Sinterklaas goodies...

Our dear family in the Netherlands is making sure that Sinterklaas makes his way to Haifa again this year! Jorrit and Molouk brought a few chocolate letters with them on their visit here, and yesterday we even received two packages with goodies: one from our aunt and uncle Gerry and Ruud, and one from oma Ineke! Thank you all so much!! As you can see, Enna-Marie had a great time unpacking the presents, and mom and dad will have a great time eating it all :)!

So this is what Sinterklaas is all about eh?
Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet chocolates!
Thank you everyone for these wonderful goodies!! We'll have to bring Sinterklaas to the Philippines this year as well!

My Favorite Auntie...

My Favorite Auntie is...Auntie Vanysha. She is from the beautiful island of Mauritius. She came to the World Centre when I was still inside mommy's tummy and is mommy's replacement at work. Auntie Vanysha is the sweetest, she always sees me at lunch, talks to me and sings this French song with actions which I'm doing as well. She plays all the time with me and checks on me if I'm a good girl. She told my mommy and daddy that she will miss me a loooot when we go for six weeks to the Philippines! Of course I will miss her too. Don't worry Auntie I will give you lots of kisses and hugs before we leave...and that's a promise!

Here is a picture of Auntie and me one lunch time, see how pretty she is!
ps: I'm holding here my favorite fruit.

Thanksgiving dinner...

We had the bounty of being invited for a thanksgiving dinner last Thursday by John and Judy Holly, our first ever thanksgiving dinner at the World Centre. When Maarten mentioned that we got an email from John inviting us for dinner, I didn't hesitate to say yes right away. We know John as one of the best bakers here, known for his delicious cakes and pastries. I remember back in the days when the Department of Statistics and other offices were located in Allenby, he has been feeding the friends with his cakes and cinnamon rolls :)! True enough, we enjoyed so much the delicious food they prepared for us! Thank you once again John and Judy.

Saturday's Baby Shower...

We hosted our dear friends Minoo and Roger's baby shower last Saturday. It was a fun afternoon with some refreshments, games, sharing advices and well wishes.

This is the 'Guess The Baby Boy's Name' game, also guessing the date and time of birth (she's due on 26 December).

Diaper olympics...we grouped some friends into two, all men and all women. Minoo and Roger started this game...

Hank and Pat are doing their job well, at the end the women's group won!

And this is the 'Guess that Baby Food', the women's group scored the highest.

The men discussing seriously...

Sharing part...

Emelisa giving her advice...

Roger & Minoo enjoying the party...

Group picture, all smiles except Enna-Marie!

Definitely walking now!

Sounds of the World

Sounds of the World is an annual musical presentation at the World Centre. Friends show their talents in singing, dancing, acting, playing different kinds of instruments, etc. Last weekend we had a treat, we enjoyed so much this year's show. We think that it gets better and better each year and we thank the friends for doing such a wonderful job!

We took some pictures of the friends who performed in the show.

with Tamila who performed a gypsy dance

with franco who conducted the all male Filipino choir

Nabil did a breakdancing

Group photo with Nadia, Yasmeen and Swati from India who did an Indian dance

with Swati again

with Negeen who did a modern fan dance

Sahar performed the same dance with Negeen

Tahereh rendered a sweet Japanese song

Enna-Marie joins the African friends while singing & drumming after the show

Here she's drumming herself, so cute!

and here's how the stage looked

and this too!

Upcoming trip to the Philippines...

Next month we will be visiting Menchie's family and friends in the Philippines. We were supposed to visit last year but we welcomed the arrival of our lovely daughter Enna-Marie Martha in December 2005. We were so happy to have her Lola Ping to come to the Holy Land for a month and a half (wow, that is already almost a year ago). Now we are excited to be seeing her again together with Lolo Max and the rest of the family and for them to meet our everyday's bundle and source of joy. Hopefully we can visit a lot of places that we were not able to visit in 2002...We are hoping to visit some friends in Palawan, our Dutch friends Ramin and Cathelyne in Makati, and also to get together with some friends of Menchie in college and officemates in Bankard where she used to work for 7 years before coming to Haifa. We will be staying most of the time at her sister's place in Novaliches whom by the way just had her birthday last Saturday (Happy birthday again!).

Here are some family pictures of Menchie taken some years ago that we would like to share...

Birth of Baha'u'llah

On 12 November, Baha'is throughout the world observe a Holy Day celebrating the birth of Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah was born Husayn Ali at dawn on 12 November 1817 in Tehran, Persia. His sacred remains are buried near where He passed away in 1892 at Bahji, near Acre in Israel. Baha'is commemorate His Birth by abstaining from work and holding joyous meetings open to all. There are no prescribed rituals but gatherings usually involve prayers, devotional readings, music and fellowship.

The Shrine of Baha'u'llah (foreground) and the Mansion of Bahji, near Acre, Israel.

Lunch at Merkas...

Yesterday we had lunch at our favorite place in Merkas called Leggenda Pizeria. We exercised our legs and walked up, brought Enna-Marie and her stroller with us since it is just near our house. This pizza place is small, has friendly staff who can make pizza from scratch...really fresh and yummy. They also sell delicious ice-cream, sometimes we buy and bring home. So we invite the friends in haifa who check our blog to try the food here, we recommend it!

this is the whole area, they also have few chairs & tables outside...

Enna-Marie eating her lunch...

Menchie (or Enna-Marie?) getting ready to eat the freshly-cooked pizza...

Pizza toppings are olives, mushrooms, pineapple with additional tomato sauce...yum!

some ice cream flavours...

and here are the fruit flavoured ice-cream...

Peek-a-boo with little rosy cheeks...

Mother Goose class resumes...

Our 'Mother Goose on the Loose' class has resumed recently with a new set up. The class is now divided into two groups, our group is with younger children age 0-18 months which is being handled by Amelia, while the other one is with older children from 18 months and up which will be handled by Katharine.

Here are some photos taken last Sunday...