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…