Category Archives: Seoul

~Guess What Came In the Mail for Mia Grace~

chsfs, Foster parent gifts, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 2 Comments

Two days ago we got an email from our agency CHSFS that Mia’s foster mom had sent a gift for her. We were so excited and Mia was ECSTATIC!!!!

So when the mail came today…and there was a box for her. She started running around the house screaming Omma…Appa…present..!!!!

She dove right in….

Aw….a letter my favorite part. Our agency had translated it but we have the original. I was so excited for a letter!!! Be still my heart….I just feel such a connection with her foster mom. I know the same love she felt for Mia. It just kills me to think of her loss.


Her beloved Pororo cell phone!!! The one we bought her in Korea had broke…she was soooo happy!!!


Oh yes and Perdy socks….!!!!!! Her favorite Pororo character!!!

And Mia’s favorite part….the pictures of her beloved Omma and Appa….She was immediatly pointing out to us who was who…not that we didnt already know. I have to say that we were afraid Mia may forget her foster parents and not recognize them. NOT A CHANCE….I am amazed how many times a DAY…she will rattle something off about Omma and Appa in Korea. She is so smart!!


Oh how happy she was…..:):)

I LOVE YOU OMMA AND APPA!!!

Thank you!!!!
Not sure how this translates but here goes:
당신의 사려 깊음에 대해 너무 감사합니다. 단어는 내가 미아 그레이스 에 대한 당신의 사랑을 위해 내가 얼마나 감사 설명할 수 없습니다. 그것은 그녀가 그래서 한국에서 사랑받는 것을 알고 훌륭합니다. 네가 쓴 편지는 정말 의미가 항상 소중히 것입니다. 당신이 우리가 배려되고 말 감사하지만 전 언제나 우리의 딸을 위해 당신의 사랑을 위해 충분한 감사하는 길밖이 없다 생각합니다. 우리는 지금 당신을 위해 무언가를 준비하고 있으며 곧 그것을 보내드립니다. 그것은 앞뒤로 선물을 얻으려면 약 6 주가 소요 보인다. 정말 감사!

~Happy Birthday Sweet Mia Grace~

birthday, International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul 3 Comments

Today was a very special day. Mia Grace Heimee has turned 3 years old. My first thoughts this morning went to her birthmom who I know was thinking of her and wondering how she was doing. I only hope she goes in and checks her file and see how wonderful she is doing now in her forever family. Then my thought went to her foster mom, who gave her so much love in her first 31 months of life. It has made Mia the loving little girl she is today.

My mom came up for the occasion. Mia loves my mom. Mia’s favorite book is Pinkaliscious. She absolutley loves that book. Everytime we read that book to her she always says Mia’s Happy Day. So what does every little girl want….a Pinkaliscious birthday party!With Pink cupcakes…

Then onto the birthday party…:)

She waited until we sang the Happy Birthday song and she immediatly blew out her candles. She knew what she was doing. Then we all sang Happy Birthday in Korean, which just makes her eyes light right up when she hears Korean spoken.

Lesson learned…dont let your 3 year old princess open her high heels first! She then had to walk around the house for about 10 minutes showing off her fabulous heels. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Mia is so funny…she opened up an outfit from my mom and dad and said, “Ohhhh…snuggly” and rubbed it up to her face.

She loved her little Asian doll. She is so snuggly with her baby dolls.

Butterfly wings!!! From Grandma and Grandpa!!

Kenny and I decided to get her some bilingual books and computer. She was so surprised to open up new Hangul books and Pororo books.

This is the computer we almost purchased in Korea for her but decided to wait. I ordered this and the books from http://www.littleseouls.com/. Very cute website!

Nice looking family.

Odd ..very odd.;)

~Gotcha Day~

Adoption, International Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 7 Comments

Waiting at the Starbucks, close to SWS….getting very nervous! Our shoes lined up outside the SWS playroom…

Mia loves her toys! She said Bye, she was going to her house, while we were filling out paperwork!

