It's been 5 years since we boarded the plane to Israel and a lot has changed (and some things haven't):
1. When we made aliyah we were 2 people. We are now 5 people. Despite the growth, we live in the same (small) apartment.
2. Our Hebrew vocabulary has greatly improved. Most recently with pre-school/gan related words. Not long ago, we proudly reached the milestone of learning a new Hebrew word from our kids. It won't be long before their Hebrew is fully better than ours. No doubt they already have better accents.
3. We are continually exploring our country. We love finding new/off-the-beaten-path sites and try to use our National Parks membership as much as possible. With three little ones in tow, the nature of our adventures has changed a bit, but I can confidently say that our kids have been to more archaeological sites than most adults.
4. Matt is nearing the end of his student career (one more year 'til PhD, we hope!) and after almost 5 years at the same job, Stef is on the job search again. We're looking ahead to some good professional changes for us both in the near future.
5. We are happy here. Life in Israel isn't always easy (that's true for most places though, right?), but we have never regretted our decision to move here and make our family here. Every day/week/year has brought new excitement and new challenges and we look forward to what Life as Israelis will continue to bring us.
Love,
Stef, Matt, Lev, Hila and Aviv
