Maftechuk Blog

Halloween Adventure

2009-11-05T10:57:00.014-05:00

For the first time we went trick-or-treating in our own neighbourhood. Last year Minoo & Rumi were at a party, so we trick-or-treated in another neighbourhood.

The first part of the adventure was choosing the pumpkin.

Next was a visit to the graveyard. It just so happened that they were giving away free pumpkins, so we visited the graveyard. This is not a Halloween ritual for us.

Someone was very tired on the way home.

Once we chose our pumpkin we carved it into a Jack-o-Lantern.

Rumi dressed up as tigger.

We went trick or treating with our neighbours Anakin and the lion.

The first house we went to was the Travers's.

We got to see the duckies.

We got to choose candies.

Rumi looked adorable.

After we got home Rumi dumped all of his candies on the table and sorted out his favourite type. Rumi is very generous, running downstairs to make sure Daddy takes some of his candies to work, but there is one candy he won't part with...

Our First Sunday Morning Devotional

2009-11-01T15:34:00.009-05:00

This morning we have had our monthly children's devotional meeting.

We had lots of fun!

Playing with toys.

Having brunch.

Playing on the computer.

After all that Rumi was very tired :)

Gordon's Visit

2009-10-31T18:32:00.006-04:00

It has been quite a while since I have contributed to our blog. My friend Gordon has been visiting Victoria from Russia, so we got together with Peter to play some games.

We started with Leonardo Da Vinci that I hadn't played since the days in Haifa. In Leonardo Da Vinci one plays inventors vying for the acclaims of Leonardo Da Vinci. It was Peter's and Gordon's first game and since I hadn't played in a long time it was like a first time for me. I just read the rules to them to teach them and refresh my memory. They learned fast, because Peter won with 52 points, Gordon came second with 51 and I came last with 48. It was a very close game. I am happy that I achieved my goal of making an invention of each type, but I didn't have enough Florins at the end to win.

After Leonardo Da Vinci, we played three quick games of No Thanks!, which is a very fast, but very good number card game with chips. The idea is to get stuck with as few points as possible. Gordon won two of the three games with Peter winning the other. I came in dead last in all three games, but I redeemed myself by winning our final game of For Sale, a game where you bid on "houses" and the sell them later. It is also a very fast and fun game!

Last Regular Games Night for a While

2009-05-09T11:14:00.003-04:00

Sadly it is true: we are suspending our regular games night for the summer, but don't worry, I'll never stop gaming.

Our last games night was a small affair, with just Minoo, Omid and I. We played Shadows over Camelot and had a really exciting game that went down to the wire, but we won in the end!

Games Night Revisited!!!

2009-03-28T03:21:00.004-04:00

We had a quiet games night tonight with only Janine and Peter showing up. This was good, because I have a lot of 3 - 4 player games that don't hit the table very often. We started with Tikal, which I taught them both. I had been dying to play this game again, because I had only played it once, but I had really liked it.

I must have taught them well, because Peter beat Janine by only two points and I came last. All three of us enjoyed this game.

The night was still young, so we played a game of For Sale. It was the first time for both of them.

Peter won the first game and we all enjoyed it, so we played another one. Janine beat me by two points!

Another Successful Games Night!!!

2009-03-21T16:20:00.003-04:00

We had a smaller crowd last night, which was just fine. Richard, Josie, Janine and Peter came, so we played a single game of Caylus.

It took a long time, because it was a new game for everyone except me, but everyone seemed to like it and it was fairly close especially for second place, with two points separating three people. I managed to win in the end, being able to build two blue buildings, Richard built the one that had the most points though.

Games Night II - Marathon Games Night

2009-03-15T15:02:00.012-04:00

We had an excellent games night this week. Peter, Janine, Richard and Josie came and we played a game of Saboteur and everyone got their character right this time ;). Unfortunately I was too engrossed with the games and hosting to remember to take pictures (I have to remember the blog!), except right at the end. Janine and I were the Saboteurs in the first round and we successfully thwarted the dwarves. In the Second round it was Josie and I as Saboteurs and the Saboteurs again won, so I ended up winning the game, as we cut it after two rounds when Omid, Farid and Trista came.

After much consultation, negotiating and bargaining (a game in itself) Railroad Tycoon and Kremlin won out.

I really enjoy playing Railroad Tycoon and am glad I bought it as others also seem to enjoy it too. It is a mammoth game and almost takes up the whole table. Trista, Josie, Farid and I played Railroad Tycoon. This was a tight one. I was two points behind Farid at the end, but because I had achieved my goal and he didn't I edged him out by 4 points. That was my best game yet. I think I am getting the hang of it!