Mia’s forever parents and foster parents.

In the cab ..having a good time.

Getting a kiss from Daddy, as she is warming up to him.

Unloading at our hotel…

Gotcha Day will be forever known as June 2nd, 2011 for Mia Grace Heimee. She came to us a little tearful but we had to wait for a cab outside of SWS, because someone grabbed our cab just as we were coming out. THey called us another…This happened to be the craziest cab ride I had EVER taken..we were flying and honking and zipping thru traffic like crazy! I dont know if they told him to get out of there quick. But Mia loved it!! We laughed and played all the way here and went straight to our hotel room. She skyped with her brothers and sisters and a few friends. She was doing so great, I was really impressed. And then naptime came, and the grieving began. It took 45 minutes for her to take a nap and then she napped for an hour and a half. When she woke up, she was really grieving for her “Omma”. We then walked around Seoul for 3 hours, her in the carrier with me when she was happy and as soon as she would start to get upset she would want Kenny. I am trying to figure that one out, my only guess is when she is happy she doesnt feel like she is betraying her Omma with me but when she is sad she does feel that way and wants her Daddy. As soon as he reassures her, she jumps back to me. This is going to be very interesting to see HOW this unfolds.

The foster parents sent us with bags and bags full of her clothes, food, drinks, winter coat, shoes, gifts for us and for the kids. I will try and take pictures of it all when we get home. Mia wasnt doing well seeing her stuff so we had to cover it all, she was just trying to hold everything and sob. It just breaks my heart.

It is 8am here, she has been asleep since 8pm. She has cried out for Omma a few times, but I feel blessed she has been able to sleep so well. Praying the sleep will help her have a great day!

She is potty trained which we werent expecting. In the midst of her grieving, she still was asking to get on the potty! I was so proud of her. She is so smart.

She is so tiny! All the 18-24months I brought just fall off of her! I should have brought 12 or 18 months. My vote is 12months at this point.

I have been very emotional since we got her. My emotions remind me of how I felt when I had each one of my biological kids(dont be scared..not that bad). Thank you for all your prayers, comments on facebook, private messages and words of encouragement. This has been such a awesome and life changing experience and hearing from you throughout this week has been such a blessing.

~Seoul Day 5~

International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Seoul, South Korea 4 Comments

Day 5…about to leave our hotel. I am sad to say that we have been so jetlagged and getting our barings around the city, that we didnt get any of sights we were hoping to see today!! With 5 kids and many other to bring souveniers to, and plus all the things we wanted Mia to have. View out of our hotel…notice on gray and white cars…odd…sometimes a blue truck.

Another view…

Roses are in ful bloom here and beautiful!


A cool looking building…

Worlds biggest Ipads! No this is just an interactive map of the mall we were in. Korea is technology crazy…I love it!!!


Get ready Blake and Paul!! Coming soon to America..Super Mario Bros 2 for the Wii.

World Trade Center…very cool!


Insadong….loved shopping here!!! I have another blog coming with all our purchases!

We purchased Mia a name chop, it is the way Koreans sometimes sign there names. It says Heimee and in Hangul.

A hoteok…can you say AWESOME!! Full of honey, brown sugar and peanuts!!!

Kenny is quite the superstar..I came out of the store to this…these girls were doing a school project ( I think)…when I said good luck with your project they laughed!! When Kenny introduced me as his wife..the mood changed a bit. The handsome boy comments stopped..:)

This was what Summer’s friends were doing..LOL!!!

And then one girl introduced herself to me as Heimee and asked to have her picture taken with me…I said we are adopting a little girl names Heimee…she said Oh no not me..I am a big girl.. :):)

My friend from the Subway, very interested in us and what we were doing, if we knew Hines Ward. He was so sweet!

It was a great day! We didnt get to do all the things on my list, but I know there will be a next time!!!!

