ICC Women's Weekend

I had a few intrigues about the women's weekend that I hosted at our home. Taylor of course cleared the area and headed to Seoul for a memorable night with some buddies and Corin.
The ladies started arriving Friday night, the 29th of April. We had snacks, played games and just enjoyed each others' company as we awaited the arrival of all our Friday nightr guests. Saturday morning, we woke up to what we thought would be a rainy and dreary day, but God is Good, and he held off the rain inour part of the countryside. We all had a yummy breakfast with a nice warm cup of coffee to get us up and going. Then we decided to go for a walk as we waited for the rest of the ladies that would be coming out to join us. It was on the walk that I was thankful again for our rural placement. The ladies really enjoyed getting out in the fresh country air. When we got back, a few others had joined our numbers and soon we were diving into God's word together. I gave a short devotion on Colossians chapter 3, focusing mostly on renewal. I felt as though it went really well. Then we split into small groups and had a time of discussion, reflection and prayer. Sooooo good. I love hearing what God is doing in the hearts of others and how the scriptures move each of us individually. It just goes to show that God's word is LIVING, constant, and applicable. (and so much more)
We then shared a feast at lunch since our numbers dropped from the original head count. There was plenty to go around and we were all quite satisfied by the time the table was cleared.
I had asked a friend if she might be intereseted in creating a devotional for the ladies as well and she (Melody) presented hers just after lunch. She focused on Ezekiel 47:1-12. Mel had us close our eyes as she read the passage and encouraged us to take that opportunity to envision the scene described. She then lead us to John 7:37-39, showing us how the river in Ezekiel represents the Holy Spirit and then to 1Corinthians 3:16 to relay that our bodies are the temple spoken of in the original passage as well. We then went back to Ezekiel and reread the passage, this time envisioning ourselves as the temple and the Holy Spirit as the river constantly flowing from us. It was a great, refreshing, and vivid reminder of the LIFE we have that is constantly flowing in, through and out of us.
We then, of course being ladies, moved on to crafting time. We made fabric flower broaches and hair clips. It was so fun to see God's creativity displayed through the creations of these women.
Then it was time to pack up and head out. I was sad to see the time go so quickly, but it was quality time indeed.

My reflections: As I prepared for the devotional, I was very much tried in the ares that I was intending to teach on. The sin seems to bubble up throughout the weeks leading tot he retreat and I knew it was Satan trying to deter me from presenting the TRUTH through the word of God. (Melody also mentioned some defeat in her preparations as well.) Satan is a sly one, but God is triumphant!!!
I was slightly discouraged by the number of attendants. Last year we had a fairly large group where as this year, our numbers dwendled down to only 11. I felt as if I had failed to make the retreat sound enticing or that the distance to travel was a deterant, but come Saturday morning... when we sat down for the first devotional and then split for our small discussion/prayer groups... I was so thankful for the number of women that God had encouraged to come. I was reminded that it was not about me and what I wanted out tof the weekend. The Lord was using this time for His Glory and so I was pleased to have the opportunity to host a time of worship and fellowship. I also found that I was very much less stressed this time around. I made most of the food ahead of time, which helped a great deal, but I also just felt more spiritually prepared that day. I was very encouraged by the weekend and always love growing closer with the ladies in the body. I look forward to hopefully squeezing in one more women's weekend before February... just in case we decide to head back to the States.
LL