Meanwhile Omid and Peter taught Richard and Janine Kremlin. The original Party Chief managed to stay for five rounds and then Janine got power, but was not able to get a single wave, but she hung on and won in the 11th round. The longest game possible. Way to go Janine for you first game.

The hunger for Kremlin was not satiated, so we ordered a pizza and played another game. This time it was Josie, Richard, Omid and I. This game was quite different: the Party Chief died in the first round and Viktor Wasolin, the youngest character, replaced him with Richard in control. He waved in the first three rounds and Richard won the shortest possible game.

To round out a long night Josie, Richard, Omid and I played For Sale with Omid taking it quite handily.

Restarting the blogging after more than a year

2009-03-07T03:22:00.004-05:00

A lot has happened in the past year and we have neglected our blog. Just to bring everyone up to speed: Since our last post we had an excellent month in India and then moved to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada where we have been living for almost a year now. In keeping with tradition my return to blogging will be about a games night.

We had a games night on Friday and it went very well. Peter, Janine, Farid and Trista showed up and we had a rousing game of Puerto Rico with the expansion. Everyone had played before except Janine. The game was very close with Peter ahead of Trista by one point and Janine in third by another point. It was a good showing for Janine's first game. Farid was three points back in fourth, while I was in last by quite a bit. I realized after my first turn that I had played badly, but thought that I was coming back. Next time I'll be more competitive. I hope to make this a weekly event every Friday.

We're Leaving Montreal

2008-02-23T21:01:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's true! Our services at the Shrine in Montreal have ended. We are leaving for a one month trip to India on Monday and then we will be back in Victoria!

See you in Victoria...

Shoe shopping

2007-12-21T22:20:00.000-05:00

Rumi loves to go shopping. But this time he couldn't decide what type of shoes he wanted. There was just so many choice!. Finally he said he wanted all of them:)

Rumi helping Mommy

2007-12-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

Rumi loves to help Mommy in the kitchen. He can open every drawer, every cabinet, fridge and so is able to help himself with anything he wants. Easy life for Mommy:) or is it??

2008 Calendar

2007-12-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

Gloria and Navid made this 2008 Calendar of Rumi's pictures of his first year. Oh...it is sooooo beautiful. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH DEAR NAVID AND GLORIA:) We'll cherish it forever!

Gloria and Navid's visit to Montreal

2007-12-15T23:47:00.000-05:00

Gloria and Navid (from California) visited us in mid October. It was really nice to have them. We went to St. Jerome to see the beautiful fall colours and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Snack time :)

2007-12-15T23:28:00.001-05:00

Pictures of Rumi

2007-12-15T23:02:00.000-05:00

Bathing time.....fun time

2007-12-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

Prayer time

2007-12-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

Pictures of Rumi

2007-12-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

Yummy Pizza !!!

2007-12-08T23:49:00.000-05:00

Rumi had his first taste of pizza yesterday. As we can see, he really enjoyed it a lot. He wouldn't let go of it.
After all Daddy had made it :)

Rumi's first steps

2007-12-08T23:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Rumi took his first two steps unaided.

Playing in the snow

2007-12-08T22:59:00.001-05:00

This was our first time playing in the snow together in our backyard. It was very enjoyable...:)

Rumi couldn't really sit so he was lying down most of the time and he had to keep his eyes closed as it was snowing.

Ready for the snow

2007-12-08T22:54:00.000-05:00

This is the white snow suit that our friends Farid and Trista gave Rumi in Victoria when we were visiting there earlier in Sep. He looks so adorable. Thanks Farid and Trista.

Snowstorm!!!

2007-12-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

This past week we had a big storm here in Montreal

(The flash makes the the flakes look a lot larger than they really are :))

It was supposed to be the worst storm of the season. What a welcome to our first real Canadian winter. Snow has been on the ground since November 20. This week it snowed straight for two days with winds up to 72 kph and we had over a foot of snow.

The depth of the snow

It takes about 4 years in Victoria (where I'm from) to get that much snowfall.

Our backyard

The small trees covered with snow

There is a set of steps in between the trees.

I'm sure there are stairs under here somewhere!
(side stairs)

We take care of both houses of a duplex (semi-attached dwelling) and I am solely responsible for keeping the walkways and emergency paths clear!

The storm was so bad that after I finished clearing the main walks I had to start again.

