Sunday, August 10, 2025

Hannah & Cameron Visit!

We had Cameron and Hannah come visit us over Easter and had the best time! We had a blast with them when they came to visit us in Japan, so was so fun having them here and being able to spend some time with them. Lots of laughs, late night chats, bike rides and a late night canal plunge. 


Some things never change, like friendship after all these years and Riley's infatuation with Cameron's moobs. 

Amsterdam at its finest from the views of an early morning kayak sesh. Was a bit nippy but always so epic and worth it. 


It's a lot harder than it looks if you havent tried it...




Ended with a fun outing to Rembrandt Hoeve and the Meerzicht farm for dutch pancakes. 


Whitney and Ephraim Visit! May 2025

May 29–June 2, 2025 — Whitney & Ephraim in Amsterdam

Whitney and Ephraim came to visit us in Amsterdam, and we had the best long weekend together! They stopped by before heading to Iceland, and those few days were truly some of our favorites.

This was Ephraim’s first time in Europe, which made it extra fun to show off our beautiful, historic city and watch him experience European charm for the first time.

Highlights of the weekend included a day trip to Utrecht, kayaking through the canals, and eating our way around the city. We’re so grateful they came all this way to see us. They spoiled us with a homemade dinner, kindness, and brought some of our favorite American treats and green dragon. Come back soon!! 










Thursday, August 7, 2025

Double Header- French Open & Libema Open 2025

 

May 25th- May27th 2025- Attending this year's French Open was pretty special cuz Alyssa and I got to go together with my parents watching the kids for a couple of nights. It was a blast! It continues to deliver as the tennis mecca, getting to watch most of the matches with front row or nearly front row seats to top 25 players. It's amazing how after watching over 10 hours of tennis the first day, and then to be so excited to get back there the 2nd day for more and then is always so hard to leave. Such a perfect combo- all day tennis, being in Paris with Parisian bakeries in the morning and bakery sammies for lunch and dinner. The weather thankfully was better than last year (hard to be worse) and we had no rain delays despite at times iffy looking weather. Alyssa came prepared to do some work and art in between the tennis but she enjoyed up enjoying a lot more than she thought and was very much into the tennis and overall vibe. It was such a fun trip and so thankful for my parents watching the kids. 





There's some matches that unexpectedly deliver and become the favorite of the day like this one (Griekspoor v Marcos Giron). The level of tennis and rallies was really high, two evenly matched dudes and a surprisingly raucous crowd of Dutchies and Americans each supporting their guy. Turned out to be one of the last matches going on in the outer courts so was fun to get some under the lights late night tennis. 


A few weeks later we had a work outing to the Libema Open in den Bosch. It was really fun. First time seeing tennis on grass and it was a completely different vibe. Was really cool to see. Will definitely be going back next summer to this tournament. The vibe was really chill. Really pretty location in the middle of pretty Dutch country fields and the grounds were really pretty with lots to do for kids, foodtrucks and just a lot of hang space. Really enjoyed the time there and got to see some good tennis. Seeing Opelka in person was really cool and got to see Medvedev for a bit before we had to go. Cant wait to go back with the fam and my dad. 






Thursday, July 24, 2025

Luke Lately- Baptism and Confirmation!

May 3, 2025:

I can’t believe I have an 8-year-old!!! TIME FLIES! He is now officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Leading up to the baptism, I had a lot of mixed emotions. I wondered if we should postpone. Was he really ready? Did he understand the decision he was making? Did he feel it was his decision, not just ours? So many thoughts swirling in my mind.

But on the day of the baptism, and even in a few moments the week before. . . those questions and fears began to fade. As Luke answered questions during Family Home Evening and talked about his baptism, I felt peace. And on the day itself, there was just an overwhelming sense of calm and joy, even despite my mix-up in assignments of talk topics . It was such a special day! We were so lucky to have both sets of grandparents there to share it with us and so much love and support from our ward family. 

It was a really good experience for Luke. When I asked him about it almost two months later, he said it was “a very good day.” He remembered the sweet talks MeMe and Papa Moncur gave, how super warm the water was, and, of course, the fact that he got some presents and someone gave him ten euros. 😉











The Inkley kids, some of our favorites. 
Sawyer and Luke

His first scripture set made special from Nana and Papa. 
How we roll...