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Meet the Solomon Family!
The Solomons are an extremely accomplished family of three from Thousand Oaks, California. Mom Vered, and Dad Aaron moved to the US, after completing their PhDs in Israel. Education is the first priority in the family. Vered did her post doctorate studies at Harvard Medical School and now works in one of the largest biotech companies in the world as a "Research Scientist." Vered has also received many scholarships through out her study and received her green card based on “Professionals with exceptional abilities.” However, she is far from the nerdy scientist stereotype. Vered keeps herself looking beautiful at all times. Vered strongly believes a woman should look beautiful to her as well as in the eyes of her man. She loves shopping at the finest designer boutiques and doesn't bat an eye at spending $1,000 on a single pair of pants!
Aaron is a successful Sr. Program Manager at an ISP. He values education, hard work, self-sufficiency, and outward appearance. After coming to the US, Aaron who held his PhD in Life Sciences decided to join Brandies University and received his Masters in Software Engineering. One belief Aaron holds is, "you can tell the character of a person by the shoes they wear." Aaron loves to spoil his wife and daughter with gifts, and vacations to Vegas and Palm Springs.
Tal, their thirteen year old daughter, holds many of the same values as her parents and wants to become a plastic surgeon. She attends an elite private school and is a straight-A all honors student. Tal has received about 40 certificates and awards in the past 6 years for her outstanding accomplishments in her education and piano. Her favorite things to do are study; learn about Japanese Pop culture, learn different languages and just like any teenage girl loves to shop!
Although both Aaron and Vered have professional careers they spend a lot of time together as a family and they get along very well. They have a 50/50 parenting relationship and share all responsibilities. The Solomon's truly believe they are living the American Dream.
Meet the Parodis Family!
The Parodis, from Hayes, Virginia are a diverse, well grounded team that are a dynamic, educated and fun-loving family who enjoy spending time together and immersing themselves in their love of history and horses. The entire family loves to host Medieval Reenactments where people from all over the state of Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina come to compete in jousting, medieval equestrian games, sword fighting, Japanese sword classes, archery and vaulting.
Mom, Sue, is very passionate about her six horses. She is an expert equestrian and accomplished horsewoman, instructor, trainer and judge, as well as a certified cardiology technician and medical assistant. She has ridden and trained numerous horses to the highest standards in dressage and multiple other riding disciplines both here in the United States as well as in Germany. She has tons of ribbons, trophies and awards that illustrate her prowess as a rider and trainer. Due to her love for horses, she treats the horses like family members and even her children say she spends more time in the barn than in the house. As a riding instructor and horse trainer, her daily routine starts at 5:00 a.m. and doesn’t end until all the horses have been fed, exercised and all the stalls cleaned. Currently she also works part time as a caterer and medical technician. For fun, Sue enjoys riding the horses, teaching riding and vaulting (gymnastics on a horse) and participating in the Medieval Reenactments that include the horses as active participants.
Dad, Mike, is a Major in the United States Army. He is clearly in charge of his family and never one to mince words. He is an accomplished, professional officer specializing in program management and acquisition of communications and computer systems and holds a Master of Science Degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Southern California. Mike is also a skilled equestrian and a knight. He devotes all of his spare time to researching medieval European and Japanese history focusing and specializing in the equestrian aspects of the time periods. Mike spends long hours fabricating armour, clothing and barding to realistically represent the medieval warrior, the horse and their place in their respective cultures. He maintains his equestrian skill by riding along with Sue. His long term goal is to bring the accurate, historical aspects of equestrian events and games into the Medieval Reenactment groups to which they belong. He spends his weekends participating in Medieval Reenactments, during which he takes on the historical persona of a 16th Century Italian Nobleman Baron complete with his horses.
Together, Sue and Mike have a daughter Ariana, who is twenty-two and a son Marcello who is eighteen. Ariana works as a lifeguard and coaches a synchronized swimming team. She also helps her mom as an assistant coach and participating member of her mom’s vaulting team. She is currently studying to become a dental hygienist. Ariana has recently become engaged to Preston, who helps her father around the farm in his spare time, and they are planning to have a pirate-themed wedding.
Marcello is following right along in his father’s footsteps. He is already an accomplished sword fighter, archer and horseman. He is a specialist in the ancient Japanese sport of Yabusame – shooting arrows at a target while riding a horse at the full gallop. He is currently attending college and working towards becoming a surgeon.
Anyone watching? Brain surgery is boring?!?! I wanna be on the Solomon family's gift list.