Christmas Eve

Our family has the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve. This gift is matching pajamas for the kids.

Carson and Jessica are opening their gifts while Garrett is going for the ribbon.

The kids and their gifts. Garrett is playing with the ball pump, much more fun than a present.

Oops, I didn't get a photo of the kids with their pajamas on Christmas Eve. It is now Christmas morning and as you can see Garrett's pajamas do not match. His diaper sprung a leak during the night and we had to change him into his Snowman pajamas for Christmas morning.

Carson and Garrett's Modeling

Carson's modeling debut - He got to wear a snowboarding outfit, tight red and green plaid pants, and even a purple sweater. They kept trying to use a blow dryer on his hair to get it down. Garrett was also one of the models. I didn't get as many pictures this shoot because Garrett "The Destroyer" was with us. We were in a very cute Korean cafe with great Christmas decorations. Garrett wanted to rearrange all of the wine bottles and pull the lights off the walls.

Garrett smiling because he's close to Mommy and not in front of the "real" camera. This outfit looks much cuter on a baby than it does on a 7 year old. Carson was such a good sport.

This face was much more typical of Garrett's mood during his VERY unsuccessful photo shoot. I should have known that his modeling days were limited. Now that he's 11 months old, walking, and getting into everything he NEVER sits still. So placing him in front of the Korean camera crew (away from Mommy) and expecting him to stay put and smile wasn't going to happen. They FINALLY had to place him on my lap and digitally crop his smiling face into the photos.

Christmas Carols at Dragon Hill Lodge

During the holiday season the students at Seoul American Elementary School are invited to sing Christmas carols at the Dragon Hill Lodge. Jessica's Kindergarten class sang on December 17th.

Jessica with her reindeer antlers singing away!

Mrs. Hoffman's Kindergarten class - Jessica is in the middle of the back row.

Jessica's favorite classmates - Kimberly, Jessica, Gabriela, Alex

Carson's 1st grade class sang on December 19th. Here is Carson entering the Dragon Hill stage.
Carson laughing with his classmates.

Carson's friends - Sarah and Abigail

Jess the Super Model

Jessica had the opportunity to model for a Korean company named Cheek. Her 1st shot was with a frizzy blond wig. She truly looked like a runway model. She was such a perfect girl, moving her arms, legs, head, hands, face, etc. every which way they wanted.

Jessica was getting re-adjusted by the modeling crew.

While the photographer took the pictures the images would pop up on the large Mac computer screen. It was fun for all of us to see the photos that quick. Here is the finished product for shoot #1. Jessica spent all day (8:30 -3:30) getting primped and prodded. Her favorite part was the chocolate doughnut she had for breakfast and snack, not quite super model food, unless you're 5 years old.

For the next shot they took off the crazy wig and curled her hair with a tiny curling iron. Jess had hundreds of ringlets - so cute! Mommy and Jess trying to capture the moment.Here is my beautiful little girl! This was definitely my favorite, well, I loved the butterfly pictures too.Jessica getting adjusted again. They couldn't get the shirt just the way they wanted.
Next was the butterfly shot - they put butterflies in her hair

Jessica getting body butter applied to her arms and legs. It made them look shiny.
We called this the "Ice Cream Princess" picture. She wore a large headband with balls piled on top, like a big bowl of ice cream.
This is an action shot of the crew dressing and adjusting Jessica before the Ice Cream Princess shot.


Jessica and her friend Connor taking a boy/girl shot.

The finished product for Connor and Jessica was a cute photo with their heads together. This was supposed to be Jessica's last photo of the day, however, after we got her all dressed they wanted one more. She very graciously agreed and took one last photo in another butterfly sundress. We were all tired by then and I didn't get candids. She was awesome for her very 1st super model appearance.

A Day in the Life of Garrett Locke

I live in Seoul, South Korea, and Brrr.. it's cold here in the winter. I get bundled up every day for my stroller rides. My mom and I walk Carson and Jessica to school in the morning and walk them home after school.

