Us & Our Families:

• Me: ‘Bleuberry’… I’m the HR Director for a charity here in Canada. I’m a vegetarian (lacto-ovo, for those who care) but would be a vegan if I weren’t married to Rob. I love local and sustainable farms/suppliers, and every time I think about a sunny afternoon swinging in my hammock, between the fruit trees in our backyard, I smile.

• My DH: “Rob”… Love him. He’s a super stereotypical ‘guy.’ He’s a journeyman automotive mechanic. He knows what he’s doing and he’s REALLY good at it. He loves trucks – mostly anything diesel and/or Ford. Rob also loves camping and 4x4ing with his friends, and he’s a great friend.

• Bro & SIL: “Will” & “Dawn”… they live about 20 minutes from us and they’re awesome. They have a 2-year old son (“Little Jay”) and he’s super cute, but I could be biased.

• Mom & Dad: “Marg” & “Ed”… they live about 10 minutes from us and they’re great. Seriously. I really think my parents are fantastic. I wouldn’t have said the same thing when I was a teenager (“You guys are so mean – I hate you!!”) but I was an idiot. I know better now. They both recently retired pretty young, so now they’re all peppy and full of beans, which is pretty entertaining. 😉

• DH’s Dad & His Wife: “Sir” & “Anna”… they’re about 45 minutes from us, and we don’t see them very often, but it’s great to see them when we do. Rob is an only child and his mom (“Mary”) died in March, 2010. That sucked a lot. Rob’s parents divorced shortly before we got married, and his dad re-married Anna not long after we got married. They’d ‘been together’ since well before he left Mary. It was (and often still is) all a little surreal.

The Others:

• Mr. O & Mrs. O: An awesome couple from our church who adopted both of their boys through private domestic adoption. Their boys are about 4 & 6 now, and they’re super neat kids… They (the boys) think that Rob is super cool because he has ‘monster trucks.’ (He doesn’t really, but they think the trucks are huge!)

• Mr. N & Mrs. N: This is a couple who work for the same charity that I do, and who adopted their son in early/mid 2011, at 3 1/2 years old, through CAS in Ontario. They’re a huge source of information and inspiration for me!

• Mr. S & Mrs. S: Mrs. S and I worked together for about 1 1/2 years before she and her husband adopted a sibling group of 3 (2, 3, and 7 years old!) in the spring/summer of 2011. She’s been so helpful and encouraging to connect with, and it’s so nice that they’re here in BC. Yay!