The Hammers in Holland

some more pics

2010-06-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

it has been far too long

2010-06-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Enjoying my bath

My first fruit snack

In February we travelled to Israel for the wedding of Towa and Doron. Grandma also came to visit at that time. This is in Tel Aviv with Grandma and uncle Eric

At Towa's wedding

yes it is. By now Elishewa is 9 months old. On her first Father's day it was her 9 month birthday. so much has happened since the last time I wrote. Elishewa is growing so much, she is developing herself and enjoying every moment. By now she has 5 teeth. In February she was in Israel and this is her second trip to NY. Unfortunately also bad things happened to her. Her Zaidy z'l passed away at the end of April, he never met her. Hopefully he is watching her from up there. She already was at 3 wedding ceremonies and 1 wedding party. Tomorrow will be the next one, cousing Estie Yocheved is getting married. We are so excited that we could participate in this simche.

2nd day of Rosh Hashana

2009-10-21T04:56:00.000-07:00

The Tuesday b4 Rosh Hashana (september 15th) was my due date. That day we went to the hospital for a check up. The little one was still upside down and not all the way there yet. We agreed to come back a week later and see what we would do. One thing was for sure they didn't want to let me walk the whole 42 weeks.
During the first day of Rosh Hashana we went to shul. We agreed that during Mussaf I would go home if I couldn't take it anymore. During mussaf I felt okay so we agreed that we would stay. At the end of dawening my back started to hurt but I thought it was because of all the standing so I decided to sit down and stay seated. After shul we went home and had lunch, the pain wasn't going away. Because my back was hurting so much, we decided to put a hot water bottle against my back to easen the pain. That didn't help and after an hour of sleep I woke up again and continued saying tehilim. Last year I tried saying the whole tehilim over the course of 2 days and now I wanted to see if I could do it in 1. Around 6.15 pm I finished, I was so proud of myself. My mom offered to help and we walked to her place just to tell her that I finsihed. I told her that my back was hurting and that it wouldn't go away. Around 7.15 pm we decided to walk back and go up the 76 steps to our apt. Around 8 pm my tummy started to hurt too and I thought that this might be the start for the delivery. Daniel went to shul around 8.30 and I started to get stuff ready for dinner. After he came back from shul we had dinner, it was kinda of short bc the pain in my back was so much. I decided to step under the shower to relieve my body from the pain. Around 9.30 pm I stepped under and around 10.00 pm we called the hospital bc the pain was so bad. They told me to keep it up for another 30 minutes and then call back. After 5 minutes Daniel called back, I couldn't take it anymore. We were allowed to come and around 10.45 pm we were in the hospital. After the put us on the ctg they checked how far we were, I had 9.5 cm. The ctg was okay but around 11.30 pm it showed that the little one was having a lot of stress. They decided to do a c-section instead. The whole staff was paiged/peeped and I was on the OR within 10 minutes. They gave me an epidural (it is hard to sit still when you have contraction) and around 00.11 on September 20th Elishewa Miriam Lea was born.
She didn't have enough oxygen and had a rough start.

Daniel in surgery cloth Time Elishewa was born

Above our new doc and

the day b4 Rosh Hashana

2009-10-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

This is me at 40.5 weeks, the day before Rosh Hashana.

My pics of the last 2 weeks (still carying while writing this)

2009-09-17T09:15:00.001-07:00

Me at 39.5 weeks

Me at 38,5 weeks

In case the little one doesn't come today or tomorrow there will be a pic of me of 40.5 weeks. A day b4 Rosh Hashana starts.

Wishing you all a Shana Tova Oemetoeka! Ketiwa wechatima tova!

Update in 5769, just before the new Year starts

2009-09-17T09:09:00.001-07:00

This is Okki's room. hopefully soon we can talk about somebody else then Okki but for now, we stay with Okki.
Erez came over the hung up the luxaflex but when it was finally up, it broke. I had to go back to the Praxis to get a new one. I was happy that they make a big fuz about it.
The curtains I did myself, took me a long time but I do feel good.

On the left door there will be a poster with boker tov and a sun. Unfortunately i didn't get it back yet when the photo was taken.

Loving the room

2009-08-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

This is the Baby room. My mom painted the clouds on the ceiling. Daniel and Chowav painted the room. Hopefully Erez will help us soon the put something in front of the window.
When the room changes we will put new pictures up

This is me last Friday afternoon. we are 37.5 week in our pregnancy.
Next monday we have to go to the hospital again for a check up. I really hoped something changed in the position of the little one but I don't know. According so some people my belly looks different but at this point I don't have any idea anymore.

