Yesterday we lost Sparky the gerbil. Sometime in the afternoon it was noted that he was balled up and acting strange. Ale called me at work seeking my expert small animal medical opinion. My prognosis: not good.

Ale called again later to pronounce him deceased. She placed his body in a plastic bin with some bedding for comfort.

My main concern was for Audrey. When I came home she was enjoying a play date with her friend. Annika informed me “Sparky’s dead!” I went in to see if I could determine cause of death.

I found Sparky’s “box” and took the lid off. Poor fellow was still alive! He didn’t look good; balled up with a little blood at the mouth. He was cold so I put his box on a heating pad. I figured he ought to have a better chance of survival warm than cold.

Of course this became the evening vigil. “Is he gonna die?” I tried to break it to the kids gently: he’s either gonna live, or he’s gonna die… again.

Sparky did cross over to that big cage in the sky sometime around 8pm PDT. May he rest in peace.

Now the thing that was never quite figured out was cause of death. However, a certain four year old was last seen playing with Sparky in the AM. She just said, “Maybe he bumped his head.” I didn’t press her too much. Anyone who knows Annika knows you’d have better luck getting pigs to fly than a straight answer from her.

-m

PS- Funeral services to be held October 7th in the backyard at the Milliron Family Pet Cemetery.

My kids for a while have been asking for some cookies,but i haven’t find the time to make ‘em.So twos days ago after dinner the million dollars question was ask?”any cookies mom?”NO cookies where to be found, so my kids  decide that was time to step up and take the situation in their hand and so what happen next?Annika found the chocolate chips,Audrey found the bananas and Olivia the forks,the power of sisterhood.

Dessert was served that night.Melting chocolate chips,cut bananas and forks to help the little fingers.

What a great kids i have .No more baking for me.So from now on they want something i now that can do it all by themself.

A Mom with super gifted kids.

Ale

After all this time apart, our family is back together again. Has been a long summer. I sure miss my husband and the kids did also, but we are under the same roof again. Our adventure is not over, grandparents coming back from their mission, cousins coming to visit, birthdays, baptisms of Emma and Audrey. Anyways we will be busy with our family affair. I will keep you posted on what is up to come. Keep on reading, fun things in our journey will bring a smile on your face.

-Ale

Fry's has nothing on this place!

Today we took the Seoul City Tour. This is a great deal where they run buses every half hour in a large circuit of the city. You pay once and have a pass to board all day long on the tour bus. The stops are at the most popular areas and you can get off where you like and then catch a later bus to keep going.

The first area we stopped at was Namdaemun Market. There is not much of an American equivalent that I can think of. Imagine blocks and blocks of stores that are everywhere. Buildings with basements and multiple levels of vendors and stores. One could probably dedicate a week to exploring this place and still never see half of it. It was fun to walk around and shop, and I’m not one for shopping, but I did have a blast.

Next stop we took was at Yongsan Station. Next to this large train station is the electronic district. Again, there are no words to even describe the number of buildings and stores. It’s like if Fry’s expanded their store 5 levels up, then built a small city of more stores. It is truly amazing, and I could have spent the rest of the day here, but I did finally peel myself away from all the silicon so we could get something to eat and continue on!!

We then hit the next shopping area, Dongdaemun Market, which is known for its clothing. Same story here, store after level after store after building after street after… you get the idea. I picked up some of my favorite “zip ties” here, since they are only 3 bucks a pop. I mean, you can never have enough ties, right?

There were many other sites and attractions we saw from the bus as we rode around. I was really impressed with all the green spaces in the city. Seoul is a very cool city and we had a great day.!

-m

PS- Remember you can find more photos at http://gallery.me.com/mitchellmilliron

Today was my first day in Seoul. We got up bright and early, as in 5am, to get over to the USO office and get on the tour bus for the DMZ(DeMilitarized Zone). I’m basically an expert now having been on the tour, so I’ll give a very brief summary for those of you who aren’t experts like myself.

The DMZ is a 4 kilometer wide area that goes from coast to coast across the Korean penninsula. This is 2 kilometers back from the official border or Military Demarcation Line(MDL). There was an armistice agreement but no peace treaty ever followed, so the two sides are still technically at war. Thus, both sides patrol and watch for invasion from the other.

We had the opportunity to enter into a building where meetings are held. A table is set on the MDL and half of it is in North Korea, the other in South Korea. We were permitted, under protection of the ROK(Republic of Korea) guards to enter the Northern side of the building, thus entering North Korea. This is one of the rare areas where there was not a souvenir shop and thus I did not bring anything back from North Korea.

Our tour went through the area known as the Joint Security Area, or JSA, and we saw many guard posts. One such post is technically surrounded on 3 sides by North Korea. The weather was not cooperative as there was a fog and rain, so we could not see into North Korea very far. Still, the landscape was beautiful and very green, as this area has become a natural preserve due to the DMZ.

Our tour also took us to one of several tunnels that the North Koreans dug into South Korea. This tunnel, called the Third Tunnel, is over 200 feet below ground, dug through solid bedrock, over a mile long, and was only 27 miles from Seoul when it was discovered. We were permitted to walk all the way up to the barrier system which is placed at the MDL. So, we’ve been under the DMZ as well as through it!

The tour was exciting and there are many more things I could talk about. However, as we drove around, I spent time thinking about how extremely lucky I am to live in the United States. We have had our struggles, but often times I think of how it pales to the great histories of the world and what currently goes on in other areas. I’m certainly thankful for the service men and women who dedicate their lives to freedom. (queue the Star Spangled Banner now)

Until tomorrow,

-m

PS- For more photos and updates, visit my gallery here: http://gallery.me.com/mitchellmilliron