Timothy

  Nicole

  Samantha

  Stephanie

  Victor

  Grand/Godparents

So we were only 3 -1/2 months late with her 3rd birthday party! But at least she had a good one..or two! Because we didn't do a real birthday party for her last year, the pressure was on to do it up nice this year. Nicole had been asking about her party since our vacation at Disney, "When is my Yom Holedet party?" So after about two months of delay we had her first party in Israel at Gan Haviv. Steph stayed up to the wee hours of the morning making her Minnie Mouse cake. The kids loved it! (See the cake to the left)

We finally decided to have her real party at the local Embassy Recreation center. Brave parents that we are, we invited all her friends from Gan Haviv, fortunately for us, most of the parents speak very good English. We also invited a lot of our English speaking friends. Before the big day, Steph spent another all nighter making cakes, this time with Mickey and Minnie. It's a wonder that Stephanie has not developed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome after these two parties. The cakes did survive until we blew out the candles.

Because it was too cold to go swimming and most kids don't know how to play tennis, we hired a bounce house to keep the kids entertained and let them run out all their energy. We also had our friend provide entertainment. They made arts and crafts, watched a magic play and played some games. And instead of feeding the kids a "chocolate/candy salad" we decided on something much "healthier"...pizza! For the adults, especially the tired ones, coffee, tea and bagels.

In the end it was well worth our efforts and Nicole turned three for the last time in her life! I wonder if kids remember these things? Oh, well, the party was more for the parents than it was for the kids anyways. ;->

Who's clowning around?

Gan Haviv - Nicole is now one of the older kids in her Gan. So far this year has had a birthday party, explored Dinosaurs, and celebrated Channukah with all her friends and Ganenet (Teachers)

...and her Hebrew? - Has gotten much better. She is almost comfortable talking to strangers outside of the Gan. One downside, since Hebrew does not have a "J" sound, Nicole cannot pronounce English words with a "J" very well. Words like "Juice" comes out "Shoes"!