Stray cats... They are all over Tel Aviv, including our apartment. Two days this week I have found stray cats hanging out in the dining room, jumping down from the loft, and heading out of Makai's window.
The first afternoon I found two stray cats under our dining room table about to fight it out when we came home from the playground. Luckily, Sabbia was sleeping downstairs on our bed. She was quite oblivious to what was happening when Makai followed her upstairs. Since then, I have kept all windows downstairs closed. This morning, Makai woke up at 8:20 a.m. After his pamper change and a little bit of gaga goo goo we head upstairs. I hear a thump. I automatically think its Sabbia. Then I hear a him say "ca, ca, ca, ca". I say yes, cat. Then I realize, he doesn't say "ca, ca" to fuzz. He says "yyyaaahhhhhaaaaa!!!" "ca, ca" are for stray cats. I look down and there is a stray cat which he is going for. The cat already has her back arched in attack position. I grab him and say SCAT! The cat doesn't move. Then I call for my dog who takes 5 minutes to get up the stairs. I yell "Pali cat, Pali cat!" She doesn't do anything. I see her wag her tail trying to stick her neck out as far as she can to smell. Then I hear a low "woof... woof..." with her tail shaking at the top of the stairs. She is unsure if she should go towards the cat or stay near us. I give her attack command, "Uno... dos... tres... vamos!" Off she goes. I thought the cat would head downstairs and out one of the three windows which I had just opened. Instead she jumped out the highest window we have on the second floor which leads to the porch. I am assuming this is how she entered since it was the only window open this morning. Scott and I still can't figure out how cats even get up to our patio.
This explains why Sabbia was in attack mode yesterday evening. Pali couldn't even eat without Sabbia attacking her. It makes me wonder if there was a cat inside which upset Sabbia. Sabbia hasn't attacked Pali in over 6 months. The last time she did, Pali was trying to smell her butt.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Being Kosher
One main rule I only recently learned is the requirement to keep dairy products separate from meat. This is true in terms dishes. For instance, no cheeseburgers or meat lovers pizza. But is also true in the preparation of foods.
So in the first week or two at work, I walked into the lunchroom to warm my food. To my confusion, there were two microwaves located at opposite ends of the counter. Some Hebrew words were taped to the microwave, but I skipped hebrew class that day. Being culturally sensitive, I guessed there was significance to this and decided to ask first. And indeed, one microwave is for vegetarian dishes including dairy products while the other is for meat dishes.
Good thing I asked before warming up my pepperoni pizza.
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Thursday, January 20, 2011
Immigrants
As we've mentioned multiple times in this blog, there are quite a few non-Jewish immigrants here in Israel. Many are from Asian countries, and there is a small but growing population from African countries. Most of these immigrants are in Israel for jobs such as agriculture, construction, elder care, cleaning, etc...I guess this is very much parallel to the Central and South Americans that immigrate to the US for similar jobs.
The one big difference though is the fact that Israel is a Jewish State and the rise in the non-Jewish immigrant population and the economic benefits that come from it may or may not challenge the identity of the country.
Anyways, there's a good story about this on Marketplace. You can hear the story by following this link.
The one big difference though is the fact that Israel is a Jewish State and the rise in the non-Jewish immigrant population and the economic benefits that come from it may or may not challenge the identity of the country.
Anyways, there's a good story about this on Marketplace. You can hear the story by following this link.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Nigerians in Israel
African immigrants here in Israel that make up the blue collar workforce once populated by the Palestinians.
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Monday, January 17, 2011
Veterinarians in Israel
Both animals had to go to the vet last Wednesday. Scott "worked from home" so I could use the car. On Tuesday nite Pali started vomiting ~ 3 a.m. Continued til about 830 a.m. with what looked to me like traces of blood. I take her to the "ER". She is lethargic, puked in the car ride, didn't want to get out of the car, and I basically had to pull her to the hospital. At one point I thought about carrying her. But I had Sabbia in my other arm.
