at a classmate's birthday party

This is Yuli, the birthday girl. She just turned 4 yrs. old.

Birthday Party in Gan

Here are some photos of my party in Gan last Wednesday, 17 December. I thank my teachers and friends for all the preparations and surprises.

I am turning THREE!

I have been SOOO excited about my upcoming birthday, every day I would ask my daddy to please make my birthday come now, as I still find it very hard to wait. My real birthday is this Wednesday, but my mommy and daddy invited my friends to celebrate it with me yesterday. When I woke up in the morning, there were colourful banners accross the living room, and a LOT of balloons!! My daddy made a delicious carrot cake, which made the house smell very nice, and my mommy prepared spaghetti and pancit, and then finally all my friends came for the party! There was a puppet show, which was a lot of fun, and then after that we had a little dance party, which was also really nice! A lot of mommy and daddy's friends also came, and so the house was really full! But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and because it was good weather we could also play on the balcony. Auntie Negeen beautifully decorated the cake that daddy made, and there were three candles in the cake that I got to blow out, because I am already turning three!! And I got lots of presents from all my friends that I got to unpack after the party was over! Thank you everyone, for making this such a special day! I really had a great time, and I hope you enjoyed it too. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy :)!

Happy Naw-Rúz!

Naw-Rúz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Bahá'í calendar. Bahá'ís all over the world celebrate it as a festive day. We had a pretty busy weekend. On Thursday at the Rose Garden class, the children had a special lesson about Naw-Rúz, did some crafts and ate delicious snacks. Some older siblings were there too so it was really a big party. It was also Tara's first time to come to the class. Then in the evening, the Laroya family and Necati joined us for dinner at the mall. We had a delightful dinner in one of the restaurants there and later treated ourselves with ice-cream (ooh, what a nice feeling after fasting!). On Friday, we went to the Naw-Rúz programme. That evening we hosted a dinner together with the Burias family for the visiting friends Josie Galehr with husband Hubert, and Corinne Padilla and husband Kevin. Josie is a good friend of Menchie's mom back home, she is living with her husband in Austria. Our friends Corinne and Kevin were both serving at the World Centre before, they moved to Holland after they finished their term and are now settling in Ireland. Saturday event was a beach party organized by the Filipino friends.

Happy Naw-Rúz everyone. Enjoy once more our photos...

Ayyám-i-Há Festivities

Sorry we neglected to blog as we have been busy this past week due to the Ayyám-i-Há festivities. Starting with Monday, we had a party at our Mother Goose class, then Tuesday was a special day where the children in the Rose Garden and Brilliant Star classes joined together and made cookies for the staff in the Office of Personnel. On Wednesday, we (me and four other moms with our girls) visited our friend Cllyv and daughter Sheehan in Akka. First we visited the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh together, and then headed off to Cllyv's house and had a delicious lunch. We had a good time there and hope to do this again. On Thursday there was no Rose Garden class, but instead brought our kids to Kat Katim indoor play area in the Castra mall. In the evening we had an Ayyám-i-Há party for all the families that was held in the PRC. For the last couple of weeks I have been preparing some materials for the stationery card making that I volunteered to handle during the party. I am glad some children (and even moms and other friends) came to our table and enjoyed making their own cards for different occasions (Ayyám-i-Há, Ridvan, Naw-Ruz, Birthday, etc.). The last party we attended was Friday's party with the Filipino friends where we were only able to participate in the sing-a-long portion and of course another delicious dinner (the friends had exchange of gifts and played some games before we came).

We wish our families and Bahá’í friends a Happy Ayyám-i-Há and a blessed fast!

Laroya Baby Shower

Last Friday I organized a baby shower for our friends Canan and Arnold. It was my pleasure doing this for them. I love organizing parties and events. First we had some music and devotions, then ate delicious refreshments that friends brought for the occasion, played some fun games and last part was giving advices to the couple. We had a great time...even some friends stayed for awhile after the group photo taking, had some tea and Turkish coffee and just continued eating the leftovers. We brought home some sandwiches (potatoes and egg) that Vanysha made, cakes from Jenny and chicken salad from Mitra...all very good!

Well...All the best to Canan and Arnold as you both enter the pathway of parenthood. Enjoy motherhood Canan as it is the greatest experience ever!

yummy food

the happy couple

another pose

We played the game 'guess the mommy to be waistline ' using the toilet roll paper. Canan stood in the middle so friends can have an idea how big her belly now at 7 months...

friends listening carefully to the rules of the next game

very focused on the game "celebrity babies"

Menchie with her assistant Arnold showing the results of the game. It was a tie for both groups, 11 out of 15 points.

here's the first group

the second group

this is the 'baby unscramble' game

Canan and Arnold played 'charades' where they tried guessing some words related to babies that only friends knew as I only showed the words to them.

so much laughter

Here's Kiyoko giving advice...

Minoo...

Negeen...

our group photo

the two preggies Canan and Farzana

opening presents

thank you for all these gifts...