9 month pictures

We had Adeline's 9 month pictures taken by a photographer downtown.  They have what we call a "Korean flair."  We are happy with them overall though.  Here is a sampling of some of our favorites.

Adeline crawling

We FINALLY got the charger cord for our camcorder.  Stay tuned for more vlogging!  We are hoping to do a house tour today.....

Mailing address

We have gotten a few requests for our new mailing address. In case you missed (or deleted) our update email, our address is....

Patrick, Lynn, and Adeline Rohal

PSC 3, Box 4433

APO, AP, 96266

You can mail cards/letters just like you would in the US. If it weighs more than a pound, you need to put a customs form on it since it crosses the border, but it comes to a US post office and should cost the same as mailing to CA.

We are looking forward to the Christmas pictures and holiday letters coming our way. We tried to get a family Christmas picture today, but a 9 month old has no reason to look in the direction of a camera when there is not someone dancing, singing, or making silly faces on the other side of it. We enlisted the help of a friend to try again tomorrow.....

Thanksgiving fun!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we hope all of you did too. We were away from family but were able to call them, and see them (Skype really is amazing!). Here we are before our feast.

The Dragon Hill really is a beautiful hotel. We were surprised by how many people we knew who went there for the holiday. We got to know some of them much better, and we met some new friends. The dinner was quite good (with REAL mashed potatoes, which is one of my requirements for it to be a true holiday feast). In the evenings, we really did congregate in the hallway after the kids were in bed (sans pajamas).

Other highlights of this mini-vacation were a pedicure for Lynn, haircuts for Lynn and Patrick, and some exploring of Seoul. On Friday, we went with a group to the electronics market, where you can buy flowers (just kidding) cameras, TVs, etc. We think the discounts will be better after Christmas, so we did not buy anything there. On Saturday, we went to the Chosen, a store on the base managed by wives of the officers there. They get shipments from all over Asia of dresses, pottery, furniture, jewelry, art, linens, Tiffany lamps, etc. The last time I was there, I bought a rocking horse and a small purse for Adeline. This time, I bought a few jackets (75% off!!!) and some jewelry. I have my eyes on a globe where the countries are in different colors of stone/marble. Perhaps I will post pictures at some point. After lunch, we ventured on our own to two of the markets in Seoul, Insa-dong and Namdaemun. The first is a historic art district that reminded us of Soho. There were shops with pottery, art, tea, woodworking, and other gift items. Namdaemun is pure shopping chaos! It is an outdoor market with hundreds of stands and people everywhere. I bought a beautiful hand crocheted tablecloth. We had a lot of fun on our day of adventure, and Adeline did really well. I am SO thankful for Patrick's excellent sense of direction and ability to get around on any public transportation system.


When we woke up on Friday, after Thanksgiving, the hotel was decorated for....... Christmas!

Sunday finest

Thanksgiving and my 25th Post!

Well, this post marks the momentous occasion of being my 25th post!!!!  In honor of the occasion falling on Thanksgiving, I decided to name 25 things I am thankful for...in no particular order.

1. Four seasons ---Fall is my favorite, but I love that there is something special about each of them.
2. My husband and my daughter---they are the best of God's earthly blessings.
3. Ice cream--- I eat it almost every day of my life, and I just love it!
4. This apartment, which accommodates us very well for this year.  I am also thankful that we have been blessed to be stationed close to family for most of Patrick's military career.
5. Health---mental and physical (I have several friends and my sister, Lisa, who are struggling with mental/emotional health right now).
6. Books
7. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, without whom I could do nothing.
8. Music
9. My parents and my Christian heritage
10. Friends
11. Lisa---She has been so challenging but has taught me so much.
12. The opportunities I've had to experience other cultures.
13. Skype
14. Wonderful church families in every place that we've lived
15. Snail mail, unexpected emails
16. Blog comments (hint, hint)
17. Freedom
18. Tea parties, pretty dresses, and anything else that makes me glad to be a girl.
19. Creation---sunsets, the ocean, flowers
20. Seasonal decorations 
21. Adeline's laughter---the best sound in the world.
22. Vacation
23. Answered prayers
24. Home cooked food
25. Photographic moments, pictures, scrapbooks (and this blog) to remember the memories.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wordless Wednesday---Baby, it's cold outside!

We actually woke up to snow this morning!

Happy mail day!

On Monday, we had a VERY happy mail day....a FOUR packages in the mail kinda day!!!  Now, packages are not as unusual as in the US because we do a lot of shopping with on-line stores and ebay, but this was a GREAT day!  One of the packages was from my aunt Fay.  It was completely unexpected and had everything from holiday decorations to scrapbooking supplies to books for us and Adeline.  What a treat!  Thanks aunt Fay for blessing us in this way!

While I am giving thanks for cool packages, I need to give a shout out to my cousin Lee and his kids, Esther, Alex, and Emma, for the AMAZING shoo-fly pie we received in the mail a few weeks ago!  For those who don't know, it is made mostly from molasses and brown sugar so it doesn't spoil in the journey across the world.  It is a Lancaster County specialty and tastes like home.  I failed to take a picture (and I call myself a blogger!?!?!?), but you can click here to see our gift givers in action.

At the risk of forgetting someone, I am not going to list everyone else who has blessed us with snail mail and/or packages....but we truly do thank you.

We are so blessed.

What's Happening with Us?

This post will just be a bunch of random updates on what has been happening with our family...

• Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Lisa.  Please keep praying!!!  So far, she is not doing well with the transition.  She is not eating well, rarely taking her medication, and is wetting herself a lot.  We expected her to regress after the huge transition of moving, but we are praying she improves soon for her sake and for her caregivers.  Lift her up in prayer when you think of her.
• Adeline has a cold this week.  She has been blessed with very good health until now (except for her brief illness during our vacation...which was our fault...not a good idea to keep a baby out all day in the cold and pouring down rain).  She still has a sweet disposition, but her pacifier fetish is difficult to maintain when unable to breathe through her nose.  Pray for her.
• I am not cooking for Thanksgiving as I assumed I would.  We made reservations for two nights at the Dragon Hill Inn.  This is a nice military vacation resort about an hour from here, close to Seoul.  Several couples we know mentioned they are going there, so when our other plans fell through, we decided to join the party.  They are rumored to serve a delicious feast....did I mention that I don't have to cook?  We are hoping to take over a floor and play (cards, crafts, reading, etc) in the halls with other couples after the kids are in bed.  Big grown-up pajama party!  I'll let you know if I find any fun items while shopping on Friday and Saturday.
• Speaking of fun shopping....I found a GREAT little shop close to here this week while out with a friend.  I bought a fun, girly umbrella, hat with matching scarf for Adeline, slippers, and a few other fun things.  At another store, I bought some of the SOFTEST blankets you will ever feel.  It was a very fun day, and yes, I know, I need to start Christmas shopping for OTHER people. lol. 

I have plans for some more fun posts this week....stay tuned!

Sunday finest

PB170039
Originally uploaded by therohals

Lisa

These pictures of my family were taken last Christmas (which explains my very pregnant belly).

I decided to share something that has been on my heart a lot lately and ask you to pray for my family. I thought the pictures would help you have a visual image of who you are praying for.

Here is the very abridged version......

For those of you who don't know my sister, Lisa, she had brain damage when she was a toddler which mostly affected her common sense and social skills. She has had a rough life because she never really fit in anywhere. Because she doesn't look handicapped, people tend to assume she can do and understand more than she can. Anyway, she has struggled with psychiatric problems on and off for about 15 years. As a result of her psych meds, she has some rare side effects which caused several movement disorders. Many of them have improved, but it makes medicating her very difficult. She moved back in with my parents about a year ago when she had a breakdown, diagnosed as a conversion disorder. She has declined significantly (at her most functional point, she was driving and balancing her checkbook), to the point of incontinence at times, and is very negative about life. It is hard to put into words how my parents have struggled to care for her. They are EXHAUSTED physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. This past Saturday, Lisa finally moved into a group home with a Christian organization. There is only one other girl living there, and my family has been very excited about the house and the staff. Lisa doesn't do well with change. This has been really hard for her. PLEASE pray for....

1. Lisa to adjust to life in this new house, for the staff to learn how to work with her, and for her to be positive about life again.

2. My parents to be at peace that Lisa's future is in God's hands and to get some rest and healing after a VERY difficult year.

The World According to Adeline

One can never have too many paci's.

Holiday Fun

My friend, Sarah, posted this on her blog. I thought it was fun. If you decide to do it too, let me know what food you are.

You Are a Trifle

No doubt, you have many intricate layers. But deep down, you're a little squishy.

What Holiday Food Are You?

Sunday finest

Big Girl

I haven't shared recently about all of the great new things Adeline has been learning. The biggest accomplishment is that she is now CRAWLING!!! One day this week, she made drastic improvements in her crawling and the same day learned to sit up "all by her big girl self" (this is a phrase I use a lot). So, she is now able to crawl to a desired toy (or thing that mommy doesn't want her to have) and then sit herself up to play with it. She is quite excited about this! She also has added "g" sounds to her babble vocabulary. We are so proud.

Sunday finest

These are two "Sunday finest" pictures from the recent past that I forgot to post. I LOVE dressing her up for church on Sundays.

Whaaaaaaah!!!

Since so many of you have left me comments about how "smiley" my precious daughter is, I thought I would post my favorite picture of her when she was NOT happy.  This picture was taken at a women's tea that I was a co-chair for at our church.  Adeline did SO well the whole day...but then....she was DONE!  Her daddy took this picture of Grandma and mommy both trying to console her.  

Sorry, I couldn't get the picture to post larger, so you can click here to see it better.

I Won!!!

I won this book during the Fall Y'All Bloggy Giveaway!  For those who don't know what this is, I will be sure to participate in the next giveaway and give you more details then.  Basically, several (I mean like 600!!!) bloggers all link to one site with giveaways.  They could give away anything from lotion to books to a gift card.  Some people used it as a way to promote their on-line business, some used it as a way to get more "traffic" to their blogs, and some just wanted to join the party!  I am just so excited to have won that I wanted to share the news.  Isn't the title of this book too cute?  I will let you know what I think of it after I've read it.

It was a lot of fun to peruse these sites.  I found  a lot of great new products, and in one blog I found a great tip that I thought I would share with you.  You can find it at www.motivatedmoms.com

This site offers a calendar to help with organizing your cleaning schedule.  It is PERFECT for a list lover like me.  It breaks down tasks into chores that need to be done every day (like making the bed, feeding the pets, washing the dishes), and then adds a few other tasks to be tackled each day.  If you follow the schedule, your house will stay pretty clean without becoming overwhelming.  Tasks include things like cleaning out the microwave, changing your kitchen towels, paying the bills, changing the filter in your heater, dusting the master bedroom, or clipping your children's nails.  It costs $8 to download, and you can get it with or without a daily scripture reading to read through the Bible in a year.  I LOVE to be able to check things off a list, and this helps make organizing a household seem less daunting when it is broken down.  I was VERY excited about this find and hope you will check out the site and perhaps benefit from it as well.