When we get to the ER they are ready for us. Our veterinarian had called to give them a heads up that a dog which appears to be in gastrointestinal distress will be arriving in 20 minutes. I am optimistic at this point. The ER is in a new building, everyone is dressed in scrubs, and speaks English well. One thing I realized living in Israel is as a customer you do most of the hard work. I have to lift Pali up on the table. Seriously? She is 52 pounds. If I would have known this, I would have told Scott to come. The woman could clearly see I needed help so she grabbed the other side of Pali while another doc watched. I had to flip her onto her belly, hold her paws, shave her leg for an IV. I think the best part was them asking me to carry her from one room to another to get an xray. I look at the woman and said "I can't have her walk?" No answer. The woman grabs Pali's hind legs while I take her front and carry her to the xray room. While in the xray room they suit me up, show me how to hold her so she doesn't move, tell me to move out of the way so I don't get in the xray, and to close my eyes before I see the bright light. I put on my sunglasses, closed my eyes, and opened them when they returned to the room.
The vet looks at her xray and decides to send it to a specialist to examine. She doesn't see anything wrong. In the meantime, Pali boarded for the day with an IV and lots of TLC. We still don't know what's wrong with her but she is slowly recuperating and gaining her energy back.
Onto Sabbia... I take her to their vet on Sheinken. Sabbia can't urinate which is considered a medical emergency for cats. This veterinarian I have is awesome but I also feel like I am in a 3rd world country when I visit her office. She gives Pali injections and expresses her glands on the sidewalk. I actually love it! I find the whole thing amusing. Pali has a bunch of people and cats walking by her as she is getting a finger stuck up her butt. The vet usually sits on a bench while performing these procedures. Anyways, on with fuzz... She starts to feel Sabbia's belly area to make sure there isn't an obstruction. All is good. She needs to take a urinalysis. She asks would you like the expensive method or the cheap one. I said can we try cheap and see how that goes and if you are unsuccessful we will do the expensive method. I once again had to hold the animal. She extracts urine from Sabbia by massaging and pushing on her bladder while collecting the urine in a bowl. I was amazed. In the US they stick a needle in her bladder to extract it! The expensive method was a needle in the bladder.
Sabbia will be returning this week for an ultrasound. They found blood in her urine. Pali's better but not 100%. She is a bit lethargic but is now willing to go for walks to the playground.
When we get to the ER they are ready for us. Our veterinarian had called to give them a heads up that a dog which appears to be in gastrointestinal distress will be arriving in 20 minutes. I am optimistic at this point. The ER is in a new building, everyone is dressed in scrubs, and speaks English well. One thing I realized living in Israel is as a customer you do most of the hard work. I have to lift Pali up on the table. Seriously? She is 52 pounds. If I would have known this, I would have told Scott to come. The woman could clearly see I needed help so she grabbed the other side of Pali while another doc watched. I had to flip her onto her belly, hold her paws, shave her leg for an IV. I think the best part was them asking me to carry her from one room to another to get an xray. I look at the woman and said "I can't have her walk?" No answer. The woman grabs Pali's hind legs while I take her front and carry her to the xray room. While in the xray room they suit me up, show me how to hold her so she doesn't move, tell me to move out of the way so I don't get in the xray, and to close my eyes before I see the bright light. I put on my sunglasses, closed my eyes, and opened them when they returned to the room.
The vet looks at her xray and decides to send it to a specialist to examine. She doesn't see anything wrong. In the meantime, Pali boarded for the day with an IV and lots of TLC. We still don't know what's wrong with her but she is slowly recuperating and gaining her energy back.
