Hello! It has been a while since I’ve done an update. The time just flies by, especially with two little kids. We are coming up on 6 years for us living down here in Chile! I feel like the time has gone fast, but it also feels like our lives have changed so much. We came to Chile when Jenine was pregnant with Rena in 2016 with just some suitcases and a hotel room, and since then we’ve built a nice little family life here. Zac turns 3 in August and Rena just turned 5. They are such good friends and play together so well. It is so sweet to watch.
Easter egg hunt 
Creating a trap for a Heffalump 
Halloween Trick or Treating 
As of March of this year they are going to school together as well. It is the Forest Preschool called Waiwen that Jenine helped found and increasingly spends most of her day running. It really challenges her, and it is doing really well. They started with an army style tent and it has grown to have full classrooms and a beautiful outdoor learning space. This year they added first grade with plans to keep growing. Over 60 kids are attending this year!
Off to explore the forest 
First Waiwen June 2019 – Tent 
First Construction began March 2020 
January 2021 
Waiwen March 2022
The big news is that Jenine is 38 weeks pregnant, and we are in the final count down to welcoming another boy or girl to the family. We are excited and nervous. I never thought we’d actually have 3 kids, and still can’t believe it is happening. Was always my dream to have 3. Very soon, like tomorrow, we are going to move into an Airbnb close to a major hospital in Viña del Mar, about 2 hours north of us. But the plan is to try to have the baby in the house we rented, but if there are any complications, the hospital will be right there.
What have I been up to, or what do I do all day, as my friends like to ask? Besides all the surfing?? Actually, I think my day to day is pretty awesome. I keep busy renting and doing maintenance on our guest house on Airbnb and I spend a lot of time with the kids when school gets out at 1pm every day. Also, we live pretty remote and semi-off the grid and there is no end to the “fun” projects I can do on my house and the guest house. Some recent projects included redoing the deck, fixing the roofs, changing the water pump on our 200 feet deep well, digging and installing a new septic system, cutting down trees for fire season, installing new water heaters, changing out bad windows, building furniture, adding new foundations under the guest house because it was sinking(!), and, my favorite, making home filling station for diesel for our trucks because the closest gas station is 45 minutes away. More and more I’m also becoming the maintenance man at Waiwen. These are mostly interesting projects, and we really love our home. I’m also very thankful that the guest house is renting really well on Airbnb. Hopefully, we can welcome more visitors from the USA now! AIRBNB LINK
Kids inside the hole for the new grey water drainage field 
New Deck 
Guest House
Last year we were able to visit the USA twice. In August, we went back to visit our parents in Oregon and my family’s new home in Corpus Christi, with a stop in between to celebrate our friend’s Joey and Anna’s wedding in my college town of Madison, WI. That was an epic party and it was so cool to see many of our friends again. We were back again to Corpus Christi for Christmas, and Jenine’s parents were able to come to Texas too. It was nice to have Christmas together, even though everyone got COVID!
This year we continued our traditions, including a family camping by the beach in the south of Chile (4th year now), going to the mountains to ski and picking 50lbs of blueberries during harvest. Jenine celebrated her 40th birthday in wine country and then found out she was pregnant a few days later! We didn’t take too many vacations, but it’s nice to really enjoy where you live. We do want to return to Praia do Rosa in Brazil, our favorite place in South America, next year if possible.
Skiing in the mountains in Chillán with friends 
Eating fresh fish camping 
Solitude by the beach 
Wine country, Jenine’s 40th 
Blueberry haul 
Rena’s 5th Birthday! 
Cooking some fresh jaiba (crab) caught by the local fisherman
I personally feel really great, healthy and happy here. It’s really challenging at times, but also pretty cool and different. I’ve become a more capable person here, and I get to surf empty waves almost whenever I want.
I am so excited to grow the family!
Thanks for keeping this going George! We love the updates with all the pictures.
Love you all, and can’t wait to be the family in July!!!
Joe
So great to see everybody and the grandkids. I love these updates.
Te amo!
Congratulations. I am so happy for all of you! Thank you for sharing the update and the beautiful photos.
Great update, and glad everything is going well. Thinking about you guys with #3 on the way!
So happy for you and your growing family! Thank you for the update. What an adventurous amazing life! Can’t wait to see your newest little Blessing.
Love from Auntie Carolyn and Uncle Paul 💖
So great to get an update. Congrats on number 3!!!
Congratulations! I can’t believe you have been there 6 years… seems like just yesterday that SF soirée was our top priority :). Miss you guys and hope a trip to SF is in the cards soon! And Jenine, I celebrated my 40th when I was 39 weeks pregnant so I think you took a much better approach 🙂