Jordan's Tol Celebration

This past Saturday we had another birthday party for Jordan. In Korea a child's first birthday is called the Tol and is marked with a lot of celebration. Before the time of adequate medical care, if a child made it to his first birthday it was likely that he would survive to adulthood. We decided to honor Jordan's heritage by incorporating many of the Korean traditions at his party. One of the traditions is the wearing of traditional Korean clothing called a hanbok. Jordan's foster mother had purchased this hanbok for Jordan. Although it was a beautiful piece of clothing Jordan did NOT like wearing it at all! He wore it for maybe 20 minutes before we changed him back into his regular clothing. Here is a rare moment when Jordan actually smiled while wearing his hanbok. I think a lot of people behind the camera were making funny faces in order to get him to smile!

Here is our happy family!

Another element of the Tol celebration is the Toljabee table. Several items were put on display on a table for Jordan to choose from. The item he chose represents his destiny. After much studying and deliberating Jordan choose rice which means that he will become wealthy. Way to go, Jordan! Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of this part of the party as we were too busy trying to videotape it.

Here is Jordan meeting my cousin's new baby girl. She was born on Jordan's first birthday!

Jordan approached this cake much more cautiously than the cake he had on his birthday...

...however, it wasn't long before he dove right in and managed to smear the frosting everywhere!

Visiting Minnesota

After only 3 1/2 weeks home, Jordan boarded another plane! Thankfully this trip wasn't as long as our journey from Korea! We weren't planning on traveling with him so quickly, but are so thankful now that he had this opportunity to meet his aunts, uncles, and cousins. We packed a lot into the 4 days that we were there, and Jordan handed all the excitement fabulously. The only issue was sleeping as he had a very difficult time sleeping in a different bed. When we came home on Sunday he actually fell asleep in the high chair during dinner because he was so tired! Jordan loved this little tugboat in Grandpa and Grandma's basement. He was so busy exploring their house, but when he sat in this little boat he stayed put for a few minutes and gave the adults a short break from chasing him!

Here is Jordan with Daddy and two of his cousins. The boys were so excited to meet Jordan and followed him everywhere!

We think Jordan would have tried to stuff this entire sushi roll into his mouth if Luke had let him!
Here is Jordan at the Mall of America. He didn't seem too impressed with it so we didn't stay long.

Jordan met another little one year old at the funeral. Doesn't it look like they are engrossed in a serious conversation?

Jordan with all of his cousins (minus Brett). It was really tough to get a picture with everyone looking at the camera, so this was the best we could do!

Happy Birthday Jordan!!

Today is Jordan's birthday! We are so happy that he made it home in time for us to celebrate this special day with him! He's only been home for 2 1/2 weeks, but we have already fallen completely in love with his quick smile, his contagious laugh, and his fun-loving personality. Because he has only been home such a short time we planned a very small party with just Luke and myself and my parents. I am hoping to throw a larger traditional Korean birthday celebration for him once he has been home for a few more weeks. I'm thinking he will enjoy another party as he already seems to thrive on being the center of attention! Before we even had time to finish singing "Happy Birthday" he was already reaching for the cake!

Jordan doesn't disappoint! He was full of smiles and laughs as he eagerly dove into his first piece of cake. We laughed until we were crying as he continously smiled at us with chocolate-covered teeth while thoroughly enjoying his birthday cake.

What else has Jordan been up to? A lot! He has gone from taking a few tentative steps to walking all the way down the front hallway without assistance. Although Jordan is very proud of his accomplishments all this walking does make for one tired Mommy! It's like he has discovered his first taste of independence and now can't get enough of walking everywhere, climbing on everything, and getting into as much stuff as possible.

Jordan is starting to enjoy listening to books. He used to immediately grab the book and start chewing it or throwing it when I would try to read to him. After many attempts, he is now able to listen to one book before he's ready to be on the move again.

Jordan has discovered that he can open the kitchen cabinets! He was pretty happy with himself when he learned how to open and close the doors and proceeded to pull everything he could lift out of the cabinet.

He is beginning to enjoy the backyard. When he first came home I sat him down in the grass and he immediately started to scream. He has gone from being terrified of the grass to sitting in it and even taking a few cautious steps. Here he is enjoying a ride in the swing.

Jordan has been such a delightful member of our family and we can't wait to see what new things he will learn and discover in the next year!

