This morning I asked the Lord why I was writing about my travels when I should be writing about Melissa and how much I am learning through her. The Lord nudged me to  share our adventures and write about what I am learning. 🙂

Thank you for your overwhelming support and incredible words of encouragement over the past couple of weeks. Melissa’s diagnosis is scary and confusing, but we are learning to trust in God’s plan. Melis is not only beautiful, but also strong and I am confident she (and we) will get through this season.

In the coming months I will use this space to record my prayers/thoughts and will continue to share our life in Europe as well.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you may have tribulations. But take heart, I have overcome the world”  John 16:31-33

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The days and weeks are getting busier and busier with visitors as traveling picks up and the weather gets better. I am thankful for my gained confidence in giving directions, overall city knowledge, and biking abilities. I am no master, but it is refreshing to feel like a local. But, it feels like no matter how many new spots we explore, we are constantly learning new places to check out. In many ways, we have not even made a dent in Amsterdam.

At the end of April, my grandmother (Gama) and my mom came to Amsterdam! Gama visited Amsterdam twice, but, she has never been here during the famous tulip season. Thus, she needed to come back!

The most lovely part of their timing was the fact that I was in between jobs, so I was able to spend time with them while they were here.

The first day Gama and Mom came and relaxed around the hotel. We went on a canal cruise so that they could orient themselves and try to stay awake! Time change is the worst.

After their naps and a bit of walking, they came to our apartment. It was a blast cooking for them and showing Gama our home. 🙂

During their first full day, Gama and mom went to visit the tulips and the flower auction. I met them in the afternoon for cocktails at the hotel and then dinner. It was a long day of walking, and they were exhausted!

Bryan has dutch lessons on Wednesday evenings so the three of us had an easy meal in my neighborhood.

On Thursday morning, Gama, mom, and I went to the Van Gogh museum. The Van Gogh musuem is one of my favorite museums in the city because it is a fantastic size and contains incredible works by Van Gogh.

On Friday morning, Bryan and I picked them up for our weekend getaway to the Hague.

The next morning, we went to see Vermeer’s famous painting at the Museumhaus. We were all impressed by the artwork in the museum and could have spent even more time there. Dutch masters truly are the best.

On Saturday night, we ate at a fun asian restaurant and then walked to grab Italian gelato around the block. We all laughed at Gama’s order: 1 scoop mango, 1 scoop mocha. 🙂

On our way back to Amsterdam on Sunday, we stopped at this tourist attraction called Madurodam. To honor their sons sacrifice, a dutch family donated the land and funded the development of this mini-park for the Netherlands. It is so interesting!  Madurodam is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities and large developments.

We also popped by the famous city of delft, where the deft pottery gets its name.

We loved learning the history of the dutch pottery on our tour! We even saw a master artist at work. The hand painted pottery was too expensive, but we each purchased a piece of the machine-made pottery. It is still beautiful!

The trip went by too fast! Having Gama and my mom in the Netherlands was such a blessing. I loved being able to share quality time with them.

Until next time,

Hila