Onto Sabbia... I take her to their vet on Sheinken. Sabbia can't urinate which is considered a medical emergency for cats. This veterinarian I have is awesome but I also feel like I am in a 3rd world country when I visit her office. She gives Pali injections and expresses her glands on the sidewalk. I actually love it! I find the whole thing amusing. Pali has a bunch of people and cats walking by her as she is getting a finger stuck up her butt. The vet usually sits on a bench while performing these procedures. Anyways, on with fuzz... She starts to feel Sabbia's belly area to make sure there isn't an obstruction. All is good. She needs to take a urinalysis. She asks would you like the expensive method or the cheap one. I said can we try cheap and see how that goes and if you are unsuccessful we will do the expensive method. I once again had to hold the animal. She extracts urine from Sabbia by massaging and pushing on her bladder while collecting the urine in a bowl. I was amazed. In the US they stick a needle in her bladder to extract it! The expensive method was a needle in the bladder.
Sabbia will be returning this week for an ultrasound. They found blood in her urine. Pali's better but not 100%. She is a bit lethargic but is now willing to go for walks to the playground.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Dimona Nuclear Facility
I saw this article in the NYTimes this morning. It's about a computer worm that allegedly the Americans and Israeli's jointly developed to attack Iran's nuclear facility, in particular their enriching centrifuges.
It mentions all the testing occurred at the Dimona Nuclear Facility. I drove by their once. I was told never to stop along the roads surrounding the facility. And if I did, security would swarm my car in less than a minute. All the more reason for potty breaks before any road trips.
It mentions all the testing occurred at the Dimona Nuclear Facility. I drove by their once. I was told never to stop along the roads surrounding the facility. And if I did, security would swarm my car in less than a minute. All the more reason for potty breaks before any road trips.
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| Not sure how this photo was taken. I've linked it from another website. |
Saturday, January 15, 2011
26 Alro'i (אלרואי)
Well it took a few months, but we have finally settled into our apartment. And I'm glad to say that it feels like home. The apartment is about 15 years old though there are details which give it quite a bit of character which is out of the ordinary here in Israel (and in most cases, out of the ordinary in the US too).
The apartment itself is two floors with 3 bedrooms, two baths, and what I call a family room on the first floor. On the second floor is the kitchen, living room, loft, and balcony. It's quite sizeable for Israeli standards though it's probably only ~1300 sq ft. Jana says to me often given the smaller size of the place, "are you sure you still want to live in a bungalo?" And you know, I do. It's a good size for the three of us and not excessive, though Israeli's might think so.
Here's is a link to more photos of our apartment.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Potty Training
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I wanted to add to this post. Israeli kids seem to be potty trained at a fairly early age. Take a look at the technique used in the photo.
Reminds me of the advice my mom suggested. Said to let him walk around without diapers. When he starts to pee, pull down his pants and catch it with our hands. Ok, so this was suggested to Jana by my mom. Not sure if anything was lost in translation.
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Our Casanova
Part of our routine in the morning is to head to the playground for 2 hours. Usually between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. We hit two playgrounds. The one at the end of our street and the one at the beach.
Makai is a very loving and affectionate child. When he sees someone he likes, he gives kisses, hugs, and holds their hands. Given his affectionate personality trait he has no problems going up to a child he finds friendly and holding his or her hand. He will approach them, gently touch their hand and signal that he wants them to go down the slide with him or swing. Yesterday morning we were at the beach where he met his girlfriend for the day. It took about 2 minutes for the mother to convince the little girl it was fine to hold his hand. And after that, they wouldn't let go of each other! I tried talking to the mom to see if she'd be interested in a playdate. She never spoke back.
Makai is a very loving and affectionate child. When he sees someone he likes, he gives kisses, hugs, and holds their hands. Given his affectionate personality trait he has no problems going up to a child he finds friendly and holding his or her hand. He will approach them, gently touch their hand and signal that he wants them to go down the slide with him or swing. Yesterday morning we were at the beach where he met his girlfriend for the day. It took about 2 minutes for the mother to convince the little girl it was fine to hold his hand. And after that, they wouldn't let go of each other! I tried talking to the mom to see if she'd be interested in a playdate. She never spoke back.
