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Today, Elizabeth, Ramiro and Rebecca drove up to Apple Valley for Sunday brunch. We had a good meal and fun times together. The girls played quite a bit at the house and then we took them to Mojave Narrows to play in the water park. They had a blast in the water and had fun on the swings and the slide. They have become such great friends!
Reading a book together
Ready to go in the water!
Mommy got a bit wet too...
Going down the slide together
Warming up with Dad
Fun in the swings
Rebecca then went back in the water park and had a blast! She was running from place to place, playing in the water. It was really cute! I can’t wait for Addie to be able to do that. I think it will be more fun for her plus Mommy won’t be getting so wet!
Fun in the water
Today was Sophia’s birthday party and we had a blast! Camille and James organized everything, from the catering to a fabulous ladybug clown. Adelaide had a wonderful time with Sophia and Avitol, and I hope she took a few pointers from Sophia on how to eat her birthday cake! Sophia was so dainty, putting only one finger on the cake and licking off the icing. The park where the celebration took place had a great playground and Addie got to go on the slide and swings. It was a wonderful day!
All the kids in the parachute with all the balls
Adelaide ready to party!
Mandy and Avitol are also ready to party!
Ladybug cupcakes, all baked by Camille
First birthday cake!
Addie walking in the grass
Addie having fun with Daddy
Singing happy birthday.
Sophia eating her cake.
Happy parents with their 1-year-old girl!
After several attempts, I got a few shot of the girls wearing the ladybug sunglasses.
Beautiful girls
Beautiful Birthday Girl
Addie and Sophia riding in the wagon
Adelaide, Avitol and Sophia riding in the wagon
Dear Adelaide,
What a month this has been for you! You are now walking, which is still amazing to both your Daddy and I. You had been working on standing and were certainly getting more confident when reaching from the coffee table to the couch, but all of a sudden, you decided you would be able to take steps on your own. And you have not looked back since! You now want to walk everywhere! While I was taking a shower last week, I sat you in our bedroom with your toys, as I always do. A few minutes into the shower, the water became really cold. I looked out of the shower, and you had walked into the bathroom and were now flushing the toilet! You also learned to pull the toilet paper, something which we are trying to convince you not to do.
Along with your new ability to walk, you have also learned to fall on your butt quite well. It makes me feel a lot better, especially since falling gracefully is not a skill your Mommy has acquired yet… Oh, and a few days after you started walking, you decided “what else could I do to surprise my parents?” And you started crawling – slightly backwards in terms of development, but we are still super proud of you.
You have also been pointing at everything in sight, as a way to let us know where we should be devoting our attention. It’s as if we are now your puppets, doing exactly wat the finger says. Check out the wall! Look at this banana! Look at that man’s nose!
Look at the chair Mom! Do it!
You have also developed an adoration for shoes. One of your favorite games is to walk around the coffee table and pick up Daddy’s shoes or my sandals. You then wave them in the air and smile and laugh. It’s really cute! You also love stepping in our shoes, or anyone’s shoes that are available. Even your Uncle Will’s work boots!
Check out my boots Mom!
You have also become quite an avid reader. You love picking up books in the bookcase in your room and looking through them. You especially like the ones with animals, so you can point and say “dahh” (aka dog) and “cahh” (aka cat). It’s very cute!
Reading and making phone calls
Reading, and in French no less!
The other big thing that happened this month was your Tante Rika and your Uncle Will’s wedding. We all wondered how much we could stretch your patience, but you were wonderful. You were patient when we were getting ready, you were patient while we were taking pictures and you were patient during the ceremony.
The girls getting ready before the wedding
We also had our first family pictures this month. You look adorable Munchkin and we are so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter. Love you Addie.
love,
Mama
Our family
As promised, here is the link for all the pictures from Marika and Will’s wedding. Enjoy!
Adelaide and I had dinner with several of my colleagues from school. Joe, a fellow PsyD student who will be going on internship this summer, organized this dinner as a farewell to all of us heading out of town for internship. It felt like a multi-generational dinner since a few people who are currently interns also came along with one who has already graduated and is working full time at Patton State Hospital. We had a great time venting about the application process and congratulating one another for being one step closer to being done with school – Hallelujah!!
