What a mess. It was on that day that I secretly hoped our neighbors would insist that we get rid of the dog. But, that was not to happen.

Gracie spends hours and hours with her dog. I would guess that 75% of it is work and 25% play. Still she does it. She's learned good lessons in responsibility and diligence and love. The other children's reactions: Miriam, much to her sorrow, is allergic to him. Anna, absolutely adores him and would spoil him rotton. James is scared to death of him. Margaret and Daniel aren't allowed to get by him--he jumps up on them and knocks them over. And Jim, he loves him almost as much as Susan Grace does.

Me, well, I'm leaning towards sending him to a really good obedience school.

Boom

When Gracie was two years old I worked as a home health nurse. One day, I went to do some home health visits and when I came home Jim was playing "dog" with her. She would roll over, sit, shake and even fetch at his command, then he would give her a treat. I was horrified. What happened to teaching the ABC's to our little one? I should have known then that this puppy problem was not going to go away. Gracie grew to love animals but one in particular, the dog.

As long as I can remember, Gracie has wanted a dog. This year she turned thirteen. She's never had a yard to run and play in. She's changed schools four times in six years. The last change was to a school in which she couldn't speak the language. To make matters worse, she went from being a middle schooler to being in elementary school again. A huge blow that she seemed to take in stride. In fact, she's taken it all in stride and then some. She was elected to be the student body president of the Korean Elementary School in our town.
I decided if Gracie could do the impossible, then so could I. On September 23 we drove to Yangpyang and bought a German Shepherd puppy. We named him Kipboom (it means joy in Korean). We call him Boom for short.

North Korea

In September, Jim's good friend from high school visited us here in Korea. While he was here, they took a tour up to the North Korean border or the DMZ (demilitarized zone). Susan Grace tagged along with them.

Since we moved here in 2008 I have wondered about our enemy next door. There have been times when I have woken up during the night and looked out the window and thought, "how will I get out of here with my family if war breaks out?" It's a frightening thought.
When North Korea does something aggressive, my friends and family worry. The truth is, life in South Korea moves along at a pretty regular pace. The buses run, the schools are in session and little is mentioned about North Korea. I think I noticed more emotion over the standard of U.S. beef than I did over North Korea's nuclear weapons testing in May of 2009. My perception is that South Korea doesn't know anything different than an enemy next door. They live with it. They are sorry at times, but they live with it.
The father of my close friend escaped from North Korea during the war. He survived on a bag of rice that his mother gave to him. He hid along the roadside traveling to Seoul seeking refuge. Only two generations ago this peninsula was divided by war.

War is near and real to them, but I don't think the South Koreans live in fear. They are too hearty. They just live.

Fourteen Years

November 27, 1996, Salt Lake City, Utah1997, Provo, Utah1998, Orem, Utah1999 Salt Lake City, Utah2000, Provo, Utah2001, Chicago, Illinois2002, Chicago, Illinois2003, Palmyra, New York2004, Chicago, Illinois 2005, Provo, Utah2006, Chicago, Illinois 2007, Cambridge, Massachusettes2008, Bali, Indonesia2009, Bountiful, Utah

2010, Salt Lake City, Utah

Time is Up

This clock in Venice tells the time of day, the zodiac sign and the moon phase. Our time in Italy was up. We flew from Venice to Rome. The views of the Tuscan farms from the plane were dream like. Kind of like my vacation.

Tom and Alenka

On our last day in Venice, Jim's brother Tom and his wife came to Venice to see us. They live in Slovenia. It was our first time meeting his wife, Alenka. She is kind and gracious and easy to love. We walked through Venice enjoying the vegetable and fish markets. We bought a Venetian mask for Margaret and some pasta for me. Time was running out. At noon we left to catch our plane back to Rome.

A Venetian Sonnet

Before going to Venice, I had this sentimental expectation that Jim and I would find a secluded spot and dance to a band under the moonlight. I mentioned this to Jim and he looked at me like he was going to laugh. "Where's your romance?" I asked feeling a bit disappointed that he didn't share my vision.

After arriving in Venice we took a boat down the main canal to Saint Mark's Cathedral. On the boat there was an elderly Italian man. We talked to each other and he said to me, "I love Venice," and put his hand to his heart. As I looked at Venice for the first time, I could see why he loved this city.
From Saint Mark's Cathedral we strolled through the streets of Venice. We stopped on a small bridge to watch the gondola tour boats lined up like a Disneyland ride. The boats wound around the side canals and under our bridge. The tourists inside were drinking wine and taking photos. One gondola guide was singing opera at the top of his lungs as he stood in the back of the boat wearing a traditional black and white striped shirt pushing his long gondola ore through the water. That was impressive. It made Jim and I smile.
We heard a few bands playing in the distance. One song I heard over and over in Italy was the Frank Sinatra song, "I Did It My Way". Near the end of our walking, we found a lonely piazza near the water. There was a band playing in the distance. I said, "Let's dance". Then I realized how silly the idea was. Neither of us knows how to dance. Instead, Jim read me this poem he wrote,

My Venetian Sonnet
To Kimber my love. Venice September 16, 2010

Some say romance is not my forte
They must be silly is what I say
Romance like life is full of surprises
Sunsets in the evening and morning sunrises
All plants and flowers grow so slow
It’s nearly impossible to really know
My love like flowers began to bloom
When you entered my heart like a room
To me romance was always pish posh
But now I frequently think o my gosh!
What would I do if my kimber were gone?
My heart would fail under weight of 10 ton
You are my life my wind and my wings
You make my winter turn into springs
I love you dear Kimber in Venice or home
In a gondola, the kitchen or Rome
It does not matter where we are
As long as I am with you romance is thar
Romance is a word that still means nothing to me
But Kimber dear Kimber sets my heart free.
Its not romance but Kimber I crave
To be near me and love me long past the grave
Dear Kimber I count each day as the best
As long as I am with you my heart is at rest
So romance can ebb and flow like the tide
I’ll sit here in Venice next to my bride
My heart is content my love pure
And romance yes romance can eat cow manure

Cute. Very cute. It made me smile. Then we took our own picture.
**Our hotel in Venice, Hotel Santa Chiara. Restaurant, Ristorante Da Nino.

Venice

On Thursday we left Florence and headed for Venice. When we got to the train station the tickets were sold out for the train we wanted. That meant we had to wait there for two hours. That was a disappointment. We didn't want to sit in the train station for two hours waiting for a train so we just hopped on the sold out train. We crouched in the back near the luggage for a while. I felt a bit anxious as I wondered what kind of a penalty the Italian government has for foreigners who steal away on their trains. Jim told me to just stay quiet. When the conductor came to us and asked us for our tickets, Jim handed them to him. The conductor said, "You're on the wrong train". I looked at Jim. He looked at the conductor and said, "Oh, so that's why someone is in our seats". The conductor smiled, charged us ten dollars, and that was that. We arrived in Venice at 4 p.m.