Our front steps

After the snow was shoveled

Fortunately I love shoveling snow. It was such a wonderful experience! We'll see how I feel about it at the end of the winter.

I am learning a lot about snow clearing though. I broke a snow shovel the first day it snowed. I bought an ergonometric snow shovel to replace it, but it hurt my back. I can't wait until the next storm, but it sure makes it difficult to do other work.

First post in a while

2007-12-03T23:28:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

We now have high speed Internet at home, so we can finally post to our blog.

Yeah!!!

Of course by now everyone has given up checking our blog he he he.

We have a lot of pictures from the last four months, so we will be posting our current happening intermingled with past experiences until we get caught up.

So enjoy :)

Love,

Roger, Minoo & Rumi

Last Games Night/Afternoon in Haifa!!!

2007-08-14T04:36:00.000-04:00

It is sad but true, last Friday was our last large gathering for games in Haifa. The games are still in town but, alas, Minoo and I are too busy to continue hosting the games night. There are rumors, though, that Balbir and Melissa are going to take up the torch and continue the tradition.

Joey came at 2:00, so Minoo Joey and I played Take 6.

Rumi helped Mummy choose her cards.

After three rounds I won and Minoo came one point ahead of Joey.

Balbir, Joey and I then played a quick round of No Thanks! with Balbir being victorious.

Melissa and Minoo joined us with Joey winning this one, beating me by one point.

Siyamak, Selvi and Lillian came for a visit before going to Bahji.

Just as Siyamak, Selvi and Lillian were leaving Maarten, Menchie and Ena Marie arrived.

Menchie and Ena Marie visited while, Maarten joined Joey, Balbir, Howard and myself to play Balbir's game El Grande. Joey had to leave before it was done and had John sub in for him. John also had to leave and had Kurt sub in for him. Maarten left before it ended, so his player just stagnated. I had to explain the rules so many times.

It was an interesting game. Joey jumped into a huge lead in the first scoring round, and it was neck and neck between Joey's team and me until the end when I pulled away. Balbir and Howard were in a tough fight for third, with Howard taking third place in the end.

Meanwhile, Sara came over and helped Minoo with dinner. The dinner was delicious. Thanks Sara:)

Then Natascha and John came over to visit.

Rumi had lots of fun!

Nagmeh, Ladan, Amelia and her brother Brian came over and started playing Uno and Saboteur with Sara, Melissa and Minoo. Minoo won the Uno games, and for Saboteur, one time the miners won and the other time the Saboteurs won.

Howard and Balbir teamed up against Kurt and I in a game of Tichu that we actually finished (by midnight though)!

After a good start for Howard and Balbir and a poor start for Kurt and I. Kurt and I really took off and gradually caught up and pulled ahead with a one - two finish and successful Tichu call to get close to winning. Then they came back with a one - two finish and a successful Tichu call to put both teams with a score above 900. After two more rounds Kurt and I won.

Collages of Rumi

2007-08-10T04:51:00.000-04:00

Minoo prepared some collages of Rumi.

Here they are:

Rumi with his friend Lillian:

Rumi in front of the Shrine of the Bab:

Rumi wearing Daddy's hat:

Rumi with Mummy!!!

Rumi on the grass:

Rumi with kitchen implements:

Rumi in traditional Arab dress:

Rumi on the balcony of the Mansion of Bahji:

:)

Our first visit with Ariana

2007-08-08T00:27:00.001-04:00

Ariana was born on 3rd August 2007. She is just absolutely so beautiful and adorable. Her parents, Farzana and Neil are very happy to have this precious little one. Well done Farzana:) Rumi enjoyed his first visit with someone who is younger than him (Finally :))

Our packing has begun

2007-08-06T14:47:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun packing with Rumi. He was happy and cheeful all day.

August 2nd Games Report!!!

2007-08-06T13:40:00.001-04:00

We had another excellent games night on Thursday.

We started with a nice chicken dinner that Minoo made and Serghei seems to be really enjoying.

We split into two groups. Ilya wanted to play Saboteur, so Liudmila, Serghei, Kurt, Yelena, Quddus and Dj played two games.

I think Serghei won the first game, but I know Kurt won the second game.

There was a lot of laughter and it seemed like everyone had a good time.

Natascha and Melissa came and visited Minoo.

The other group: John, Balbir, Siyamak, Lessan and I started to play Maharaja.

We chose Maharaja because John wanted to play a 'real' board game, so I thought that Maharaja would be easy to explain and short, but with a very complex dynamic.

