Baby Jags

I'm so happy to announce that my sister gave birth to my adorable lil nephew Sosaia Jagger Hoeft on Wednesday April 22 (Earth Day) in Seoul,, which was actually Tuesday afternoon for those of us in the US. They are going to call him Jagger and I call him Jags or Jaggie. He was 8 lb, 3 oz and 20 inches long. I was super worried as this is the first grandchild in our family and my sis was so far away, but thankfully, they are both healthy and doing well! I just love him to pieces already and can't wait till I get to meet him. Here's some pics from the hospital.


Sosaia Jagger Hoeft



Mom & Jagger



Dad & Jagger

Italia

We found out on Friday that my sister Charlotte, the prego one is moving to Italy. i've never been to Europe and Alisha's never been to Italy so we are ecstatic about visiting them and enjoying all the wonderful things Italy has to offer. Instead of doing my school work Iv'e been researching Vicenza. This website is really cool if you click on the photos they have lots of cultural info as well. http://www.bed-breakfast-italy.com/photos.htm

If any of you have been there or other places in Italy I'd love to hear about it.

Seoul Sisters

Alisha & Holli at Gyeongbok Palace

Over Thanksgiving Break Alisha and I went to Seoul, Korea to visit my two sisters-Charlotte & Holli.
Seoul is such a beautiful city that is surrounded by mountains. The transportation is super cheap so getting around is a breeze. The weather was perfect and we didn't have to wear a coat most days. We really enjoyed seeing my sisters' schools, apartments, neighborhoods and meeting their friends. Charlotte lives in Itaewon which is the International part of Seoul so we ended up meeting quite a few different people from all around the world. Holli lives in at tiny apartment the size of our dining room and all she has to cook on is a hot plate. Her neighborhood is a traditional Korean one with really cool night markets up and down the streets. I am not a fish fan so I found most of the food on display to be scary and smelly. I'm not really a fan of any Korean food, but I do have to say that the Kimchee over there is delicious.


Fried Foods Cart


Yummy Gelato


Holli's neighborhood night market


Fish for Sale. Gross!


During our 8 days there, we saw lots of sights, met fun people and attempted to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal in a Korean kitchen. We took in the historical and cultural attractions on the city bus that provided english descriptions of each place . Nothing opens in Seoul till 10 am at the earliest and because of the time difference we were waking up at about 6 am and wanted to start our day. One day we headed out on the subway to Seoul Land Zoo. It was a beautiful place but Zoo itself left a lot to be desired. We were the only people there besides a couple eldery men and women who were there to exercise. I like to refer to them as the Zoo walkers, much like our Mall walkers.



Alisha's best friends at Seoul Zoo


We also did quite a bit of shopping. Seoul has some really great markets, including the Dongdaemun Fabric Market and the Namdaemun Market where Charlotte showed us her amazing Flower shop where two dozen gerbera daisies were about $5. I tried some pumpkin soup at a little food stall. It was good but I would call it pumpkin porridge as they put tiny pieces of rice in it. We stopped in at the eyeglass shop and I got a new pair of glasses for $45 and only had to wait 20 minutes for them to make them . Harry Potter kids frames were the only ones that would fit. I love them! After making our way through most of the insane fabric maze, they call Dongdaemun market, I bought some really cute fabrics for these sewing projects I had in mind. I must have forgotten that I don't know how to sew. Ooops! In Itaewon, Alisha got a great deal on a snowboarding coat and pants which will come in handy on our upcoming ski trip. Oh we also visited the Tailor down the street from Charlotte's house so I ended up getting my pants hemmed for $1.80. Can you believe that?? It's about $15 here. I wish I had brought all my pants with me.



Charlotte & Alisha at Namdaemun Market


Flower Market


Cute Buddha


We went to a birthday party that ended with both Holli falling flat on her face and Alisha rolling down a slope with her pants at her ankles in the street. Why you ask? Soju is to blame.


Birthday Party

Somewhere along the way we picked up a visitors guide type of magazine that kept advertising this play called Nanta. I remember hearing about 5 years prior when I visited Seoul with Charlotte. It sounded like it would be similar to stomp but they would use items in the kitchen instead. Everyone thought it would be a good cultural event to check out. We were wrong. We couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous and cheesy it was and I was very happy when it was over.