In the month of May

As most of you know, we have been tackling the task of finding an option for natural birthing here in Korea. Our searches for midwives or doulas in the immediate area were unsuccessful. We had Korean speaking friends or co-workers help find a women's hospital in the area that specializes in Prenatal care, birth and pediatrics. They are very common in Korea and are usually refered to as Women and children's hosptials.
We finally got in to see a doctor this past Wednesday. The nurses and staff really didn't speak much english, which was not exactly a confidence boost, but I was happy to be getting in somewhere and ready to make a choice in health care. The doctor seemed nice enough. He spoke English, but it was rather broken and his pronunciation left me slightly puzzled at times. (Side note: If you have ever played the game Mad Gab, this is what it felt like throughout the appointment. It is always fun trying to decipher the phrase and I feel as though I should get points each time I am right... especially on the first try!) So we were told we would go intot he sonographer's room and take a look at the baby. Before doing so, we repeated told the doctor we did NOT want to know the sex of the baby. This was our first sonogram ever, with all three of the kiddos, so it was kind of neat to see the little heart beating in its chest and all the wiggling around. As the doctor started naming off parts of the body, Taylor left the room and I reminded him I didn't want to know, boy or girl. He proceeded with his anatomy lesson and said something to Taylor's coteacher in Korean before turning to me and say, it is a ______.
My heart kind of sunk, not because I was not excited about this little life and the gender it was chosen to be from the beginning, but that I now knew. That I would have to keep a secret from Taylor and that I was now denied the exciting joy of finding out as the baby came out into the world. Well, life goes on. I am very excited to welcome another healthy baby into the world, just a little less suspence this time and a little more dislike for the Korean method of child birth. Apparently, Koreans feel you should know what you are getting. They think this way concerning not only the sex, but also the deformities (both mental and physical) before giving. birth. They test for everything they possibly can, from genetic disabilities to birth defects to contractable diseases. Sad to think that most parents in Korea (and around the world) have ample time to decide to put thier child up for adoption based on thier pursuit of the perfect child to raise.
Anyways, we left the hospital determined to have a birthplan in hand, in Korean and english, the next time we walked through those doors. Luckily we have a month to figure out all the details.
The next day was Cinco de Mayo, or as they call it in Korea... Children's day. Yes, the celebrate these very creations we had just seen on the big screen in the doctors office with an entire national holiday devoted to them and thier pleasure! Parents take the day off, if they don't already ahve it off (being a national holiday and all) and take thier kids out shopping, to festivals and museums and even amusement parks. It is crazy, but kind of fun since kids here don;t really celebrate thier birthdays on thier actual birthday, but rather on lunar new year. Since Taylor had the day off, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and try our luck at the dinosaur museum again. (If you recall, we went last summer, but it was pouring cats and dogs, so we only got to view the inside of the museum.) It was gorgeous outside. Perfect t-shirt weather. The sky was birght blue and Corin was in a fairly good mood, so the rest of us were too! We made a quick tour of the inside museum again, as just a refresher course and then headed to the outside grounds. There were playgrounds everywhere and dinosuar statues. Corin thought it was pretty cool... Okay, I won't lie, I did too! The museum is positioned on a seaside mountain that has trials winding down to the shore along the cove. The rocky beach is littered with dinosaur footprints and a boardwalk type trail that guides you on a tour of bboth the footprints and the beautiful ocean views. It was such an amazing view. You will find an album in the left hand column to get an idea of the beauty you are missing out on here in Korea!
We had a great time driving in the countryside in our little white car as we made our way to and from Goseong to take in the dinos. I am really thankful for a directionally sound husband and the blessing of a car. :) I donlt think I could ever get tired of mountains and tiered fields full of lush green crops.
LL
P.s. Corin kind of dressed himself that day. Hence the fingerless gloves and socks with sandals. (Taylor might have made a comment in regards to Corin taking on his dad's sense of style before he did... )

A few blog worthy moments.

Well, since I have been neglecting you all, I suppose I should make up for it in divulging the details of various happenings from the past couple months. Such events might include the many adventures of traveling to the States through Japan, mal-adjustments in being Stateside, and Corinisms.

Let's start with the quakes in Japan.

