weekend

Last weekend was sooooo relaxing for us, only me and amir in the house, my sis with her husband went camping for three days. Amir and I went to bazar on saturday and bought gooseberries which amir found amusing, he was excited to buy it but refused to try. I love gooseberries, they are so sour, and I crave anything sour right now. Apparently gooseberry doesn't grow in the Phillippines, Amir called them small watermelons because of the stripes and colour:):):)
On sunday we bought this baby which weighed 17 kg!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor amir had to carry it all the way to home! Thank God it was downheal most of the way! I wish I could help him but for next 5 months I have my own watermelon to carry around..hahahaha
My watermelon is growing so fast, since last week it kicks me every day, I loooooove sensing its movements. since we were relaxing most of the time last weekend, we spent some time talking to the baby, each in our own language. amir felt its kick once, but afterwards every time I would call him to feel it again, the baby would stay quiet:):):) I didn't really want to post a picture of naked tummy, but due to demand of some friends in comments, here it is. I am entering the 5th month this week.
Happy me
Amir is demonstrating half of the watermelon we ate, which by the way was delicious! it was huuuuuge!!!!!!!!!!!!

baby's picture

following the tradition of posting ultrasound pictures of babies on blogs, i am herein posting a first pciture of our baby made a week ago. although the baby is still very small and it is hard to see anything there, we all saw the head, and i even managed to see little fingers on his(?) hand.

dinner out last night

i am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo huuuuuuuuuuuuungry!
Kazakh money
painting on the wall of the first cafe we tried to have dinnner at

Amir is being silly...happy!

Can you tell there are two of us on this picture????????

Amir has worked for a month now, yesterday he got his first salary, yey! We met up after work and went for dinner to eat on it. First place we came to was really nice, we had eaten there before and liked their cooking, but unfortunately there were people smoking all around us and this restaurant didn't have a non-smkoking area. I cannot bear smoke since i got pregnant and we decided to go look for another place close by. I was sooooooo hungry that our searvh didn't last very long, hehehe... We stopped at a fist place outdoors where people were still smoking, but there was not many of them and it was outside, so the smoke didn't bother us much (me and baby). I ate like a preggy, two portions:):):) couldn't move afterwards, but was happy! Amir ordered pork in a clay pot, he said it was delicious, I couldn't try it any more:) The weather now is amazing in Almaty, usually it is very hot during these months, but this year, it's hot during a day and it's raining almost every night, so it's so fresh at night while we sleep. I think it was by my order the weather is being so pleasant on me cause I don't really like continuoes heat... especially now...

Living for two

Last week was my first ultrasound appointment after which i had a complete realization that I am carrying a human being inside me and that I am living two lives at the moment. All this time I knew I was pregnant but wasn't fully realizing what is going on... (may be cause my belly is still smal. Although I was trying to take a good care of myself, say prayers as much as possible and was having some simptoms, I cannot say I was pregnant mentally, rather more physycally. After I saw a little spine and ribs, little foot, head, I think I even saw a hand on the pictures, I couldn't believe it! Like I just learned that I am pregnant! So interesting how my mind was absolutely separated from my body and from what was really going on... So interesting that I needed this visual evidence to enjoy and try to understand my state for this months and... upcoming yearssssssss:):):) Amir was there too and so was my sis, they were sooooooo excited! I wish this visual connection to my baby would last a bit longer, next time I will ask them to show me everything possible, and hopefuly we can make a video as there will be much more to see:):):)
p.s. Ultrasound showed that everything is OK so far... thank you all for your prayers!

During the week-long project of reaching out to our neigbours we found out that in the building we just moved in lives this Israeli family of 6 people - a couple with their daughter, son-in-law, grandchild and their old mother. We were so excited to meet each other on our way back from the grocery store, i saw the woman's smiling radiant face, she was holding this beautiful baby in her arms and coming out of the buidling, i immediately felt some kind of connection and an impuls to come and start a conversation. It was so easy, i asked if the baby is a girl or a boy, what is his name, after i heard the name i raised a question about his nationality, she said they are jews. next followed our exclamation that we used to live in Israel serving at the Bahai World Centre. She was so happy to know that, she said they go there often, in fact, Eliran (adorable child, her grandson) was born there three months ago. She had been to Haifa and visited the gardens together with her family. We meet once in a while in a yard when she walks with Eliran. Now, me and my sis with our husbands are eager to teach them the Faith, although i still have this thought in my mind that we shouldn't teach jews and i try to remind myself that this rule is applicable only INSIDE Israel.

kids who attend children classes in one of the regions of almaty where we had our teaching project recently
this region is basically a village with all its features:)...

me and my sis are enjoying a company of our devoted new friend Ryzhik
watch out! sheeps are crossing the road!...

doors are opening for the Message everywhere
Ryzhik is posing for the cam

one two three, family shot! Amir was still counting when the cam did its job

Amir was serving as a cook during the project to feed teachers of the Faith

beautiful flower in one of the visited houses' gardens