Our Family all live in the U. S.   They used to all live in California where we lived while they were growing up.  I was born in California, moved around a bit, and then ended up back in California at age 25.  I left at 50 when I retired and went sailing.  Patti lived in California her whole life until then.  Jeff has never left but Chris has moved for his profession and Nick now lives in Oregon.
	Chris, our oldest son, lives with his wife Kim and their twin boys in West Virginia.   Chris got his Ph. D. and Kim got her Master's in 2005.  They met on Diego Garcia, an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  Kim was stationed there in the Navy and Chris was a Marine.  Kim, who already had a few years of college, convinced Chris to go back to school when he got out.  They support each other totally and together have accomplished so much.  Chris is now an Associate Professor and Kim worked for the VA before having kids.  She's taking a year off at the moment to care for the twins.
	Jeff, the next son, lives with his wife, Laura, and their two boys north of San Diego.  They met in college.  They are just about the only people I know who did things in the "right" order: (1) They both got their degrees, (2) They both got good jobs, (3) Then they got married, and (4) Only after THAT did they start having kids.   Now who does THAT any more?  The four of them live in a big house in a very nice suburb.  Jeff is a project engineer who lays out building sites using computer graphics software (GIS).  Laura is a chemist working in the pharmaceutical industry.
	Nick, the youngest, recently married Chanda, who he met in Oregon.  They live near Portland, Oregon.  In Australia they would call Nick a "petrol-head", that is, he loves cars.  He is service manager for a major tire/auto-repair company and loves his job.  We're looking forward to meeting our new step-grandkids.  For the first time, we have girls in our family!
	Keenan Patrick, our first grandson, was born in 2002.  We were in New Zealand at the time, preparing for a challenging ocean passage.  But naturally we had to fly back to meet him.  This meant so much to us.  Holding our first grandchild in our arms ... well, we're hardly the first to experience it, but it will always be one of the great times of our lives.  Keenan loves his little brother but they fight like cats and dogs at times.  Although we don't see him for almost a year sometimes, Keenan always remembers us.  Lately we've been talking via Web-cam, which helps a lot.
	Elias John, was born in 2004.  We flew back from Australia to see him after he was born.  He is a sweety.  He hadn't been feeling well and I held him more than any baby since my own were little.  It is amazing how you can bond with a tiny unspeaking baby.  We miss our grandkids a lot more than our kids.  We don't want to miss them growing up.  Fortunately, Jeff and Laura have been great.  They let us stay with them for weeks each year when we're in the States so we can maximize our visits.  Thanks!!
	Vincent Chalfant, born in 2006.  Vinnie scared the hell out of us at about 7 months in Kim's pregnancy when the doctors thought they detected a potentially fatal defect - a herniated diaphragm.  His intestines and possibly other organs had slipped through a hole in his diaphragm and were compressing his heart and lungs.  The biggest worry was that his still-developing lungs would be permanently damaged.  They waited until 8 months to take him out so his lungs would have a chance to grow more and then poor 6-lb. Vinnie underwent major surgery and 3 weeks in intensive care.  He came through like a champ (his parents and grandparents didn't do so well!) and hasn't had a sick day since.  Without modern medicine and great doctors, he would have probably died eventually.
	Mason Chalfant (on the left), Vinnie's identical twin brother.  Mason was born totally healthy.  After 8 months of fighting for space with his brother, they were separated for 3 weeks while Vinnie was in the hospital.  Since then they've been getting re-aquainted.  Mason still weighs about a pound more than Vinnie.  They have distinct personalities but are similar in most ways.  Raising two at once is much harder than one at a time so Kim and Chris have had their lives totally upended.  But they're very happy parents.

For more photos, please visit our Family Photos page.