More about our family!

Our hope is to add a new family member.

5 things we love about our family…

1). We show up for each other. No matter how far away we live, our extended family – on both sides – uses every medium available (from calling to texting to visiting to emailing to Skyping) to be involved in each other’s daily lives.
2). We know how to laugh. There is no shortage of humor, silliness and laughter in our home. We don’t own a television and often say we don’t need one because we spend our time amusing each other.
3). We think that kind is cool. It is kind of our family motto.
4). We work hard. We don’t think everyone’s path to success is defined in the same way. Whether you find your future through school or trade, we think hard work, determination and drive matter most.
5). There is almost nothing we won’t try – at least once. From food to adventures, we try hard to be open to the world around us.

More About Craig:

Favorite Place(s): The beach; anywhere my family is; often, wherever we’re traveling.
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Activity: Traveling – discovering new places and people never gets old.
Favorite Food: Steak
Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving
Favorite Season: Summer
Best Day Ever: The day I realized I had fallen in love with Erica.
Favorite Book: Ender’s Game
Favorite Movie(s): Star Wars (Episodes 4-6), Les Miserables (Broadway more than the movie)
Favorite Song(s): Sweet Emotion, Stairway to Heaven
Favorite Band(s): Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Black Keys
Favorite Subject(s): Finance/Economics
Favorite Sport: Anything I can play with family and friends from soccer to bean bag toss.
Guilty Pleasures: Zombie movies and video games
Favorite Hobbies: Investing, running, reading, hiking, travel
My Passion: Trying to make the world just a little bit better each day.
How People Describe Me: Loyal, hardworking, smart, loving and affectionate.
Most Important Thing to Me: Raising kids who are engaged, happy and kind.
What Inspires Me: People who do good in the world.
My Dream for my Children: That they grow up to be happy and fulfilled people of character.

More About Erica:

Favorite Place: New York City. I know it is dirty and crowded but it is home for me.
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Activity: Travelling with my family. From visiting new places nearby, to long road trips, to camping, to cities. I love discovering new places and having adventures.
Favorite Food(s): Dumplings
Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving
Favorite Season: Fall
Best Day Ever: Marrying Craig
Favorite Book(s): This one is hard. I am an avid reader and fall in love regularly. Some of the books that have influenced me are Pride and Prejudice, The Catcher and the Rye, The Age of Innocence, Atlas Shrugged, The Prince of Tides, The Bell Jar, The Little Price, Oh-the-Places You’ll Go.
Favorite Movie(s): Casablanca, Grease and Out of Africa.
Favorite Song(s): Me and Bobby McGee and Southern Cross
Favorite Band(s): Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan and The Beatles.
Favorite Subject: Art
Favorite Sport: While I don’t personally like sports, I grew up in a MAJOR sports watching family and so any time everyone gathers on my parent’s couch and screams at the TV, I am happy – it doesn’t matter if it is baseball, football, hockey or basketball.
Guilty Pleasure: Watching Home and Garden reality television and fantasizing about moving to rural America and renovating houses.
Favorite Hobbies: Cooking, theatre, museums, reading.
My Passion: Contributing to a world where people accept difference, embrace diversity and fight for peace and security for all.
How People Describe Me: Funny, loyal, open-minded, creative, driven, smart and passionate.
Most Important Thing to Me: Helping my children grow into kind, ethical, happy people.
What Inspires Me: Bravery.
My Dream for my Children: To live honestly and to find what (and who) they love.

More About Our Family:

We love to cook and bake as a family. Both Craig’s side of the family and Erica’s side of the family love to come together and cook for holidays and special occasions. We see it as the “more the merrier” when it comes to having the people we love celebrate with us.

We love to be outside and explore nature. Whether it is fishing and water sports in Minnesota over the summer or camping under the stars and hiking in Africa, we love to explore new places by getting out into nature.

We love music, dance and theater. Both sides of our family are very musical. Family parties or gatherings often end with group singing, dancing and instrument playing. We love seeing live music and anything on stage – especially when we visit New York City over the summer.

We love to travel. Not only do we live overseas and work in international development, we are passionate about exploring new places as a family. We love to walk and get lost and learn about the culture, food and history of places we visit.

We like to play games. From cards to board games to video games, we like to compete with each other! We particularly like strategy games and some of us are better losers than others.

We love our home nest. As much as we love to spread our wings and experience the world, we are also homebodies. We love to spend time as a family or with friends at our house, playing games, reading, doing science experiments, watching movies, sharing meals, just connecting and being together.