Hye Sim Won Holiday Party // Command Holiday Party

Hye Sim Won is an orphanage with a heartwarming story here in Seoul that the Navy has been taking under its wing for a long time. Every month, they throw a birthday party for the children and every year, they throw a holiday party for them. I haven't been able to attend any of the birthday parties yet, but I was fortunate enough to make part in this years holiday party. I love how the spouses are so involved in making this a wonderful event for the children. There were stations for the children to enjoy different kinds of activities. The very talented Victoria Burgamy was taking the children's pictures with Santa, there was a cookie decorating station, a hair station, a nail station, a doodle station, a play-doh station and the most popular, a Wii station. The food was provided by the Navy Club and the children had a blast. I was very happy, just wandering from station to station seeing who needed help and playing with the children. Everybody brought presents for the children, personal presents and group ones. It was a great afternoon for everybody.

After the party, we had to run home and get ready for the command holiday party. I honestly wasn't very pleased with them setting up both for the same day, but I'm sure they had a very good reason for that. I had my world-famous pre-party meltdown because "I don't know what to wear and I look fat in everything and this is not enough time to get ready, and my hair is a mess!" but my husband handled it almost gracefully and we were on our way. We didn't win any of the door prizes but we had a white elephant gift exchange and we ended up with a bottle of Chardonnay (probably save it for New Year's Eve if we end up doing something) and a Seoul FC scarf. It was fun watching people steal each others' gifts and with 48 presents going around, it turned out very amusing. It was also a good night, but this weekend was so cold, long and busy I couldn't wait to get home and snuggle under the covers. I passed out watching Supernatural and had the best sleep ever.

Love,

Zayda