Corin and I were headed to Texas to visit family and friends for about three weeks and had a four hour layover in Japan followed by a two hour layover in Houston. Combined with 18 hours of flight time, it was going to be a long trek to the States without Taylor.
Friday morning,on our first flight from Busan to Tokyo Japan, I decided to read the CNN newfeed rather than watch a movie. I browsed the headlines, one of which was entitled "Earthquake in Northern Japan" and decided to skim the contents. The article told of a quake hitting the northern areas of Japan on Wednesday of that week, but that it did little damage to the affect area. I really didn't think much of it as I moved on to the next article. Soon we had landed in the Narita airport, just northeast of Tokyo. Knowing we were there for the next four hours, I got our boarding passes, let Corin watch our plane get fueled up and the catering truck load up our flight with food, and then we headed to the children's play area. I sat down on one of the benches to watch Corin play with the few toys in the room. We'd been there for maybe 20-25 minutes when I felt a slight shake under me. I looked around and asked the other two moms if they had just felt that too, or if it was just me. One replied that it was probably just a plane taking off as the other mom nodded in agreement. Hmm. I found myself thinking that I prefer to never be in an airport that shook when planes took off, but before I could state that I thought it might have beena small earthquake instead, the room started swaying side to side. Well... poop. THIS was no small earthquake. I grabbed Corin and the carryon luggage and headed out of the playroom. There I pulled Corin under an internet connection desk and told him we were hiding from the earthquake monster who was currently shaking the building. The quake lasted maybe 1 1/2-2 minutes. I jammed my thumb as we were forced into the confines of the small desk by the quake. The ceiling tiles were rattling and debri was falling from around the tiles, lights and airducts on the ceiling. You could hear glass breaking far off and people were freaking out all around us. Once the quake ended, I took Corin to our departure terminal to see what the plan was for our flight. once we arrived in that terminal, another quake hit. Lesser than the last, but still threatening enough to temp Corin and I to seek shelter under the sturdy steel waiting benches. Once under the bench, Corin began instructing those around us to hide from the earthquake monster as well. They all thought he was cute, but very few accepted his invite. Soon after this quake, and announcement came on the entercom and we were all instructed to head to the nearest exit for evacuation. The staff lead us out to the tarmac, where we would spend the next 2 hours. It was chilly, but not too bad. The sun was out and luckily Corin and I had on our winter coats as well as long sleeves and pants. Others were not so lucky. Some were transfering through Japan to or from a tropical destination. Those poor t-shirt and shorts adorning travelers. Corin was quickly growing bored with standing around and so I was forced to sit down and pull out his coloring book and crayons. Just a few feet away, a little girl (1/2 Japanese & 1/2 Canadian) was hiding behind her dad as he talked on the phone with his Japanese wife. (As you can guess, he is the Canadian in the little girl's equation) Anyways, she longingly looked at Corins crayons and so I invited her to join in on the coloring. She was eager to join and Corin eager to share. Soon the two were inseperable buddies. The little girl, Raenna, was four and was very open and friendly. The two shared snacks, toys, coloring books, and lots of giggles over the next several hours. Soon we were herded back into one of the lower sections of the airport that was concluded to be safe. We awaited further details as everyone crammed in around the televisions to see the horrifying footage of not only the earthquake damage, but now the tsunami as well. The local Japanese were taking it hardest and foreigners soon made way for the loacls to have front row seats at the TVs. Each time they showed a different city or footage, you'd see three or four people pop up and start making phone calls with frightened expressions on thier faces. The Canadian dad, Josh, and I decided to team up so our kids would not be so bored and also to take shifts with bathroom duties and whatnot. Luckily, Josh living in Japan, had a cell phone and service. He let me send a few e-mails to Taylor before the airport staff announcing that we could expect no flights to go out for at least a day and a half. WHAT?!!!! My heart about sank into my shoes. I had just been looking out the window at the airplane I was to board and fly out on only a few hours before that. Why could we not just take off? I knew it was fueled up. It had food... which at this point they were handing out "rations" of Ritz crackers and bottled water. They told us the waterlines had been damaged and that we would have to use our bottled water wisely. They also told us all transportation and roads to and from Tokyo and the narita area were closed down. Great. So even if we had wanted to pay for a nice comfy bed to rest in while we awaited a rescheduled flight, we didn't have that option. Not to mention, they had turned off the heating system... which I assume is because it was feuled by gas.. and so we were now getting colder with each passing hour. Once the sun was down, most people were covered in the 4X4 thin fleece blankets they had been handing out. Around 10:30pm, now almost 10 hours after we first arrived in Japan, the airport announced that two flights would be taking off for thier destinations. These two flights were ones that the passengers had already boarded prior tot he quake and had been bunkered up in those planes now for almost 7 and a half hours. Both flights were originally only supposed to be 2-3 hour flights. At that point, I was thankful for being in the airport rather than an airplane. Soon after, the staff opened the second floor of the building to allow us to spread out. The staff had inspected the building and verified it as safe to move about it. Soon, the sardines were unpacking out of the lower level can and we were able to get out from under other people's feet. Whew. The only problem with freedom of movement, was that it was accompanied by colder temperatures. The second floor was more exposed to the wind, and with most of the perimeter structure boasting shatter proof glass, we were quite chilly in our new crash pad. By now it was 11 something and both myself and Josh were trying to get our toddlers to sleep. I covered Corin in all available cloth, including the wimpy fleece blankets and both our coats as I shivered in hopes of a new round of blankets that were announced to arrive. Soon Corin was out and I sat listening to the news from a nearby television and the occasional announcment of snacks in various areas of the airport. Then the long awaited news came, our flight, my flight to Houston, was to leave the next day. The airport staff wanted to verify the conditions of the runway early the next morning and then would announce a specific departure time from there. I was so happy! Finally the staff came around with thremals blankets and I was able to get a few hours of sleep before Corin woke me at 5am. This would be a long day. But I was thankful that most of it would be on a flight to Houston! :) Throughout the night I had been lifted from my sleep by several aftershocks, some more powerful than others, but none that compared to the initial quake I felt around 3 on Friday. Saturday morning we all stood around looking at each other as we waited for staff to open the restaurants and serve us coffee. Something that never happened... well not the coffee part anyways. There was an udon noodle shop that opened it's doors and charged people about $25 for a noodles soup meal. Yep, Corin and I ate Ritz crackers for breakfast. The aftershocks, or tremors as I called them, continued on through the morning Each one with the lingering fear that we would get a big one soon, much like Chile. Praise the Lord, that did not happen. Around 9am our flight was confirmed to head out at 1pm. By this time I was quite familiar witht he layout of the airport. Corin and I had been walking the halls in search of a place to eat lunch for several hours. Around 11 a small cafe opened up and so we ate sandwiches with contents of unknown origin, recognizable pretzel snacks, and a couple bottled beverages. I also got gummi bears for the next flight since Corin's ears had bothered him on the first landing. Soon it was 1:00 and we began boarding the plane. As we took off, I could only think of God's protection and provision for us during that time. I was thankful. And soon, Corin and I were napping and enjoying the plane ride(and the never ending orange juice!)

