Arya's first Belt Testing - TaeKwonDo

Today was Arya's first Belt Testing with his group the Little Dragons. It was exciting for all of us to witness this :)



It began with all the kids from different levels warming up together.



Check out Arya almost doing the splits!



Coming together in their groups



Lining up for the tests



Arya testing with the Little Dragons



Arya's reward cookie after passing his test.



For more videos, choose the TaeKwondo link on the right. :)
So proud of you azizeh delam. You were amazing.

Norooz Mobarak 1391!

There is so much to be thankful for this Norooz.



Spring has brought us the gift of Rain so that the plants can flourish and give us good oxygen throughout the year.




This is the fourth year that Arya has been in our lives and mashallah given us so much happiness.



Having a roof over our heads and food to eat and clean water to drink every day.



And each other...those around us who we see frequently...and those far away who we can call and talk to and think and pray about. We are thankful for all of these things, and so much more....



Wish you all the most happiest Eideh Norooz from the bottom of our hearts.

10 Year Anniversary

Today was our 10 Year Anniversary. So many memories come back each time this day comes around. After a decade I can truly say we have been through a lot. So it is definitely worth celebrating.



The flowers Nana & Papa bought us a few days before. So sweet of them.



Folsom Lake on our mini-hike.



The weather was heavenly today. Barely 70 and sun oh shiny sun, how we have missed your warmth! :)

At Play

I feel that the experiences Arya learns from his day to day life sort of emanates in his play world. It is interesting to hear his toys having conversations that sometimes he and I have or he and his dad have or something he saw on tv or elsewhere. With him being their voices of course. It's so funny and so cute at the same time. And also an indicator for us that we may be teaching him things that stick, like how to be kind to someone or how to treat your enemy.



Then there's the time you have to just let go and let them get super crazy and kill the house. I know it's a lot of work to clean up afterwards but every so often I think it's a super amazing release of happiness and sheer fun. Arya went at it with this box full of Styrofoam for a couple hours. Luckily he's not at the age to eat them! Whew!



Another great thing Arya does that takes a lot of play time is pretending he's a chef. He will use playdough and make all kinds of foods in his play kitchen.



This one is his favorite. Wrestling with baba. Caught off guard here and not able to escape!



My little guy is learning so much. It is quite an experience to let him loose and see what he does. Our routine in our day to day life has given him a schedule to follow. I like to remain quiet and observe his actions when he plays. To him, however, he likes me to play with him since I am good at portraying different voices of his toy characters. Years of experience playing with boys I guess.



This is Arya explaining what he's playing with today. His super hero squad toys.