Adelaide was very well behaved all night and played with Sharis and Dina, and kept reaching for Elizabeth for cuddles! She is perfectly hidden in this picture, but I promise she was there, right next to me!
From left to right: Aimee, Sharis, Dina, Diana, Michael, Julie, Matt, Jason, Joe, Elizabeth, Gene and Peter
After a wonderful wedding day, we got a chance to sleep in a bit and headed over to Casa de Woltil for a delicious Sunday brunch. Luckily, Marika was feeling much better and was able to hang out with everyone. Many of the out-of-town guests were still in town, which allowed us to have more great conversations and for the babies to hang out – which means drool on one another and try to poke each other in the eye.
Everyone was having such a great time that the brunch turned into a whole day affair – we did not get home until 6pm! At that point, we took a long nap and then treated our Michigan cousins to some delicious California In-n-Out and played some Wii into the night.
I was much better about taking pictures on Sunday, especially when we got all the kids together for a group shot!
Anneke (6mos), Sophia (11mos), Benjamin (4mos), Adelaide (10mos), Brayden (7mos), Willem (8mos)
Mommies join in!
Camille and Sophia, Janna and Anneke, Julie and Adelaide, Denise and Brayden, Stacey and Willem, Sarah and Benjamin
Marika attacked by all the babies!!
Daddies join in!
Sweet Daddy love! Derek and Adelaide, Jared and Anneke
Marika with the daddies! James and Sophia, Derek and Adelaide, Jared and Anneke, Martin and Willem, Marc and Brayden
The girls - are we done already?!
Handsome boys!
The ladies: Stacey, Janna, Denise, Julie and Marika the beautiful bride!
Bridesmaids - Camille, Sara, Marika the bride, Angie, Sarah, Julie and Janna
3 generations of Vogel men: Martin, Willem and Klaas
Later that afternoon, each child took a turn in the Jumperoo. Addie, however, perhaps knowing it was her toy, would “help” everyone, showing them in a very physical way how to jump. Luckily, everyone was okay with her help!
Anneke's turn to jump
As you can all see, we had a fabulous time! I will upload all my pictures and post a link to them tomorrow.
love,
julie
I got up Saturday morning fairly early to get to the salon on time for my hair and makeup appointment. Unfortunately, Marika was still quite sick. She spent several hours on Friday night/Saturday morning in the ER, getting fluids and anti-nausea medication, in hopes that she would be better for the wedding. Sadly, she was still struggling… The stylist who was supposed to do her hair generously offered to do it at her house at a later point during the day, in hopes that Marika could start feeling a bit better as the day went on.
All the bridesmaids congregated at the Brams’ house to get ready and the photographers met us there. It was incredibly windy! The entire bridal party, sans Marika, took pictures at the country club and then proceeded to the Church. I unfortunately have no pictures of the ceremony since both Derek and I were part of the wedding party, but I hope to get some copies from family members to then post. Both Anneke and Adelaide were wheeled in the Church by Jared and then we all lined up to go in. Marika, looking radiant in her gorgeous wedding dress, arrived in time to make her grand entrance. She seemed a lot better which was an answer to all our prayers! The ceremony was beautiful and the air conditioning was fixed – hurray!
We then made our way to the reception site and enjoyed delicious food – bratwurst with veggies, Will’s favorite. The toasts were lovely and Richard had prepared a slideshow with pictures of both Marika and Will, which Janna narrated. After the slideshow, Marika and Will left since Marika has began feeling ill again. The reception was wonderful – lots of dancing, talking and delicious food. We finished the cleanup by 11pm and headed home with a very very tired baby. She made it through the entire reception without a nap and without being cranky. The last hour, though, she could only be described as slightly catatonic!
Here are the few pictures and video I got on my camera. Again, faithful readers, I promise to get more!!
Sarah and Benjamin at the salon
My mom in 7th heaven, holding Adelaide and Anneke
Guests enjoying the reception
More guests having fun
Addie and Bill, Will's dad
On Friday, many of the out-of-town guests had arrived and we gathered at Casa de Woltil for a pizza and beer party. Unfortunately, that morning Marika had began feeling ill and by the time the evening party was under way, she was quite sick… This was something we all feared but we all prayed for her to be at least well enough to walk down the aisle, say her “I do” and enjoy her reception.
