Bringing Home Baker Part 1 (Day 3)

The Perdues went their separate ways today...

Sarah and Brynn spent the day finding fun things to do around the city. They started by visiting a park with a fun playground. Next, the girls toured the city zoo and the botanical gardens. where Brynn loved seeing all the animals and plants. The girls ended their afternoon at a phenomenal Children's Museum. Brynn learned all about culture, recycling, animal care, fashion, braille, physical handicaps and journalism. Even though she is missing a week of school, she is gaining valuable cultural learning experiences.

I was able to accomplish a major travel bucket list goal. Today, I visited the DMZ or demilitarized zone that separates South and North Korea. 

The large building in the background is in North Korea. 

He is a real guard, not a statue. He never moves and wears sunglasses to look more intimidating.

One side of the table is South Korea and the other side of the table is North Korea. I got to set my feet on North Korea.

Tonight, we went to a clothing market. It reminded us of the many markets we visited during our time in China. We bought all three girls a traditional Korean outfit called a Hanbok.

Bringing Home Baker Part 1 (Day 2)

Jet lag did a number on the Perdue family...

Day 2 started about 2:30 AM with three wide awake and extremely hungry Perdues. Unfortunately, the earliest breakfast spot (McDonalds) did not open until 7AM. Lucky for me, I was able to watch a full day of college football on my computer (Iron Bowl included) while Sarah and Brynn found things in the hotel room to keep themselves busy. Finally, 7AM rolled around and we feasted like royalty on hotcakes & sausage for Brynn, Sausage and Egg McMuffin with Iced Latte for Sarah and Deluxe Big Breakfast with Coke for myself. The rest of the morning and afternoon were spent swimming in the indoor pool, exploring the amazing mall connected to our hotel, taking a nap and watching more football.

After forcing Brynn to wake up from an extremely long nap, we made our way to the hotel lobby to meet some of our amazing friends from our time in China, Tom and Faith Ford. Tom and Faith now work/serve at a school in Seoul. They took us out to their part of Seoul and treated us to traditional Korean BBQ and a popular Korean dessert. It was great catching up with the Fords and learning about all their experiences in Korea. The food was amazing!!! We will be treating ourselves to Korean BBQ at least one more time on this trip. The Ford's school and home resides in a college area. We walked up and down the streets and took in many of the sights and sounds. It was a happening area with tons to do.

After our goodbyes with the Fords, we found a taxi back to the hotel and found sleep very easy. Tomorrow, we get to meet our son!!!!!

Dessert

View from our hotel

Brynn's reading nook

Dinner (not yet cooked)

Waiting patitently

Dinner is complete with all the fixings

Brynn is not sure about most of the food surrounding her

The Chengdu Crew

Bringing Home Baker Part 1

While most people are standing in long lines at Walmart, Target or a variety of other stores for Black Friday specials, Sarah, Brynn and myself are heading to Seoul, Korea to fulfill the next piece of our adoption process.

Despite having three amazing daughters, Sarah and I knew our family was not complete.

Upon God's calling/command, the "Baker" journey started about 15 months ago when Sarah and I submitted our application for adoption. On December 23 2015, we signed the paperwork to begin the process of adding our son, Baker, to our family.

11 months later, we are on our way to Seoul to meet our son for the very first time. On this visit, we will get to meet and interact with him on two occasions. The main purpose of this visit, however, is to complete the court process. Sarah and I must attend a court hearing and appear before a judge. He will interview us and then make a ruling on our ability to adopt Baker. Following court, we must return to the US and await word on the ruling and a custody hearing. Once we get the call, we will return to Seoul and Bring Baker Home!

The journey has been extremely difficult yet rewarding. Our faith has been tested and our knowledge in the term "God's timing" has grown immensely. Even though your mind knows the amazing outcome of welcoming your son into your family, your Earthly brain struggles with the months of waiting and very little control over the process. As the process nears it's end, the doubts and struggles seem to have faded from our minds. We are only hours (not weeks or months) from meeting o

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27).