"I was in Israel, on a trip with an organized group, when it hit me: I was done being single. I wanted a real relationship. A soul mate. Someone with whom I could build a family. I was mid-revelation, rattling all this off to a friend of mine when a voice interrupted us, wanting to ask him a question," James recalled in an August 2020 Instagram post. "I was annoyed. Who the hell was stepping all over my moment? I turned around … it was @vanderkimberly."
Scroll below for James and Kimberly's complete relationship timeline:
August 2010 A rep for the twosome confirmed to Us that they tied the knot in Tel Aviv surrounded by a “few close friends and teachers.” Kimberly, then-pregnant with the duo’s first child, stunned in a vintage gown by Shareen.A360
September 2010 One month after their nuptials, eldest daughter Olivia was born.A360
March 2012 Olivia became a big sister nearly two years later when Kimberly gave birth to son Joshua. “You remain one of my greatest teachers. Thank you for being the family conscience, our class clown, and our heart. I cherish life every time you call me Dad,” James gushed via Instagram in March 2023, celebrating his eldest son’s 11th birthday.A360
January 2014 Their third child, daughter Annabel, joined the Van Der Beek brood in 2014. “I knew you were different the moment you came out and since then, you’ve known you will always win a ‘Make Dad Laugh’ competition, no matter my mood,” the Texas Ranger star gushed via Instagram in January 2022. “Sensitive people can be a bit more vulnerable to what this world throws at them, but may you always find refuge inside that beautiful, soft heart of yours … fully confident that gift of your presence is enough to offer joy to whomever is near — IF people are open. If they’re not, it’s their loss, not yours.”A360
March 2016 James and Kimberly welcomed daughter Emilia, baby No. 4, two years later.A360
June 2018 Two years after Emilia’s arrival, the What Would Diplo Do? alum and Kimberly welcomed another baby girl: Gwendolyn.A360
November 2019 Weeks after the married couple excitedly announced that they were expecting baby No. 6, Kimberly suffered a miscarriage. “It was just so much pain, and it was so unexpected because everything was right, everything was [a] fairy-tale. Everything was coming together perfectly,” James recalled during a March 2023 episode of his spouse’s “Bathroom Chronicles” podcast. “It progressed very quickly into being worried about Kim. We were both just crying and sobbing and there was a lot of blood. Way more blood than any delivery.” He added at the time: “It was just a gut punch, an emotional gut punch.” Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/ShuttChris Pizzello/Invision/AP/Shutt
November 2021 After Kimberly suffered a second late-term loss, the duo kept her 2021 pregnancy news quiet. Rainbow baby Jeremiah was born that November.A360
March 2022 James and Kimberly drove their six children in a sprinter van to watch his DWTS pals on their live tour.A360
October 2022 The Van Der Beeks were all smiles in their Halloween costumes.
February 2023 “My valentine,” the Don’t Trust the B-- in Apartment 23 alum captioned a Valentine’s Day tribute to his wife via Instagram. “The life we are building is chaotic and beautiful and I wouldn’t trade any part of it, ever… but it is high time I took a moment to publicly appreciate the mystic goddess that is @vanderkimberly. For how beautifully she loves on our kids, for how brave, adventurous, and hilarious she can be, for how intimidatingly gorgeous she is, but most importantly … for the tenacity with which she continues to fully inhabit herself: her gifts, her pain, her magic and her joy.” He added: “You are an endless well of fascination, and not a day goes by when I’m not psyched to get to be with you.”A360
August 2023 James reflected on the pair’s unconventional wedding while commemorating their 13th wedding anniversary. “We rushed to get ready, had a bunch of people we didn’t know (and a few we did) dance around us, got ambushed by Israeli paparazzi afterwards, then ate at an outdoor Lebanese dive with plastic tablecloths and chairs and amazing food … and we were off,” the actor captioned a carousel of Instagram photos of him and Kimberly. He continued: “We’ve gone through success, tragedy, joy, stress, triumph, uncertainty, and through it all … these have been the best years of my life. Every moment. Because I have the BEST adventure partner. Our life is CRAZY right now. We might be crazier. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you. I celebrate you. I honor you.A360
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This story was originally published November 4, 2024, 7:35 AM.