Maladjustments Stateside:

First and foremost, sleep was scattered at best. I never fully adjusted to a normal sleep pattern. I woke up every night at 3:30 and would start at the ceiling in hopes of those z's returning. They did... at 6:30. Of Course Corin would wake at 6:50, so it did little good. (I took multiple naps while back.)

Second, I got an upset stomach after every meal I ate. Not sure if it was the chlorine in the water... aka the Plano pool water... or if it had something to do with the actual food.

Third, I felt the compulsion to bow when I met someone. And when I thanked someone, and when I said goodbye to someone.

Fourth, for the first few days/week, Corin asked of each person we came in contact with;"Does he/she speak in English?"

Fifth, I felt compelled to run red lights as well. ( A common practice of many... scratch that... all Korean drivers.)

Corinisms:

So, as most of you know, Corin is in the midst of potty training. He is currently house trained. :) Public outings are still a little worrisome... but time will heal that. Anyways, the other day I was sitting in my room reading while Corin was playing in his own room with his cars. Then I hear him run to the bathroom. Then I hear a grunt. "ERRR. UGH. Oh, Come on!!!" In my head, I was thinking.... oh dear, what is he doing, or trying to do? Then I hear him come out of the bathroom without having flushed. I kindly ask if he had pooped. He looked at me, sighed, and said "Nope. Mommy?,,, will you go poop for me so I can have some chocolate?!" I about died laughing. I then explained that he, Corin, had to be the one to poop in order to get the two m&ms. He sighed and walked back to his room, head hung low. "Okay mom."

When in the car, unable to spank Corin for his misbehavior, we've been known to ask him to spank himself. Corin grunts, then lifts a cheek off the seat and smacks his own bottom. Then he replies that he does not like spankings. :) (To which of course we reply that we don't like disobeying.) FYI: just because we spank, doesn't mean we abuse... so if you are opposed to spanking... read the Bible and search for "the rod." Thank you and good day.

Corin has had a year and half run with this phobia of haircuts. Yesterday, I talked him into a wide awake haircut... I say awake because up until now, I have been butchering his hair in his sleep. Anyways, with the promise of a family walk afterwards, Corin relented to the haircut. He whined of course. He mostly disliked the discomfort that arose when he tried to wipe the hair off his neck resulting in an itchy neck. He showered afterwards and happily took a walk with us and his new haircut. Hooray!

