Our Family Life

We created the family life and home we love ~~

Getting married for the second time is not for the faint of heart. We had three kids under seven. We both worked full time. Chris had one daughter and Sherry had a daughter and a son.  We added another daughter to the mix and now our family was 6.  It took a while, but we have created the home where we all want to be. . . it took budgeting our finances constantly, a landscape plan, prioritizing our many projects — all while raising four kids.

 

In the beginning. . . . life was hectic but the beauty of being busy is you have no time to waste.  The number of times we drove in and out of the driveway had to be a record.  All the while, we came home to a house we loved and settled in for the long haul.  

 

Chris has always had a creative eye, loves the outdoors and working outside. Our yard was the perfect canvas for his vision as it needed a lot of work.  The previous owners left an outline of what it could be but we knew that it had so much potential to be amazing. 

When we look back at 40 plus years of Chris tending to every inch of it, the feeling of stepping out the back door is filled with pride and the calm feeling of nature surrounding us.  

 

 

 

As the kids grew and work slowed down a bit, we were able to invest our time and money into a second floor art studio.  It has far surpassed what we hoped and allowed Chris to discover and hone his talent of oil painting.  The room contains remnants of our past in every corner — the sailboat pictures from our early days in Dana Point, the slicer table from our restaurant — which now has a second purpose as an art table for grandkids — and a view of the gazebo that Chris’s father built for us.

 

 

Over the years, Sherry’s love of organizing led to a career in law office management.  Career goals soon gave way to her love of writing.  With the kids out on their own, a bedroom turned into her office sanctuary.  A blog became her perfect medium and this website was born.  

 

Many years later and our home has changed just like we have.  The front door has opened and closed to so many — and the squeak has never been fixed.  We look back and hope that every part of growing up here made a difference to our kids.  The grandkids know it is theirs to play in…dream in.  Chris and Sherry started their adventure in 1983 and planned each year as life happened.