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Andrew's Family
Andrew's parents are Larry and Cassandra, who still live together in Aurora. Their marriage has stood the test of time and provides encouragement to Andrew as he gets ready to become one with Dana. He also has a sister named Lara, who currently resides in Boulder.

Larry is one of eight children, has a twin sister named Terry, and comes from a small farming community called Flanagan, in central Illinois. He works as an Engineer at Echostar Communications Corporation where he helps to validate the production of set-top and hand-held satellite radio and television receivers. Yes, he's the one who got Andrew interested in computers and turned him into the nerd he is today. Now you know whom you may thank. Surprisingly, despite those eight kids having 20 of their own, Andrew is expected to be the only one who may be able to carry on the Strotheide name. Larry's side of the family is scattered throughout the country, stretching from coast to coast and not being principally concentrated anywhere in particular. Grandma Strotheide still lives in Flanagan, but Grandpa passed away in 1993.

Cassandra was raised in Pueblo, Colorado and is one of four children. Until recently, she worked as a Medical Technologist at Children's Hospital in Denver. In 2002, she accepted a calling to become a postulant to the priesthood and moved to Austin, TX to attend seminary. She received her M.Div. and was subsequently ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests in the Episcopal Church in 2005 and is currently working as an Assistant at a church in Parker, Colorado. Two of her siblings' families live in Colorado, but the youngest and her family are in Berkeley, California. Cassandra's parents still live together in Pueblo.

Andrew's sister, Lara, was born on June 23. Early on, one of the dates Dana proposed for the wedding was June 23, 2007, because it's near the solstice, but since it was also Lara's birthday, Andrew vetoed it. Lara attended the Metropolitan State College of Denver for two years before transferring to East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Unfortunately, she had to come back after a year because she couldn't obtain resident status, but then she came to the University of Colorado at Boulder. She majored in psychology and graduated in December 2005 with her B.A. She spends her time working at a variety of jobs while applying to graduate school where she hopes to pursue a Master's degree in speech, language, and hearing sciences so she may become a children's speech therapist or audiologist. She is fluent in American Sign Language. Lara became engaged in May 2007 to Jon Swankie who is a member of the Army National Guard Reserves. They met while attending CU and working together at a local Starbucks in Boulder. They are waiting to set a date for the wedding until he returns from duty overseas.

Currently my father and sister still live in Leadville. My father keeps himself busy cleaning up after my sister and running his Verizon Wireless store. Hanna attends Lake County Intermediate School, and though she is as strange as any other middle-schooler, she is a great kid and really excels at school. She also played volleyball and soccer this year and is in the school band. My mother passed away in 2002; she had ovarian cancer. Though I definitely miss her, I am very grateful for the time we had while she was here, all of the amazing lessons she taught me, and the memories we shared.

My mother was one of ten children and the majority of her siblings still live in the Denver metro area. We get together very often and are quite close. There are a lot of them, so if you haven't met this crazy crew, just prepare yourself for the havoc if you plan to attend the wedding. My father has two siblings, both of whom still live in New Hampshire. Though I don't get to see my east coast relatives as much, the time that we spend together is always hilarious. We were able to spend much more time together when we took a couple of trips to New England in the fall of 2005.

I am very excited to share this special day with all of my family and would like to personally thank all of you who have already told me that you'll be there.