Corin has begun to quote movies... it makes life slightly scripted, but funny none the less. "Who's the cat, who's the cat, who's the cat?!" Favorite quote of the week... name that movie! oh and "I know all your tricks old man."

His Likes: Peanut butter sandwiches,baseball hats, motorcross anything, and car shows..
His Dislikes: "quiet times", dad leaving for work.

What to expect in the year to come...

A baby of course! :) For those who don't know yet, Tayor and I are expecting a baby around the end of September. September 26th is our predicted due date... the exact same due date we were give for Corin! We are excited to see what the delivery day brings us... will it be a boy or girl?! Good thing God already has that decided and is growing a beautiful little baby as we speak! Please be praying for us as we take on the challenge of foreign hospitals and doctors as well as planning for a little one in the months to come. Thank you all for your shared joy and prayers in this blessed event!

The start of a new year.

Well, contracts have been signed, visas renewed, and plane tickets bought. Corin and I(Linz) will be flying home to Dallas for a three week visit in a few days. It will be a bittersweet visit as we will both miss Tay and he will, I am sure, miss us! ;) We have decided to remain with the same school and will be roughing it in the middle of nowhere again this year! Yeongsan has become home to us and we are excited to see the multiple ministry opportunities we are given this year in opening up our spacious home to guests. There are already talks of regular game nights, which has Taylor and I thrilled to pieces! I am planning to host another women's weekend as I did last year and I believe there will be another men's retreat in the works as well.

Corin is growing like a weed. He is contantly catching Taylor and I off guard with a new vocabulary word or two and has begun to make actual jokes. He is quite humorous. :) (Obviously he did not get that from me!) Corin is obsessed with puzzles and enjoys books and coloring as well. He endures travel pretty well, which is good since neither of the churches we attend are less than an hour away! :) He has taken up the habit of correcting others, movies... even the audio books we listen to in the car, in that he will say "don't say that" to the speaker when they say words he is not allowed to use. (Like stupid, shut up, oh my gosh... so on.) I have found that the people who hangout with us most, now catch themselves before they say these phrases! Haha, our little language police is shaping up Korea one mouth at a time! Corin also has started to learn to play the ukulele along side his daddy who plays guitar. theya re quite the cute duo. :) Taylor and I have a video posted on our facebook pages, check it out! :)

Taylor and I are anticipating visitors this year, so let us know if we can set aside time for any of you that desire to travel to Korea! It is a beautiful mountainous country and has some pretty friendly people! We have a spare room and bed... so boarding is taken care of!:)
LL

Contract Time!!!

Taylor finally got his contract yesterday! With three days until his visa expires, we are relieved to finally have that in hand! So now, we would love to ask prayer for our visas, that they would renew with no glitches and be processed quickly! So Lord willing, the Lett life will continue here in South Korea until late February of 2012!
Thank you for all your prayers, encouragment and support over the past year. One down, one to go! Yay for overseas adventures! We will keep you posted on Visas and further developments.
LL

Patience.

One thing you learn about Korea, is that nothing gets done quickly. Nothing is rushed. Nothing important that is. Taylor and I are still awaiting a contract and subsequently visa renewals. And subsequently plans for the future. And subsequently a grasp as to where we will be next year... next month, and yes, even next week. I suppose you could say Korea has made me a slightly more patient person... but I might disagree with that after this month. I am sick of the waiting, of the drawing this whole contract renewal thing out. HELLOOO... there are things we would like to get the ball rolling on. But... as it stands, the ball is very much still sitting in the same place. Waiting for a nudge. and so are we. We will keep you updated on any further developments with our life. For now... just pray that we are able to be patient. :)
LL

New Year, New focus.

