WHASSUP?!

Baby looks like he's striking a pose here. He really liked having his right hand by his head.

THINKER

Obviously this baby will be a thinker. Look at him strike the pose. That, or he got a set of earphones in there.

TIGHT SPACE

The baby has chosen to start expanding his territory. He was very active at the doctor's office, and Tara says her stomach feels funny all the time. I like to tell her he's moving in. You can see his tight quarters for right now.

DIGITS

OK, so obviously this is a good thing. The baby has ten fingers and ten toes.

HERE'S DA BABY!

OK, so it might be a little tougher to make out than we thought. But you can see the eyes and nose and the baby's arm up with his elbow sticking out.

BABY

Yes, as I'm sure you are all now aware, there is a Baby Shappell on the way. Here is the ultrasound from this morning. Apparently the doctor must have assumed we couldn't figure it out on our own, so he drew the face on the bay. If you look close you should be able to see an arm in there, too. The baby's heartbeat sounded good and it appears as if everything is on schedule with week 14. Our next appointment is August 18, at which time we will get the "4D" view ultrasound done, which should show a better view of the baby's development. So far so good.

YAKCHEONSA TEMPLE

Yakcheonsa is the largest Buddhist Temple in Asia. This is the view from in front of the temple. There are also several branch off temples and several living areas. The temple resides on Jeju Island.

TEDDY BEAR MUSEUM

The Teddy Bear Museum on Jeju Island showed different periods of time and events throughout history using teddy bears. You can see some fake polar bears "playing," as well as the Last Supper chronicled and a teddy bear marriage. They also had Elvis and Marilyn Monroe bears, among many others. It actually had some educational values, even though it was shown with teddy bears.

FOLK VILLAGE I

This was the Korean Folk Village we stopped by while we were in Jeju-do. You can see the construction of the buildings. People still live here and they need to be re-roofed each year. And believe me, they get hit hard during the Monsoon Season. The other picture is of the entrance. There are three branches stretched across the entrance and their alignment dictates different things. As they are now, with all leaning down, it means the occupants are home and you are welcome. If they would all be up, that would mean the occupants were gone and would not return for several days. Other mixing and matching means other things. The residents of these villages know and understand this, and because there is so much trust, there is little reported crime.

FOLK VILLAGE II

These pictures were taken when stopped for the tour of the Folk Village on Jeju Island. The strapped item was used to transport water. If you think it looks light enough, ask Tara just how heavy it is empty, let alone full. And the pig, ah, the pig. Well, the pig would eventually be used for pork, obviously. However, the little area he was confined to had a secondary function. This was the area where the locals would come to, well, do a number "2". The stick you see the woman striking the pig with, that was to make sure the big guy didn't get a little over-ambitious while you were taking care of business. She said this was especially important for men. If you can't figure out why, I'll let you call your mommies and daddies. That's a talk they should give you.

A PREVIEW?

Could this be a preview of things to come? JR as a great thinker and theorist? JR at the White House? Well, let's not go there just yet. For the time being it was just JR having fun at miniature land in Jeju-do.

SOME OF TARA'S FAVORITE LANDMARKS

On display are some of Tara's favorites from Mini-land, which she so graciously modeled in front of. As I said, there are a number of landmarks from around the world on display at this popular tourist location on Jeju Island.

MINI LAND

There's a land of miniature, world-famous landmarks on Jeju Island. As you can see the Koreans went to great detail to try to make them realistic. These are just three of the hundred miniature monuments on display.

JEJU PEACE MUSEUM

The peace museum at Jeju is located near several underground facilities the Japanese made the Koreans dig during World War II in preparation of the allied offensive in the Pacific.

TEAM DAEGU

Members of the youth baseball team I coached this year following a victory on our home field at Camp Walker. The team finished a solid 9-3 for the season, with a second place tournament finish. They were also a great group of kids to coach.

BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY

The local Buddhist Temple went all out in preparations for Buddha's Birthday last month. Here are a few shots of the floats and the decorations at the temple.

WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS?

As you can see, Boots and Bear have learned to co-exist. They've taken naps together, and Boots has even checked out Bear's accomodations. One time Bear happened to catch her, however, and a cage match ensued.

BOOTS' ACTIVITIES

Boots hasn't stopped trying to dominate the webpage, as you can see, finding all kinds of cute poses. On the right she demonstrates the new location she's found. You see, she likes to take a peak outside to see what's happening, and well, this little perch is a nice place to sit. Above, she shows a good hiding sport. Rarely can her sister, Bear, find her when she's inside the Aquafina container. She likes to hide in places like that or in cardboard boxes. They are perfect places to wait to pounce.

NEW TABLE

I know you've heard about Tara's coffee table, and here's a picture of it. It's solid black with Mother of Pearl as the design. It's a nice table and hopefully when we return to the states it will make it there without damage.

WE'RE BACK -- TRADITIONAL KOREAN WEDDING

We know we've been slacking, so here's some catch up. This picture is from a traditional Korean wedding we attended with some of the people Tara used to work with at the talking club. Notice the traditional clothing.