See, here's my cool ride, also known as a jogging stroller. I also take my nap every morning in my stroller while Mom runs with her running buddies. It's a good thing I have my bunting and plastic cover for those cold mornings.

This picture is quite embarrassing, Mom! My big sister, Jessica, dressed me up in an apron and a Strawberry Shortcake hat. I loved the apron, but I'm really not a "hat kind of guy."

Now that I'm walking everywhere I have a tendency to get excited and fall into things. See that big, blue bump on my head? I got that from falling into a chair leg. Ouch! I don't recommend that to any of you out there.

My next war wound, or should I say, walking wound, came from pulling my sister's Sesame street video/music player on my face. See my right eye is black and blue or it's the left eye if you're looking at the picture. I'm so tall now, I can reach almost anything off her bookshelf. See I even found a plastic golf ball from the "Too Small for Garrett" box. They think I can't reach that.I'm 11 months old today and I was feeling even more curious. I discovered this awesome green marker. I think Mom was in the bathroom when I found it. I decided to chew on it, write on my shirt and then bite off the end. Icky! I don't recommend eating markers either. Mom had to take pictures of me before she even washed me up and took it away. Yes, this was also in the "Too Small for Garrett" box. See I'm magic, I can get into anything.

After a busy day of head bonking, pulling music players off the shelf and eating green markers I love to snuggle with my Daddy. I'm STILL not a good sleeper even at 11 months of age, can you believe it? Give me a warm body and a rocking chair (Preferably not in my bedroom, that place is scary.) and I'll sleep for hours. Okay, maybe an hour and 30 minutes. :)

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our loved ones! We miss you!

We went to Zippo and Melissa Liller's house for a beautiful and delicious Thanksgiving feast. Our celebration was unique because of our apartment living - the boys played soccer and kickball in the hallway, we used 2-3 ovens in different apartments, many extra guests decided to join the noisy party, it felt like one big "family." I don't have any of the funny pictures that were taken that night. That will be a whole different post.
Family picture on Thanksgiving night -
Jessica 5 years old, Garrett 10 1/2 months old, Carson 7 years old


Carson's Thanksgiving Play - he's posing with his Wapanog friends. Carson was Pilgrim Boy #3 and did a wonderful job with his part. He memorized a 6 sentence paragraph.

Jessica and Garrett watching Carson's play.

Carson's play took place in the Dolphin Theater. Seoul American Elementary School has a dolphin for its mascot so there are many "dolphin" references in the school. We were so proud of our little pilgrim. He was the best actor there.

Garrett is 10 months old!

I'm 10 months old. I weigh 20.6 pounds and I'm 28 inches long. I have 8 teeth. I can "ruff" like a dog, but I also "ruff" when I see birds, cats, etc. My favorite place to play is in Carson and Jessica's room where the big kid toys are located. I especially like Carson's cool Nerf guns, pencils, crayons, and Legos, because Mom always takes them away from me. I love to pull all the books off of my bookshelf and flip through all the pages. I can stand and I am taking 2-3 steps all by myself.

Namdaemun Market

In early October we took a Sunday trip to Namdaemu Market for lunch and shopping. It's a huge night and day market that dates back to the 15th century. It has thousands of shops and stalls selling food, ginseng, dried seaweed, clothes, shoes, hiking gear, watches, toys, stationery, etc. We ate kimchi, bulgogi, yaki mandu and who knows what else. :) Jessica and Erin showing our chopsticks prowess.
Deciding what to order by pictures only.

Korean rice cakes, more like rice paste rolled into a sticky ball, it must be an acquired taste.

Eels, anyone?

Carson wanted to take one home as a pet.

Happy Halloween 2008

Jessica's Fall Festival at Seoul American Elementary SchoolJessica the cheerleader leaving her classroom for the Kindergarten costume parade.
Jessica with her pom-pom's

Garrett as a cheetah

Trick or Treating on Yongsan was held on Saturday, November 1st.

Here's Carson the Knight, Garrett the Cheetah and Jessica as Fancy Nancy outside our apartment with our jack o'lanterns.