We ended up having a four hour intense marathon game! So much for a ninety minute game that is usually shorter. Kate dropped by for a quick visit and watched us play for a bit. She was expecting a smaller turn out, but I think she enjoyed herself.

Everyone had fun though. At the end of the tenth and last turn Lessan and Siyamak had both built seven palaces (although some of Lessan's were temples and quarries, but we will still count them ;)), but Lessan had more gold, so he came in first. Balbir had built six palaces for third place. John and I had built five palaces, but I had 6 more gold and avoided last place. Not a good showing for the two people who had played it before (Balbir and I). I made several tactical errors that accounted for my poor placing.

I hope everyone had a good time. It was our last Thursday night with our full complement of games, because our shipment leaves next Tuesday and this week we are having a 'games day' on Friday. Although, we just found out today that our shipment may be leaving later, so we may be able to have one or two more games nights with all of our games.

Visit with Mr. Grossmann

2007-08-06T13:37:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday we met with Mr. Grossmann in his office. Since he is on vacation now and he won't get back until after we leave this was our good bye.

Rumi was snacking on his mummy's purse as we waited in the lobby of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.

After he finished his snack he waited expectantly for some wisdom from daddy.

Fortunately, just at that moment Mr. Grossmann's secretary came to lead us up to the second floor and I was saved from having to make a wise comment.

Rumi was very happy in mummy's arms as we talked to Mr. Grossmann in his office.

Our last photo with Mr. Grossmann:

Visit to the Haifa Office of Public Information (OPI) Display

2007-08-04T13:48:00.000-04:00

As we ready ourselves to leave the Baha'i World Centre we have availed ourselves of our last opportunity to visit the OPI display here in Haifa.

Rumi was very excited indeed! Now that he sits comfortably by himself he found a premium spot in the centre of the foyer of the display.

But he also enjoyed sitting on Daddy's lap.

The foyer has photos and writings of the Baha'i Faith in it. Below is a picture of the house where Baha'u'llah passed away in the garden of Bahji near Acco, Israel.

Photos and writings related to Baha'u'llah's visits to Haifa:

After leaving the foyer we entered the main hall which has many displays about the Baha'i Faith. Here you can see Daddy and Rumi looking at the display about the social and economic projects that the Bahai's of the world are doing. You can just see Rumi's feet.

Below is a facsimile of the writing of Baha'u'llah.

Pictures of two of the monarchs that Baha'u'llah addressed letters to and excerpts from the letters:

Articles related to the Bab:

A map of the Bab's journies:

We're leaving Haifa!

2007-08-04T12:43:00.000-04:00

Yes, it is true. We have the tickets in our hand (well at least Rumi does, Minoo and I are flying on e-tickets).

We are leaving on August 27, earlier than we had previouly thought because we are going to Montreal, Quebec to work as custodians of the Maxwell home for one year.

We will be sad to leave Haifa, but we are very excited about our new job. Minoo has been here for 11 years and I have been here for 9.

July 26 Games Night Report!!!

2007-07-27T01:46:00.000-04:00

Once again we had a wonderful Thursday games night. This one started a little late, because the family went to visit the Office of Public information display before the games started.

It was Nicholas's last games night before he leaves the World Centre, so we chose Saboteur, one of his favourites.

Nicholas brought Saba for her first night, so hopefully she enjoyed and we will see here again.

As you can see Siyamak, Jothi, Kurt, Sudeshna, Sanjukta, Nicholas, Saba and myself played Saboteur. It was the night of Saboteurs with Saba "teur" being a saboteur twice. However, inspite of the saboteurs winning the first two rounds. Nicholas (who was never a saboteur and had no gold going into the last round) won the game by finding the gold and getting 6 nuggets from his two cards.

In the middle of the game Minoo brought out her surprise dessert: Vermicilli pudding. Always a treat.

Round two was very interesting. As you can see the golddiggers found two stones, but the active saboteurs managed to make the golddiggers circumambulate the gold foiling Nicholas's predicted victory.

Nicholas had to go by ten so Sanjukta, Siyamak, Nicholas and I played a game of La Strada, while the rest socialized. Kurt replaced Sanjukta as she wanted to socialize with Minoo, because this was one of her last times to see Minoo for a while.

This was a very competitive and close game. Siyamak (yellow) and I (black) boxed Sanjukta (grey) in at the start with the our placement of workshops. This left Nicholas (brown) with a whole side of the board to himself. Sanjukta and then Kurt managed to get around the box and we all eventually ended up sharing all of Nicholas's settlements with him. There was not a single settlement connected to by only one person.

