Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Congratulations to Anne and Seth on the birth of their baby girl, Allison
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Congratulations to Bisrat and Julie on the birth of their daughter, Hannah.
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Best wishes to them all!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Niagara Falls
Finally, the last stop we made on our trip before heading home was to Niagara Falls. We had been there more than 2 years ago and really wanted to go back. We even took Fazal on the Maid of the Mist boat ride - in this first picture you can see him all decked out in his very own poncho.
And that's it!! It was a great trip, and we got home just before the national gas price average hit $4.00 per gallon. Thanks to all our friends and family we met along the way...
Dinner with the Oak Park Wilders
Next stop on our roadtrip was Oak Park, Illinois, to see Christina's aunt Lydia, and uncle Jonathan and his family, Patty, Emmet and Luke. When we first arrived we hung out with Lydia for a while and Fazal didn't even hesitate to play with her. And she knew all the fun games!! (Empty the laundry basket was the best.) Then we had a nice outdoor dinner with everyone. It was a brief, but very nice, visit, with these relatives we certainly wish we could see more often.
Fazal with Emmet and Luke and their neighbor friend on the picnic blanket
Patty, Jafred, Fazal and Luke
With his big cousins
Our lovely dinner, complete with watermelon
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Congratulations, Dr. Emily!
My sister, Emily, recently earned her PhD and we are so proud that we can now call her "Dr. Heaphy" after all of her hard work!! So, to add to her list of wonderful qualities, like terrific sister, sister-in-law, aunt, daughter, wife, professor, musician, and friend, she is now officially a doctor. Hooray!!! We are so proud of you!!! We were serious when we said we wanted to read your final disseration, so don't hide it from us! For those who don't know, her degree is from the University of Michigan Business School in Organizational Behavior, and she'll be teaching at Boston University starting this Fall. And she's MY sister, and nobody, but nobody else can claim that honor. We love you Em!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Fazal's most recent typing
VV1`1321921-opp1321921-opp/’/’4/’/’4,2 7888867345u58”=000000901902.lo0221—p```````````````3=0—00-[-0 p-[5415`2 p-[5415`2 p-[5415`2 p-[5415`2 p-[5415`2 p-[5415`2 p-[5415`2 p-[5415`23290-32`0;lp010-10-`0-09000000`[]’
900``
[By banging on the keyboard he comes up with funtions we would be really interested in knowing how to do, but don't. He has also learned how to turn the computer OFF, being attracted to the glowing blue light - not such a good thing.]
900``
[By banging on the keyboard he comes up with funtions we would be really interested in knowing how to do, but don't. He has also learned how to turn the computer OFF, being attracted to the glowing blue light - not such a good thing.]
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Next Vacation Stop:: Madison WI
After a wonderful couple of days in Iowa, we drove to Madison, Wisconsin, only about 2.5 hours away. There we stayed with our dear friends from Haifa, Lua and Hadi and their baby daughter, Layli, and were also able to see some other friends we have met before that are also living in Madison. It is a great city, like a huge college town, with lots for families to do. We had a BBQ, attended the huge, annual "Brat-Fest" where Wisconsonians outdo themselves eating bratwurst, as well as a trip to the local zoo, and lots of hanging out with their friends. It was a really nice time. Below are a bunch of photos, in no particular order, so you can take a little trip to Madison too.
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Hadi, his daughter Layli born in January, and Jafred and Fazal
Sunday, June 08, 2008
The Best $5.99 We've Ever Spent
The splash pool was bought just in time for the grueling heat we are getting this weekend!! This was Fazal's first time in water aside from his bathtub, and he LOVED it!!! You can't really tell from these photos because it was hard to capture, but he was shrieking with delight at the cold water, smiling, laughing, and most amusing to watch, spinning himself around on the slippery plastic bottom of the pool. He'd spin and spin, and then splash his hands in the water and it would go all over himself and the deck (and when I was lucky, me. I didn't fit.) And then he figured out that he could climb in and out of the pool (with some help).
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If you don't believe me when I say it's hot, remember I lived in Israel for 3.5 years, and this my friends, is worse, because of the humidity. Thanks to the splash pool, good times could still be had despite the horrible heat.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Learning about Gardening
Fazal had his introduction to gardening last weekend as we, his dad mainly, planted the vegetables and seeds in the garden in our backyard. We decided that sooner or later he'd want to explore the dirt (and help us next summer!) so why not let him get dirty and discover....as you can see, he crawled around in the dirt plenty and had a mouthful to taste.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Next Stop: Iowa!
Next on our vacation, we travelled to Iowa, a state that none of us had been to before!
We had several friends to visit, so on we went...
Fazal meets Bahia!
Jafred and I served with Leila and Nuri in Haifa at the Baha'i World Centre and it was so nice to see them again. Bahia is only 6 days older than Fazal so we were really excited to see them together. These two photos is from when we first arrived. Leila is holding Bahia while Jafred introduces Fazal.
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Here we are with Nuri, too, as the babies get acquainted.
The dads on a walk around the neighborhood.
A happy Kenyan reunion.
By the day we left, they were good buddies. You can see from these photos that they are very close in their development - they both wanted nothing more than to chew on these blocks and practice sitting and crawling. They were similar in so many ways.
Thanks Iowan friends for having us, we can't wait to see you again!