Howdy!

We are headed out of town tomorrow for the big Clay County Pioneer Reunion. I am honored to announce that Aaron's grandmother, Patty, is being crowned Queen of the Pioneer Reunion. For someone who had dedicated so many years to this event, especially in care of the Queen and Duchesses each year, she certainly deserves this weekend in the spotlight!

What is the Clay Count Pioneer Reunion you ask? Imagine 3 days of rodeos, parades, music/dance, and a craft fair spread out on the court house lawn. This will be my sixth year attending this now (wow, 6 years already), and it will be so much fun to see Rai experience this this year. Rai will get to ride on the float in the parade on Saturday morning and will look so handsome in his new black dress pants, white button-up shirt, black cowboy hat, and black boots! I can't tell you how much fun it is to shop for a 23-pound boy!

Needless to say, there will be plenty of pictures here this weekend!

In other matters, this big boy has been talking up a storm! Most of the words are still encrypted in Rai-anese, but a few words are starting to come through ("tizu" for "tissue" and "moah" for "more"). Aaron jokes that he said "teo" (Korean for "more") perfectly. We have been told by our developmental specialist that pairing words in Korean/English and Japanese/English is a great idea at this stage. To help sort out the languages, I'm using Japanese/English, and Aaron is in charge of Korean/English.

We have been amazed at Rai's English comprehension! Less than 5 months ago, Rai arrived in the US just hearing English and tonight, after saying "moah" over and over for the excellent fried rice at the hibachi grill, Aaron joked and said "Less!" Rai immediately said "Noooo" and we were nearly in tears with laughter. He certainly understands!

NOTE TO OMMA (foster mother):
In the last few days, Rai has been learning how to say "Mommy." He doesn't say "m" very often, but now that he's working on "Mommy," he has started to say "Omma" again. This morning, we walked by one of your pictures and Rai pointed and said "Omma." To Rai, you will always be his "Omma." No words can express how much we think of you and his "Appa" each and every day. Thank you both for being a part of Rai's (Yun-Taek's) life and ours.

And now for more pictures...

As we drove down a small road near our house, a falcon or hawk nearly hit our car as it swooped in front of the windshield. I had to slam on the breaks and worried that Rai might have been scared. Instead, he pointed off to the side and kept saying "Ah! Burrr! Burrr!" He was so fascinated that I took a picture before we drove off again. (This is probably the largest falcon/hawk I've ever seen! I can see why Rai was so impressed!



The boys have been keeping busy on weekends. Rai is such a great helper!




Howdy Ma'am!






Rai is apparently a great bareback rider! You could hear the giggles nextdoor though!


With all the rain we've had, I got tired of being couped up in the house and dragged the boys out to the Natural Science Museum. Rai had a blast...and I think Aaron had a good time, too. :-)










On the way home, we stopped at the lakeside pier in Rockwall so that Rai could see the fountains. We had been before but never while the fountains were running. He was so excited to be outside, we let him run around in the water. Finally, Aaron (of all people) decided he needed to stop before he caught a cold. :-)


Tonight, we celebrated my birthday with my parents at one of our favorite hibachi grills (where they cook the food in front of you). Rai was FASCINATED with our entertaining dining experience and LOVED the fried rice. I have a feeling we'll be going back for his birthday treat (separate from his birthday party, of course).



And now to pack the rest of our things for this weekend! (Rai is keeping me company by reading his Korean language book aloud.)