Daddy's Boy

It is becoming obvious that Jordan is definitely a Daddy's boy. His face lights up whenever Luke enters the room, and he always wants to know what Daddy is up to. He has fallen completely in love with Luke and the feelings are clearly mutual!Taking a trip around the house. I think Jordan would be content to walk the loop around the house all day long!

Enjoying some fun with Daddy before going to bed.

Jordan is always so curious about any foods we eat.

Once he was offered a bite of Luke's dinner of rice and seaweed he couldn't get enough! He gobbled down many spoonfuls and seemed so happy after he had finished eating.

Watching ESPN with Daddy.

Enjoying a little cuddle time before bed.


Dancing with Daddy

Coming Home!

After almost 24 hours of traveling we finally made it home! The trip began with a visit to Eastern where Jordan and his foster mother were waiting. Dr. Kim offered a prayer for Jordan and then we piled into the van and headed to the airport. After a one hour trip to the airport we checked in and waited about another hour to board the flight. Thankfully Jordan slept in his bassinette during most of the 10 hour flight to Seattle. After a very stressful layover in Seattle due to almost missing our plane because of customs, we boarded another plane headed for Denver. In Denver we waited 1 hour on the runway without air conditioning before finally heading for Grand Rapids where we arrived at about 12:30 a.m. It was a very long journey and we were shocked at how well Jordan handled it! Very few tears! When we arrived in Grand Rapids we were surprised to be greeted by some family and friends. Since it was close to one in the morning we didn't expect anyone except my parents, so we were thrilled to see more familiar faces there to greet Jordan home!

Enjoying one more laugh and cuddle with his foster mother.

Crawling around at the airport in Seoul.

Meeting Grandpa and Grandma for the first time. We can't wait for him to meet Grandpa and Grandma Scherkenbach in a few short days!

Now we are home and are trying to settle into a routine. Jordan has loved exploring the house and is so eager to try walking everywhere! He also has adjusted to the time change more easily than I have. He went to sleep at 9:30 last night and didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning! 11 straight hours of sleep! Mommy isn't doing as well with the time change and couldn't fall alseep until 2:00 last night.

Jordan is full of smiles and laughs.

He loves to pull himself up on furniture and has even taken 3 steps on his own!

He loves books, although he is usually more interested in chewing the book than in listening to the story!

Jordan crawls everywhere he can!

Visiting Gwangju

After asking Luke what he thought of the trip to Gwangju this weekend he responded by saying, "It was the trip of a lifetime, and I mean that literally!" And that is so true. It definitely was an unbelievable experience. We were fortunate enough to arrange for an interpreter to accompany us on our trip. She brought her friend along as well so we never had any issues with the language barrier. We took a 3 hour train ride on Saturday afternoon down to Gwangju (apparently I've been spelling the city wrong all this time) and were met at the train station by Mrs. Yoo's husband. Mrs. Yoo is the woman who runs the group home that is located in the spot where Luke's orphanage was located. In fact, Mrs. Yoo is the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Park, the woman who was in charge of the orphanage while Luke was living there. As we headed up to the orphanage we had to drive up a very steep hill and immediately Luke began having memories of living there. Before our trip we had been told that the orphanage was torn down, so we were overwhelmed when we arrived to find that several of the original buildings were still standing. There were so many incredible moments we experienced during our stay in Gwangju that we will share when we arrive home. We also took about 100 pictures (no exaggeration!) during our time there. Here are just a few for you to enjoy.When Mrs. Yoo found out that it was Luke's birthday, she arranged for an impromptu birthday celebration.

Luke was presented with a cake and a gift while Mrs. Yoo and the children living at the group home sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

Here we are with our interpeters,Yoon-Gi and Se-In, on the busy streets of Gwangju.
We have a picture of Luke when he was about 4 years old standing on these very steps or at least on one of the sets of stone steps that were leading up to the orphange.

Before we left on Sunday Mrs. Yoo took us on a short tour of Gwangju. She was so excited that Luke was there and wanted to show him everything! Notice how narrow the streets are!

Changdeokgung Palace (Part 2)

Here are some pictures from our visit to the Changdeokgung Palace. We had a wonderful time despite the very hot weather. Luke and I at the entrance to the palace.


A view inside one of the buildings of the palace.

Our tour guide is pictured here in traditional Korean clothing. She must have been so hot!



After visiting the palace Luke and I spent some time at the Insadong Market. We found some great souveniers, but we were so hot and tired by this point in the day!