New pics of the pregnancy

2009-08-23T01:25:00.000-07:00

our carriage

36.5 week

further in the pregnancy

2009-08-16T01:31:00.000-07:00

35.5. weeks

34.5 weeks

33.5 weeks

new pic

2009-08-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

32.5 weeks

31.5 weeks

30.5 weels

28,5 weeks

It's been awhile

2009-07-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

it's been awhile since we last posted but we are doing fine.

The baby is kicking like crazy and sometimes I have the idea that I have a whole soccer team inside. A few weeks ago I wasn't feeling too well in the evenings and on Monday night I even threw up. We decided it would be best to call the midwife to discuss it with her. At the end she wanted me to come over and everything was fine. During our last check up, she tried to get the heart beat from Okki. Everytime she found it and was counting it, Okki started to kick and she had to start all over again. Already teasing, you can't start early enough.

Last week, we went shopping for stuff but unfortunately didn't find anything. Today we went shopping again and actually succeeded. We also figured out what the colour is going to be for the baby room, it is going to be really light green. The ceiling stays white and mom will paint clouds about the bed. We all grew up here, with clouds above the bed so I want that for the little one too.

Hopefully in a few weeks we will post pictures of the baby room.

This picture is me on June 26th, just b4 shabbat started, we were around 28 weeks then

Love to all!

2 days before....

2009-05-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Another 2 days and then we will be flying to the States!!!! We are so looking forward to it and just can't wait. Tonight we want to finish packing bc tomorrow night we are going to Mom to show her the 'pretecho' (fun echo).
Mom and Dad don't see too much of the pregnancy and Okki (our little one) growing right now. That is why we decided to make an echo and get pictures for them. Tomorrow morning we will be having the echo and hopefully Okki will do its best to be on perfect behaviour for the camera.
Thursday morning Mom will bring us to Schiphol airport and hopefully around 1.30 p.m. we will be landing in Philladelphia, USA.
We hope that everyone is doing fine and hope to see you all!!!
Love, the Hammers

Last part of the Keukenhof on April 12th, 2009

2009-04-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Cola mail men

At the Wigwam (sorry, don't know how you say it in English)
Amazing

Relaxing after a long walk

2009-04-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

can't get enough of it

Brooklyn and the Hammer

Typical Dutch
Nice

Nice a Dutch farmer

2009-04-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Us at the Keukenhof
Wow, All those flowers

In Holland but Loving NY

New York rules!

Chol Hamoed Pesach 2009 in Holland

2009-04-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

On the first day of Eastern, 2nd day of Chol hamoed we went to the Keukenhof. It was beautiful!

Oy... but good news

2009-03-21T14:53:00.001-07:00

After having promised to do better next time, we failed once more.
We are sorry for not updating the blog more often but we waited for a good day to update.

We have good news, we are pregnant!!!! We, and our families and friends, are very excited!!!! G-d answered our prayers and with His help we will have a healthy child in 6 months. We are due before Rosh Hashanna (Jewish New Year) but we'll know when the time is right. Unfortunately I haven't been feeling to good for a while, very tired and nauseous but hopefully this will be over soon.

Right now we are very busy with cleaning for pesach, tomorrow another busy day.

Hope to hear from you!!!

A while ago

2008-12-08T02:40:00.000-08:00

A while ago we promised to update the blog more often, unfortunately that didn't really happen.We apologize for that.
Last time the blog was updated was after soekot. Now we are already 1.5 month further and nothing happened. Okay something did happen but you just don't know about.
We had a birthday on November 27th, someone turned 37. happy birthday!!! The birthday was on a Thursday but bc shabbat started so early we decided to invite everyone for Saturday night for coffee and cake. Friday afternoon b4 we go to moms for dinner we now take a nap. I send him to bed so that I could decorate the place just b4 shabbos started, he was suprised when he woke up! A lot of people came and we had a great time! For some people it was the first time in our apartment and that made it extra special.
Some pics of the party will be uploaded soon. (as soon as we can find the plug :-))
Furthermore not too much has happened, we are busy with work and studies and we just keep going. Hopefully soon we will have a few days off to recharge!
Hopefully see you soon.

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

2008-11-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

...the Dutch Hammers actually updated their blog once in awhile! Sorry for the incredibly long delay, hopefully it won't be anywhere near as bad this time around.

