Vivien comes from a close-knit, child-centric family. In addition to her parents, Rolf and Corinne, and brother, Michael, she has about 50 relatives throughout the United States, including several adopted children. Vivien’s parents live in New Jersey, and spend lots of time with us. Michael lives in California but comes east several times a year. He adores the children in our families, and he does the uncle role very well.

Several of Vivien’s other relatives also live nearby. Recently, we joined her cousin Naomi, husband Gary and two adorable daughters at New York’s Central Park Zoo, enjoying the penguins, seals and sea lions and petting the farm animals. We also enjoy spending time with the girls doing arts and crafts – making ceramics is especially popular.

Vivien’s entire clan gets together every Thanksgiving weekend in a small Pennsylvania town where her mother and several generations of ancestors grew up. We stay at a lovely country inn and catch up on all the happenings of the previous year. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, adoptions, you name it. It’s an amazing annual tradition and we both love it.

Mark’s American family is pretty small in comparison. (However, he has multiple cousins who live abroad). We’re close with his mother, Lori, and sister, Susan, who live in central New York state, as well as his sister’s son and daughter who are now living in the western United States.