Merry Christmas From The Adams Family!

It is sort of strange this Christmas being on the other side of the world from most of our friends and family. Life, for most of you out there, goes on---literally 'while we are sleeping'! We wake up each day and open our emails or check facebook to find out all that has happened over there in the great United States without us. Now, more than ever, we are so thankful for the amazing technology we have in this world and the capability to stay in touch like never before. We are 6,000+ miles away and can still know what our friends and family are up to often, at that very moment. We get to see pictures of each other's kids so frequently, that we feel like we still know them and get to watch them grow up and have that 'just saw them yesterday' feeling though it's been months.

   We miss everyone so much and can't stand that we are 'missing out' on the daily face to face interactions with our loved ones, but we find comfort in knowing that we are exactly where we are suppose to be for this time in our lives. Over the years, Peter and I have had that comfort often, knowing we were doing what God wanted us to do even when we looked like 'that crazy Adams family!' to everyone else. :) I know many of you have thought, 'Here they go again! What's next?' But I hope you can trust along with us that we are in God's hands and see that everything has worked out in the past for the good of our family and the Lord's purposes.

   Well, 2010 did not disappoint, and was full of great adventures for this branch of the Adams family. Many of you have kept tabs on us though this online scrapbook of sorts, where I record many of our stories and adventures. I did not begin it though until we headed to South Korea. It all started with The Longest Weekend of My Life post back in June. Before that there were 6 months of life and adventures that were not recorded here.

   Peter graduated from boot camp and AIT, having to spend many months away from the kids and me while we lived with Oma and Papa (Brad and Debi) in Springfield, Illinois. It was a very long time being away from Peter and 'Daddy' for the kids, but I don't think it would have been as easy to go through anywhere else. Mom and Dad Adams took great care of us and kept the children happily distracted and entertained for many months! We made so many wonderful friends at Springfield First Church and the kids still talk about their "Best friends back in Springfield."

  Since moving here, we have really learned to appreciate many of the little things from back home---The U.S. is full of conveniences that I can only dream about now! We have also had some amazing experiences exploring a new culture and country and we are thankful for this time, especially for the children and all that they are being exposed to. It's so easy to get caught up in your own world and only the immediate that revolves around you day to day. Life is very different over here and it has really been an eye opening experience. We are blessed, to say the least, to be Americans....even Americans in South Korea.

   Peter is well into his Master's Degree Program at Liberty University doing all of his classes through online correspondence. He is doing great at balancing school, working full time, and all of us! But that isn't surprising, I don't think that Peter has ever done just one thing the whole time I've known him, he is a master multi-tasker! I know I couldn't do all that he does even half as well if it was me trying to get through school and still do life as normal. He enjoys his job and it's perfect for this time with most of his focus being on school. We are excited to be so close to the goal...Chaplaincy...and look forward to the day he is finished with his last requirement, this Master's of Divinity. He's decided to go to school year round to get it done faster, though the Army will only pay for 1/2 of the year. If he waits and goes to school on their schedule it will take way too long. With our new plans, Lord willing, he'll be finished with his degree before our time in Korea is up. The kids and I are so happy just to be with him after a long, almost a year, without him. We LOVE having Daddy back and our family all together again!

  Joy is her same 'joyful' self! She is a huge help to me and a wonderful big sister. She is in first grade this year and doing very well in her homeschooling. We've found a good routine for the 5 of us in our days at home while Daddy is working, and I am so enjoy teaching my crew! Joy still loves to dance and sings all day long. She's our drama queen in that she's always putting on shows and directing her siblings in their roles and often wears dress up all day if we are not going anywhere. She has a passion for the Bible and spends much of her time soaking up the stories in any of our many around the house. She's a great reader now and loves that she can do it herself instead of waiting around for Mom or Dad to read her something!

   Joshua has grown so much this year and is very much the big brother of the house, even to Joy. He is very protective of his siblings and is so much fun to be around. He started kindergarten this year because he just couldn't stand to sit by and watch Joy get to do all the fun stuff! So he's a little ahead of the game for school and is loving it. He is SO friendly, and by far the most brave of all of us when it comes to speaking Korean. He knows more words than the rest of us and is very comfortable in this new country. 

  

 Faith is still a crack up! She makes us all laugh daily and is a strong, happy girl. You always know how she feels about something whether it is good or bad, most of the time just by the look on her face!--She hides nothing when it comes to her opinion! She loves her class at church and her 'best friend' who lives next door and up 12 stories. :) We get to hear about him constantly, even if she hasn't seen him all week. 

   

Samuel is the baby and is treated as such! He is doted on constantly by his siblings and loves each of them so much! He lights up when any one of them talk to him. He is not walking yet, but can get any where and into anything. He's a super crawler and climber and will walk with the push walker. We actually think he probably can walk by himself, but he's just afraid of our hardwood floors! He's very sturdy and stable and will walk great holding onto our hands and we've seen him stand up without holding onto anything then sit back down, many times. I think he's just humoring his Mama who wishes he'd stay a baby forever! 

   And lastly, there's Me. :) Well you can read all about it on this site. I am so amazingly blessed! I love my calling to be a wife and mom and am so thankful that I am able to stay home with the kids.

   I've had a new hat added to the many I wear and am now an 'Army Wife' which has proven to be much more fun that I ever imagined it could be. I have made some wonderful, dear friends over here and have decided that the part I will dislike the most about being an army wife is the saying goodbye to everyone. I don't like to think about the fact that all of our new friends over here will most likely be living far, far away from us in a year or two. It really makes you want to enjoy everyday and not take a single opportunity for granted. 

  

 Well, this ended up being much longer than I had intended, but that's not unusual for me! I hope that everyone else had a great 2010 also. :)

   

Merry Christmas! And God Bless you in the New Year and Always!

Love and Prayers ~ Peter, Breanna, Joy, Joshua, Faith and Samuel