Large family life: Hilarious, horrifying, and sometimes even serious.
Our large family loves to travel! Before we met, between the two of us, Chuck and I had traveled to Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Korea, Tanzania, and Kenya. We honeymooned in Israel and then produced children who (so far) have traveled to Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Malawi.
Two of our daughters and our grandson live in New Zealand.
Tilly is doing a beautiful job as a new mom. I am so very proud of her. If you are not a grandparent, then you probably can’t imagine what it is like to see the child you grew and nurtured turn around and nurture their own child. These moments make even the hardest days of…
June 18th baby Kiwi made his grand entrance. That’s right, HIS. Kiwi is a BOY. And to be more specific, Kiwi is a boy named Abel (yes, that’s right, as in Cain and Abel). Abel was born a whopping 8 pounds 15 ounces with a beautiful thatch of blonde hair and cheeks that would make…
Tilly and Jared are taking good care of me here. Jared drove us up to Ocean Beach last week to show me more of this amazing island. He’s either trying to make me fall even more in love with New Zealand or he’s sick of me hanging out in his living room. With ocean views…
I made the map to answer a question I commonly get…do Adalia and Tilly live near each other? The answer is a resounding, “No!” In fact, it can be hard to explain exactly how far apart from each other they are. But I will try. When visiting New Zealand, we fly into Auckland. To get…
It’s Wednesday evening here in New Zealand. I arrived at 5 am on Sunday, so I’ve had a few days to recover. I feel like my body is slowly adjusting to the time difference. Monday was a holiday here (happy birthday, Queen) so Jared had the day off. We took a nice stroll around Hatea…
I made it to New Zealand safe and sound. The flight from Vancouver to Auckland was nearly fourteen hours. This is my third visit to New Zealand. I came the first time in 2012 when Ben proposed to Adalia, then again in November 2017 for the birth of my first grandchild, Percival. This time is…
Kiwis on Mt Baker and Flaming Crimson Pants One thing I knew would be on the Must-Do do list when our family visited was a trip to Mt. Baker to see the SNOW. As I’m sure you know, I was born and raised in Alaska. In total, I spent twenty years freezing all winter, hating…
Great Wolf Lodge: Tips for Large Families The first thing I did when Ben and Adalia booked tickets for their visit was book two rooms at Great Wolf Lodge. For the uninitiated, Great Wolf Lodge is a hotel resort with an indoor water park. The Grand Mound location is just three hours from our house…
How We Became a Multicultural International Family How I Met My Canadian Husband It all started in one day in Florida. I was on my second Teen Missions team and Chuck was a leader. It wasn’t love at first sight. Far from it, actually. But it eventually became love and 23 years later we have…
New Zealand 2018 : Chuck’s Wild Adventure Chuck is home from his three-week adventure in New Zealand. For both logistics and safety (were the worst to happen) Chuck and I travel to New Zealand separately. We would love to go together (and will someday) but for now, solo journeys seem best. Chuck spent the first…