Joanna Gaines and Chip Gaines.Photo:Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
JoannaandChip Gaines' daughterEllais learning a new language and embracing her mother’s heritage.
Along with Ella, Joanna and Chip, 49, are also parents to sons Drake, 19, Duke, 15, and Crew, 5, plus daughter Emmie, 14.
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Chip and Joanna Gaines posing during their family trip to South Korea.Courtesy of Magnolia Journal
Courtesy of Magnolia Journal
Joanna and her family took their trip to Seoul in April 2023. In theMagnolia Journalissue,theFixer Upper: Welcome Homestar said it was husband Chip’s idea to go on the trip after they had pushed the idea off “because of time, or calendars, or kids and work and time and calendars.”
Along with their five kids, the couple also persuaded 24 of Joanna’s family members to embark on the journey with them — includingher dad, hertwo sisters, her uncles and her cousins.
Joanna recalled in the spring 2024 issue that seeing cherry blossoms in “full bloom” and visiting food markets were among some of the highlights of the trip for her.
She also said that getting to see her kids embrace her culture was an experience like no other. “We all tried on the traditional Korean dress together — it felt like we stepped into a different time,” she wrote. “The kids loved exploring while the adults sat back and drank tea together.”
The cover of ‘Magnolia Journal’s 2024 spring issue.Courtesy of Magnolia Journal
Joanna also revealed in the issue that her momNanspent months trying to track down the sister she left behind in South Korea ahead of the family’s big trip.
“My mom spent those months trying to contact her sister, who she hadn’t seen in decades,” Joanna said. “The many years proved impossible to wade through. Number systems in South Korea had changed, making the number my mom had scribbled in her phone book useless.”
Joanna added that everyone “had tears in our eyes, witnessing that missing part of my mom be found and restored.” Her aunt later joined in on all the activities that the group had planned during the rest of their trip.
Joanna Gaines helping her youngest son Crew with his hanbok.Courtesy of Magnolia Journal
In anexclusive interview with PEOPLEin November 2022, Joanna revealed that being teased as a child led her to hide her roots for years.
“It was deeply personal because that was half of my story,” the design expert said at the time. “I realized if this isn’t accepted, maybe I need to hide it and play more into the other side of who I am.”
Through writing her memoir,The Stories We Tell,Joanna said she hassince been fully embracing her heritageand passing it along to her five kids. “My Korean heritage is one of the things I’m most proud of. I’m trying to make up for that lost time – the culture is just so beautiful. I think discovering who you are and what you were made to do is a lifelong journey,” she told PEOPLE.
To read the full cover story, visitmagnolia.comand pick up a copy of Magnolia Journal’s Spring 2024 issue out on newsstands on Friday, Feb. 23.
source: people.com
