January 2, 2010 - Next stop - the Geeraths/Gaeraths' Reunion in Diemen!

Of course, our day starts as any other day of this trip….get up, breakfast, get ready, then off to the next stop.  I was a little irritated that I woke up with a sore throat today.  I was hoping that it was only because I was wearing my retainers** and the window was cracked open a little. 

**Side Note:  Yes, I still wear my retainers.  I paid way too much money and turned 30 with braces to not follow directions (2004 - 2006).  So, I wear them every night.  For three years, I have been faithful….except after my half marathon, when I passed out before even brushing my teeth.  Thanks Dr. Nathan T. Davis for my smile.  Never say I don’t refer professionals after a good experience. 

I digress.

Today marks the third reunion of our trip.  This one consists of anyone who has the last name of Gaeraths/Geeraths and was held in Diemen, Netherlands.  It was supposed to take place in October but due to lack of response as well as finding out we were going to be in the neighborhood over the holidays, they moved it to today.  We are kinda a big deal……

We saw some family we knew and met some that we didn’t.  They provided us with a family tree to that went back about 9 generations.  So, if you knew the name of the stranger at the next table, you could pretty much figure out how you are related.  It was pretty neat!

At some point, Tante Olly pulled out some old pictures from her purse and we started looking at them.  It was pretty fun to see pictures of everyone as kids.

At first, we were worried that there wasn’t going to be any food because we really didn’t see anything but snacks on the table.  We should have known better.  They just didn’t set it all out at once.  It kept coming out of a little room tray by tray.  I swear, there were elves back there.

 

Here is another attempt at a family photo.  I think we had too many people to fit but here is a glimpse:

After our visiting went past the time that they had rented the facility, it was time to go home.  No one had noticed that it had started to snow……little did we know what we were in for.  It seemed to just start coming down harder as we drove.  Ed compared it to the blizzard we experienced the first trip we took to North Dakota when he met my Grandpa when I was still in college.  It was crazy!  Ed did a good job, although, I know he got nervous at times.  I am sure driving a stick shift in the snow was a real treat he doesn’t wish to experience in the near future.

It took us 2 hours to get home on a drive that should have taken a little over an hour in normal weather.  Thanks to Ed and Garmina (our Garmin GPS who is female and tells us where to go), we got home in one piece.

At this point, we just hung out for a bit and then headed home.  Once again, another tiring day of visiting people and being the main attraction…those Crazy Americans!