Zubeyde is here...

Our dear Zubeyde Alici from Turkey is here serving at the Department of Holy Places for 2 1/2 months. She and sister Canan together with Arnold came for dinner last Thursday. It is her last week of stay, so it was nice to spend time with her before she leaves, she also enjoyed playing with Enna-Marie.



















Also, this month was Canan and Arnolds' birthdays. We'd like to post some pictures taken at their birthday parties...

Farewell to Faraz!

We had a farewell gathering for Faraz who is leaving the World Centre. He and his wife served for almost 3 years, Faraz in the Department of Statistics, and Swee in the Audio Visual Department. They will be travelling for a while until they reach Faraz' home country, that is Australia.

You can see from the photos below that everyone is enjoying the food and company. Faraz' sister Amelia, his brother-in-law Shingo and their baby-daughter Shiori came as well.

Faraz and Swee, all the best to you both as you embark on new avenues of service in your life! We will certainly miss you here!

Saturday's Trip to Mini Israel (with more photos)

Halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in a place called Latrun, is a park with many of Israel's historic sites in miniature. Since we haven't been sightseeing much in the last few years, this was an excellent opportunity to see a lot of the country in just a few hours, and get excited about visiting some of the sites for real!

We filled up three cars and off we went! We started our tour of the park in Haifa, and it didn't take us long to spot the Shrine of the Báb and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. We were quite impressed by the level of detail that has gone into these miniatures, a few 'anomalies' aside. Other places we saw that we are familiar with are the Convention Center, Yot Bata restaurant with the cable cars from the Stella Maris, the bay and the port and the Egged Bus station.

We then walked on towards Akka, and were surprised to see so many sites associated with the Faith: the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, the Mansion, the House of Abdu'llah-Pasha, and the Most Great Prison! Also there was the mosque of Al-Jazar, which is a familiar landmark in Akka. Then on to the Galilee, Golan Heights and Nazareth. Here Menchie was so amazed to see the Church of the Annunciation that is built so beautifully.

In Jerusalem we paused for some time by the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall. Again here we were very impressed with the level of detail that had gone into the design of these buildings. Via Eilat we ended our tour in Tel Aviv, where Maarten enjoyed a football game at the Ramat Gan national stadium. Other familiar sites we saw were Cesarea, Masada, Dan Panorama hotel, Ben Gurion airport and a lot more! Despite the heat (it was 34 degrees) Enna-Marie was also quite entertained by it all and didn't complain much!

On the way back we stopped at Columbus restaurant in Herzliyya before arriving back in Haifa again at around 10.30!


At the entrance area with Jamak, Maarten, Enna-Marie, Kirsten, Martijn and May

Mommy Mench and Enna-Marie getting ready

Haifa Convention Center

Yot Bata Restaurant and the cable car from Stella Maris

Group photo at the Shrine of the Bab and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice areas

Shrine of the Bab

close up Shrine of the Bab

Terrace One

Upper Terraces

Seat of the Universal House of Justice

Shrine of the Bab and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice

Schoot family, Maarten using our new baby carrier

Port Area and the Refinery

Haifa City Hall

Enna-Marie coping well the heat of the sun

Akka area

The Mansion and the Shrine of Baha'u'llah

House of Abdu'llah-Pasha

Ancient Synagogue, Capernaum

Church of the Annunciation

Salesian Church

Mt. Hermon

Dome of the Rock



with Kirsten

Dan Panorama Hotel

Masada

Group photo taken as the day ends

Brunch with Mommies and Babies...

We had a brunch gathering with mommies and babies last Tuesday at Katharine's place. It was nice to see everyone again, most of whom just came back from their vacation. I enjoyed the food, especially the banana cake that Tiffani made...yummy! I took some pictures of the cute little ones...

Shiori and Enna-Marie

Shiori and Enna-Marie playing and sharing

Melody Yazdani

Enna-Marie and Naim reading a book with Mommy Carole

Salim Safajou

Nafis Aboonour

Enna-Marie meets Mr. Froggles

This evening a special friend came to see Enna-Marie. That she wasn't too pleased with his visit you can see in this video...

Dinner with the Stats Department

This weekend we invited the friends serving in Statistics to our home for dinner. It was nice to spend some time and enjoy some food together. Enna-Marie especially loved so many friends coming over and play with her. Highlight for her was the singing of songs together, and with Howard, Milena and daddy playing guitar :).

Enna-Marie, Faraz and Swee...

Riyad, Vanysha and Milena...

Mommy Menchie enjoying the evening, while Enna-Marie munching some cheerios...

Singing time, this is Howard singing for us...

Maarten also played some songs from Ruhi Book 5...

Group photo...

My first dancesteps...

Mommy plays this great CD "BeBop your Best" from Red Grammer for me all the time, and I love it so much that I can't help but dance to the music. OK, ok, its not real dancing yet, but at least I'm trying! :)

Our Little Explorer...

At eight-and-a-half months, Enna-Marie has turned into a little explorer. She now crawls through the living room with ease, and pulls herself up against the box, the table, the couch and the TV stand. Last weekend we started our baby-proofing efforts, but it seems we may need to have another round. It seems she's already hooked on the tv-series Friends... Everytime we watch an old episode, and the opening tune comes on, she turns her head towards the tv and is glued to the screen until the tune finishes! Afterwards, she' goes back to play or crawl. She also loves it when daddy plays guitar and sings, and as you can see in one of the video's, she's already practising herself! Well, she's actually saying the "ba-ba-ba-ba" which she just learned today.

What she doesn't like so much is the little toy car that winds up and then drives off the table. Every time it 'crashes' she gets scared and starts to cry... Or the little monkey in Baby Einstein... it has the same effect on her...

What she's practising now but hasn't mastered yet is standing unaided! She's halfway there, but will probably fall a few more times before she's mastered that skill!

In terms of food, she started eating cheerios and oatmeal cereals, mozarella cheese, and plain yogurt (this she really loves), apart from the regular meals mommy Mench prepares for her (carrot, sweet potatoe, white potatoe, squash, green bean, egg, chicken, turkey, rice cereal, banana, juices, etc.)...

Climbing up against the TV stand...

Hmmm.. which toy should I play with now?

AHHHH.. It's that baby-einstein monkey!!