Family get togethers

With the Drexlers, family get togethers are few and far between. This weekend, however, many of us are gathering for a family wedding -- pictures to follow tomorrow or Sunday. I think there will be 23 of us at the wedding, and after the wedding there will be 24 of us, a new member added to our family.

I haven't met Cara Drexler -- she's Micah's wife -- yet, but from the pictures I've seen of her, she's very, very pretty. I have met Jeff -- Emily's husband-to-be tomorrow. And I've met Lori's husband, Pete, and her children. That meeting was before she had Olivia, who is, what? almost three? And I think I met Jeff the summer before Olivia was born, or maybe the summer after. Alan was attending a "Friends of Israel" conference in Warsaw, and Alan and my brother, Mark, were going to those meetings together. I stayed at Mark's home with his wife, Sue that week, and at least on one of those days Jeff was there with Emily.

Now that all are thoroughly confused, I'll try to straighten it out.

My brother Mark married Sue Roper back in the early 70s. They had three children -- Lori, Micah, and Emily. Tomorrow Emily is getting married. Lori and Micah have been married for several years to their spouses (Pete to Lori, Cara to Micah), and each have three children. Don't ask me the names of Micah's children, because I don't know them, but Lori's children's names are: Maddie, Noah, and Olivia.

I'm so looking forward to this wedding and seeing my brother and nieces and nephew again and meeting all the children. Of course, I'll have competition for their talking to me since two of my three children and their children are also planning on being in attendance. With 20 people to share around, it's going to be one Italian madhouse! So much fun! I can't wait!

MTF