Hello! from Hannam: And We're Back.....

....to cabs that smell like kimchi...to pots of strange smelling, boiling greens at the grocery store...to seeing monks buying beer at Costco....to not being able to pay at Costco because they only accept the one credit card that you didn't bring with you....Oh Korea, we missed you.....just a little (wink).

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for a really perfect Christmas vacation! It was one of the best in recent memory! Now that the guest house is finished, how 'bout that be the last "Overly Ambitious Jones Holiday Project" (or the last one that requires any sort of high-level construction skill)....for y'all's own well-being. I think it's time to bring back the projects that Grandaddy conjured up during the holiday gatherings at The Farm. You know, like hauling limbs or chopping down trees for firewood; projects that us "city slickers" can help with....or try to. It's time RCP learns how to chop firewood.

Also thank you to the weather gods who presided over Texas this holiday season - the rain was a Christmas miracle and the 70 degree weather that followed it was amazing! Thank you to Grandma Jones, for having a 90th birthday while we were in town and for letting us celebrate with her! Last but not least, I'd like to thank the Ambien (and RCP's sister who wrote the prescription) that I took on the Beijing to L.A. flight that allowed me to not suffer from any jet lag or insomnia during any part of the Christmas holiday. I am forever a fan.

I do apologize for my delay in getting back to hitting the keys, but the the after-effects of the traveling back here to Seoul on New Years Eve completely did me in....even with the Ambien. I slept pretty much all last week, after getting yet another a nasty cold completely induced, I'm sure, by the three different airplanes it took to get back here.

All that being said, I'm back out in the field and about to begin Month 5 of this Korean adventure. Stay tuned! There's already stuff to report!

Highlights from the
Jones Family Christmas 2011

Mom, we LOVE the new sign!

And for those of you not from Texas, yes, we do put our own state in lights in the front yard...

and sometimes not only for Christmas.

The lights in the tall tree have lasted three years. In the tree. Seriously.

They turned right on when plugged in and actually looked even

better than they did three years ago, now that the tree has grown around them.

Tending to the pot belly stove.

When RCP couldn't be found, he was usually found in here...at any hour of the day.

Dad and I got sent to go buy poinsettias, so we went to the source - Ellison's Greenhouse.

The "Monet" is dad's new favorite.

My favorite is "Orange Spice".

Cowboy Santa at Lowe's.

Blue Bell Ice Cream...the best ice cream...in the world...

and now the wallpaper on my phone, since no one's importing it to Korea yet.

Brothers-in-law.

Grandma Jones' 90th Birthday Party....
glad we got to be at this one since we couldn't make it on the cruise....
and she had another party to go to the day after this one! What 90 year old do you know who
has three birthday parties, one of them being a cruise!

Grandma looking at her birthday book.
We all had to write a message on a board and take a picture of ourselves holding it,
then Aunt Sue had them all compiled into a book. She LOVED it.

This is what our sign looked like.

Time out from holiday prep - dinner at the Golden Pagoda - the BEST Chinese food.

RCP in the kitchen, making his "special" omelets.

And Dad in the kitchen...The Heisman of Amateur Watermelon Growers

Congrats Dad, on the one watermelon that appeared in the garden.

Trading card quality....but where on earth did that hat come from?

Everyone needs a little Samsung and no one should have to wait until the current t.v. explodes.
Merry Christmas Mom and Dad!

Yes Mom, it's a new t.v.

The Peterson's

Chef Derick serving up the filet's, grilled by Pit Boss Dad and his new apprentice RCP

Grandma Jones

Christmas dinner...
I think this was the first time EVER that I was allowed to sit at the big table.
Finally made it.

A little after dinner entertainment.

Day-after-Christmas lunch in downtown Brenham.

Small town splendor.

The old Simon theater, now the Washington County Visitors Center.

Pancho Peterson...

...y su esposa!

Early morning walk around the neighborhood.

Mom and neighbor Sandi.

We tend to stop a lot during our walks, to say hi to the locals.

You look like the star of "War Horse"!

Looks like a painting.

More locals.

Brother Chris and fiance Danielle.

Sandi, our neighbor and my second mom :)

Sunset at the Appelt's

Drinks by the fire pit.

Fireworks over the fire pit.

Life doesn't get any better than this....
70 degree weather after Christmas and bike rides on deserted country roads.

This is Union Hill...best bike hill in the county...
depending on which direction you're going of course.

This little structure has a state historical marker, but I don't remember what for.

Aunt Adriana - the perfect model for Scottish knickers and Australian outback hats.

These are two of the four current tenants on our land; their real owners don't have any grass for them to eat, due to the summer/fall drought so they're eating ours.
We don't have a working farm and aren't real cowboys, but it's fun to pretend...
and they look pretty good just roaming around the pasture.