Dear Glenn,
My parents have a family tree that goes back to the year 1600 or maybe further, in which I could look up the link for you. I'll post it later. You can hear the relation between the names when you pronounce Vaags as "Fawks", the way they do in this region of The Netherlands (close to the border of Germany).
About the holes in my ears: They look like a normal piercing, but on an unusual place: The top inplant of my ears. They end somewhere inside my head, maybe into something that produces scent, like cats have. (I don't know the word in english) My suggestion is, that it must be a rudiment of the fish- or apestadium of humans.