Aslaug Haviland was born Aslaug Sofie Johansen on January 19, 1913 in Oslo, Norway. Her parents were Anna Aas Johansen and Johan Sigvard Johansen. She contracted scarlet fever as a teenager. As a result of this illness her hearing and sight were seriously impaired. Aslaug studied at the School for the Deaf and Blind in Hamar, Norway. She married Arne Jens Vaieland in 1934. George Arne Vaieland was born to the couple on September 1, 1941. The family immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1952. Auslag and Arne divorced, after which Aslaug and George immigrated to Salt Lake City, Utah, in October 1958. Aslaug married Fred Eugene Haviland 7 July 1967 in Salt Lake City. Here the couple would reside and Aslaug would continue her remarkable life as an advocate and inspiration to the deaf/blind community as well as an inspiration to those not deaf and blind. In the 1980s Aslaug and Fred moved to Orangevale, California. It was there in her Orangevale home that Aslaug Haviland died 6 January 2003.

George Arne Vaieland was born September 1, 1941 to Aslaug Sofie and Arne Jens Vaieland. An only child, he lived with his family in Oslo, Norway until they immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1952. George immigrated to the United States in October of 1958 with his mother. They resided in Murray, Utah, where George finished his high school education. From 1961 to 1964 George served a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Denmark. George and his wife Lena were married in the 1960s and lived in Maryland while attending Montgomery College. George and Lena had three children: Jo, Jon Karl, and Nancy. George received a bachelor's degree from Utah State University in 1970, and in 1972 he received his master's degree in Education from Brigham Young University. From 1972 to 1974 he was a counselor at Box Elder High School in Brigham City, Utah. In 1974, George was hired as Assistant Director of Admissions, Brigham Young University, where he worked until his retirement in 2007. From 1961 to 2004 he served as an Intelligence Officer in the Utah Army National Guard, fulfilling numerous international assignments. After George's retirement from Brigham Young University in 2007, he relocated to Henderson, Nevada.