Monday, March 19, 2007

A Gathering of Friends and Family


Our daughter Ruhiyyih flew in from Washington D.C. to spend time with friends and family on the weekend. Shown here are our neighbors, who had come over for breakfast, and some members of our extended family, who came for lunch. You can see Taraz and Megan on the far right, Rahmat, Rue and Annie, Tim (Annie's dad), Ruhiyyih, and my grand-daughter Daisy holding my hand; George is on the far left next to our neighbor Meyong who brought her exchange students from China.

While I was busy in the kitchen, Kathy Hall (Annie's mom) took photos of the gathering, which I will share here. It was a wonderful day of visiting and gift-giving. We wanted to wait until Ruhiyyih came home to enjoy our Ayyam-i-Ha celebration.

Here, Myong's students are enjoying Nintendo's Wii that Rahmat set up in the den. He set up the bowling alley, and strapped the remote control device on Daisy's arm, so she could play. (These devices have to be strapped on, or sometimes the player accidently throws them at the TV, forgetting it is a virtual game.)

Ruhiyyih has several close friends who just had babies, and she couldn't wait to hold them! Here she is pictured with Daisy, my oldest daughter Laurel, Veronica with new baby Zoey Belle, Annie, and myself. This was little Zoey Belle's first social outing. She is 3 weeks old and was a very good little gal, given all the noise we were making during her nap.

I took this photo of Ruhiyyih and Brynn on Saturday. Brynn has been a good friend of Ruhiyyih's for many years. She will be leaving for a counseling position in a mental health facility down in Mississippi in a few weeks. Brynn seems like a member of our family. She has attended so many of our family events, and our camping and hiking excursions.

Ruhiyyih flew back to Washington this morning. Her visit was 'short and sweet', just a brief 'hello', but she managed to see all her friends, family, and even some of the members of our Ruhi Study Circle on Sunday. She loves her job in D.C., and all the new experiences she has there, but, there is 'no place like home'!

She plans to return in late May for our family's annual camping trip over to eastern Washington. Then, she will have a chance to hike and canoe, and just relax again with her extended family.