Nafisa's # 3

Happy Birthday Nafisa!



While the little kids were playing, the big kids did too! & the animal balloons courtesy of Harold, Merrilea's dad.

Nana went to be with Jesus

My maternal grandmother (our Nana) died Sunday early in the morning. She lived a long life - from the cool climate of New England's historical Quincy, Massachusetts to the place I'm told that all Yankees go to retire - Florida. I can remember when she lived with us for several years back in Braintree, MA while I was in high school. The memories I have of her are good. They are of family. Mom's side of the family are of good Italian stock! I'm not sure if Nana had something to do with my parents' blind date that got them started out on their life-long journey together, but I'm grateful my parent's met. I suppose my children are just as grateful!

So, thanks Nana for being my grandmom. Thanks Lord, for taking her to be with you as you promised.

Girls' Night Out

Finally Maria and Danielle performed their ballet & tap dance program after many months of training....

I'm not into ballet but when my daughters are involved....They did great and had a blast!!!

Here is Maria and her friend doing a spoof on ballet...sneakers and all...Nafisa's just hamming it up!


Contemporary Dance
Tap


Maria has been a co-teacher for the younger kids as well.

On the Road Again... Aurangabad

With Harold at the 'Mini Taj' in Aurangabad.


David, Bill and Jim - visitors from Spartanburg, SC!

Going out on Day 1...

Recent Fun!

Nafisa writing her name for the first time!



Over Easter weekend, a Hindu festival - Holi - occurred. It's a holiday that has taken on some secular fun, including dowsing one another with colored water. It's almost impossible to leave the house and not get some color....especially if it's your intent to get others with colors like our kids!

Settlers of Canaan

Right now, we are all playing the family favorite board game Settlers of Canaan. It's a fun strategy game our friend Neill and Margit introduced us to a few years ago.

Maria is too tired to play so she's on our living room coach/bed while Nafisa got her afternoon 2nd wind and is happily looking through her books. (Or at least she did have her 2nd wind!)

I'm finally almost caught up on work this last week, having traveled to language school and then Bangalore over the last few weeks. The language school was in a suburb of Mussoorie in the state of Uttaranchal. It was COLD! Now back in Pune, it's in the 90's daily.

Merrilea's parents have traveled to the Kutch of Gujarat for a week by invitation of a local school. We are eagerly looking forward to their report of their travels!

Family on Feb 29, 2008

THE KIDS

High up a tree...you should have seen her try to get down!

With Harold and Emma

Friends

This week we took a trip about 2 hours away and said goodbye to some friends




Something happened to the bed we were sitting on. It collapsed in the middle. I don't know how we are going to fix it! :-) It's now sitting on piles of books to hold the center up!

Over the Last Month. . .

Over the next few days I'll add notes to every picture so you'll know what we've been up to! :-)

Yup, that's Maria walking along side her favorite colored taxi in Bangkok. That's one of her favorite shirts, too!

Here's at an aquarium in Bangkok...it's in the basement of a shopping mall called Siam Paragaon.


The Bangkok Weekend Market has too many things that our kids like...shoes, hats, pocketbooks....etc.

Here's a great pose with Joseph and Nafisa showing off her awesome shirt.

I grew up with these.
Is there anything better than a Dunkin Donut? Nope!

Shoes Maria decorated from the Weekend Market

I couldn't resist this shirt at the weekend market . . .

Flying back from Nepal...those are the Himalaya's ...at cruising altitude!

Team elephant riding in Nepal's Chitwan National Park

I couldn't resist this button from a local Mall in Bangkok

Emma, Merrilea's mom drinking freshly squeezed Mandarin Orange juice with Danielle in Bangkok

Sunset in Nepal out the window of our hotel


At the aquarium in Bangkok

Sisters! :-}


The best - hot dogs rolled in bacon among other things to eat at the weekend market in Bangkok!


Spicey sauce on those hot dogs...with great cold coffee!

Too many decisions to make at the weekend market

Starting the New Year Right

The midwife we had for Nafisa has an orphanage a few kilometers south of town. They have water drainage problems in their back yard so Jonathan and all of us went to work to help resolve the problem by digging a large hole to be filled with large stones where the water should naturally flow. Here's just a glimpse of how dirty we all got!
The order of rocks didn't work out as planned so we still have some loose ends to tie up. I think we'll finish the project only after we come back from our trip on Sunday to Bangkok. We have to leave the country due to visa restrictions. Grandma and Grampa Schrack will be joining us!








After digging at the orphange.....