Shalom from Israel

I don't have a load of time to write but the trip so far has been amazing. When I wake up in the morning, I feel so blessed to be waking up in Israel. LO loves it here and has already said she doesn't want to go home. We head to Jerusalem in the morning and will see the Treppenwitz family on Wednesday and Gila when we return to Tel Aviv. Life couldn't be better.

Loads of pictures and stories to come. Shavua Tov from Israel.

Israel - here come the Orieyentas!

We are so excited I can hardly type. Our bags are (mostly) packed although we keep adding more and more...the latest was a $900 stroller for one of PHD's cousins. (Did you even know that strollers could cost $900? What is up with that?) I have no idea how we are going to manage to shlep all of this at once but come Sunday, we are on our way!

We have plans to go to a million places plus plans to meet up with the Treppenwitz family, Gila, and maybe even Leah! Plenty of pictures to come for sure.

Wishing you and yours a blessed and peaceful Shabbat.

Kids or no kids - the wedding dilemma

Ok, I have a dilemma and I need your help. Since the wedding is getting close (3-1/2 months!) we have really gone into planning mode. We have always talked about it being very very small and to not have much more than a minyan. This becomes complicated since my family (meaning my Dad, his wife, my sister, and her husband) are not Jewish. But we decided that the minyan plus my goyim family would be fine.

Enter my sister and her 3 year old daughter and her newborn little girl.

I love my nieces as though they are my own children. Apparently PHD does not share this love. He is adamant that the kids don't come to the wedding. I can understand not wanting the newborn there but my other niece? I just don't get it. He says they will disrupt the wedding and since it's so small it would be a huge deal. I say that they would be fine.

Obviously I love PHD enough to marry him but let's just say that he is a tad on the stubborn side (ok maybe more than a tad) and when he makes up his mind about something there is usually no swaying him. He says I haven't given him a good enough reason to include my niece. I say that it should be reason enough that it's important to me that she is there.

Help me! What else can I say? My sister says she won't come if she can't bring the kids. PHD (as usual) is showing no signs of budging on this issue (he's even threatened to cancel the whole affair and just have us married with the Rabbi in his study).

I'm the one who will always give in to everyone else before taking what I want but I can't see a way to make everyone happy. Help!