~Seoul Day 4 Randomness~

International Adoption, Seoul, South Korea 2 Comments

Here is some randomness on our trip….this place is busy busy busy!!! Today we went to a Lotte Mart..which is like a Super Target with like 4 floors..It was awesome!!!! MOre business…see the Pizza Hut in the far background…we ate their today!

Us in the middle of the business!!

These are the 2 pizzas we ordered at Pizza Hut. We are so used to everything being supersized..nothing NOTHING here is. We have had a terrible time finding food. We have been skipping meals….and we are always starving. So we each ordered a regular pizza and hoped to take rest back to our hotels. Well their regular pizzas are a little bigger than a personal pan pizza in the states….needless to say Kenny devoured his and finish mine off too..And it cost $33.00!! Cha=Ching!!


This was an awesome greenhouse inside of the Lotte Mart…they just grow their lettuce!!

$9 ice cream from 7-11…food is soooo expensive here!!!

Presenting Mia Grace Heimee Rogers!!!

International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 7 Comments

Kenny and I right before we left…we were a nervous wreck!!! We left an hour and a half early!! I had little things to perk Mia’s interest in us..one being her favorite Pororo (cartoon character) ring on my finger..which she saw and loved!!! But had to take it off my finger.

Kenny and I in the back, our SWS driver and our SWS social worker in the front…we drove 30 minutes to Mia’s home for our first visit.


A view of the countryside on the way…

We are here..her apartment complex. We put the camera away so we would scare her for our first few moments.

When we arrived, we gave our gifts to the foster mother and Mia her gift…we also noticed that the had hung Our FAMILY pictures on the entertainment center, who Mia turned and told us that was us and it was Omma and Appa.


Mia trying on her new sunglasses…this kid is hilarious!!!!!


Oh yes we found her a Pororo cell phone..broke the ice right away!…that is our social worker behind her. Isnt she beautiful?


Mia and her precious Omma…who we know she will grieve for terribly when she leaves to go with us. We are eternally grateful for raising her in such a loving home.


The foster mother gave me a photo book, an album and 3 discs of pictures of Mia. We are thankful to have these! Words can not describe how thankful.

Mia enjoyed showing us and telling us how cute she is …over and over and over…Mia …your Omma and Appa already know!!!!


Mia sat and stared at me for a few moments..very seriously….pondering…who is this woman?


Oh yes I even thought of putting the cell phone around my neck…it worked..this teeny weeny baby girl came over to chat with me on it.

She is very ticklish…very ticklish!! She sat on my lap and we tickled a little!!

Mia and her Omma telling us good bye!!!

This was such an awesome experience to get to visit with her in her home and to see what kind of life she has. Some things we learned…this kid is hilarious. She is potty trained. She drinks out of a regular cup and doesnt spill it. She still takes a nap. She is going to LOVE her big brothers and big sisters!!! They are going flip at her teeniness!!!! I mean she is soooo tiny!!

To top off an even great day..we got to meet a friend from my adoptive forum Maryleigh and her husband Nick and their little one Bates, they are here to adopt Bate’s little brother Brodie…check out her blog at http://www.abrotherforbates.blogspot.com/ We had a great visit!! It was so nice to speak to someone who understood English.

~Seoul Day 2~

Family, International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 7 Comments

Okay we are out of order here..because I dont know how to rearrange pictures. Let me just say…Koreans are stylish…they are dressed so stylish. We went over to the Dangdumun Market and the women were shopping like no place I have seen. Below is a picture of some stylish shoes. My feet were killing me in my nice comfy shoes..some were wearing 4 inch heels..!! Yes I look like a dork…but I bought this awesome pineapple on a stick…it was really good but juicy. Sit down and eat this, dont try to walk around with it.:)

Kenny got this fabulous…tatertots and fries fried around a hotdog..He said it was really good.? I didnt try it.


Look at these toddler clothes…arent they incredible! I love the leggings, lacy skirts with matching shirts. Oh so cute!!! We plan to get some after meeting Mia today and we see what size she is. We havent had a weight on her since September 2010.