Thank G-d, we got through the holidays okay. Sukkos turned out to be nice, since Erez made a small sukkah in the backyard. In the past, we used to sit in the dining room area, which had an openable roof above the table, so it was just a matter of opening the roof, putting some schach up, and closing the gap between the island that seperates the dining area and the kitchen with the wall, and BAM - instant sukkah. But because the roof was damaged last year, we weren't able to do this anymore, so we all sat outside. But personally, I thought it was nice. Thankfully, the weather held up virtually the whole week, and although at one point we had to squeeze 9 people around a table that was mainly designed for 6 people, it was still quite enjoyable.

This past Friday, 2 Cheshvan, was the yahrtzeit of my father-in-law z"l, so we made the trip to Utrecht, a city about 20 miles southeast of Amsterdam. Thankfully, the trip wasn't too emotionally charged. Of course, there were some tears, but we all held up well.

Shosh and I also want to make a quick shout out to our cousin Tzvi, who's getting married this Thursday. It sucks that we can't be there for the wedding - we've been able to make it to the last four so far! - but hopefully we'll be able to see them again for another simcha soon.

Anyway, the next month or so is going to be busy for Shosh studying for her December exam, and I'll be busy still with trying to keep tempers in check in the shul during shabbos ;) Hopefully we'll have some more updates for you soon, and G-d willing we'll put up some more pics of our Israel trip and other photos in the coming days.

Pictures from Israel (Part 1)

2008-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Our visit to the Kotel
Maharat HaMachpeila
Masada's many chambers
Van Leeuwen on a Leeuw

Shos in the cable car on the way up to Masada
Daniel and Shos with their new furry friend - at sea level
Overlooking Ein Gedi
Kever Rachel
Enjoying some kosher KFC at Jerusalem Mall

A missing bus and a ride on a camel

2008-08-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been quite an adventure. On Sunday we bought some tickets for two days on the tour bus around Yerushalayim, and we got off by Yad VaShem. This is a museum dedicated to the Shoah, and we got there on time for the 11 o'clock tour. The tour was pretty amazing, and it was really moving seeing some of the images and the actual pieces of the boxcar that transported so many Jews to their death.

Things hit a bit of a snag when we got out. We waited for over an hour and a half for the tour bus to show up. While we waited, the taxi drivers kept coming up and asking if we wanted a ride - they kept circling us like a bunch of vultures looking for the kill. Eventually, we took a shuttle van from Yad VaShem to Mount Herzl and took a bus from there to the Central Bus Station (the tour bus apparently was stuck because of a protest on Sunday). While we were at the bus station, we saw another tour bus, so we tried getting on that - except that bus was broken down! After calming down a bit and getting a burger to eat, we came out - and the tour bus finally pulled out (with us on it) around 6 PM, so we at least had a ride back to our hotel.

Monday didn't start out too well - we waited 20 minutes for the bus and when it finally showed up, it was full! AAARRGGG! Eventually we just took a taxi to the Israel Museum, where we were able to get a tour about the Dead Sea scrolls, scrolls that were written nearly 2,000 years ago and found in 1947 in Qumran. After the tour, we decided to try waiting for the tour bus again (what can I say, we're suckers for trying!). We waited for nearly an hour before trying the regular bus stop up the street. After 15 minutes of nothing showing up, we decided to walk back to get a taxi - and the tour bus showed up! We then took it to the kotel where we prayed some more, got some pita sandwiches nearby (the shnitzel was pretty good), and went back to the hotel.

Tuesday was a much better day. We had arranged before to get a private tour with Avraham, the taxi driver who took us to the different places on Friday. We went to a couple of kibbutzim, to see how they live, and went to Qumran itself, where we were able to see some of the caves where the scrolls were found in. We also did a lot of shopping there (Ahava is a brand of creams, and they sell a lot at Qumran). On the way down, we got down to sea level, and there was a Bedouin there who had a camel. For 20 shekel, Shosh and I each took a turn sitting on the camel (that was a bit scary, but fun!), and we got some great pictures.

Afterwards, we moved on to Ein Gedi, where we saw some beautiful views - and even some mountain goats passing by! Next, we went up to Masada. We took the cable car up and spent a lot of time looking around the different places. Shosh got some good color on her skin from all the sun! I was thinking a bit of taking the 'snake path', the natural pathway down the mountain, but decided not to do it (besides, I had already paid for the round trip with the cable car). I did go down a few meters just to get some pictures, but then went back to the cable car.

Finally, we went to Kibla beach, which is by the Dead Sea. We went in and went floating in the water, though when I tried getting out, I fell through a sinkhole and banged my knee a bit (I'm ok!). It was a lot of fun being in the water, though Shosh and I are both glad to be back, taking a shower in our own room, and getting some clean clothes on! On to tomorrow...

