Steve and I are always amazed at how bossy Preston is…with Steven, us, his classmates, everyone!  Anyway, he had his last basketball game on Saturday and he was on the court playing when some kid, (who was not playing, just walking to his seat) walked on the court.  Well, Preston couldn’t let that breaking of the rules go and had to tell him to “get off the court, you know your not supposed to be on here during a game.”  He even had his little hand waving to inform this child which way he needed to go, just in case he didn’t know.  What a funny kid…so fearless at times!  He also told us tonight when Steve was having ‘the talk’ with the boys about sharing that he couldn’t share everything.  What?!  We just told you to share, so you do it!  Well, he said that he will only share his heart with Jesus.  I think Jesus might ask more of him, but we thought that was pretty cute!

The boys went in to take their showers and Steven drew the short straw and had to use our bathroom…for some reason, they only like to shower in their bathroom.  Anyway, he was in there for about 15 minutes and I thought that was weird, because he is really conscientious about using too much water and likes us to keep our showers under 5 minutes (thats a whole other blog). ( :  So I was getting ready to go check on him to make sure he didn’t pass out or something and he came out with his top lip bleeding and a bloody Q-tip wiping it.  I’m thinking maybe he really did pass out and hit his mouth on something.   He told me, with tears in his voice, that he “tried to shave without using that other stuff.”  Let me remind you he is 10, with no facial hair!  He thought that “with the light out it looked like I had hair on my lip.”  Okay, Steve and I couldn’t stop laughing even though he was so pitiful.  Steve told him he learned his first lesson on shaving, which he won’t really start doing until he’s about 16.  He tried to shave across instead of down…he has 5 lines on his top lip where the blade cut.  OUCH!!!  Needless to say, I don’t think he will be trying to shave again anytime soon. ( : 

So far this year has been pretty fun!  The boys are really into NERF guns and Preston came up with the idea to camoflauge his.  So he bought a kit at the bx to paint it…they turned out pretty cool!  Steve also convinced the boys and I to go fishing…I was the only one with a catch!  Woohoo!  We had a good snow here, so we’ve been doing some sledding…unfortunately we don’t own sleds and they don’t sell them here, so we made our own.  Steve used a sun visor, I use a ziploc storage box, Steven used a paint drop-cloth and Preston just used whatever was around.  They all worked really good and we had a lot of fun, but as I may have mentioned before, I’m a warm weather person, so being out in all of this cold (even with the people I love more than anything) isn’t something I want to do for an extended period. ( :  Anyway, enjoy and keep in touch!

