2023 Newsletter
You can read our 2023 Christmas newsletter here. Callaghans 2023 newsletter.
We hope you had a great Christmas, and have a wonderful year in 2024.
November 2023 Cruise around New Zealand on the Pacific Explorer.
Sadly, Kathy's sister Sue died just as we were about to board the ship and there was no way we could re-schedule to get to the funeral. Fortunately Kathy was able to keep in touch with the family so they could support each other in this sad time.
Susan Margaret Andersen died on 20 November 2023, aged 74. Details of Sue's life and family are recorded here.
Sue and Kathy 2022
Our cruise on the Pacific Explorer took us from Auckland to Christchurch, Dunedin, Fiordland, Picton and then back to Auckland. Unfortunately we were not able to berth in Stewart Island or Timaru, but it was a relaxing cruise, during which we really appreciated seeing the beautiful New Zealand scenery.
You can read all about our cruise here: Pacific Explorer NZ cruise and can watch our Youtube video here: Pacific Explorer NZ It is a bit different to our normal cruise videos - more musical!
September 2023. Visiting family in Melbourne.
It was lovely to see everyone again, and especially to see Fraser and Debbie's new house.
Back: Phil, Luke, Fraser, Heidi, JJ, Debbie,
Front: Mo. Billie, Dan, Kathy.
June 2023. Cruise on the Pacific Explorer to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea
In June we went on a wonderful cruise on the Pacific Explorer. We left from Cairns, and visited the Solomon Islands, three ports in Papua New Guinea, and Norfolk Island, before returning to Auckland. We wanted to visit the Solomon Islands because Kathy's great, great, great uncle, Thomas Sandison, died there in an awful massacre. It was very moving to pay tribute to Thomas, acknowledging that he has not been forgotten. We loved learning about the WW2 history in the Solomons and in PNG, and also seeing the primitive cultures. People certainly do live quite differently in these parts of the world! You can read all about our trip here: Cruise on the Pacific Explorer, and watch our YouTube video here: Pacific Explorer Solomon Sea Islands Cruise.
March/April 2023. Visiting families in Australia, then cruising back to New Zealand on the Grand Princess
We flew to Melbourne and had a lovely time with Phil, Mo and Billie, and then with the Cunninghams: Fraser, Deb, JJ, Heidi, Luke and Dan. This was the first time post-covid Ross had felt confident to travel and visit the family. It was lovely to see everyone (even though we had seen them in NZ recently) and to celebrate Ross's birthday together.
Back: Fraser, Kathy, Ross, Billie, Deb, Luke, Heidi, Phil
Front: Dan, Mo, JJ.
Afterwards we cruised back home from Melbourne on the Grand Princess, visiting Eden, Sydney, Picton, Wellington, Napier, and Auckland. We discovered that this was a great way to get home from Australia, and reasonably cost-effective. You can read our daily log for the cruise here: Grand Princess cruise and watch our YouTube video here: Cruise from Australia to New Zealand on the Grand Princess.
Farewell Brian Callaghan
Ross's brother, Brian John Callaghan, died on 14 February, 2023, aged 74. His funeral was held at North Shore Golf Club and was a great celebration of Brian's life. Brian (Da) was remembered as a strong family man, a great father and grand-father, a successful businessman, a lover of frogs, and an enthusiastic golfer. RIP. See Brian Callaghan.
Ross and Kathy with Brian and Julie. 2018
January, February 2023: Both Australian families visit
In January the Cunninghams returned to NZ for a holiday, then in February the Callaghans came. It was lovely to see our families again and for the cousins to re-connect.
The Cunninghams: Heidi, Deb, Dan, Fraser, Luke, JJ
The Callaghans: Mo, Billie, Phil.
Granna and Poppa with the Cunninghams Granna and Poppa with the Callaghans and the Stevens.
Check out the videos we made while the two families were in NZ:
Family trip to Kapiti Island I forgot the grandchildren's names
2022 Annual Christmas newsletter
You can read our 2022 newsletter here: Callaghans 2022 newsletter
We continued with most of our regular activities, had a few local trips and escaped Covid!
More model ships!
During 2022 Ross made a few more model ships. He is now getting quite a following on YouTube!
You can watch how each ship was made here:
Lilla Weneda paper model https://youtu.be/Ra53_Q0aq5M
Wasa Airfix plastic model https://youtu.be/h7Zo1ed75yo
Scratch built model tugboat https://youtu.be/CHVX7DxcMQ0
April 2022 The Cunninghams came to NZ!
