First visit to new baby granddaughters

Itzhak and I made plans to travel to Brooklyn from Sunday, January 25 - Wednesday, January 28 to meet our baby granddaughters Gabriella Roux and Amalia Belle, born on January 15. Who knew there would be warnings of a major snow storm in NY which shut down all traffic and businesses?! 
We were delighted to see how happy our daughter Tali and her husband Craig are despite the difficult, long labor Tali underwent to produce these two miraculous tiny beings!  They already exhibit marked differences in looks and personality.  Only ten days old and already striking individuals!

Amalia on the left; Gabriella on the right

Craig and Tali, delighted new parents

Saba Itzhak with Amalia

Savta Alicia bonding

View of the Brooklyn Bridge in snow storm
from the window of Tali and Craig's apartment--
magical in all weather!

When we returned to Sedona, Arizona, it was time to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the New Year of the Trees.  On Sunday, February 1, we held a Tu B'Shevat "Seder," featuring a variety of fruits and produce of Israel - olives, oranges, dates, pomegranates, etc., and sang traditional Israeli songs about almond trees, the very first to flower, each season. After the meal and songs, we went outside to plant two rose bushes in honor of the birth of Gabriella and Amalia.  The religious school children and synagogue members wrote blessings on paper leaves and tied them to the trellis supporting the bushes.  We look forward to their blooming, as we look forward to the blooming and flowering of our precious granddaughters! 



Tray of fruits and products of Israel - dates, olives, oranges, pomegranates, etc.
plus a photo of the babies; frame decorated by Nancy Fleishman, the other new grandmother!



Tu B'Shevat Seder... New Year of the Trees
at the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley

Religious School students wrote blessings for the trees, for the babies, and for the environment.
Joe Berger, standing in the back, planted the two rose bushes in honor of the birth of our granddaughters

two rose bushes in front of the synagogue

Plaque - "Planted in honor of the birth of
Gabriella Roux and Amalia Belle
with love from the
Magal, Fleissig, and Fleishman families"





Savta Rabbi Alicia and Saba Itzhak Magal
in front of the rose bushes with the blessings tied onto the trellis