Life is great!

Dear family and friends,
I didn’t forget about this blog. It’s just that at any point in the last 10 months, either time or muse were missing...

Long story short, life is great!

We found Haifa to be a fantastic city for us, and we’re enjoying it a lot – the beaches, the climate and the social environment. In general, living in Israel appears to have been a very good decision for us, with the proximity to our families, as well as the culture and way of life. There are still, of course, disadvantages when compared to our life in the US, but we’ve been pretty good at offsetting or ignoring them. For example, we rarely read the newspaper; we never watch the news on TV. I’m not sure we’re being the most responsible citizens by doing this, but it buys us a lot of peace of mind.

The girls are simply amazing, and it is a pleasure watching them grow up:

Maayan, just a tad older than 2.5 years, thinks she’s a 5 year old, and acts accordingly. She’s pretty much constantly happy. It’s extremely hard to resist her charm, and her ability to hug and express affection is unusual and very enjoyable for me. A third daughter, she’s as assertive as it takes for her to get all the attention she wants, at times to the dismay of her older sisters. But, she adores Hadas and Noga and very often, for extended periods of time, they peacefully play together.

Hadas just started school (first grade. Unlike the US, in Israel kindergarten is for playing, not for studying). Fortunately, the elementary school in our neighborhood is excellent, and was one of the main reasons we chose to rent a place in the area. Naturally, Hadas, and us, were very excited about it. She’s one of those kids that love school, and love to study (well, not very surprising considering her parents...).
She’s mature, very curious and magnificently lively. Having a conversation with her often reveals a surprisingly deep understanding of her surroundings and insights about life in general. Her schedule is fairly busy, with after-school program, gymnastics, art class and many playdates, accommodating the flood of new friends she’s instantly acquired.
I sometimes watch her walking to school (hand-in-hand with Noga), and find it hard to believe she grew up so quickly.

Noga is already over 9, which sounds astonishing to me. My daughter is going to be a teenager soon?! But luckily her behavior is still not (yet) that of a teenager, and we’re enjoying a smart, happy and wonderful child. She’s a classic book worm, reading (mostly in English) every moment she can spare. And there’s many such moments, since she’s extremely busy – gymnastics, very frequent playdates, girl-scouts (“Zofim”) and soon a gifted-program school-substitute once a week, for a full day. That program seems terrific for Noga, and she’s can’t wait for it to start.

Other than that, as a family, we have many activities on weekends. Pretty much every weekend we get together with friends and/or family. We go hiking and camping fairly often and enjoy the beach as frequently as we can. We also make sure to have some time for the parents alone. These lines, for example, are written in Tel-Aviv where Anat and I are having a lovely weekend (museum, dinner, movie, sleeping with no interruptions). Mayyan finally got to spend a day with her grandparents without her sisters, and her sisters got to watch a performance and spend the Sukkoth holiday with the other set of grandparents. In a few minutes we’ll get going to Binyamina for a big family gathering.
Did I mention proximity to our families was an advantage?!

So, as I said, life is great. No complaints.

Kisses and hugs to everybody, and those outside of Israel - please do write!
Giora