Debbie, Fraser. JJ, Heidi, Luke and Dan came to NZ to celebrate Jim Cunningham's 80th birthday. Jim is Fraser's father. It was great to be able to see the family after not being able to get together for so long due to the pandemic, and for the cousins to finally catch up.
Debbie, Heidi, Ross, Blake, JJ, Sarah
Luke, Dan, Kathy, Isla
2021 Christmas Newsletter.
Here is our 2021 newsletter. It comes with our best wishes and a sincere hope that the pandemic will die down and 2022 will be a much better year for us all. Callaghans 2021 Christmas Newsletter
October 2021. Model ship 'Toroa'.
Ross completed another model ship. This time it was a scratch build of the Toroa - a steam powered ferry that carried passengers between Devonport and Auckland (1925-1980). It is the only remaining Devonport ferry and is currently being restored in Henderson, Auckland. The Toroa has lots of sentimental value for Ross because he travelled to school on the ferries every day between 1959 and 1961. You can watch a video of the build here: Building the Toroa.
February/March 2021. Phil and Mo got married.
Due to Covid it was just a small wedding on the beach at Apollo Bay. We were very sad we couldn't be there, but we were able to be involved via Zoom. Flower girl Billie had a great time!!
Family history research
Kathy has completed two major family history research projects relating to her grandmother Eleanor Orr Askew nee Jones (known as Nell).
"The life and family of Jack and Nell Jones" describes the life and family of Jack and Nell Jones, Kathy's grand-parents: her mother Joyce's parents. Kathy writes that "it was a great sadness in my life that I never got the opportunity to meet Jack and Nell, but compiling this document has given me a much deeper understanding of who they were as people, and the challenges they faced so bravely".
You can download or read this document here: The life and family of Jack and Nell Jones
"The Askew and Orr ancestors of Eleanor Orr Jones nee Askew" describes the life and families of Nell's parents on both the Askew and Orr sides. Nell's ancestors were all of humble origin and endured many hardships. They came from Cumberland and Lancashire in northern England.
You can download or read this extensive document here: The Askew and Orr ancestors of Nell Jones
More details can be found on pages in this website for Kathy's parents, Eric and Joyce and Andersen, and on the page for Our grandparents.
Composition
Ross has composed his first piece of music - an Air. You can listen to it here: 'Air' by Ross Callaghan.
2020 Christmas newsletter
Well, 2020 certainly didn't turn out like everyone expected, did it?
We are so blessed to live in New Zealand, and thus have not been under threat from the virus - in fact our lives have been able to continue much as usual. (Except for not being able to travel overseas).
As usual we sent out a 2020 Christmas newsletter with all of our news. You can read it here: Callaghan's 2020 Christmas newsletter It came with a genuine wish that 2021 would be a much better year than 2020.
Model ship 'Danmark'.
During the lockdown Ross completed his biggest model ship project ever. The model is of the 'Danmark' - the training ship for Denmark. You can watch a video of the build here: Building the Danmark. The model is pretty spectacular!
Family history research.
In March 2020 Kathy completed extensive research into the Shetland Island ancestors of her father Eric Oscar Andersen. The families she researched were the Sandisons, Tullochs, Inksters, Isbesters and Porteous's. You can read the book she produced here: Our Shetland family. This follows our visit to the Shetland Islands in 2010 where we visited many of the places where the families came from. See "Exploring family history in the Shetland Islands".
February/March 2020. Visit to Melbourne and cruise to Tasmania on the Pacific Aria.
We had a short trip to Melbourne to catch up with the family. It was great to see 5 of our grandchildren:
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Kathy with JJ. Ross with Dan, Luke and Heidi
Phil, Mo and Billie
Afterwards we went on a short cruise to Kangaroo Island and Tasmania on the Pacific Aria. Read all about the cruise here: Cruise to Tasmania, and watch our video of the cruise here: Cruise to Tasmania on the Pacific Aria
This was one of the last cruises before Covid, and we just made it back to New Zealand before everything shut down!
February 2019.