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What an incredible 2009 we had!  We rang in January with food…what else!  We had some great friends over for a New Year’s Day italian feast.  Then we couldn’t pass up Dr. Fish, some shopping and a birthday party in Seoul with good friends, boy’s basketball and finally some good ol’ fashioned sledding.  February brought Steve’s birthday, a day of fun at Tiger World indoor water park, a field trip to the dental clinic and the end of the basketball season for the boys.  In March the boys and I hopped back to the states to spend some time with family…it was quite a trip!  By the time we got back, it was starting for warm up, so bring on the baseball.  Steve and I coached Preston’s team…what fun!  We also celebrated Easter and the fulfillment of God’s promise to us.  It was warming up, but I still like it hot, so we took a trip to Saipan…it was incredible to say the least.  May brought on the beautiful flowers in Korea, the PSOC retreat, field day at school, field trips to a Korean school,  the A-10 and F-16 hangars and a very fun game of softball with the Hardball Housewives vs. the guys and gals that Steve works with.  What a full fun month!  June started off with my best friend and her family leaving Osan…very sad! ) :  But when the boys finished school, we got to go back to the states and be reunited with our friends and our family!  Before we went back to the states, we met Jerry from Subway…pretty exciting!  We hopped home again and got to spend some time in Okinawa with a great friend and then on to Alaska where we stayed with some good friends…it was quite an exciting adventure!  July was all about family!  Steve got to come home, we had a big Watts family party and the 4th of July…all in the first week!  We took some trips: to Chicago to visit Mike, Jen and Emma and to see the Cubbies; to St. Louis to visit great friends and my mom and I went to San Antonio (her first plane ride ever).  It was truly a month that won’t soon be forgotten!  In August we went to the zoo, the waterpark and another trip to St. Louis.  We finally had to come back to Osan after being gone for 9 weeks…the boys started soccer right away and then school.  And Preston and I found out we were famous in Korea, being used on a billboard in all of the subways here to advertise the annual Celadon Festival…pretty funny!  September brought 2nd place in a pie-eating contest for Steve and Steven, more soccer, the Renior exhibit, a trip to the waterpark at Camp Humphries (finally) and my baby turned 7 with a party at the bowling alley.  We kicked October off with my birthday, then Steven’s 10th birthday, Seoul Grand Park Zoo, the end of the soccer season, Chusok celebrations and then the boys and I headed back home.  We did get to ride a monster truck while picking pumpkins and spend some good time with our family.  November brought a lot of family time, Steven started playing basketball for Delavan, Steve came home for Thanksgiving, the parade of lights, Black Friday and preparing for Christmas.  By this time Steve was beginning to wonder if we were ever coming back to Korea and I was thinking it wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t…as long as we could see him from time to time. ( :  December brought the boys’ Christmas programs at school and church, parties at school and with family, my mom going on to meet our Savior, Steve coming home and then us all coming back to Korea together.  We got home Christmas Eve night and had a great welcome back with our house fully decorated for the season.  We went to a Christmas lunch with some friends, got some snow…so more sledding.  Preston lost a tooth that wasn’t loose (and I think he swallowed it because it was nowhere to be found) and went to a New Year’s Eve party at our friends apt.  Whew!!!  Like I said, it was really quite a year!  Looking back over the past 12 months, I can see how God has weaved this incredible pattern of our lives…we are so blessed and can’t wait to see what His plans are for us this year!