Happy New Year to all!
I realize most people tend to avoid the cliche of "resolving" a goal for the New Year. I however, think that it is great to get your focus in check. While I am not necessarily setting a specific goal for myself, I AM returning my focus to what is Important to me, to my family, to my life here on Earth.
It is all too easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and get off track... starting in November. That is little over two months of hoppin and boppin around trying to get to all the holiday parties, gift shopping done, and food... alll that fooooood! I must admit that my own focus tends to waver from Christ and on to the moment. I get so caught up in my surroundings at times that I forget to eat the Bread of Life. I forget to take a sip of much needed Living Water and I get dehydrated and famished. You do some crazy things when you are malnurished and thirsty. I recognized my need for God's word, for prayer, for supplication and adoration and confession and repentance and TIME. Just plain time with the Lord. With my Savior and Redeemer. Time. I need to focus on setting aside that time again.
So join me in setting down that magazine or remote, and lifting your eyes, praise, prayers and hearts to Christ.

***On a side note, I resolve to try and update the blog a tad more often... ;)
LL

10 months and counting

The Letts have now been in Korea for little over 10 months...leaving us with two more months in our one year contract! Taylor and I have been exploring options and praying for the year to follow, but are fairly certain that Korea is where we will be for at least another year. Our time here has been a roller coaster of emotions. I must admit that for the first six months, I could think of nothing but leaving and heading home after our year contract was fulfilled... but then my heart softened towards Korea and now I am excited about staying. Taylor was fairly constant throughout. Sure, there were times he wanted to stranggle his disrespectful middles schoolers, but all in all, things are looking up. Next year, Lord willing we stay, we will be moved (by Taylor's school) to an anpartment in Masan/Changwon. This is BIG news becuase Changwon is a Large city... not just a town, which quite frankly would be a step up from Yeongsan! I love our apartment though and so with the convenience and community that would come with Changwon living, we will be losing the large floor plan and the opportunity to host large crowds. I will also be losing my little plot of land right outside our apartment... so while I didn't get much out of the little garden patch this year due to late planting, I was kind of bummed knowing I wouldn't be able to go for round two. Luckily, pots are readily available and so I will attempt a little potted garden. Who knows, maybe we will luck out and get a top floor apartment with easy access to the roof! :) So for now, the Letts are waiting upon a contract and upon the Lord to work out all things for His GLORY and our good... Thankful for a God who cares and provides.

In most recent news, we got.... drum roll please.... an OVEN!!!!!!!! Taylor bought me an oven for Christmas! WHAT A GUY! I was totally floored, in complete shock! Here's the play by play:
I had asked Taylor if he could come home on his lunch break on Friday to bring me a few groceries for last minute goodies for our us and our Christmas guests. (I'll go into detail about that later) Like the great guy that he is, he agreed to it.... plus there were leftover tacos in the fridge... I might have used that in the conversation as a lure. ;) Anyways, upon arrival, he hollered from behind the front door to go to the bedroom and close the door. So, I excitedly obeyed! Corin made a comical exit from his room as he started trying to guess what daddy had in his hands... let's just say that our doors and walls are not sound proof. Of course, being a three year old, he was not really sure what it was, so he just proceeded in asking Taylor what he had. Taylor sent him to his room, just in case he realized the contents before I had a chance to see it, and soon he was leading me from our bedroom by the hand as I covered my eyes. We walked into our office as I anticipated the words" You can open your eyes." Honestly, I think I was expecting a Christmas tree... we hadn't yet bought one and or chopped on down, so Iwas thinking maybe he found one on a good deal at the store while getting groceries. So as I opened my eyes, I was started to see no tree. Then my eyes landed on the box. No WAY. It was an oven. Mind you ovens are not the same size in Korea... they are like oversized toaster ovens... but I could not believe there was one sitting in front of me. My mouth hung open and I started to tear up. Yes, I cried. I couldn't get any words out. I was in total shock. Taylor was eager to get my responce and asked if I liked it. I turned to him, eyes still full of tears and just hugged him. Words were not coming. I thought for a moment I had said something out loud but as I hugged Taylor I recognized that lump in my throat. After I let go of Taylor, mostly so he could breathe, I squealed with excitement... There we go... it kicked in! I was so stinking elated!!!! I began the recipe hunt the moment the door closed after Taylor left to go back to work! ;) And so, the story of the new addition to our family.