We went on two cruises around New Zealand!! The first one was on the Radiance of the Seas going from Auckland to Melbourne via the Bay of Islands, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Akaroa, Dunedin and the Fiordland Sounds. A fantastic 10 day cruise. Check out our Youtube video for this cruise here: Radiance of the Seas
In Melbourne we had a lovely time catching up with the Cunninghams, and with Phil, Mo and Billie:
The Cunninghams: Debbie and Fraser, with Heidi, JJ, Luke and Dan.
Phil, Mo and Billie (with Rocky)
We then flew to Sydney and took another 10 day cruise, this time on the Ovation of the Seas - the biggest ship sailing around Australia and New Zealand. We visited Fiordland, Dunedin, Wellington, Napier and Picton before heading back to Sydney. Lots of wonderful new experiences on the Ovation. Check them out in our video here: Ovation of the Seas.
February 2018. Sarah turned 40.
Our wonderful daughter Sarah turned 40. Check out the video we made to celebrate Sarah's 40 years here: Sarah 40th.
Sarah and Michael with Isla and Blake.
December 2018.
Here is our annual Christmas newsletter; 2018 newletter
November 2018
We had a lovely short break in Samoa. You can see the video we made of our holiday here: Samoa 2018, and read about it here: Samoa holiday
October 2018. Welcome to Billie Alice Callaghan!
Phil and Mo's baby, Billie, was born on October 14th in Melbourne.
Billie is gorgeous! She is very placid and is adored by her parents (and grand-parents!). Billie is our seventh grand-child.
Model ships.
In 2018 and 2019 Ross built five model ships. They were part of a series he is doing as a legacy for our grand-children. Click on the links for each model ship to watch a video showing how it was created.
The paddlesteamer Emmylou. This model was built from scratch, based on photos of the Emmylou. See Emmylou The Emmylou is based on the Murray River in Echuca, Victoria, Australia.
The Santa Maria. The Santa Maria was the lead ship for Christopher Columbus' 1492 expedition to find a passage from Europe to India. He discovered America! The Santa Maria was built from an old Graupner kitset. See Santa Maria
La Pinta. La Pinta was the second ship in Columbus' fleet. Together with La Nina, she brought the Columbus and his crew back to Spain, after the Santa Maria sank on Christmas night 1492. See La Pinta The model was built from scratch, based on an old photograph of a replica of La Pinta.
La Nina. This was the third ship in Columbus' fleet. The model was also built from scratch. See La Nina.
The HMS President. A beautiful model built from a Sergal/Mantua kit. See HMS President.
The Emmylou The Santa Maria and La Pinta
June 2018. We visited Melbourne to look after Debbie's children while she was away studying; then we went on a short cruise to New Caledonia on the Pacific Eden. Check out the video of this cruise here: Pacific Eden, and the daily log of our cruise here: Cruise to New Caledonia on the Pacific Eden.
February 2018. We went on a wonderful cruise to Papua New Guinea on the 'Pacific Aria'.
Papua New Guinea was a great place to visit. It was fascinating to see the primitive culture; the
effect of the Japanese invasion during WW2, and the devastation caused
by volcanoes. Check our the video of this cruise here: Pacific Aria cruise and our log of the trip here.
December 2017.
The Cunningham and Stevens families were with us for Christmas. It was lovely to all get together again.
Back row: Fraser, JJ, Heidi, Luke, Blake
Front row: Debbie, Dan, Kathy, Isla, Ross, Sarah, Michael
Here is our 2017 Newsletter: Callaghans 2017 newsletter
November 2017. Ross completed his most complex ship model so far - the USS Constellation. Lots of intricate work involved! The model was made from an Artesania Latina kit.
Check out the video of this build here: USS Constellation
August 2017. We went on a cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu on the "Sun Princess".
Another wonderful cruise! Check our the video of this cruise here: Cruise on the Sun Princess and our log of the trip here. Afterwards we visited the family in Melbourne.
March 21 2017. Ross turned 70.
Debbie, Ross, Kathy, Sarah and Phil on Ross's 70th birthday
Debbie and Phil came over from Melbourne (and so did Heidi and Dan - a big surprise!). We had a great party with the Youth Group and with our family and friends.
February 2017. We went on a cruise on the 'Radiance of the Seas' to celebrate Ross's 70th birthday.
We started in Sydney and visited Brisbane (where we met up with Mike and Gaye Carman), Cairns (where we were not able to dock due to the weather), Darwin (where we went on a tour to Litchfield National Park), Bali (where we went on a tour with taxi driver TBall); Port Hedland, and Geraldton (where we met Fiona Davidson). The cruise finished in Freemantle (where we went on tours of the city, the Swan River and Perth).
