Hello Korea!

In the past few months I have tried hard to imagine what to expect when we touched down in Korea. I had images in my mind but man it is NOTHING like I ever thought it would be.

Much cleaner, much more metropolitan  and so beautiful. The colors at night , the green trees and mountains during the day. Seoul is absolutely beautiful. We really do like it here. The Koreans are very friendly and LOVE Sophia... Sometimes to a point of freaking the poor girl out lol. 

Our flight was long. Made longer by a 2 hour delay on the tarmac. Sophia had her moments. There were a couple times I contimplated jumping from the plan;) After 27 hours of straight travel we touched down in Seoul. We hit a few speed bumps trying to get max out of customs but after a few phone calls we were able to have him the next day:) 

Our Hotel is pretty nice and in a great location for us to walk or take cabs just about everywhere. 

I am lucky enough to have a friend here so on Thursday we went to the Aquarium and Sophia LOVED it!! We also ventured out on our own the other night and found a Korea restaurant . No one spoke English but we were able to figure out what to eat and everything was delicious. That right there gives me hope ;)

We are staying here in Seoul until Stephen is finished in Processing into his unit. Once that is over we will head down to Dague where we hopefully have a on post house (aka tinie tiny apartment)  waiting for us. Fingers crossed.

We are all doing well and really enjoying our time here so far. People are friendly and the weather has been great! Now if we could just shake this darn jet lag ...

Here are just a few pictures from our trip :)


Six pieces of luggage, four carry on's, a stroller, a toddler and a car seat= A lot of work !!



I thought I would share a happier moment from the flight ...

Fun at the aquarium

This is some kind of beef bulgogi .. It looks gross but it was sooo yummy!!

Much Love !
The Thompson fam!

Last post from the States

Moving is never easy. Lets faces it stinks! Moving across the world stinks even more. The hassles that come with it are pretty much unimaginable. That is until they hit you square between the eyes, seeming to come out of no where.Thus, leaving you to scramble for solutions as fast as possible.

Then there is the saying goodbyes.I know I just have to get use to this part of the Military life but it is never easy. We were able to say good bye to our family a few weeks ago and as always that is NEVER easy but went fairly well I would say. If you ask Stephen he may tell you differently, considering when we left my mom's house Sophia and I were crying until what seemed like we hit Kansas City. LOL!

Saying good bye to friends is a whole different ball game. You just never know if you will ever see them again. You hope you will. With the military crisscrossing us all around the world there is always that chance but it's still sad. We were blessed with a few very close and amazing friends in the time we spent at Benning and saying good bye made me realize just how much I will always cherish their kindness and friendship. It also left me wondering how will we ever find friends like these a world away?!

Hands down the hardest aspect of this move has been watching Sophia try to figure it all out. I have been trying to prepare her but lets face it preparing a 2 year old isn't very easy. I knew it had been bugging her a little but it wasn't until last night just how much. It broke my heart , after crying for a good half hour my sweet little girl said "mommy I sad"  I asked her why and she said she wanted her house, her daddy's car and then continued naming off friends and family. Talk about heart wrenching. I know this will all get easier as time goes on but man that stung. She is just looking for something familiar in this crazy nomad life we have lived this entire month.  

I remember my mom once telling me (at a time in my life when I was hurting) that she could feel my pain and was hurting for me. I know now exactly how she must have felt. 

My goal is to make our time in Seoul all about sweet Sophia. She deserves it! I am praying we only stay a few days and  then can get to Daegu and find a place we can call home. Once our stuff is finally delivered I know our little munchkin will bounce right back into a routine. 

As for Stephen and I think we are still a little numb to the fact we are moving a world away. I mean here it is 3:15 am the morning we are leaving and it still hasn't sunk in fully. It won't be until the ripe smell of Kimchi hits me in the face will I believe it :) 

With all that being said, I wouldn't change this for anything in the world. The struggles will make us stronger and bring us closer. The adventure we are about to embark on is once in a lifetime. 

The best part about this whole situation is we will be together and really when it comes down to it that is all that matters. 

Hopefully next blog will be filled with pictures from our adventures getting to Korea:)  

Much love,
The Thompson Fam :) 

Busy is an understatement!

To say the last month has been a blur doesn't even explain our life! Since the beginning of August we have said goodbye to all of our things until we see them again in Korea (hopefully by October.)  We have made the cross country journey to Iowa and Kansas and then back to Alabama again. We have spent a week in a cabin in the woods (literally a cabin in the woods) with no Internet or phone service. Talk about feeling secluded. Now we are happy to be back in the 21st century staying at a friends until we head to Atlanta on Monday.


We also had found out some exciting news this week... Our sweet little peanut is a GIRL ..Stella Grace:) We couldn't be happier.. I really thought it was a boy only because this pregnancy was SO different from what I experienced with Sophia.Now that we know she is a girl..  I went ahead an purchased her first bow today and my bow lady has agreed to ship all the way to Korea .. YAY!!

Here are some pictures from the last month.. Until next time.. Much love from the Thompson fam;)

Last night with the fam

Aunt Amy gave Sophia her first real hair cut!!

Our Cabin in the woods

This really has no relevance to anything but .. isn't she just so cute!

Next time you read this blog the Thompson family will officially be in Korea :) Wish us luck and please keep us in your prayers!!

And in other news...

