This is a hard time of year: PC S(Permanent Change of Station) season for the military. While families come and go throughout the year, summer marks the time of year when most of the families move around. After 2 years here in Korea, we have made some close friends, most of which have been from the Church. It hurts to say goodbye. So far the kids have done OK and Jari and I have been left to grieve the loss of close associates. As the kids get older, I am sure this will change. The lingering hope is that we will make new friends at our next assignment.
One family we grew to love is the Fecteau family. Ben works in the Intelligence community here and has been worked hard like most people here at Osan. Still, he takes the time to be a great member of our ward and is such a fun and charismatic guy. Sarah and Jari became friends right from the beginning. They had 3 boys when we moved in and each child matches ours in age. Funny enough we both ended up having a 4th child at the same time as well. Unplanned. :)
Our older kids enjoyed playing together and we attended birthday parties together.
Hazel and Owen share the same birthday. He and Hazel have a lot in common: both are shy when they first meet you, both seem really sweet (and they are) but can be a little devious at home by report, and both are a tad messy and goofy.
They are also great kids.
Elliot and Charlotte are 1 month apart in age. Elliot LOVES airplanes. It is by good fortune that they had a house/apartment on base that had a great view of the flight line. He owns books about military airplanes and makes airplanes every chance he can get. One day he wrote an AFI (Air Force Instruction) on how to fold a paper airplane.
We joked around about these two (as well as Hazel and Owen) being betrothed and when we told them we were taking their pictures before the Fecteau's PCS, he proposed we use his airplanes as a backdrop. Charlotte did not think much of that. They have time to work out their differences :)
Zachary and Alex like the others are very close in age, and because of the young age, they were a little bit adversarial towards one another in the Nursery at Church. Zachary would antagonize, Alex would cry, Zachary would enjoy the situation and bug him more... It is hard to believe how much they have both grown since we arrived here in Korea. Both have turned into handsome, sweet toddlers.
Our newest additions are Camille and Henry (born about 1 week after Camille). Both are sweet babies who smile a lot. This picture makes me laugh - like he is trying to flirt and she is looking at him as if to say "are you serious? We are only 4 months old..."
These two can get married as well... that is OK with me.
Sarah has been a great friend to Jari. She is kind, level-headed, accepting of others, and makes everyone feel good. It is no wonder these two get along because the same could be said about Jari.
Ben has been a great example of what it means to stay actively engaged with family even with long work hours. Often people don't know they are setting an example - they just do. I don't think I ever heard an unkind word shared about another person from Ben. When he had every reason to complain about long hours at work and stress, he never did. The world needs more people like Ben.
Much more could be said about the Fecteaus. We have become better for having known them. Perhaps one day our children will meet back up and become friends again. We wish them the best as they move to Nellis AFB, Nevada to continue their Air Force journey.
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