Family | Laninga's Travel Blog

Holland, last day

April 27, 2022 John Laninga Leave a comment

Our family is quite large and spread around the globe. Makes keeping up with many of them difficult, to say the least. In my early teens we lived in Holland, and we were fairly close to the Bolhuis family. This was my aunt Tine (my mother’s sister), uncle Jans, and daughters Hilda, Anneke, Ina and Aukje. Of these, Anneke lives fairly close to where we were staying and she invited us to their house for lunch.

And what a lunch. She made a real Dutch lunch, including Dutch vegetable soup, raisin rolls, krokets, smoked meat, cheese and more. She also gave me some very old family pictures to add to my collection. And yummy fattening things to take home with us.

My brother Chris was born in 1933 and died in 1987. Here are some baby pictures from then.

Nurse holding Chris, Mom, Chris and Dad, a very young Chris

Left picture: my Mom, her brother Wietze, my Oma, her sister Tine and her brother Jan. Picture taken in Holland in the 1920s. My dad died suddenly when visiting Jan.

Right picture: my Dad, my Mom, uncle Jitse and aunt Remy. They lived in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. Picture probably taken in the 1950s.

My sister Inge, Mom, myself, Oma, Jans and Tina. Probably taken around 1957 at my Oma’s house in Ten Post.

Categories: Family Tags: Family

Utrecht, Holland

May 24, 2017 John Laninga Leave a comment

Utrecht is a city in the central Netherlands that has been a religious center for centuries. It has a medieval old town, canals, Christian monuments and a major university. The Domtoren, a 14th-century bell tower with city views, stands opposite the Gothic Cathedral of St. Martin on central Domplein square. The Museum Catharijneconvent shows religious art and artifacts in a former monastery. It also is a major transportation hub, and with a large train station it has Europe wide connections as well as a direct link to the Schiphol Amsterdam Airport.

It is also the home of my sister and her family. We enjoy our visits here because the city and surroundings are quite beautiful, and of course we really enjoy family get togethers. My pictures below highlight our visits to a local garden, the city market, and some local shops.

A typical city canal

Along one of the back streets, next to a canal

Fresh fish, and anyone?

Lots of cheese on the market

Straw roofs are getting rare, but and very expensive

Stately country home

Beautiful nature walks with ponds and water lillies

A nature walk along with rhododendrons

A budding rhododendron

Categories: Family, Traveling Tags: Domtoren, Family, I cheese, I fish, I market, Rhododendron, Utrecht

Stacy and Dallas’ wedding

June 26, 2016 John Laninga 3 comments

Our daughter Stacy has been in a relationship with her girlfriend and partner Dallas Ruggieri for almost a decade. They made the decision to confirm their love for each other with a wedding ceremony. And, in keeping with their interests, the theme was to be “Day of the Dead”. Or, as some would say it, a Zombie wedding.

So, we all dressed up accordingly and appeared during one of Dallas’ (the city) hottest days. Fortunately air conditioning had been invented and the whole event went off without a hitch (except theirs, of course – pun intended). Family and friends showed up and demonstrated how popular Stacy and Dallas are – the outfits were spectacular!

With a lot of help from their friends Stacy and Dallas did a superb decoration setup in and around their house. The whole event was spectacular, and moving.

May I present Stacy and Dallas Riley. (Click on the small image for a larger view. It’s worth it!)