Seoul is such a beautiful city that is surrounded by mountains. The transportation is super cheap so getting around is a breeze. The weather was perfect and we didn't have to wear a coat most days. It was a great trip that was far too short. We can't wait for our next international trip!




View from Charlotte's Balcony


Motorcycle Delivery


Alisha with super skinny Pepsi can


Alisha in tiny door


Alisha & Aisea at Hard Rock Cafe


Me @ Seoul Tower


View from Seoul Tower of only a small part of Seoul. It's enormous!


Holli looking at North Korea


Alisha & Holli at DMZ


City Lights

X-mas Party

Hey friends! We are having a rockin' Christmas party full of Hanthorne friends, babies, vomit and old school and scandelous presents. We loved showing off our house and bragging about our little girl, Fatty. Fun was had by all. Merry Christmas.

Anything is possible! Thank you fellow Americans for having Hope and believing in change!

Babies & Daddy's but not Baby Daddy's

I am elated to announce that my older sister is pregnant and due in April. I am so unbelievably excited! Some have said that I'm a little baby crazy and I would have to agree, note the baby countdown on the right side of our blog. Since she lives overseas and doesn't have access to all the wonderful materialism of the USA, I've taken the liberty of buying lots and lots of baby items for her. We are going to visit her and my younger sis in November and can't wait!

Two weeks ago, Alisha and I got a surprise visit from her Dad. He was in town from North Carolina visiting family. We decided that Alisha's sister and niece Haiven Fiona (10 months) needed to spend the weekend with us. I hadn't seen Haiven in forever and as mentioned earlier I LOVE me some babies. We spent the weekend catching up, playing in the backyard, taking pics of little Boops and hitting up some garage sales for baby books & toys.


Haiven Fiona (10 months)



Auntie Alisha pulling Baby Haiven around our backyard. I was going to use that old wagon for a herb garden but pulling around little ones is more fun.



I'd rather suck on my hand than hold on for safety


Haiven wanted to pull on Alisha's face instead



Thank ya, Thank Ya very much!


Haiven the ham, she loved having her picture taken and would even look right at you.



It was a great visit since Alisha hadn't seen him in five years and I was just meeting him for the first time. I really enjoyed seeing the similarities between Alisha & her father. He's even more of a fiery Irish than she is. Since this was the first time they had all been together we decided we must get some pics, The weather was gorgeous all weekend so we went out back again and took some family shots, which turned into another mini photo shoot. I blame my camera's fast shutter speed, but I will spare you all multiple shots. Alisha's birthday was also this weekend so on Sunday afternoon we had some friends over for pizza, wii and guitar hero. For some reason I didn't take any pics of the birthday gathering.





Alisha, Chrissy & Haiven




Alisha, Chrissy, Haiven & Greg

Fall is in the air

A couple weekends ago we went to the Weston Applefest and camped out at the State Park with a few friends. The weather was gorgeous. I am always amazed at how beautiful it is in Weston, the drive through the sprawling hills and farms to downtown Weston is so relaxing. I love the old buildings downtown that house Antique and other specialty shops. The campground was really great. It included a scenic overlook of the Lewis & Clark Trail along the Missouri River in addition to hiking trails and a bike trail that leads into Main Street. We definitely want to camp up there again. Both Saturday and Sunday we went to the Weston Red Barn Farm to check out their pumpkin patch & apple orchard. That place is amazing. They also have a corn maze, hay rides, bon fires, various farm animals to pet plus they sell delicious treats in their country store as well as fresh mini doughnuts and other apple and fall goodness. This past we tried the pumpkin pancake mix and man, oh man it was dynamite! We forgot our camera so the pics were taken with my iphone...not the greatest but they work.


Crystal & James sitting around the fire


Alisha whipping up a yummy breakfast for us all



Alisha @ Weston Red Barn Farm



Alisha with her new friends


Pretty Pumpkins


Country Store



Alisha pretending to smoke in front of the Tobacco Farm (she's sooo funny)