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| Makai's girlfriend for the day. Name unknown. |
Monday, January 10, 2011
T-Shirt
So we got Kippy a t-shirt from Israel as a Christmas present. From what we were told, the hebrew text reads "Solution to the Palestinian Problem."
On a more serious note, we also got him a t-shirt of his favorite recreation.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Cats II
Cats are indeed numerous here. To make matters worse, our downstairs neighbor leaves cat food out. And with this food there are a number of street cats camped outside various ledges around our apartment, including all over my car. (See paw prints on my car windshield.) I don't call them stray cats mostly because they haven't really seemed to have strayed from anywhere in particular. I think these cats simply make their home in and around our apartment.
And it is quite true that these cats are aggressive, in particular the orange cat with a striking resemblance to Frank the cat from the Whiskas commercial. Very often and more so during the night, we will hear the cries of a cat rumble as two cats try to lay claim to one ledge. When we first moved here, Jana would jump up in the middle of her sleep when she heard these cries and ask, "where's sabbia?" "no sorry honey, sabbia is over there sleeping. she hasn't gotten torn up by Frank yet."
Atom and I actually witnessed a cat fight first hand. There were two cats. Frank of course and another black cat which we'll call Felix for the sake of this story. Felix sat in the middle of the street in front of our apartment. Frank was slowly walking up to Felix. I mean real slow, giving him glaring stare down while making some crazy "meow" cries. Felix sat there completely avoiding any eye contact. Atom and I stood there watching. Frank continued is slow approach, all the while still taunting Felix. Then all of a sudden, Frank lunged at Felix and there was a cat rumble right in front of us. I was actually shocked and tried yelling at them to get them to stop. I don't think it was because of me, but they did stop for a second. Frank continued to stare down Felix. I thought, "this probably isn't good for Atom to watch. I better go inside." As I left the two cats still in stare down stances, Atom enthusiastically signed, "More. More. More."
Atom now searches for cats hoping they will provide him some entertainment.
And it is quite true that these cats are aggressive, in particular the orange cat with a striking resemblance to Frank the cat from the Whiskas commercial. Very often and more so during the night, we will hear the cries of a cat rumble as two cats try to lay claim to one ledge. When we first moved here, Jana would jump up in the middle of her sleep when she heard these cries and ask, "where's sabbia?" "no sorry honey, sabbia is over there sleeping. she hasn't gotten torn up by Frank yet."
Atom and I actually witnessed a cat fight first hand. There were two cats. Frank of course and another black cat which we'll call Felix for the sake of this story. Felix sat in the middle of the street in front of our apartment. Frank was slowly walking up to Felix. I mean real slow, giving him glaring stare down while making some crazy "meow" cries. Felix sat there completely avoiding any eye contact. Atom and I stood there watching. Frank continued is slow approach, all the while still taunting Felix. Then all of a sudden, Frank lunged at Felix and there was a cat rumble right in front of us. I was actually shocked and tried yelling at them to get them to stop. I don't think it was because of me, but they did stop for a second. Frank continued to stare down Felix. I thought, "this probably isn't good for Atom to watch. I better go inside." As I left the two cats still in stare down stances, Atom enthusiastically signed, "More. More. More."
Atom now searches for cats hoping they will provide him some entertainment.
Cats
For those of you who know my animals, my dog is a scaredy cat and my cat has no fear. I believe Tel Aviv is the cat captial of the world. Cat fights happen every second. It seems to all take place outside of our apartment. They fight over cars, under cars, in rose bushes, right on our patio, and in Makai's Radio Flyer. We live about 3 to 4 stories up. I still can't figure out how they manage to jump and from what location.
Since cats have a special status in Tel Aviv, I have noticed they are left alone and "green patrol" (animal control) ignore them. Pali and I have been stopped by green patrol. It's amazing how our US citizenship allows us not to abide by the laws of Israel. I show my passport and Voila, you are dismissed as I watch other people getting tickets for their dogs being off leash.
