.. and tell you about us. Our family.
We are The Mallaris. Ben, Tracie, Ian, Jacob, and Owen. In 2015, Ian married our sweet daughter-in-law, Katy, who is really more like the daughter we didn’t have.
Ben is from the Philippines. His dad was a surveyor so his family traveled and they lived most of their time in Thailand and Papua New Guinea. When he and his siblings each graduated high school, Ben’s parents sent them over to America to go to college. When they all got here, his parents came over and they each went through the process of becoming an American Citizen.
Lola means Grandmother and Lolo means Grandfather in Tagalog, the language spoken most in the Philippines.
Our kids grew up learning some of that language. They can’t have a conversation speaking Tagalog, but they can tell you their body parts and count from 1-10. And they may have even learned an inappropriate word or two as teenagers.
This blog is something I decided to do to keep a written account of what’s going on in our lives… something to show the future babies in the Mallari Clan. HENRY is due in September and he will be our first grandchild. To say we are elated is an understatement. When Ben and I got married we immediately got pregnant and had the boys a couple years apart.
I have to say, when Ian and Katy got married, our first thought was almost ANY parents first thought. When are we getting a grandchild? lol!! Of course, Ian and Katy were both in college and both wanted to get their Masters Degrees before having children. We’re so proud of them for knowing what they wanted and standing their ground. No… it wasn’t easy for us, as future grandparents. But we knew they were making the right decisions for them. And for that we’re grateful. In the meantime, though, we prayed and prayed and prayed. And God helped us wait somewhat patiently.
Now, it’s like a dream. From parents to GRANDPARENTS! We almost can’t believe it. We’ve already seen plenty of pictures through ultra sounds and sonograms and we know he has LOTS of hair. He also has Katy’s nose and Ian’s feet.
WE CAN'T WAIT TO MEET THIS SWEET LITTLE BOY!