Before and afters...

Ok, well the "before" was just a couple posts
ago and this is the after. While this was not
initially what Dakota wanted (he and the barber
did not quite have the same definition for "military cut"),
he very quickly appreciated the benefits (this happened 6/23/08)
so this past week when it was time for the "school"
haircut he did not go quite as short (#1) but he
did request a #2!!!

Our van

We were thinking of selling the van so I had
these pics of it...there are two sun/moon roofs, the
seat that is folded up against the middle seat can be
turned down for another, the middle seat can be
rotated into any position forming a square (so facing
back or front or side to side)

This is the rear seat. Both seats can fold down
flat - they can also be hooked up to the side so
the back is completely opened up.
It is not the most comfortable ride we've ever had
but it is definitely serving us well.

Building blocks...

D. being creative

How is that thing standing????

Interesting.

Just woke up...

He had just woke up from his nap...

..and had a surprise waiting for him on the balcony!

and though he was not too happy to hear he
would have to wait until they were dry to
get them down...

he was happy to hear that would be able to wear
them as soon as they were dry.

E. explaining to our neighbor (very seriously)
about how those were his new costumes and they
had to dry so he could wear them.

Nihon Mitsauri (Japanese Festival)

We attended this at the elementary school on base.
I did not do a good job of taking pics for this -
there were so many activities and I was busy
participating...however, I did catch this one of
D. making a "dumpling" and then below is
how they cook them (basically boiling them in a
very, very hot broth for a minute or so). They were
good but LOTS of garlic so we all had funky breath
the rest of the day!

This was the Karate demo. D. is over to
the left and E. is being held by one of the kids
who did the demo.

E.'s Lessons

E. paying close attention to wait is going on
in the class, just like his mother!

He is not shy about telling his teachers his
opinions.

This was in April - when he would still hold on
for dear life when they would go in the "deep"
(about 4'2"). Now, he will let you keep him at
arms reach!

The last two pics were on our home. The above
is just so you can see how pretty some of the bushes
get when their flowers bloom. Below, well, it is
a bit difficult to tell in the pic but the size of their
"heavy equipment" could be compared to a bobcat
in the states. In addition to the size, we thought
the colors also added a nice touch - just so different
than anything you'd ever see in the states.

Nok Tu bin da tuk (Korean Green Bean Pancake)

These are the ingredients of the Green Bean
Pancake...mung beans, spinach, green onions
(as you can see the Japanese green onions are huge),
bean sprouts, and the brown stuff is fern root. There
is also mushrooms in it but they are not shown. No
eggs or flours used. This is a special dish only
made for special occasions and rarely more than
once or twice a year.

In Korean, you can buy the mung bean
already shelled - in Japan you cannot. So,
the mung bean must be soaked for a couple
of days (seen below) then you put them in a
blender or processor and run it very quickly.
Dump the beans into a bowl and very carefully rinse
off the shells (above).
The woman above is Jeoug Ki (pronounced junkie/chunkie),
our neighbor. Her husband is actually from Byran!!!

Once most the shells are off, you process the
beans until the make a paste (above) and then
add the other ingredients (below).

Fry them like pancakes, it is not uncommon in
Korean for them to squat on the floor and fry the
pancakes because when they do make them they
make a lot and squatting is more comfortable
for them than standing.

Then serve them with a Yang Nam Jang
(Hot Pepper Dip) and pickles.

And we were all very pleasantly surprised at how good they tasted!
The color of the fern root had us a bit worried.