Mother's Day 2016

This year mother's day came by and went so quickly. We hardly had a chance to enjoy it due to some unexpected incident. Which turned out ok later. However, our appreciation for the One who has given us the opportunity to be a mother is never forgotten or unrecognized. We are grateful to You, oh Creator. For all your precious gifts.

Norooz 1395

Praise God for the beauty of Spring. There is so much beauty as nature awakens from its sleep all winter long.




And as each new spring comes to pass, with the beauty that we are privileged to see with the gift of our eyes, we also thank God for the warmth that surrounds us in our little home. Subhanallah.

 

Wow, did Kamran grow this year!!! (Not!, he's stepping on a block :)

Our 14 year Anniversary

Fourteen years have flown by as I write this post.



It is like it was yesterday that we were standing next to each other to be married.
Ali lost a lot of weight and thankfully I did not gain too much :)
We are grateful for our love and our life and everything in it. There are always ups and downs no matter what you do in this life, but one thing remains the same...if you have faith, there is strength, if you have hope, there is a way, and if you believe, even the impossible can be achieved.

Marjan & Nana birthdays

It's a special feeling to share a birthday. And especially when it's with someone so important in our lives. Thank you God for each year that is spent together and with our times we have. Thank you for our joys and our laughter, the love and the warmth of every day with those whom we love.

Sasha passes away :(

Our dear beloved dog Sasha passed away today. Sadly it was the same day as my Nana & Papa's anniversary. Though she left us in the evening.

We are so thankful for all the time we spent together. For her selfless love she gave us. For her kindness and caring. For the times that she worried and protected us. For the company and friendship and all the laughter. We will never forget her...our sweet girl Sasha. Love you always and forever.

2016 Begins

We began the New Year of 2016 with a very special day. It was Friday and we enjoyed it very much with our new Submitter family for Friday prayer. Thanks to God, we found these new people to be so much more uplifting and welcoming. Arya truly enjoyed the sermon and thought about it all week.
We ate lunch there and of course tea with treats. :)

Afterwards it was all about playing with toys and gifts opened for the new year!

Arya got a few games and star wars toys and legos.

Then it was off to Lake Tahoe on a mini-vacation! It was magical and so beautiful. The road was gorgeous as always with its beautiful trees and the lake and then to our hotel with lots of amenities.







We got to enjoy the snow and Arya learned how to cross country ski! it was a bit difficult at first but after a while, he got the hang of it.

The snow came down so softly but it snowed a lot and thankfully we got out of the boonies before the road closed!

Arya got to get Ali a little bit with a mini-snow fight.

Then after some fun, we stuffed ourselves at the food buffet!

It was a nice 3 day rest and eat and scenery, then back to life :)







It was a long ride...came home and crashed!

The scaryest part was when we went to the mountains and had no phone connection whatsoever.

The rest of 2015

These last 4 months went by like a flash. And unfortunately I did not have a chance to blog each event. But, I will update as much as I can for the things that are memorable.

SEPTEMBER

This month was rather low key. We bought a futon for the upstairs room so that Arya can be comfortable if he wants to sleep up there and when he decides to sleep downstairs in his own room one day, we can turn it into a couch. :)






We also visited Sara's house for her niece's baby shower. Arya is in the middle in orange. hard to see you my sweetie.



Days at school have been ok for Arya. The teacher is a little strange however.



Again at Chloe's birthday party. Similar to the years before.





Same friends and all girls except Arya. From the left: arya, sophie, chloe, loren and her sister, ashley, and another girl I can't remember her name.

Boys will be boys and their electronics. Arya and Jamil share the same love of games and the ipad.



My favorite is seeing him read...



OCTOBER

We did the anti-Halloween thing together and enjoyed what we celebrate instead being "Harvest Day" Much rather celebrate living veggies and fruits than dead skulls and demons.








NOVEMBER

Thanksgiving is Arya's favorite holiday. He says it's because it's the only holiday that you give Thanks and what better than to be thankful and give it not just once a year but all year long...
Since we did not dress up for Halloween or even celebrate it, we decided to make Thanksgiving a dress-up occasion. Be what you want...so we did.




Kamran and Baba were Mexicans, Tina was a pie, Jamil was a turkey, Arya was a ninja, mom was a chicken on her head, Ali was a surgeon and I was a stylish older woman with short hair. haha.




It was also Arya's first time EVER ice skating. He really liked it and did not want to stop! he wanted to stay there forever if he could. it was a lot of fun. We came with Christina and Jamil.





Afterwards we went to the Galleria mall and had a great time watching the kids ride on the animals and check out the stores.




Arya gets a HAMSTER!!! Yes! A baby girl Robo-Russian hamster. Too tiny but he loved her and she is soooo cute.




We got her from Petco and took her home. He has a little friend to play with now :)





DECEMBER

It seemed like this was the longest month of the year. Not only because I worked more than ever before with so many overtime hours, but also because Arya waits until New Years to open his gifts. Remembering my years of doing Christmas was fun as a kid, but I was clueless then and never thought why people do this or what does it all mean. Thankfully now we do and as much as we respect others who celebrate it, we have our own way to enjoy these precious days.

To me, chopping millions of trees and then throwing them away never appealed to me. And finding out our beloved prophet Jesus was not even born in December even made it more real that Christmas is not even really about him. It's about businesses making lots of money and the best way they can make people crazy.  I do love the lights and snow. And it doesn't mean we have to give up giving gifts. Just not on that day.

We decided to go to the movies for Kamran's birthday to see Star Wars 7!!! Wow it was awesome.