Click here to watch the video we made of this wonderful cruise: Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas February 2017
Click here to read the travelogue of the trip and see photos of all the places we visited.
After the cruise we flew to Melbourne for a week with Debbie's family and to catch up with Phil and Mo.
Phil, Mo and Rocky
January 2017.
Kathy completed researching the Tyson and Graham family lines (Ross's mother's family lines).
This amazing piece of genealogical research can be read by clicking here: Tyson and Graham family history.
It starts with Ross and goes back through seven generations. The Tyson and Graham families originally came from from Cumberland, England.
Christmas 2016.
You can read our 2016 Christmas newsletter by clicking here: 2016 Newsletter.
May 2016. Debbie turned 40.
We went to Melbourne to celebrate Debbie's 40th birthday. .After a great party we looked after the children for a few days so Debbie and Fraser could have a holiday together. We survived quite well!
We then had a lovely time driving from Melbourne to Adelaide, following the Murray River. See Melbourne to Adelaide 2016. You can watch the short video we made of this trip here. We love the Murray River!
Then it was back to Melbourne for JJ's 10th birthday.
Ross has a new hobby: making model ships.
His first model was of the Marie Jeanne, a French tuna fishing boat from the early 20th century. The model was built in the same way as the original and took 4 months to construct. It was made from an Artesania Latina kit and is very detailed!
You can watch a video showing the construction of the Marie Jeanne here.
His second model was of the PS Pevensey. This paddleship was renamed the PS Philadelphia for the mini-series "All the Rivers Run". We have been on a short cruise on the PS Pevensey, out of Echuca on the River Murray.
The model of the PS Pevensey took nearly 3 months to make and it was not made from a kit. Ross worked out a plan for it based on photos of the PS Pevensey. You can download the plan and make the model yourself if you like! Click here to download the plan: Pevensey plan
You can also watch a video showing construction of the PS Pevensey here.
April 2016. Cruise to Fiji and Tonga.
We went on another wonderful cruise, this time to Fiji and Tonga on the "Pacific Pearl". We were accompanied by our friends from America, LaDonna and Tony Cheatham and we sure had a great time!
Read all about our cruise here.
Watch the video we made for the cruise here. Cruise to Fiji and Tonga
Click here to read our 2015 newsletter.
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Our family in 2015: Phil, Debbie, Dan, Ross, Heidi, Blake, Kathy, Michael, JJ (front), Sarah, Isla, Luke, Fraser
October 2015. Kathy turned 60.
We celebrated Kathy's 60th birthday in style!
- In April we went on a trip to Asia, including a 17 night cruise on the "Celebrity Millennium". (See below).
- In September the whole family got together at Debbie's place in Melbourne and had a great 60th birthday party.
- On the actual birthday (30th October) we went to Wellington and saw Peter Jackson's amazing World War 1 exhibition, followed by takeaways with Sarah and her family.
- We had a soiree with many of our local friends and watched a video showing 60 years of Kathy's life. You can watch this video by clicking here: Kathy 60 years
July 2015.
Our church, Gateway Christian Fellowship, completed its ministry to elderly people in the Kapiti area and closed down after 11.5 years of faithful service. We had a huge input into the church during the last 7 years, and it was extremely enriching to be part of such a wonderful fellowship. See Gateway Christian Fellowship. We will continue to support the elderly people who so enjoy being in our home, and will now be able to have more time for our other community activities.
Click here to watch the video we made which shows the history, people and ministry of Gateway Christian Fellowship.
April 2015.
We had a wonderful holiday in Asia. We started with a lovely week in Langkawi, Malaysia, then met up with Debbie and her family on beautiful Panglao Island in the Philippines.
A week later we flew to Hong Kong and joined the Celebrity Millennium for a 17 day cruise visiting Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China. You can read all about this holiday by clicking here: Asia 2015.
You can also watch YouTube movies of the trip here:
Langkawi Kuala Lumpur Panglao Asia Cruise on the Celebrity Millennium
March 2015.
Blake turned 5 and has now started at Belmont School. He is sure to be a model pupil (especially as Sarah is teaching at the school!).
February 2015. Visit of Norwegian family.
