Merry Last Christmas in Korea

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  Since we just got back from Thailand and Cambodia and will be going on a cruise in a few months, the kids knew we were going to be having a pretty small Christmas.  They were totally OK with it, especially since they have loved traveling and were all beyond excited about a cruise.  Even though it was a small Christmas, Kevin and I had a HUGE surprise for the kids. 

We had our traditional Christmas Eve program reading Luke 2 and opening Christmas Jammies and our yearly ornaments.  I made Santa bags this year, and used the bags for their Christmas Jammies and ornaments.  The kids went to Happy Quilt with me and picked out their material for their bags, and we took Christmas Break to make the bags.  Every year we will put out the Santa Bags and on Christmas Eve, Kevin and I will put their Christmas Eve PJ's and ornaments in it, then the kids will hang up the bags so Santa can fill the bags with their Christas gift from him.  We got matching Christmas Jammies, this year and for the ornaments we got them little bears that had traditional Korean handbooks on.  Since this is our last Christmas in South Korea, we wanted to get them all a Korean ornament.

Kevin made me a super amazing and incredible ornament.  He took a rubix cube and covered all the squares with the trips that I have taken this year.  In 2018, I traveled to 9 different locations.  It was fun seeing the different locations and pictures.  He put a lot of time and love into the ornament and I absolutely love it! Even Kevin and I got matching Christmas Jammies.

The kids all went to bed, and Kevin immediately got in the car and took a 49 minute drive to Cheonan to pick up our Christmas surprise.  Our kids love love love dogs.  They were devastated when we had to leave our Dani in Utah when we came here to Korea.  Dani does not do well with people and other dogs, so we were not allowed to bring her.  My amazing Sister, Lori and her fabulous daughter Lauren agreed to take Dani for us, so I called them and asked if it was OK if we got the kids a puppy for Christmas.  Our friends, the Liddells, just bought a small toy poodle from a pet store in Cheonan, and said there were two more.  We checked the place out a week before Christmas and fell in love with a blonde little toy poodle.  We bought the poodle and they agreed to keep her until Christmas Eve and since they closed at 11PM, it was perfect.  We kept the little puppy in our bathroom and she didn't make a peep.  Christmas morning arrived and we all came out and opened our stocking.  The kids all got candy, legos, a game and small little trinkets in their stockings.

My gift to the kids this year was doll clothes.  I measured and made clothes for their dolls that Aunt Cindy made.  Since the doll is so skinny, there aren't any clothes factory-made that fit them, so I spent all month every night staying up and sewing them each two outfits and matching PJ's.  The dolls all had Christmas Jammies to match the family.  The girls really got a kick out of that.  The other fun gift was Big Sis's gift.  We bought a new camera this past year, so we wrapped up our old SLR and gave it to Big Sis.  She was so surprised and excited to get a camera of her very own.  

Another fun gift was the Monster towel I made for Little Monster.  All the kids have a hooded towel that Aunt Patti made for them when they turned one.  Aunt Patti made Little Monster a super adorable blue and red towel, but unfortunately the material of the towel made our Little Monster break out in hives, so I was never able to use that towel.  Since he didn't have a useable hooded towel, I made him one this year for Christmas.  One of the coolest things that happened this year was the blessing of pay it forward.  This year, the kids all decided to give one of their presents to someone they felt could use the gift more than them.  We picked a family together and bought all the kids in that family a pair of jeans.  After we bought the jeans, we noticed that two of the kids didn't have warm winter coats.  The very next morning, our neighbor brings by a bag of clothes that her girls never wore or grew out of, and inside the bag were two perfect coats and super warm sweaters.  It was fun sharing this blessing with the girls when they opened their beautiful coats. We blessed the life of a family and then in return, we were blessed.  It was so special.

After the kids opened all their gifts, I gave them a wrapped up box.  They very excitedly opened it together, just to look confused because it was empty.  Kevin and I looked at each other and just as rehearsed, we said something to the affect that the other person was supposed to put that gift in the box, and we must have left it in the closet.  I took the box to my bathroom and added the tiny little puppy into it.  We brought the box out and told the kids to open in on three.  We counted down, 3-2-1 and they opened the box with squeals and gasps and oohs and awes.  They were in love instantly and each carefully lifted up the puppy and took their turn kissing and holding her.

It took a few minutes, but the kids decided on the name of Bailey.  So, I am excited to announce the addition to our family: Bailey Rasmussen the cute tiny toy poodle, whose blonde hair matches all of the girls in the family.  It was a small, but absolutely wonderfully blessed Christmas.