It is always amazing to me how people come together for these family celebrations. Guests flew (or drove) from across the country, from Canada and from the Netherlands. We had a wonderful time catching up with friends and family who we only see during these occasions.
The other amazing thing was how prolific our extended family has become in just one short year! At Nathan and Tara’s wedding in August of 2007, there were no grandkids for the Woltils (Tina and Richard), Teitsmas (Aunt Anne and Uncle Larry from Michigan, parents of Nathan, Marc and David) and Vogels (Klaas and Ada from New York, parents of Peter and Martin). As of now, each set of grandparents have 2 grandkids each! Adelaide and Anneke for the Woltils, Bryce and Brayden for the Teitsmas, and Willem and Hannah Marie for the Vogels! All 9 months apart from oldest to youngest.
Here are some pictures from the Friday festivities.
Adelaide and Benjamin - son to Sarah, one of the bridesmaids
Stacey Vogel, Anne Teitsma holding Willem Vogel, Lia Brouwer (sister to Klaas Vogel), Addie jumping and Helen Aikema
Willem's turn to jump!
Willem with his daddy Martin
Adelaide and Beppe
Julie and Addie, Stacey and Willem, Janna and Anneke
That night, Marc, Denise and Brayden, along with Nathan and Tyler arrived at Ontario and proceeded to then spend close to 3 hours in traffic trying to get to Apple Valley… Apparently, everyone wanted a Vegas get away for Memorial Day. Luckily, they made it home safely. Marc, Denise and Brayden were staying with us, so we had told them to use one of the hidden keys to get in, but they did not need to – apparently we had left our house keys in the front door! To top it off, we did not even hear them come in! Saturday morning, I thought for sure they had gotten a hotel because of all the traffic, but was soon surpised to see they were here and that they had already taken a walk! Which means they walked in and out of the house twice without any of us hearing them! Not to mention Bella’s complete lack of reaction to, what should be for her strangers in our home! What a wonderful guard dog she is…
This has been a very busy few days! Last Saturday, Marika and Will became husband and wife. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great reception. We got a chance to catch up with out-of-town family and friends which was great fun! I am going to recount the events of the last few days in chronological order, starting with thursday and the rehearsal dinner.
Among Marika and Will’s stressors for the wedding was the fact that the church was under partial construction and had no working air conditioning. So on Thursday afternoon, we gathered at the church to rehearse the ceremony in a very warm sanctuary. The girls, Adelaide and Anneke, practiced being wheeled in by Jared in a wagon, and they were simply wonderful. We had worried about how well they would be able to sit through the ceremony without starting to scream, or cry, but they were great.
Anneke and Adelaide in the wagon
After rehearsing, we gathered at Mama Carpino’s, a local Italian restaurant, for the rehearsal dinner. The food was delicious and we enjoyed spending time with the bridal party.
Bride-to-be, Marika, with Benjamin
Anneke, Tante Janna, Uncle Will and Adelaide
Anneke snacking on her Mommy's spoon
Anneke wearing Addie's sunglasses
We spent the whole day today taking family pictures in Canyon Lake. We started off with pictures by rocks and grass at their local Church and then took pictures at the beach. Jaimie, Dominic’s lovely girlfriend, was there for the first half of the day but unfortunately had to leave to go back to Santa Barbara, so she missed the beach photo shoot. Of course, on the day when we plan on spending the entire outside, it was over 100F… Nevertheless, we got some great shots and I can’t wait to see all the pics! In the meantime, here are a few that were taken with my camera to give you all faithful readers, a preview of what’s to come. Enjoy!
Adelaide taking a break between pictures
Derek and Addie
Jaimie and Dominic
The entire clan: Marc, France, Adelaide, Derek, Julie, John, Genevieve, Dominic, Audrey and Samuel
Julie and Addie
Adelaide with her Grand-Maman and Grand-Papa
Fun shot with Mom
Mom and Sammy Doodle
The boys: Derek, Marc, Samuel, Dominic and John
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