Five members of our Norwegian family visited New Zealand and we took them on an exciting (and sometimes emotional) tour of the North Island. Together we visited the places where Kathy's grandfather, Harald Oskar Andersen, lived and worked. We also met with NZ members of Harald's family, thus completing a joining of families that begun in 2010 when we visited Norway. (See story here).
Magnar and Rosa Haraldsen; Ross and Kathy Callaghan; Vera, Wenche and Roar Haraldsen.
Check out the video we made of this great family experience. The video shows the places where Harald lived and worked in NZ (1904-1962) and highlights some of the great family experiences we had, and the wonderful cultural and tourist experiences we shared. Harald Andersen's life in New Zealand
Along the way our amazing story was featured in two newspapers. You can check them out here:
December 2014.
Here is our 2014 Christmas Newsletter. Christmas 2014
We also recorded a Christmas song and put it on YouTube. Click here to listen: Come on ring those bells.
This year we had Christmas with the Stevens family:
Michael, Sarah, Blake and Isla with Kathy (Granna) and Ross (Poppa)
August 2014.
We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with our family in Melbourne. Check out the video our family made for our anniversary by clicking here: 40 years. Check out the slideshow of our 40 years together by clicking here: Family story
We were married on the 31st August 1974 at Glenfield Presbyterian Church, and have had a wonderful time together over the last 40 years. Amazing how Kathy hasn't aged at all in 40 years!
2014 40 years earlier
Celebrating 40 years: Fraser and Debbie, Dan, JJ, Luke, Ross, Kathy and Heidi. August 2014.
June 2014.
To celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, we went on a wonderful trip to the United States and the Caribbean. We spent time in Los Angeles and Miami, then took a 2 week cruise around the western and eastern Caribbean on board the 'Carnival Glory'. Fabulous! Afterwards we spent a few days in Washington DC.
What a great way to celebrate 40 years together! You can read all about this trip by clicking here.
You can also watch our videos for this trip by clicking here: Caribbean cruise California Miami Washington DC
April 2014.
We had a lovely holiday in Port Stephens, New South Wales, with Debbie's family and then drove north to the Gold Coast and Brisbane, visiting with Geoff and Andrea Grigg, and Mike and Gaye Carman. You can watch the video of our trip to Port Stephens by clicking here: Port Stephens.
Main events of 2013.
Blake, Sarah, Isla and Michael. End of 2013.
Cunningham family 2013. Back: JJ, Fraser, Luke and Heidi. Front: Debbie and Dan.
- We spent Christmas with our family in Melbourne. It was lovely to catch up with Debbie, Fraser, JJ, Heidi, Luke and Dan, and also Phil and Sarah.
- In November 2013 Kathy went to Hawaii to enjoy the Sweet Adeline International Competitions and to catch up with old friends.
- In August 2013 Ross completed writing his book "Tomorrow I'm going to disappear". The book is 'faction' - a fiction novel based on fact. It tells the story of how Kathy's grandfather, Harald Oskar Andersen, came from Norway to New Zealand in 1904. You can read the book by clicking here: Tomorrow I'm going to disappear.
- In June 2013 we went on a wonderful trip to the Pacific Islands. First we went on a 10 day cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia on the 'Pacific Pearl'. The cruise was brilliant and we had good weather (and calm seas!) all the way. Next we flew up to Fiji and stayed at the Smuggler's Cove resort, just out of Nadi. What a gorgeous place! Beautiful beaches, lovely sunsets, plenty of interesting activities.... We loved Fiji!
Click here for a full description of our trip to the Pacific Islands: Pacific Islands 2013. Click here to watch our video of the cruise on the Pacific Pearl.
After a week in Fiji we flew to Melbourne to look after the grandchildren while Debbie was in New Zealand, and then enjoyed a reunion at Glenfield Presbyterian Church (where we were married in 1974).
- In April 2013 Phil and Sarah left for Melbourne, Australia. They sold their NZ business and set up a new business selling badges and T shirts online and at youth conventions.
Now two of our children live in Melbourne so we will no doubt be visiting there quite often!
- Sarah and Michael's daughter Isla Grace Stevens was born in April 2013. Isla was 4.32kg and came into the world quickly and easily. Blake was rapt to have a new sister and Granna and Poppa to have a sixth grand-child!