Our first day to explore….starting out fresh and ready to go!!:) There are signs at almost every street corner with English and Korean on them. Very helpful, if you know where you are going…which we did not.:)

Our typical Ken/Wendi…we do this anywhere we get a cool oppurtunity.

We found Pororo in the Seoul Subway Station…it was so cute!! I had to get his picture for Mia. I am guessing the some Koreans are like some Americans..they leave their Christmas decor up all year.
Picture of the Subway…seems like total chaos..but it is complete organazation! Love it!! the best way to get around and least exspensive!!
We walking some back alleys(we were told too) and came across this awesome parking contraption. Slide your card and your car will come down for you. When there is as many people as there are here..I am sure you must be creative on parking space.
Subway! I thought Americans were crazy about their electronics…every where we looked people are on their cell phones, IPads, carrying antennas for their phone to watch TV. Everytime we stopped for directions…we would show them our maps..they would say, “We have an ap for that” Cant complain love my Iphone and Aps as well.
Not so busy street corner..
This is the basement of the Lotte Department Store. Very high end, mall and food. Grapes were $10 here! We are looking for street vendors for fruit tomorrow!:)
There are 2 things that remind us of Mexico here..1. the smell- there septics arent sealed like ours(but the smell here comes and go, Mexico was all the time, everywhere) and 2. the electric wires..crazy bunch of wires.
Our hotel bathroom…is very odd. The walls are glass..so zero privacy. The bathtub is definetly for a woman under 5 foot and zero hips. And I am a 5’5 and have much more than zero hips..

But the toilet is awesome…their septics may not be up to our standard in America..but their toilets are incredible!!

First of all, their is a light in the toilet for when you use it at night and they have a BEDET!! I had only ever seen them on House Hunter International…these are awesome!! Why doesnt America have these yet?

My cousin told me I was lucky to have one here, and out in the country they have squatter potties. I didnt even ask what that was. I am enjoying this futuristic toilet this week.
Okay so you may think this blog doesnt have much feeling in it….I cant explain the way I am feeling. I am overwhelmed, exhausted, elated, excited, exhausted, anxious and nervous. It is about 1:30 in the morning..I cant sleep. I know we will be meeting Mia in 12 hours. 12 hours..I will meet my 5th child. Oh my..the feelings that are rushing over me are completely unexplainable. Please pray for us to have a fabulous meeting!!!Stay tuned for more exciting blogs to come…

Travel Call and We Made it to Seoul!!!!

International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 4 Comments

No pictures yet.

We arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon at 3:30 and then onto our hotel after a little confusion (okay…alot). We passed out about 8pm. I was wide awake at 1:15 Sunday morning. Maybe I will take a Tylenol PM.

The flight was about 12 hours. It was really long. But I got the joy of watching all these Korean children run up and down the aisle. And one little boy, in particular, kept waving, laughing and coming over to us, Kenny leaned over and said, “How about a little boy next…”LOL!!

When we got to Seoul, we got through the airport rather smoothly. We exited the plane, went thru immigration, then baggage claim, then customs, then changed our money to Won, rented a cell phone for the week SUPER CHEAP ($3 a day) and then got our ticket for the limo bus(which is just a bus for anyone wondering).:)

We arrived to our beautiful hotel, Seoul Palace, and unpacked. We fell asleep at 8pm on Saturday night. We only slept a couple of hours on our flights!

We will be meeting Mia on Monday afternoon at 1:30, we will be taking our gifts and going to the foster parents home. I am really anxious to do this. Deciding what to take..we are going to look for strawberries today since she thinks they are DELICIOUS. I love when our social worker translates that word and how she says DELICIOUS!! It is so cute!! But we are hoping to take those..so she may show us some interest. We also have a bag of skittles, that might help. ANd of course her bag of gifts!!:) And I WILL find her a Pororo cell phone today!!

We are out to explore..maybe if I get some sleep…Thank you for all the prayers!!