Well August is right around the corner (tomorrow) and life is starting to get CRAZY!! If you don't believe me take a look at my August Calendar...

There isn't a day that we don't have someone coming or going or we aren't coming or going ect. Did I mention they come to get all our stuff the 3rd of Aug. yet we don't leave until the 15th to go to Iowa.. ugh..

Imagine, Me and my very lively 2 yr old in a house with NOTHING not even a TV to lean on when mommy needs some sanity time. NOTHING.. At least I know Sophia and I are going to have some good ol' quality time before the big move.

Stephen had his Farewell dinner last night and it was great!! We have been blessed to have made some pretty amazing friends here at Fort Benning. Friends that we will dearly miss and I wish they could just come with us ! Here are some pics for the night :)

Sophia LOVES Cake!

Sophia's present for her airplane ride :)

Thank you Gloria for making such an amazing farewell gift for Stephen.. this will be the first thing we hang up in our new home :)

Deanna made us another amazing cake.. That large doll represents our little Sophia taking over South Korea ;)



As soon as the movers have come and gone and we get the house in renting order we will be off to Iowa and Kansas for some family time :)

One last thing...

Here is our Sweet Sophia in her Brand spankin new shirt..Go on.. Read what the shirt says..

That's right.. Sophia is going to be a BIG SISTER!! We are expecting a new little bundle of Joy on February 29th, 2012(betcha didn't know it was leap year huh) .. We didn't until just a few weeks ago ;)

So our crazy little army life is about to get a bit crazier!!I am 10 weeks now and will be about 15 weeks when we fly out for Korea so hopefully the terrible nausea and extreme exhaustion will have passed by then!

Well that is about all we have on our end..

Much love,

The Thompson fam :)

Korea here we come!!!

We have great news!! We got Command Sponsored (basically the army's way of saying they will pay for us to move and live in Korea ) We will be moving to Daegu, South Korea hopefully the first part of September and are so very excited. This is not only the opportunity of a life time for us but it keeps Stephen out of harms way for two straight years!

Daegu is in the Southern part of South Korea about 3 hours from Seoul. It's the 4rd largest city in South Korea and is know for it's yummy apples and fashion (yippee). It is a super safe area, clean and WAAAYYY South of that pesky Mr. Kim Jong Ill ;) So no need to worry about us:)

We have about 11 weeks give or take until we are on our way to Korea and the adventure of a lifetime!!

 I have so many people think I am crazy because I want so badly to go to Korea with Stephen. I have heard a MILLION times I should just let him do his year and then we move on to our next Duty Station together. I see it like this, I may be shaking in my boots moving to this crazy foreign country but at least I am with my husband. More importantly Sophia has her dad home for dinner every night for 2 years straight. He will be there to see all her milestones she has yet to achieve and there to sing her to sleep. I would be selfish to take that away from her or him for that matter, because I may be "uncomfortable" in this very foreign country.
So instead I look at this like our families very own adventure. An opportunity god has dropped right in our laps after so many months of prayer, reflection and hard work. This is a chance not only to be together but to discover a place so many people will never see.

So here ya go.. a few pics of our home-to-be for the next two years :)

Historic Temple

AMERICAN FOOD!!!

This will be our home for the next two years !!

Much Love,
The Thompson Fam ;)

The many faces of Sophia...

I am feeling lazy today, so you lucky folks get pictures..not just pictures but pictures that will give you a peek into the funny little personality of our sweet, sweet Sophia...




oooo... not getting what I want face

3 am car ride face

Cheeser face



Gold medalist 2022 in training ... face







Bunny Face



DIVA ..face..









YAY! Disney World ..face..





BOO...Disney World OVERLOAD ..face..







The WOW face





OMG .. one stinkin cute princess







Last but not least.. the happy face :)

I mean really who could ever get sick of that face :)

Much Love,
The Thompson Fam:)





Quick update..

Well my blogging has been less than stellar lately but life with a two year old tends to keep one very busy!!

So here is a wrap  up of Life with the Thompson's over the last few months.

March -we have a wonderful visit from my Mom, Brother, nephew, future sister in law and my soon to be niece. We were so glad they came to visit!!



In April we took a trip to a little place you may have heard of.... DISNEY WORLD!! That's right we spent 4 days  mingling with Mickey, playing with princesses and having an all around good time. I will say this. Disney is a bit much for a 2 year old. Can you say DISNEY overload?!? All in all, it was a great time!



Not sure who was more excited to meet Tigger.. Me or Sophia ;)



Chatting with Cinderella



Lots of love for Mickey

Mid April Stephen left for a Leadership school in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. So Gma J flew down and we took a little Road trip back up to Iowa. Sophia being in the midst of potty training, we saw just about every bathroom from Alabama to Iowa, making for a very Looonnnggg trip.



3am photo shoot



She loves her road trips ;)

And she sleeps...

So that brings us to now. We are hanging in Iowa during the week and meeting up with Stephen on the weekends. We spent Tuesday at the good ol' Des Moines Zoo. Hoping to hit up Living History Farms and the Science Center before we had back to Alabama next month.

We are still waiting to hear about Korea. So please keep our family in your prayers as we are desperately wanting to go to Korea as a family. God had his plans, we just have to trust him.

So there is a quick update on our life here in Thompson land.

Much love !

The Thompson Fam :)