- In March 2013 we had a lovely holiday with Debbie and Fraser and the children in Forster, New South Wales, Australia. Watch the video of our time in Forster by clicking here: Forster
- Our family all got together for Christmas 2012. Click here to watch the video of our Christmas celebrations: Christmas 2012. Here is our family photo.
Back row: Debbie, JJ, Fraser, Heidi, Sarah, Blake, Michael
Front row: Dan, Sarah, Phil, Luke, Ross, Kathy.
- In September/October 2012 we went on a great Cosmos tour of Central Europe visiting Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic and Austria. Read about our trip here and watch the amazing video we made here. On our way home we stopped over in the United Arab Emirates, visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Click here to read about this visit or watch our video here.
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Before the Cosmos tour we had a wonderful time in Norway catching up with family we met when we were there briefly, two years ago. (See below for the amazing story of how this came about). You can read about our visit to Norway here.and watch videos here: Folk and Viking Museum, Bringing in the sheep, Life in Norway. Visiting the Valdrez Mountains.
- Debbie and Fraser's new baby Dan Caleb was born on the 29th August 2012. A new brother for JJ, Heidi and Luke!
- In March 2012 we had a wonderful holiday in Rarotonga. You can read all about this trip by clicking here. You can watch our video of this trip here Rarotonga - main sights
Main events in 2011.
- In 2011 our travels took us to America. We started with a few days in New York, then tried to find information about Kathy's great, great grandfather in Connecticut. After this we visited with friends in Kansas and in Oregon. Next we went on a Gaither Gospel Cruise to Alaska. How wonderful! Click here to read the daily log for this trip.
- In July 2010 we went on an extensive trip to Hong Kong, Scandinavia, Russia, Estonia, Shetland and Turkey! You can read about our travels by clicking on the following links. Scandinavia Russia and Estonia Turkey You can watch our videos of these two great trips here: Trafalgar's Scandinavia, Russia and Estonia, Trip around Turkey.
- On our trip we also met up with family in Norway, Shetland and Tonbridge. You can read about these wonderful meetings by clicking here: Meeting with the family in Norway, Shetland and Tonbridge
The reporter got a call from his own cousin, who had seen the article, telling him that their great grandfather had the same name, date and place of birth. Could this possibly be the same man? They started searching records and found that indeed their great grandfather and Kathy's grandfather were the same man!! So not only was the reporter a relative, but we had now discovered a whole new family in Norway! We didn't know they existed and they didn't know we existed!
We soon had many emails from our very excited Norwegian family with lots of photos. It appeared that Harald had 2 children before he left Norway and the offspring of those children had finally discovered what had happened to him. They thought that he had 'disappeared' in 1903 and was possibly lost at sea. It was strange to see photos of strangers from the other side of the world that looked like Kathy's father!
We then came on another interesting aspect of the story. One of the older Norwegian family members described something that had never been mentioned before. Apparently Harald's son had said that Harald and 3 other men had got in a fight in 1903 and a man had died. Harald must have thought he was guilty of murder and got a job on a ship so he could 'disappear'. As it turned out the man died from hitting his head and no one was charged with his death, but Harald never knew this. He had already disappeared. No-one in Norway knew where he went and (to our knowledge) Harald never contacted any of his family in Norway, not even his mother or partner Anna. Harald's Certificate of Discharge told us that he ended up in NZ and that he 'failed to complete his voyage' in 1904. Kathy later learned that he had been put in jail when he arrived in New Zealand, for stealing a suit.
Harald married Andrina Louisa Gertrude Sandison (Kathy's grandmother) in 1916 and they had 6 children (including Eric, Kathy's father). Harald had not married the woman with whom he had the children in Norway so he was not a bigamist!
When we met with the family in Norway we had a wonderful day! We were taken to visit many of the significant places in Harald's life, and in the life of his children and their families. We also met most of the living relatives in a very moving family get-together. It was incredible to see how similar in appearance many were to Kathy!! We now have lots of new friends (and a much bigger family!). We are very grateful to everyone who made this such a special day! Read all about the day here: Meeting with the family in Norway
Watch our video of the special day here: Meeting family in Norway.
This amazing story has also been published in the September/October issue of NZ Genealogist and Magnar and Kathy are on the front cover!! Read all about it here: NZ Genealogist September/October 2010
For more information about Harald and Andrina and their family, go to the 'Grandparents' section of our website. Click here: Grandparents.
- Sarah and Michael's son Blake was born in March, 2010. Blake was our 4th grandchild.