Seeing Israel on 1,000 shekels a day

2008-08-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

We had decided on Friday morning to go to Rachel's Tomb after all, but the question was how to get there. We wanted to take a bus there, and Shosh suggested I ask at the front desk about when the local bus would come, so we could get the bus at the Central Bus Station to Rachel's Tomb.

Then we were approached by Abraham.

He is a taxi driver for the hotel, and he suggested driving us there, plus driving us to a place nearby, the tomb of Shmuel HaNavi. His going rate was more than we were planning on spending - 120 shekalim per hour (about $38 an hour) - but we couldn't argue with the fact that it would be quicker, and we would get the opportunity to see more than we had planned. So we decided to go with him.

At this point, I should point out that passing through checkpoints is not quite the image you see on the news - though sometimes it is. The checkpoints to get through to Shmuel’s Tomb was a small one, and we were able to get through without a problem. We davened for a bit there, and took some photos, and got back in the car. Getting to Rachel's Tomb is something else. The cab driver had to wait outside while we took a bus through the next checkpoint - and it's here you also get an up close look at the security fence/the wall, which was probably about 30 feet high. The bus going back would be another hour, so we had plenty of time to pray there. While there, we also saw part of a Bas Mitzvah that was taking place over there. You're not likely to see such a bash on "My Super Sweet 16", but trust me - such a party would have to cost quite a bit of money, between the van going there and back and the photographer.

Once we were done, we had another choice to make. Abraham, our cab driver, offered to take us to Mearas Ha'Machpeila, the Tomb of the Patriarchs. My uncle Avraham has gone there many times in the past. According to him and my aunt Miriam, the shul they have there even accepted a Torah scroll from him (which can cost in excess of $50,000), which is not something they do lightly. My uncle would tell me that I should go there, to experience it. To experience it, though, would cost us another 500 Shekels.

The heck with it, we went.

Most of the ride there was without incident. Israel has set up a bunch of bypass roads, to allow people to get from one place to another without having to go through Palestinian territory (though we did, again, see more of the security wall on the way there). Once we got through the second to last checkpoint, though, is when things got really sketchy. For all the advances Israelis have put up in their communities, most of the Palestinian roads and houses look like they haven't been updated since the dawn of time. Most of the houses looked like they were bombed out, and although there was not too many people on the road (since it was Friday, when many Muslims are in the mosques), there was always the possibility of someone throwing rocks or shooting at our car - hence the high price to get there.

Once we got through the checkpoint to get to the area of the Tomb, though, then we all started to relax. There's not much in the way I can describe the feeling of passing through a place where our Biblical ancestors lived - and seeing a bunch of Muslim covers on the places where the tombs are supposed to be (half of the building is reserved for Muslims, and it's enforced with armed security guards). Still, we were able to say our prayers, and I got the feeling of openness that my uncle must have when he goes there. Yes, there are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living right next to the 700 or so Jews in the area - but if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to see the Tomb at all.

On the way back, we decided to use Abraham for our day trip to Ein Gedi and Masada. Yes, it'll cost us plenty of money, but there's something supremely cool about getting a private tour in a taxi through a bunch of biblical areas.

Friday afternoon, we walked to the middle of the city. Shosh's friend Towa was spending the weekend in a hostel with some of her family, so we were going to go there to spend some time with her and have dinner (and lunch the next day) at the hostel. After we lit candles to start the Sabbath, we walked to the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem, which is a big building that has room for hundreds of people for prayers. It was nice being able to listen to a real choir as part of maariv. Dinner wasn't too bad - it was a buffet style with beef, chicken and a bunch of side dishes. The place was only a third full, so I didn't feel guilty of taking a second helping... until the other two thirds showed up almost an hour after we did. Oops! Then we found out that the 'lunch' we had already paid for was actually breakfast - from 7 AM to 9:30 AM. *sigh* oh, well...

Shabbos was pretty quiet. We got up late, around 9:30, and realized that we would be too late to walk to the Western Wall, so we opted to say shacharis downstairs. Though by the time we got downstairs, the minyan was already finishing. Oh, well. By the time we finished, though, I was just exhausted because I had a bad night's sleep, so we went upstairs and spent a good part of the day sleeping and reading in our hotel room. We did go out during the day for a walk in the area near our hotel, but we came back after an hour or so.

After shabbas was over, we decided to go to the Jerusalem Mall, which is the largest mall in Jerusalem. Getting there with a taxi was a bit of an adventure. A quick note - Israeli drivers have a notorious reputation as being a bit nutty on the road, and I can confirm this. It's a good thing we were wearing seat belts lol.