Anyways, back to the cat situation. So, the story goes that at some point in Tel Aviv there were too many rats/mice. There was a campaign to bring in cats so they can rid Tel Aviv of all the mice. Well, for the most part, I find this not entirely true. I've seen some dead mice on the street. They were being eaten by stray dogs and birds. I have yet to see a cat do this. If they are like Sabbia, they chase these little critters to play with them and killing them accidentally.
Scott and I both have this fear of Sabbia getting out and getting attacked by the cats. Cats here are aggressive. Yesterday I left the patio door unlocked without realizing it. When we came home Scott noticed the door wide open. I see Sabbia on the steps. Ok good, she didn't go out. About an hour passes by and I ask Scott if he has seen the cat. He says no. I said did she go outside when you locked the door. He said I don't think so. So I head upstairs and about 10 minutes later something tells me to look outside to be sure. As soon as I walk to the door I see Sabbia on the ledge of the patio about to jump. I freak and yell SABBIA'S ON THE LEDGE OF THE PATIO! SHE'S GONNA JUMP! I think she wanted to catch a bird.
In my nice voice I say Saaa---bbiiiaaa... Here Saaaabbbbiiiiaaa... Luckily she turns around, heads to the door waging her tail and shaking her butt excited to see me. I feed her a bag of treats for coming. Where was Pali? Sitting at the patio door whining. She wanted to go outside but since Sabbia was out there she decided it was best to stay indoors.
Since cats have a special status in Tel Aviv, I have noticed they are left alone and "green patrol" (animal control) ignore them. Pali and I have been stopped by green patrol. It's amazing how our US citizenship allows us not to abide by the laws of Israel. I show my passport and Voila, you are dismissed as I watch other people getting tickets for their dogs being off leash.
Anyways, back to the cat situation. So, the story goes that at some point in Tel Aviv there were too many rats/mice. There was a campaign to bring in cats so they can rid Tel Aviv of all the mice. Well, for the most part, I find this not entirely true. I've seen some dead mice on the street. They were being eaten by stray dogs and birds. I have yet to see a cat do this. If they are like Sabbia, they chase these little critters to play with them and killing them accidentally.
Scott and I both have this fear of Sabbia getting out and getting attacked by the cats. Cats here are aggressive. Yesterday I left the patio door unlocked without realizing it. When we came home Scott noticed the door wide open. I see Sabbia on the steps. Ok good, she didn't go out. About an hour passes by and I ask Scott if he has seen the cat. He says no. I said did she go outside when you locked the door. He said I don't think so. So I head upstairs and about 10 minutes later something tells me to look outside to be sure. As soon as I walk to the door I see Sabbia on the ledge of the patio about to jump. I freak and yell SABBIA'S ON THE LEDGE OF THE PATIO! SHE'S GONNA JUMP! I think she wanted to catch a bird.
In my nice voice I say Saaa---bbiiiaaa... Here Saaaabbbbiiiiaaa... Luckily she turns around, heads to the door waging her tail and shaking her butt excited to see me. I feed her a bag of treats for coming. Where was Pali? Sitting at the patio door whining. She wanted to go outside but since Sabbia was out there she decided it was best to stay indoors.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Israeli Dawn and Kip
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Monday, January 3, 2011
Orthodox wedding
On December 8, 2010 Scott and I attended our first Orthodox wedding in Jerusalem. The bride is the daughter of Effie Eitman (please see previous post about Effie).
An hour an a half drive we arrive at a kibutz in Jerusalem. We had about 20 minutes to snack before the ceremony. There were two stations. One side had some sort of Arab pizza; a pita with herbs on top, hummus, a bunch of middle eastern and Moroccan food. The other side had more of an Asian influence. Scott went for the eggroll looking dish. I had a plate full of Middle Eastern food. He claims he didn't know there were two stations with different dishes. My thought, why would an orthodox Jewish wedding serve Asian food only?
