Merry Christmas from the Far East

Merry Christmas from the Far East!

Long time, no update!  So, it’s been a while.  Contrary to some of the rumors, we didn’t fall off the face of the earth, we just rolled on over to the other side of it.  I am embarrassed to say we haven’t done Christmas cards in quite a few years, and the last time we did them, only about half of them ended up making it out.  Turns out selling a house by owner and raising two small kids while your husband is halfway around the world takes a little bit more time and energy than I originally thought.  So, if you didn’t get one in 2008, it wasn’t because we don’t love you…it was because I hadn’t updated the address book.  If you really want it, it’s sitting in a file box waiting for me to get on my A game.  One day it will give up on us and head to the trash can.  Here’s a quick update, well as quick as 4 years can be anyway.  Grab a warm blanket, a cup of something yummy and snuggle in.

2008 was a very busy year for Bill with work.  Stationed at Shaw Air Force Base in SC, he was gone a lot, preparing for a 4 month deployment to the desert.  A couple of months before the deployment, we got word that he would be going remote (without his family) to Kunsan, South Korea in January.  This was a huge shock as we had only been in SC for about 15 months and had just bought our first home.  Bill ended up deploying for 2 months and was home for 8 weeks before his big move.  We relished every moment of family time and worked very hard living in the moment and not focusing on the dread of the upcoming year apart.  Ryan was 14 months and Kaitlyn was 4 when Bill deployed, so Kim finally caved and got both a Facebook account and a blog and Bill felt a little less like he was missing out on the kids’ daily lives.

2009 was character building.  While Bill was living the bachelor life, hard at work 8,000 miles away, Kim kept herself busy trying to sell the house and single parent two active kids.  She also decided to distract herself by setting a personal goal and both trained and competed in two sprint triathlons.  By the grace of God, we were able to sell our home in a struggling market, put everything we owned in storage, and Kim and the kids packed up what they would need for 6 months and started their journey of homelessness.  When the Lord takes away He also gives, and He gave us some wonderful extended family time that we wouldn’t have had if Bill were still in the country.  With the recent passing of Kimberly’s grandfather, the relationship our children have with our family couldn’t be more appreciated. Kim also went out to Korea to visit Bill and we spent a week in Thailand, in both Bangkok and Phuket.  It was to become the first of many amazing trips we had never even dreamed of taking.  We wrapped up the last part of the year with a 5 week family visit to Korea, made some great friends, and started scouting out what would become our future digs.  Bill found out that we would be moving to Osan, South Korea (this time as a family, even though the assignment would still be considered a remote) and he pinned on Major.  This was probably the hardest year we have had.  It was a good year, but a hard year.  Fortunately, the year went by pretty quickly, even though the days seemed to drag.  Those who have endured this know exactly what I am talking about!

We kicked off 2010 with the celebration of our family being together again and an amazing family trip to Hawaii on our move to Korea.  We were thrown a few curveballs, but managed to hit some out of the park.  We were told our move to Korea would be Command Sponsored, allowing us to live on base, the kids to go to school, and us to have all our stuff from storage sent to us, but God had different plans for our family and it didn’t work out the way we thought it would.  We decided to extend for an extra year anyway, got a great apartment off base, and bought a bunch of stuff we now have doubles of.  In hindsight, we should have bought stock in Amazon.  Kim became a homeschooling momma and we started exploring parts of the world we never thought we would see.  2010 found our family back in Hawaii standing in awe of a volcano, Bill and Kim exploring palaces in Japan, and Kim standing on the Great Wall of China.  Surreal.  Oh and Kim’s geography knowledge definitely improved.  Just proves you learn so much more when you actually have an interest.  Even if you were able to squeeze out an A in college geography.  Hmmm….

2011 found Kim and the kids in Hawaii again, but this time they were flying home on military planes and based themselves there trying to catch a flight to MacDill in Tampa.  Again, God’s plan wasn’t ours and they didn’t make the flight.  In a last second change of plans, they found themselves on a KC-135 to Phoenix.  What a blessing!  This plane (and the ones we didn’t make) was escorting the Homestead F-16s from Kunsan back to Miami.  Not too many kids have gotten to see their daddy’s jet refuel at night.  One of the best sunrises ever.  F-16s off the wing, flying into the sunrise.  Not your everyday occurrence.  They also spent a much needed week in Phoenix catching up with some of our best friends and meeting several of their newest family members.  Back in Korea, we made the tough choice to pass up Europe on our dream sheet and list Phoenix, AZ as our number one assignment choice.  Then the wait began.

We distracted ourselves with another amazing trip to Thailand in April, this time with the kids and to Koh Samui.  It was unforgettable.  We saw a pink dolphin while kayaking in the Gulf of Thailand, rode elephants, and just had a really fun time hanging out as a family and enjoying another spectacularly beautiful place.  In November we got the wonderful news that we will be moving to Phoenix for our next assignment.  We won’t be moving there until May, but we are more than thrilled to be getting back to the States, having a yard and a house again, and getting our stuff out of storage.  So, what started as a 1 year remote to Korea, turned into more than 3 adventure filled years.  169 weeks to be exact.  Kim and the kids will be returning to Florida in February for a couple of months visiting family, so if you are down that way, shoot them a message.

We just returned from THE trip of a lifetime and are officially world travelers.  And out of travel money.  We’ve crossed both the International Date Line and the Equator and have an overwhelming amount of pictures and stories to prove it.  Just before Thanksgiving we left Korea for a 3 week trip to Australia and New Zealand.  Incredible!  In Australia we hit Sydney, Cairns, and Uluru/Ayers Rock and were amazed by the beauty there.  In New Zealand, we rented a campervan and traveled the South Island.  There, we were blown away.  The beauty of the world never ceases to amaze me.  God is the ultimate Artist.  Truly awesome!  We also got to see tons of wildlife and we can’t wait to share our adventures with you.  Hopefully we can get it up on the blog soon.  Did we mention, we have an overwhelming amount of pictures?

While it sounds like Bill has been busy playing during our time here, we can assure you that hasn’t really been the case.  In fact, we’ve had to leave the country to get him away from work. We are super proud of his accomplishments and achievements and beyond excited that he is now Master’s complete!

Whew!  That’s 4 years in a nut shell.  If you would like to follow our adventures as a family, please check out our blog.  I update it as often as I can, sometimes it’s a couple times a week, sometimes once a month, depending on how busy life gets.  It’s more often when we aren’t together, so look for more posts soon.  Swing on over and check it out.  www.livelaughlovepcs.blogspot.com  We hope this letter finds you healthy and happy and that our paths cross again very soon.  Kim’s cell will be up and running in February (830) 719-1345 and you can also reach us through e-mail at themaclins@gmail.com.  Our warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bill, Kimberly, Kaitlyn, and Ryan Maclin