Now, back to the Christmas guests. Taylor and I decided that we didn't want to drive into Busan for the Church overnight Christmas event, mostly because I like my sleep and because there is just something about opening presents at home on Christmas morning with your own homemade goodies. So... we invited some singles. We thought they might be a little more likely to want company on Christmas. We got two takers. Anthony and Elizabeth joined us for Christmas Eve and then shared Christmas morning with us as well. Liz and I exchanged gifts and Taylor and Anthony exchanged gifts. It was fun having a slightly larger crowd than just the three of us. I was kind of gloomy thinking of Christmas on our own. I think having Anthony and Elizabeth took a bit of the sting out of missing family, hopefully it did the same for them. So for a recap of our Christmas: Eating, talking, movie, eating, sleeping (until 7:30!!! Thanks for that Christmas present Corin!), eating, opening of presents, eating and then relaxation!!!!!! Oh and some Skype calls here and there in the mix! :) For a Christmas away from Friends and family, it wasn't too shabby. Like the good photographer I am, I took absolutely no pictures of our Christmas. Sorry, but I prefer to be there rather than have to look at the pictures to decipher just what happened when I wasn't watching. Call me selfish if you must, but that is how I roll on Birthdays and Christmas.

A Big thanks to Anthony and Elizabeth for being such great guests and for our great gifts!

A HUGE thank you to God, our Father, who sent His Son to come in the humble form of a helpless infant. Thank You Jesus for living a life we can glean from and for Your submission to God's plan. Thank You Lord, for dying for our sins... for raising from the grave to conquer death once and for all... for leaving Your Spirit in Your stead. Thank You for Salvation through merely believing in Your TRUTH. Thank You.
Amen.
LL

Cold, with a chance of flurries.

December is here. With December comes some drastic drops in the temperature. Winter is upon us and just yesterday we awoke to snow on the ground! :) Perhaps we have a chance at a white Christmas?! The house is chilly during the day, but we get things toasty at night with the floor heaters... amazing invention, floor heaters. (If we ever build our own home... I might have to request them!)
things have been pretty dull around here since Thanksgiving came and went. Corin and I spend most if not all our time indoors during the week. I am a wimp when it comes to cold weather... let's just get that out there and over with. A WIMP!! So, Corin and I had read and re-read his little shelf of books, passed time by doing alphabet flash cards, and coloring is up there on the list too. My desire to bake has since died down after two weeks of baking in preparation for TG. Corin is still a little zombie when it comes to legos, and it gives me a chance to "clean" and or relax with a cup of coffee.
Taylor has been practicing his new acoustic guitar and is sounding pretty darn good! I am impressed, but then I have never had much patience in learning a new skill. :) Taylor's last day of school is on December 24th... yes Christmas Eve, but then he is done for at least a few weeks... well done in the classroom. We are still unsure of what his "break" schedule is. During the summer he had to teach English camps, so we will see if those are in his wintery future as well.
As I look for new recipes to spice up our monthly menu, I am slapped in the face by "12 days of Cookies", "Holiday Baking ideas" and " Christmas Candy ideas." Luckily, most of the canies are stove top... but I mean come on... give an ovenless girl a break! Right?! One suprising fact I learned today is that my link was sent to one of my South Korean comrads by her friend in the States! Woohoo! Ovenlesschef is making the rounds! My largest number of blog viewings came just two days before Thanksgiving...no shocker there, but I am sooo excited that my efforts in converting beloved oven food to ovenless food is paying off and I am able to pass those recipes along to others in my situation! :) Makes my heart happy.
Corin is growing like a weed. This past weekend, he drew... for th first time, a full person. Complete with head, body, arms, legs and of course, a belly button! :) So proud of my little artist. Another area I am proud of him in... he is potty trained! Woohoo! That's right, he pees and poops in the toilet with no help or inciting. (Although the fact that he gets two little pieces of candy each time he poops in the potty probably helps!) I know I know... for those without kids, this is of little concern for you... but when we get back, and if you babysit Cor, you will be joyous over this news! ;)
Taylor and I are scheduled to go on our second annual datenight in a couple weeks! :) The last time we had a sitter was in June for our FOURTH anniversary. I still can't believe Taylor and I have been married for four and a half years now. Crazy. Anyways, we are excited for a night out! :)
So with December comes contracts. Still praying about where we will be and waiting upon the Lord... but as of yet, we are undecided as to whether we will stay or come back to Texas. So, there you have it. The Lett life update. As soon as we know, you will know! ;)

Trusting in the Lord... "for He is Good, His love endured forever."
LL