Onto the ceremony. All in all the ceremony itself was festive and jovial. The groom walked into the room with all his family and friends surrounding him in a circle with singing and dancing. Both fathers, bride and groom's, were on each side of him and what looked like presenting him to the bride. The bride was sitting down in a chair with a candle waiting for the groom. Once presented there was lots of singing, dancing, clapping, and happiness all around. At the end of the ceremony under the hoopa, a contract was presented. The contract states if the groom decides to leave the marriage he has to pay X amt of money to the bride. I wonder what sort of price Effie put on his daughter.
The reception was segregated for the bride and groom. There was a wall which separated the men and women dancing and singing. I decided to be festive and join in the woman's circle. Just to learn it was all single women dancing. No wonder I was holding hands with a 14 and 10 year old.
An hour an a half drive we arrive at a kibutz in Jerusalem. We had about 20 minutes to snack before the ceremony. There were two stations. One side had some sort of Arab pizza; a pita with herbs on top, hummus, a bunch of middle eastern and Moroccan food. The other side had more of an Asian influence. Scott went for the eggroll looking dish. I had a plate full of Middle Eastern food. He claims he didn't know there were two stations with different dishes. My thought, why would an orthodox Jewish wedding serve Asian food only?
Onto the ceremony. All in all the ceremony itself was festive and jovial. The groom walked into the room with all his family and friends surrounding him in a circle with singing and dancing. Both fathers, bride and groom's, were on each side of him and what looked like presenting him to the bride. The bride was sitting down in a chair with a candle waiting for the groom. Once presented there was lots of singing, dancing, clapping, and happiness all around. At the end of the ceremony under the hoopa, a contract was presented. The contract states if the groom decides to leave the marriage he has to pay X amt of money to the bride. I wonder what sort of price Effie put on his daughter.
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| Groom walking along side father and father in-law. Family and friends behind and around. |
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| Bride waiting for groom while being surrounded by female family and friends. |
The reception was segregated for the bride and groom. There was a wall which separated the men and women dancing and singing. I decided to be festive and join in the woman's circle. Just to learn it was all single women dancing. No wonder I was holding hands with a 14 and 10 year old.
Service Providers...
If you'd like to experience the best customer service, live in Japan, not Israel. From the countries I have visited, Israel has the worst customer service I've experienced. Now, I am not talking about restaurants or shopping, they are actually awesome. I am referring to service providers, technicians for washer and dryers, internet, cable, plumbers, carpenters, and the list continues. One thing I've realized about Israel, they don't care about their jobs as much as other countries. They also don't take pride in what they do. They do a crappy job and it's half ***. In all seriousness, they try to find the quickest and cheapest fix.
A plumber, we have had multiple ones, has been to our house literally 20 times in the past 2 months. I won't talk about the previous times because it will take up too much of this post. This is our most recent experience. Right before we left for the states I found a leak in our bedroom. A plumber came out within 4 hours and said there is a leak in your wall and floor. We will have to come tomorrow to fix it. He came and then decided to come two days later because he needed a carpenter. Luckily, our awesome house sitter Sebastian took care of everything. Three weeks later, this is what we come home too.
The sad thing, our house sitter did take care of everything. He got them to go this far in 3 weeks. He also cleaned up their mess. Well, put the mess in a pile which is better than having it dispersed around the master bedroom. Sebastian said they were suppose to finish on Thursday but never showed.
Where do we stand now? Scott and I have taken over the guest bedroom, Scott wrote a letter to the landlord, who from what I hear has also been on top of things but yet it doesn't seem like it, and if all else fails, they will receive a call from Effie Eitam.
A plumber, we have had multiple ones, has been to our house literally 20 times in the past 2 months. I won't talk about the previous times because it will take up too much of this post. This is our most recent experience. Right before we left for the states I found a leak in our bedroom. A plumber came out within 4 hours and said there is a leak in your wall and floor. We will have to come tomorrow to fix it. He came and then decided to come two days later because he needed a carpenter. Luckily, our awesome house sitter Sebastian took care of everything. Three weeks later, this is what we come home too.