Once we got there, we were both struck by how big the mall is (it's not the world's biggest, but at three floors, it has plenty of room), but even more so by how many people were at the mall. It was like walking through Times Square in a big mall. Just thousands and thousands of people going all over the place, and hundreds of people lining up to see one of a bunch of movies at the movie theater there.

When we went to a bookshop to get some books for ourselves, we found four books we wanted to get. And then we were asked if we wanted to buy a jar of coffee. Or two. Because some bookstores here have a promotion that if you buy two books, buying a jar of coffee (which costs around 25 shekels, or about $7) will get you the second book (which can cost three times as much or more) for free. We had this also on Thursday, when we bought a couple of books on Jaffa Road, and since we'd be saving a total of more than 100 shekels, it just made sense. Except we now have three jars of coffee! Anyone want some?

Our 1st day in Jeruzalem

2008-08-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

Finally we are in Jerusalem. Checking at Schiphol airport went fast, unfortunately mom had to drive back to our apartment because we forgot our glasses. The flight on itself was longer than expected due to the bad weather. On the plane there was a kid that was crying a good deal of the time, this made our flight even longer. Finally at 3.15 am we finally set foot on Israeli ground. The airport has changed a great deal since the last time we were here. At 4.40 am we checked in at the Moriah Classic were we will be staying for the next 1.5 weeks.

Today we went to the Kottel and walked through Jerusalem. Everybody wants you to buy stuff by them and we said no to everybody. At one point we were a bit lost on our way to the Jaffa gate. A little boy saw us and walked with us for a few minutes and explained how to get there. When he left, he said:"can I have some money?". Sneaky little bastard. At the end we found it and walked around quite some time. At Jaffa Street we saw my friend Keren, which was a suprise. We ate at a Kosher Burger King!!!!

Tonight we won't do to much but are going to sleep on time. it has been a few long 2 days.
Pictures will be uploaded as soon as we can.
Till the next blog!

Getting ready to go to Israel

2008-08-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to reflect on what you've done in the past year, what you're going to do in the future... and whether or not you remembered to pack your swimming trunks.

For Shoshanna, it's been 8 years since she was in Israel. For me, it's been 11 years... but it's been 20 since I was last in Yerushalayim, so for the most part, this will be a new experience for me (and hopefully for Shosh as well). We'll be hopefully bringing you updates from the Holy Land as we have time to do so (you know, when we're not knee deep in the pool by our hotel), so please check back here to find out more of our exciting trip!

Happy birthday, Shoshanna!

2008-08-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Shoshanna's birthday, which as you can imagine posed a bit of a problem - it could really only be held on Shabbos, since today is Tisha B'Av, and the rest of the week we have other plans (less than 4 days to go before we go to Israel!). So Friday I went shopping for cake, and came back with a bunch of stuff. And yesterday we made sure to get up on time so we could set up the cake and refreshments. At 4:30 PM, we started having guests come over (I consider myself lucky - I only had to run up and down the stairs twice lol), and we had a wonderful time. There were plenty of people, but it wasn't so crowded that you couldn't make a good conversation with other people. And we were both quite happy that not only mama, Erez and Chowav came, but also that Chaim and his girlfriend Bianca came as well (though a bit late - the Coca Cola was gone by that time!). All in all, it was, as we would say in Dutch, a 'gezellig' time. Here's hoping that Shosh's upcoming year will be filled with nothing but happiness and simchas!

Our first blog

2008-08-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our home! For those of you who have not yet been to our apartment, we thought we'd swing the door open a bit and let you have a bit of a peek inside. This blog will be talking about our experiences in Holland, as well as any upcoming adventures we'll have (Israel, here we come!... in 11 days).

Although Shosh's birthday isn't until next week (you still have time to send gifts to us, and if enough people ask for it, we can also accept credit card payments as gifts - just kidding!), I wanted to do something nice for her, so I planned a little picnic for her. Unfortunatelty, the weather wasn't cooperating too much with me, so instead we had an INDOOR picnic in our living room. We had some tuna, salmon spread, egg salad and crackers, and it was a fun time for both of us. Of course, since Shosh's actual birthday is on Shabbos, that means that we'll be having some cake and coffee (tea for Shosh!) here at the apartment Shabbos afternoon. Here's hoping we get plenty of people who come on Shabbos!

Keep checking back every so often for updates from Shosh and myself - especially when we go to Israel on the 13th of August! We'll have a lot to talk about then! Until then, tot ziens! :)