We made it to Seoul!

Yes, we are here and boy are we tired!!!

After getting less than 3 hours of sleep Wednesday night, rushing around like crazy to get everything done, driving 4 hours to L.A. , a seemingly never-ending midnight flight and a bit of confusion at the airport in Seoul... we arrived at our hotel here early this Saturday morning! Yes! Somebody pinch me- we are HERE!!!

After this flight, we realized why people pay thousands of dollars more to fly first class. Being 6' 4'' Randy was not able to move the entire flight and I got to be the lucky one to sit next to the one boy who had to get up a minimum of 10 times to use the bathroom, climbing over myself and a stranger in the process. And during the entire 13 hour flight, I think he slept a total of an hour and a half. Seriously we have no idea how we are going to manage coming back home while adding a grieving baby to the mix! Let's just not think about that right now! Moving on...

It started out as a breezy, overcast day with a bit of humidity in the air. We were so very thankful that the Somerset Hotel where we are staying had our room available so we could check in and go up to our room right away this morning. It is a gorgeous hotel, complete with all the amenities. The boys can't wait to try out the gym, pool and hot-tubs! The room is a suite and is just perfect for our family- I highly recommend it if you are ever in Seoul! :-)

The view from our room


So we unpacked, showered and resisted the temptation to just crawl into bed for the day and went down around 9:00 for breakfast. Breakfast was a smorgasbord of all different foods, from pancakes and french toast, to tater tots and macaroni salad, fried rice and even spaghetti with meat sauce or Kimchi if you so pleased!

After breakfast we headed out to explore a little. We knew that the best way to get over the jet lag is to just do everything on Korean time, even if we don't feel like it. That means eat when they eat and sleep when they sleep. So, we headed down the street from our hotel with not very much of a plan in mind- and ended up at the National Folk Museum and Children's museum near Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was interesting and beautiful, but our bodies were already starting to feel like it was 10pm instead of 10am!



We trudged around a little bit more and looked for the subway. We wanted to be sure we know exactly where it is and how to use it, so we don't have any problems when we go to our meeting with Elliana on Monday! By the time we got close- it was POURING RAIN! Wow- it just came down really hard and of course we didn't have umbrellas or ponchos, so we raced back to the hotel and got there a bit soaked! So there ended our little outing- bummer! Note to self: next time pack multiple umbrellas... especially when coming in MONSOON SEASON!
Our time in Seoul has been an adventure already and of course the boys thought that running in the pouring rain was the best part yet!

Well, it was probably for the best anyway since we came back and put on dry clothes and have a chance to rest. Now I am sitting in bed typing this while Randy naps and I think the boys may have fallen asleep while watching a movie. :-)

As I sit here looking out the window onto this amazing city, I can't help but think of our baby girl. She is here in this same city- we are no longer thousands of miles apart. And in less than 48 hours, both of our lives will be changed forever. We will meet face to face- mother and daughter- for the first time, something I've dreamed about for a long time. I can't wait to see Randy loving on his baby girl and the boys finally meeting the "Little Sister" that we have been praying about for 5 years! I am so so glad that God made it possible for us to be here as a family- it is a wonderful feeling to know that we are all here together and will become a family of 6 here in Seoul, South Korea!

There is so much that is on my mind right now, but the lack of sleep seems to be getting to me as well, so I am going to sign off. But of course I won't leave you without pictures!

All ready to get on that plane. Korea here we come!


At the beginning of our little outing. See the dry clothes?




Jensen took this one of Randy and I. He did a great job!


Being really silly with the statues!





What a crack-up!


Oh look there's one with me in it!


Goofball at the children's museum.


Some beautiful displays at the museum.

A traditional Korean wedding with a beautiful bride


A baby's 1st Birthday is a huge deal in Korea. This little one is dressed in her hanbok at her Tol ceremony


Nice and wet!



One more of the palace


Who knows what we will end up doing now. It is only 2:00 in the afternoon, so if the weather clears up we may walk over to Insadong and shop a little or ride the subway to Namdaemun and browse the markets and eat an early dinner. Either way, we might end up going to bed for good at 6:00pm! Tomorrow, we plan to ride the bus around the city for a tour, stopping along the way when it's something that we want to see. Then early to bed again, so we will be well rested for our meeting with Elliana and her foster mother!

Thank you so much for praying- we love you all! Check back tomorrow for the next update!

Candice, Randy and Boys

P.S. I am uploading most of my pictures to my Flickr account. I will share some everyday, but definitely can't post all of them to this site, but if you want to see more just click on any image and it will take you to the Korea album!