Have A Listen

This is a great sounding group singing outside the Temple of Heaven. I have no idea what they are singing about, but everyone around seemed to know the song, so perhaps it is some Communist Anthem of a sort.
The Temple of Heaven park was also filled with old people ballroom dancing, playing cards and dominos, and many other artistic pursiuts. Altogether very intersting and a great place to people watch.

Micah James Brownlee made his second trip out of his birth country of Korea when he arrived in China on March 25th. He brought his mom and dad along to make sure all the paparazzi were kept at a safe distance. The highlight of the trip was young Emperor Micah's trip to the top of the great wall. Of course his feet did not have to touch the ground and dad did all the work of portering him to the crest. Even though it was strenuous, Dad was spurred on by many Chinese nationals shouting "Good Daddy!" or "Lucky Boy!" The foreigners were impressed that Micah's mom could climb so high a few short months after giving birth to the Golden Child.
Other highlights of the Great One's trip include: eating at the Temple of Heaven, Wailing at the Gardens of the Forbidden City, and sleeping at Beijing's famous Silk Market.

Baby Fish Mouth

For those of you who are "When Harry Met Sally" fans, Julie and I have finally discovered the meaning of Baby Fish Mouth. Micah loves to mimic us when or after we eat.
I have also added some photos of Lil' Mic, from the cover of his new Gangsta' rap album.

Micah Laughing

Micah laughs like crazy as mom plays with him. He thinks dad is funnier, but mom doesn't know how to run the video camera. Enjoy...and come back to view again when you are having a bad day.

Baseball and Krispy Kreme

Julie and I had the great opportunity to take Micah on his first Krispy Kreme trip. We joined the students whose parents are Out-of-Country missionaries and ate too many donuts. For us actually too many is 1.With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, I thought it important to give Micah his first baseball. He grabbed it on his first time and when he made his first error, dropping it on the play mat, he was able to pick it up quickly with his LEFT HAND. Although left handedness is not a trait I usually admire, when it comes to being a picther in the bigs, it is GOLD. It is what I call Million dollar mediocrity.

Micah's First Swim Lesson

Micah enjoys the water just like his parents. He has a strong kick, at least during the back stroke, and can float on his back with the assistance of his lovely teacher.

Safety First

Ever the Bechtel, Micah poses for the annual "Safety First" public service announcement photographs (baby version). He knows that the drop from the changing table to the ground is a terrifying 2.5 feet and so he holds tightly to the rails, just as mamma taught him.

Bear-ly Dressed

As the weather has gotten colder in Daejon, we have had to make sure the Micah is properly dressed for the winter chill. Of course Micah is concerned about looking good, not understanding the old adage "fashion doesn't keep you warm". As you can see his outfit is both cozy and fashionable. In fact on the day he first wore it to the nursery, he won the coveted Ms. Kim best dressed award. "Micah....best dressed" she said.

After this event, Julie wanted to take some self portraits for the website and as you can see, Micah was less than thrilled, even going to the extent of pushing Julie out of the shot.

Caught without make-up

Micah wanted us to mention that the "Jabba" picture was an early morning shot, before he had the chance to get himself together.
We have added a couple more pictures that show the wonders of Baby make-up in hiding chunkiness and unsightly dry skin.

Micah the Hut

In Korea, the food can be described as one dementional, so when Micah got the chance to experience European fare, as you can imagine he went a bit wild. As a result, he has put on a few pounds and as you can see the resembelence to a certain Lucas character is rather scary. We are currently weaning him from the bread, cheese and pasta diet in order to decrease his carbohydrate intake and making sure that he gets plenty of play time to burn those extra calories.

Disclaimer: No offense to Star Wars fans...or baby lovers is intended in the posting of this email.

As Julie would say, our Europe trip was A....mazing! Although Micah's accomdations were less palatial than ours, he did not complain and enjoyed the site seeing, mostly from his stoller. Our family christmas picture was taken by a nice Irish man on the top of the Eifel Tower on Christmas Eve. We will be posting more shots of our trip as the month continues, but here is a preview.
We missed you all during the holidays and hope that the peace of God is with you this year. We can't wait to return in 5 short months to settle in to life in the U.S. again

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We will miss you very much this Christmas, and think of you often as we tour Europe. We look forward to hearing about your holidays and how God blessed you during the year.

We Love You!

Jim, Julie and Micah

Typical Holidays

After a large holiday meal, Micah is already assuming the position to which every man aspires. Hand perfectly placed to alieve the pressure of suddenly constricting pants...remote in hand, happily clicking through channels in order to find the most entertaining movie.
I hope that you have as much fun after your holiday meals as Micah.

Husband Disclaimer: Although Julie thought is was funny, she claims no responsibility for the posting of this picture

YouTube

We are venturing into the world of YouTube to try and share some videos with those of you interested in actually seeing Micah move. Our blog site now has a link to YouTube and I am currently trying to upload and imbed the videos in our blog. Until that time, the picture of Micah laughing will have to do.

Micah and Santa: The early years

I am sure that Micah will have many more run-ins with the big guy in the red suit, but his first was very memorable. As you can see, he is more than excited to tell Santa that he wants a trip to Europe. Santa agreed that this would be a good time to take Micah, as he would make little fuss about touring churches and palaces throughout France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. You will notice that in the photo Micah looks a bit upset. Apparently Santa had to break that bad news that a tripto Europe means he is not coming home to visit friends and family. Look, he is mad at mom and dad too!

Julie and I have less than two weeks to prepare for the trip, but as any parent would say...anything for my little boy.

Micah has recently discovered that if he places his hand down the person's shirt who is holding him, then he can stay warm while he sleeps. He loves to be placed high on the shoulder to be burped. He will even crawl up if we do not have him high enough. Now that's a boy who knows what he wants!

Happy Thanksgiving

Micah celebrated his first Thanksgiving with friends and family. He only got to have milk, but Mamma made sure she had plenty of Turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes to give him all the flavors of the holidays.
Hope your Turkey Day was a great as ours was.

Micah: All for the Art

My parents, in a rash of exhibitionism, insisted that I shoot some stills without benefit of my clothes. My manager agreed as long as they were tastefully done. After hours in various poses, Mom claimed the outcome was quite artsy while dad just kept smiling...proud of my equipment.
I will do whatever it takes for the sake of art, but a reminder to my parents that if I end up running for political office, or more likely being drafted by a professional sports team, these photos could seriously hamper my career. All that being said, I too take pride in my body. Hope you enjoy every roll and wrinkle!

Gassy Face

Check out my favorite picture so far. What a face eh!