Where We're From

This isn't really about Tanzania, but it is about us. Many of you know that we have lived in the Twin Cities for 18 years, but we were very unusual in that a) we weren't native Minnesotans, and b) we lived pretty far away from our families. Admit it, you Minnesotans--there's some genetic link/pull that keeps y'all pretty close to the Midwest! That's something that we actually looked forward to as we started our family--knowing that they'd be native Minnesotans and the odds that we'd live near our grandkids would be pretty good. Well, then we moved to Tanzania, so who knows now?

So this bit is a peek at our families...

But first...do you ever have a picture that just catches the essence of someone? This is Noah at 4 at his preschool program. He is dancing with his best friend from "back home". They had two years of preschool, 3 seasons of soccer, and two seasons of baseball together in their short lives. Noah is so enthusiastic and loyal. The joy on his face just shows him loving life and living in the moment.

Update--Noah's little buddy reminded me that there were also 2 seasons of floor hockey together, too! What a pair. We miss you guys!





I'm 10 years older than my sister and so for most of my life I didn't really get to know her. One of the blessings of having kids is that she and I have become much closer. She's crazy, though--totally Montana. She's bungee-jumped (and not necessarily in a yes-we-know-what-we're-doing-and-we-have-insurance-so-you-can-trust-us kind of way), gone sky-diving, and jumped off bridges into the river in Glacier. She is forever buying stuff and ice cream for my kids when we go to Montana and has access to cool stuff like jet skis, boats, and ATVs, which my kids love. Here she's reining it in a bit because Ava's on the sled but even this sledding day involved risk of bodily injury!




My brother, Greg, is also a bit crazy. He can be gruff-looking, but he has a heart bigger than Montana. He'd give you the shirt off his back, no questions asked. He went through a pretty bad patch a few years ago and he stands as one of the people I admire most for his transformation. That's him with a gun, showing Cameron how to shoot. The gun Cameron is holding actually belongs to my sister (sitting) and it's sized for a child about Noah's age. Really. And now that some of you are getting wound up about guns in the hands of kids, let me say that there's no cheaper entertainment than a box of 100 bullets (purchased at the grocery store for $4.00) to keep a kid occupied. Cameron took the whole thing very seriously and was very careful. It's a Montana thing.
My brother has always loved fireworks, too--the bigger the explosion the better, which my kids also find fascinating.

Incidentally, I'm actually the black sheep of the family--consequently, I'm pretty sure I've missed out on a lot of fun in my life.

This is not good. Not because I worry about Mark, but because I have photographic evidence that he successfully encouraged my babies to leap off this same cliff. It's a practice jump--he took Cameron up to a 30 foot drop and jumped.

Actually, all dads should do things with their kids when their moms aren't around. They have a ton of fun in ways you just can't have when Mom's near. And it really does turn out OK. Too often I think we as moms don't have enough faith in dads. I'd've been so putting my foot down on this one.

My mom is great with the kids. Sadly, I've inherited none of her patience and gentle nature. She's always willing to play games or color and tries to think of ways make sure their visits are fun. Well, she lives on 30 acres of woods and owns a whitewater raft, so I guess fun's a given. I used to try to think of things for her to do when she came to visit us, things she doesn't normally get to do in Montana, things that sometimes didn't involve the kids, but she said once, "I don't come to do those things, I come to see the kids and you." 'Nough said.


Yeah, Mark doesn't like this picture. I guess the headbands are a bit politically incorrect. The water softener company's been handing them out at the Flathead County Fair for something like 60 years and we all wore them as kids every summer. Rodeos aren't very politically correct, either, in many circles, but if you've never been to one, man, are you missing out! Especially if you can go to one out West. A bar in my hometown has bullriding once a month. It's a blast.

The highlight of every year is our camping trip with Mark's brother and his family who live in Idaho. Here are the cousins--the oldest is now 12 and Ava is the youngest. Neither Cathy nor I would necessarily choose camping as our first vacation choice, but we are unanimous in our recognition of camping being the best way for us to get together and have a fantastic time. The Hillmans camped for every vacation. We stay at the same campground (Avalanche) and take the same hikes every time we go. We did Yellowstone and the Black Hills, but I miss Glacier every year that I don't go back. I'm sure there are really beautiful places in the States--I wonder when I'll see them. The boys are crazy here and Ava's too young to know the danger she's in!

We have other Hillman cousins, too. Steve and Jen live in the Quad Cities and we are terrible because we don't see them nearly as much as we should, considering they're not so far away. Whenever we get together, I feel bad when we leave because we have a great time, too. Ava loves her girl cousins! And Andrew loves books and legos so he's a perfect fit with Cameron and Noah. Actually, there are 10 Hillman cousins, the oldest being 12 and Ava being the youngest, so there's always someone who's the same age to hang with!




Mark's sister Diane is on the left. She lives in the Seattle area and we don't see her nearly enough, either. Confession time--we have limited vacation time and it's 24 hours to my mom's house in Montana, another 4 to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and another 8-9 after that to Seattle. The drive with kids just kills us to go that far, so we end up stopping at my mother's house. She lives 20 miles from the entrance to Glacier, where we camp every year. We just don't get out to the coast as often as we should...

This summer instead of camping we spent the week in Idaho with Mark's brother and family and Mark's parents. Cathy's parents live next door and they have a pool and the cousins have go-karts. We tubed, went to an amusement park, and generally had a fantastic time. Mark's parents did a great job teaching their kids about faith and family. We'll be blessed if we can raise the same quality of kids they did. We were so sad leaving, knowing we wouldn't see them for 3 years, but then we realized it was just 3 camping trips we would miss! Then it didn't seem so long...


This is us on our first full day in Tanzania. My friend Lindsay posted a funny pic of her and her attempt to get all 4 kids to "look nice" for a family shot. It's been my experience that if you want a nice family picture don't have more than 2 kids. You just can't control for more than that. This one is rare, because we're all in it and we're all looking pretty normal and not too shell-shocked. Cameron looked at the picture and said, "Geeze, that was a long time ago!" It was 7 months ago--but in some ways a lifetime. We are not the same people that you see in the picture. We are changing in little and in fundamental ways, learning about ourselves as parents, Christians, and Americans, trying to discern what is the best of what we are and what we have to give. We are truly blessed by the family you see here, the friends that are reading this, and the God that provides what we truly need.