Steve told me the other day that I need to get back on here and catch up…what a daunting task!  It seems like forever since I’ve posted anything on here…been a little busy!  So I figured that the best way to catch up would be to tell you all what we’ve been up to.  We got back from the states this summer and we were getting back into the swing of things: school for the boys, Preston and Steven’s birthday parties, Chusok parties, soccer, etc, when my sister called and said that our mom wasn’t doing too well.  For those of you who don’t know, my mom had colon cancer and took a turn for the worse this fall.  So, I called her doctor and he told me she had a couple of weeks and that I needed to get home ASAP, this was the middle of October.  So, I pulled the boys out of school here, hopped on a plane to Illinois for what we were guessing about 4 weeks and headed home.  My best friend works at the school, so she helped pave the way for the boys to be registered there…it was really funny, they were treated like celebrities: 2 young boys whose dad is in the military and who live in Korea.  It was pretty cool!  Also, Steven’s 4th grade teacher was Steve’s 4th grade teacher when he was a kid…we asked her to please not hold that against Steven. ( :  So, with the boys settled, I headed out to my mom and dad’s everyday.  When I first got there, my mom was able to walk and talk…she was very weak, but still okay.  We had some good talks, watched way too much “Murder She Wrote”, read the Bible and other books and just spent time together.  As time wore on, we did a little less watching tv and talking and more snuggling (she was always cold) and taking naps together.  Steven was asked to participate in the Veteran’s Day Ceremony at the school…he was very proud to do so.  The boys went trick-or-treating with their cousins which was so fun and it was a beautiful night.  Also, Steven started playing basketball for Delavan.  He had great coaches who taught him a lot.  He had a great time playing with his friends and he even played against his cousin from Hartem…it was so much fun to watch them play each other.  My dad, sister and a lot of the Watts’ family got to come watch his games.  Steve came home for Thanksgiving and got to see Steven play too.  Steve got to be home for 2 weeks and we got to have Thanksgiving with both of our families and celebrate Christmas at Grandma Ginny’s.  I was really relieved when Steve got home because he really helps me work through things and stayed focused…he is not nearly as emotional as I am and he helps keep me centered.  Anyway, he had to leave and my mom was still hanging on.  On Thanksgiving night, she wanted my sister, my brother and I all to go into the bedroom with her…she just wanted to give us all a kiss and tell us that she loved us.  How wonderful!!!  We thought she knew it was time for her to go and she just wanted to tell us good-bye.  However, there was still time…more things that needed to be resolved.  We had hospice coming and our nurse asked us if there was anything that she might need to have worked out.  My mom hadn’t spoken to her brother in about 10 years, so I thought maybe that was it…I got in contact with him and he was able to talk to my mom (at this point she couldn’t really talk anymore, but she acted like she wanted to hold the phone).  We thought okay, this is it…but she still hung on.  I’m not sure how many of you have watched someone you love die, but it is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do…she was so weak and was getting bed sores that were so painful, she couldn’t talk, she hadn’t eaten in 7 weeks and she couldn’t really swallow her drink, she was so thin and slept most of the time.  My sister, Jill, had taken off work so she could be with mom too.  My mom and Jill were very close and my mom told Jill a lot of things about what was to happen when she passed…she wanted to be cremated and have her ashes spread with my dad’s when he passes, she wanted my niece to have her wedding ring and she had written letters to everyone that she wanted them to read after she passed.  Jill told me this and so we decided to find the letters.  My mom and I have not always had the best relationship, but in the past year or so, we’ve made huge strides and have had to give all of that over to the Lord.  Anyway, we found the letters and there were letters to everyone in our family except me.  I was, needless to say, heartbroken.  Jill felt terrible for even mentioning it and wrote me a very touching letter that I will hold forever close to my heart.  I had a bit of a breakdown on the phone with Steve and then a talk with the Lord.  It was revealed to me that maybe my mom needed me to forgive her and needed to forgive me…so, the next day when I went out there, I talked to my mom and asked her to forgive me and told her I forgave her for our past.  It truly felt like a weight had been lifted…even though we had spent all of this time together, I think we just needed it to be said.  Later that afternoon, while Jill, my dad and I were standing in her doorway, she went on to be with our Lord and Savior, to a place where there will be no more tears and no more pain.  I am so thankful for the time that I got to spend with my family these last few months: for the time spent with my mom that noone and nothing can take away, for the renewing of the relationships between my dad, sister, brother and I, for the wonderful in-laws that cared for me and my boys and cried with me during this time.  We had a wonderful celebration of life ceremony for my mom at her church.  She was loved by many and that was evident in the showing, even though it was a snowy, icy day out, and the many people who helped make that day special.  We got to spend a couple more days in Delavan, but then we had to come back to Osan.  After 27 hours of travelling, we walked into our fully decorated apartment on Christmas Eve night.  Some good friends of ours had borrowed a tree and used all of our decorations to make our house feel like Christmas.  They brought cookies for the boys to decorate for Santa and hot chocolate…it was so nice.  So, we celebrated the birth of our Savior with our hearts full of love and blessings.  We have been truly blessed during this time by the outpouring of love from our friends and family.  We know that now my mom is in a wonderful place, better than we could ever imagine and we continue to pray that someday we will meet up with her again.  Thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!  

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I just witnessed a VERY disappointing event in Kelly’s favorite city.

I was walking down a street in San Antonio and was nearly hit by a drunk driver who managed to miss a turn and drive his truck over the curb.  The truck finally came to a stop in a nearby yard.  He drove the truck back into the road but was unable to move it further.  I checked on him and he was ok.  Then I called 911 to get him some help but no help ever arrived (waited over 1 hour).  Hundreds of cars drove by and ignored us.  Many cars drove by slowly and just looked.  Of the about 25 cars that stopped, only 2 asked if the driver was ok, 1 did not ask about the driver but didn’t hesitate to ask for directions to a bar, and 1 offered to call for help but the driver of that vehicle was hi on something pretty hard.  The driver of the truck eventually fled the seen because he was afraid of the police.  Finally a decent guy stopped and used his truck to pull the other out of the road removing the hazard for other drivers.  I finally gave up on any authorities ever showing up.

What kind of society do we live in?  Seriously…