Our extended families

When we came to California, almost 10 years ago, we became part of a group of friends who met every Thursday night after work in a bar to hang out. We would chat about stuff and make plans to go on hikes on the weekends, or go camping together. This group was very international, with Americans, Australians, Germans, Dutch, Austrians, English, Irish, Indians, Greeks, Taiwanese, Finnish, Scottish, Japanese, a Canadian, and probably a few more nationalities. It was great to interact with so many different people and hear different perspectives to things that were happening and share our good and bad things. And because most of us were far away from our biological family, we became like family to each other.

Now, fast forward 10 years, about half of these people have moved away, some went back to their homelands, others to other places in the US. This gives us great opportunities for visits & weddings, with places to stay in different parts of the world. With email and Facebook, it is really easy to share important things in each others lives and see pictures of their kids (US-Japanese, Scottish-Finnish, German-French, etc).

The other half of our friends have stayed local and most of us have our families and jobs, so we don't go to the bar every week anymore. But we still hang out and share our lives. We now have known each other for so long and we have met most of each others parents and other family that came to visit that it feels even more like family. Including accepting each others funny ways.

Neighbors and friends at the coffee shop

Thijs meets Sierra, the youngest member of the coffee crew

Now that Thijs and I settled down on the coast, we are building a new extended family of mostly Californians in our town. These neighbors and friends are super positive & diverse and we have so much fun hanging out together. We meet a couple of times per week in the local coffee shop, and if something happens, we are there for each other. So now we have two sets of extended families, in addition to our biological families in the Netherlands. And whenever these extended families meet, they like each other, and are interested to chat to each other and hear different perspectives. Every now and then, we think about this and can't believe how rich we are to love and be loved by so many people around us that will step in when any one needs it. We have found a great home in California and can't wait to add an extended birth parent family in the mix.