South Korea/North Korea update

I know that you have been hearing the news and I know it doesn't look good but I just wanted to let you know that its not as bad as it seems.  Yes there was an attack - the following information is from Gen Walter Sharp about what is happening......

11/30/2010 2:46pm

You have undoubtedly been watching the news reports of North Koreanartillery firing into the Northwest Islands off the coast of the Republic ofKorea. I want to ensure you that this is isolated to the Northwest Islandarea. USFK is closely monitoring the situation and exchanging informationwith our ROK allies as we always do. We'll continue to keep youinformed. -GEN Walter L. Sharp UNC/CFC/USFK Commander



11/23/2010  8:00pm

"From GEN Walter Sharp, UNC/CFC/USFK Commander: We will continue to
monitor the situation in the Northwest Islands. There have been no
additional attacks overnight. Please continue with your normal
activities. I am proud of the ROK military for their prompt response in
protecting Yeongpyeong-Do citizens and have full confi...dence in the ROK
and U.S. military - a force ready to deter aggression and defend the
ROK."

11/24/2010  10:00PM

From Gen. Walter Sharp, UNC/CFC/USKF Commander: The Northwest Islands
continue to remain quiet this afternoon after the unprovoked attack by
North Korea. Our forces resumed the majority of their scheduled training
today. Though current events may unfortunately have some impact on
family schedules, I encourage you to keep t...o your normal routine. As
always, your best source of information is the chain of command.

This map should give you an idea of where everthing is located and how close we are to the situation.

What actually happend:

Yesterday afternoon, artillery attack happened in the vicinity of Seoul. North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing two civilians and two marines, and destroying a number of buildings there.

I will be posting updates on what Gen. Walter Sharp has to say about all of this.  Love you guys and know that we are well prepared for any evacuation is needed and that ultimitly all this is in the hands of God..... I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." - Psalm 91:2

Psalm 91:4-5
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
Amen


Update: 11/25/2010

No new news. Everthing is still normal - well as normal as it can be I guess.

Halloween in South Korea 2010

Halloween in Korea was a bit diffrent.  Instead of going house to house we had to have a gathering on base. It was a fall festival party and the kids had a fall festival in school. Unfortunally Marisa got very sick and was unable to unttend school for the festival but by Sundy she got better and was able to join the festival on base!

Joshua as a starwars charcter

Marisa's teacher

Joshua's Class

We carved some pumpkins

Can you tell I am a cat for halloween?

Marisa as a spanish dancer

They had a pinata full of candy

Joshua being attacked by his girlfriend

Fall in South Korea

Enjoy the pictures of the fall weather here in Korea!

Guess what we did today.......

Marisa, Joshua and I road on a CH-47 Chinook! And what is a CH-47 Chinook you ask.....well.......
The CH-47 Chinook is a twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its top speed of 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h). Its primary roles include troop movement, artillery emplacement and battlefield resupply. It has a wide loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage and three external-cargo hooks.

The Army unit here had a NEO excersis - what that means is that we have to pretend we are under attack to practice evacuation procedures. So they have to use real families and fly them to other bases and follow protocal. So we were one of the families that were selected. The kids were excused from school and off we went. It was an adveture of a life time.  The kids did very well  - here are some pictures, hope you enjoy them!  And yes mom we were very careful!

You can see in the background they open the cargo flap while we
were in the air!

With the flap open you could see everything! No worries
we had our seat belts on!

The trip was a bit overwelming! :O)