Some more Belgian family background

Since my last post, I've done some more research about my great grandma + g'pa Adams and when they came over to the US. I thought they came over in 1918, but it turns out it was 1920. They got married a week before they left Belgium for the USA.

Here's a picture of the boat that took them to the USA, courtesy of Ellis Island's website:
The boat was called "Lapland," and it started in Antwerp, Belgium and it carried 1835 passengers - 4 of those being my great grandma, then 29 year-old Martha (née Noppe) DeFauw Adam(s) and 32 year-old Adolph Adam(s) and 5 year-old Rene and 2 year-old Irene DeFauw.
According to what my grandma has said, their plan was to make a bajillion dollars and then take it all back to Belgium with them...typical ignorant perspective of the turn of the century immigrants, I suppose? Needless to say, that never happened, in no small part because Adolph developed ALS and the medical bills were sky high.
Another fun fact -- Adolph actually had moved to the USA before Martha. The story goes (from my grandma) that Adolph proposed to Martha before her first husband did, and she rejected him, so he went off to war and then decided to go to the USA, all lovesick. I'm not sure if the proposal or lovesickness is 100% true, but it is true that he left for the USA and then went back to Belgium when he was contacted by Martha with the news that her first husband, Michele DeFauw, had died, at the tail-end of World War One.

How is that for a soap opera??

A few years after they moved and settled in their new home (without speaking a word of English, I might add), my great uncle Aime was born, then my grandma. Here's a picture of all the children and my great grandma from the early 1930s:
Back row has Rene DeFauw (1914-1996) and Irene (née DeFauw) (1917-1998) and the front is Aime (1923-2008) and Darlene Adams (1925 - ). My grandma told me that she didn't know why she and her oldest siblings had different last names until she saw their names written and she finally asked what that meant, later.

And here are the siblings again, minus Aime (maybe he wasn't home on leave like Rene was, at that point?) in 1945:
From left to right: Darlene (née Adams) Boberg, Rene DeFauw with daughter Marilyn, Martha Adams, Irene (neé DeFauw) Gruszeczki.

Once again, the pictures came from my dad's cousin, Marilyn. Thanks for your help! ;-)

Going to wait before I write the rest about my vacation in Belgium. Right now I'm just enjoying digging up some of this info about that side of my family!