wow!melody (sideways)

We returned from our trip to Israel on Tuesday, and then on Thursday and Friday I was off to two days of quilting classes at the New Jersey Quiltfest. I'm lucky that Dave likes to cook for Shabbat, because despite the fact that I left myself three hours to get home for what was supposed to be an hour and a half drive, I got lost (surprise, surprise) and got home about a half hour before Shabbat started.
The classes, given by Melody Johnson, were outstanding. Here are the two quilt tops that I made. (They're sideways - I still don't know how to turn photos around for the blog - I do it in Picasa, but it gets undone when I upload it.)

yishai's bar mitzvah in Israel #4

The boys
Yishai with his niece and nephews (yes, that's a boy in the middle - his parents are following the custon of letting a boy's hair grow until he's 3 years old - not our family custom)
Lennie and Helene and family

yishai's bar mitzvah in Israel #3

Rachel, Michael, Hallel and KavehShani and Elan

Tamar, David and Yehuda Avner

yishai's bar mitzvah in Israel #2

The original Walk clan (before the weddings) - Rachel, Tamar, Shani, Yaakov, Yehuda, and Yishai
The Walk clan today (minus Hallel who was tired of all the posing and Yehuda Avner, who was wandering around nearby but out of camera range)

yishai's bar mitzvah in Israel #1

We made a snap decision to have Yishai's Bar Mitzva ceremony in Israel. Although we purchased the plane tickets about two weeks before we flew, the lodging and catering arrangements had to be done the day before we left, as previously made arrangements did not work out. Fortunately, we found available accommodations, and everything fell beautifully into place.
We stayed in the Retreat Center in Efrat, in our old neighborhood, and had the minyan and kiddush there, too. About 25 family members and 100 friends and (former? - we still own our house there) neighbors attended. The only down side to the hastily arranged event was that my sister Karen, her husband Kenny, and son Ariel were unable to attend. They had just been in Israel a few weeks before visiting their daughter Talia, who is studying in Israel for the year. At least Talia was able to come.
My mom was unable to attend due to her illness, and my father was not comfortable leaving her, although Karen and I encouraged him to come. Dave's side of the family didn't make it either, but we hope to celebrate with them in CT in the near future.

Our soon to be published book -
How to Plan a Bar Mitzva in 3 days, in Another Country/Continent/Hemisphere.





Yishai with his proud parents
The man of the hour
All the relatives who showed up for the big event