"We are Family"

We had an absolutely MARVELOUS time last weekend, as Abby's sister Molly and Molly's boyfriend Nick were in town for a long weekend visit!  Words cannot express how nice it was to have someone from back "home" at our new home here on the other side of the world.  Yes, we are able to Skype with our families now and then, but it is a completely different thing actually have family with us.

Molly and Nick had a great time exploring the city while we were both at work last Thursday.  They were able to visit the Anne Frank House, go on a canal cruise, and take a tour of the Heineken Brewery (this was a huge hit with those two).  After they had a fun-filled day doing that, they met Abby for dinner and drinks since Dan had to work late.

On Friday, Abby had the day off of work and took Molly and Nick to go visit the Rembrandt House and Museum.  What a cool place!  The house is very much in it's original condition.  Here are a few shots of how Rembrandt's studio looked and some of the tools he used:

After a few hours in the Rembrandt House, we got lunch at a small restaurant right next door and walked around the city for a few hours until Dan got out of work.  At that point, we all met for drinks and dinner.  It was very cool for us to be able to introduce our colleagues to Molly and Nick, and also very cool for them to be able to meet people from all over the world.

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day weather-wise (shocking!).  Molly and Nick actually lucked out, as the weather was mostly sunny during the time they were here.  The four of us went out the Keukenhof Gardens, about an hour's commute from where we live.  Keukenhof is a massive area outside of the city with flowers of all kinds everywhere you look.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Flower lovers, brace yourselves!  Here is just a sampling of what we experienced:

Naturally, we had to try on the giant wooden shoes!

Given the beautiful scenery, we couldn't resist snapping a few other photos:

Sadly, Molly and Nick left us early Sunday morning.  They had had a long European trip (they were in Spain and France before coming to Holland!) and we were so lucky to be able to be a part of their trip! We are hoping that perhaps they will be making a similar trip some time again (hint hint!).  

That is all for now; we are looking forward to our 2 weeks home in June very much. We will be arriving the afternoon of June 9 and are so very excited to see all of our family and friends in just a few short weeks!

Thanks again for all your love, prayers and support!