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| How the carpenter and plumber left the master bedroom |
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| A close up shot. |
The sad thing, our house sitter did take care of everything. He got them to go this far in 3 weeks. He also cleaned up their mess. Well, put the mess in a pile which is better than having it dispersed around the master bedroom. Sebastian said they were suppose to finish on Thursday but never showed.
Where do we stand now? Scott and I have taken over the guest bedroom, Scott wrote a letter to the landlord, who from what I hear has also been on top of things but yet it doesn't seem like it, and if all else fails, they will receive a call from Effie Eitam.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....
We had planned to spend New Years eve in Tel Aviv this year. Due to the weather in the north east as well as Texas we were rebooked and spent New Year's eve on a flight from ATL to TLV. Our captain decided to ring in the new year by counting down with the cabin lights flashing, followed by the black eyed peas song, "I gotta feeling tonites gonna be a good night." I found it kind of cheesey and waited for the passengers to start dancing in the aisles. Of course no one did. Our son was sound asleep and woke up screaming for 2 minutes til the party ended.
Our family resolution is to learn how to bargain at the markets, explore Israel, and to lose the 10 pounds we gained after our USA vacation.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Our family resolution is to learn how to bargain at the markets, explore Israel, and to lose the 10 pounds we gained after our USA vacation.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Happy Everything!
Wow, what an eventful December! We started the month off Chanukah in Israel, our first orthodox Jewish wedding (post will follow), and a long journey to the U.S. with both Scottie and I getting air sick.
On the 16th of December we headed to Boise to celebrate my nephew Kian's Baptism and Christmas. It was great to catch up with family and finally get to meet my cutie godson! Makai was great with Kian. He loved putting his hand on Kian's head. A few times he tried snuggling with Kian not understanding why he can't lay on his 4 month old cousin's stomach to sleep. One night at Kip and Dawn's house, Scott found Makai rocking Kian in his car seat trying to give him kisses.
The rest of the week was filled with a few days of sledding, a party at the Bourlands, and of course a Santa sighting!
When Makai woke up on Christmas morning he wasn't sure what to do with the presents under the tree. He pointed, walked away from them and then decided to pick one up and hand it to Auntie Dawn. We then headed to Oma's house. Santa visited that night and filled her living room with presents.
Then we were back in the air and off to Houston for two days where we celebrated the holidays with the Nguyen side. James caught me some fresh fish just like I asked! Makai spent an afternoon gardening with Yaya (grandpa) and from what I hear he loved to shovel. He also loved to play with his bestie Maya.
On the 16th of December we headed to Boise to celebrate my nephew Kian's Baptism and Christmas. It was great to catch up with family and finally get to meet my cutie godson! Makai was great with Kian. He loved putting his hand on Kian's head. A few times he tried snuggling with Kian not understanding why he can't lay on his 4 month old cousin's stomach to sleep. One night at Kip and Dawn's house, Scott found Makai rocking Kian in his car seat trying to give him kisses.
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| Look Ma! The muffin man! |
The rest of the week was filled with a few days of sledding, a party at the Bourlands, and of course a Santa sighting!
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| Giving Auntie Laiena a thank you kiss. |
When Makai woke up on Christmas morning he wasn't sure what to do with the presents under the tree. He pointed, walked away from them and then decided to pick one up and hand it to Auntie Dawn. We then headed to Oma's house. Santa visited that night and filled her living room with presents.
Then we were back in the air and off to Houston for two days where we celebrated the holidays with the Nguyen side. James caught me some fresh fish just like I asked! Makai spent an afternoon gardening with Yaya (grandpa) and from what I hear he loved to shovel. He also loved to play with his bestie Maya.
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| Jana's plate of fresh fish. I saved half of one for Scott and ate the rest. |
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| Gi Ba, these are for us?!?! What do we do with them? |
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