The final score was Siyamak 23, Roger 23, Nicholas 22 and Kurt 21. Siyamak won, because he had one resource left over and I had none (I had to waste two in the last turn). This was the first four player game of La Strada that I have played where the starter (Nicholas) has not won. Siyamak was the last to start. Joey came during the game and socialized with the others.

More photos of Rumi

2007-07-25T00:31:00.001-04:00

Rumi's first time at the beach

Rumi at work

Very cute!

Rumi with Ena Marie

Which spoon should I use?

Yeah!!!

Rumi playing with a hippopotamus

Rumi with Farzana'a mom

Happy on the couch :)

Pictures of Rumi

2007-07-22T00:08:00.000-04:00

Finally we have found some time to post photos of Rumi!

Rumi at the Shrine

Rumi in the Gardens

Rumi grabbing Daddy's hat

Rumi guiding at the Shrine

Rumi tasting a new toy

Rumi with Mummy and Humpty Dumpty

Rumi and Mummy

Rumi with his friends Sheehan and Lillian

Rumi at the Food Centre

Rumi wearing Daddy's hat

Rumi in his red hat with his Bee toy

Rumi amongst the fallen flowers

Rumi at the Haifa Pilgrim House

Rumi enjoying his cereal

Mummy feeding Rumi

Mummy and Rumi

July 19 Games report with Rumi

2007-07-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

We haven't yet had the time to put up seperate posts of Rumi, but he made an appearance on Thursday, so we have some photos of him.

Rumi in his high chair.

Rumi with his ball (the one we use for Moral Leadership class).

Mummy, Rumi and ball.

Mummy, Auntie Amelia, Rumi and ball.

Amelia and Rumi doing push ups.

Rumi dancing with Amelia.

There were a lot of people again. As always we started with dinner.

Ilia started the night by playing a baseball game that I have.

Since there were ten of us (Balbir, Dj, Ilia, Serghei, Liudmila, Siyamak (for the first time) with Selvi's sister Jothi, Amelia, John and myself so we started off with Take 6. Minoo subbed for Amelia at the end. John won the game handily.

Liudmila and Ilia played Carcassonne with the River II expansion.

Then Serghei, Siyamak, Jothi, Dj, Balbir and I played a game and a round of Saboteur.

Dj won the game. Joey came later and we played Tichu. Dj and Balbir squared off against Joey and I in quite a competitive game. In the end Joey and I won by a large margin.

July 12 Games Night Report!!!

2007-07-14T04:28:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone,

This is my first "Games Night" report on our blog. I am learning how to post as I go. I can now add a title and I stopped it from transliterating into Hindi!

Once again last Thursday's games night went off wonderfully!

Rumi made an appearance:

We started with dinner and then a game of Hunters and Gatherers with six people: Quddus, Kurt, Dj, John, Lessan and myself. Neil substituted for John after he left.

The game went quite well with six people and I was the eventual winner, completing other peoples forests for the bonus tiles.

Meanwhile Sanjukta, Sudeshna, Natascha and Minoo played a game of Take 6!

With Rumi!

Natascha won this one.

Next was Dj, Kurt, Quddus, Neil, Balir and I playing Slapshot.

Dj and Neil didn't make the playoffs, so Balbir and I squared off in the first round. I thought I had the better team, but it was a tight series. Balbir won in 7 games as when I injuried his players he drafted better ones. Balbir went on to lose quite handily to Kurt who in turn was trounced by Quddus! Good job for Quddus in his first game.

Kurt and Bilbir Facing off!

Right at the end whistle Howard and Quddus got into a (mock) hockey fight. It's not hockey unless their is a fight. Right?

Farzana dropped by also and visited with Minoo rather than playing games.

Kurt, Howard, Balbir and I teamed up against Neil in Scotland Yard. It was tough for Neil because it was his first game. We cornered him fairly early and won the game.

Looking forward to this Thursday.

Rumi in our kitchen

2007-07-11T02:12:00.000-04:00

An early picture of Rumi!

First Ever Post!

2007-07-10T03:12:00.000-04:00

This is my first ever post on a blog। I am very excited and hope to be able to contribute to this blog regularly. The primary purpose for this blog is to share pictures and information about my baby boy (Rumi; 6 months) and post games reports. I hope you all enjoy it.

Loving greetings,

Roger