Happy Holidays

So, the kids and I have finished our holiday shopping. What fun we've had. And today we have new snow falling, which is great because everything was brown and blah yesterday. If we're going to be freezing our guts out, it may as well be snowy. 
Last night the kids and I finally finished reading Honey Bunch. We re-read What Are You So Grumpy About, and read The Gift of The Magi by O. Henry.
The kids and I discussed New Years Resolutions and will be working on those in the coming weeks, hopefully to be finalized by the 31st. I can't wait to see what the kids come up with. 
Tonight we are planning a trip to Thanksgiving Point to feed Santa's Reindeer and take a carriage ride(hopefully, if it's not too cold) through the park to see the Holiday Lights. 
Last saturday we attended my family's annual Christmas party. The kids all had a blast and as always it's wonderful to catch up with everyone. It's amazing that now matter how near or far we all live, we always seem to lose touch, so it's great to come together, to see the kids and marvel at how they've grown. Well, I'm off to help Allie make her blankets for the children's hospital. Have a safe, happy holiday.

Holidays

We've been so busy with the holidays that I've not posted for some time. 
Thanksgiving was fabulous. We hosted Sajid's older brother Shahid and his family and it was lovely. We ended the evening with our five and celebrated my birthday, which was glorious. We went out to Bountiful to my parents home for some leftovers and pies the next day.
 Christmas of corse is now fast approaching, a few more gifts and lots more baking. Today Kamran and Allie built our gingerbread house and gingerbread train (from kits). Last night Allie babysat some little ones at our house and they all decorated gingerbread men, and she helped them write letters to santa, that was really fun. The kids also want to make rice krispy trees and cookies. They love to bake as much as I do. 
It's getting late and I need to make sure everyone has fallen asleep.
Happy Holidays!

Home Sweet Home

Our trip to New York & Canada was wonderful. First off, the purpose of the trip was Sajid's brother's wedding. Arslan and Patricia were married "Canadian Style" on Saturday the 24th of October. It was beautiful and Allie got to be a Junior Bridesmaid and, naturally, she love every minute of it. And I have to say, my baby girl is growing up. She was gorgeous, absolutely stunning. Although, it was freezing. Holy Cow was it ever cold up there. LOL

We flew in & out of Buffalo, NY. We spent the first night in Niagara Falls, Canada. From there we drove through portions of upstate NY, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to reach New York City. I don't think we could have chosen a better time to see the country side. We spent the next three days seeing the sights of the big apple. Saj and I agreed that our top priority would be to see the Statue of Liberty and "ground zero". The kids were definitely amazed by it all. Jaan had expressed that he was concerned that the Statue of Liberty might have a mustache and that would be "wierd". I assured him that she did not have a mustache, at which point he pointed out that the statue was a man. I said no honey it's a girl, that's why they call her Lady Liberty. He told me (very matter of fact like) "Mom, that would be his wife." Much to his surprise she is a girl.

Even though the boys had yet to be born at the time of the 9/11 attacks, they are aware that something had happened. So, seeing the location in person really brought it into perspective. Seeing the destruction that is still so evident was heart breaking, even for the children. We were able to buy some photo books that are impact full.

Allie and I spent some time at the American Girl store and we took the kids to the Magnolia Bakery. Okay maybe that was just as much for us as it was for them. :-)

We spent an afternoon in Central Park as well.

So that about sums up the trip. We've just been working on settling back in to "regular" life.

Saj is off in California, doing what he does. And the kids and I have settled back into a school routine.

Adam's Adventures

Well, our week with Adam is coming to a close. It has been fun to have a little one around, but I must admit that I'd forgotten how much chasing they require. We've spent time in the canyons, gone to the library, strolled around the neighborhood, and went to Thanksgiving Point. Allie is going to choose the photos from the week to share with everyone.

Yesterday was spent at Thanksgiving Point. They are celebrating Halloween with some fun activities for the kids. We chose to spend the day in Farm Country at their Barnyard Boo festival. Allie and Jaan chose to have their faces painted, Kamran opted out and Adam was scared of the paintbrush, so he ended up with an orange smudge on his forhead instead of a pumpkin. The kids all decorated a cookie, fed llamas, laughed at the chickens. We attempted a pony ride but Adam leapt from the saddle into Allie's arms and looked a little put out that we had sat him on the beast. We were caught in the path of the milking cow, that Adam thought was hilarious. Probably because it took me and Allie by complete surprise and had us squealing and giggling.

Highlights of the day would probably be

• Adam: the calf, he giggled at it and it was the only animal he was interested in petting.
• Jaan: the pony rides as Allie let him ride the tallest pony.
• Kamran: Feeding the llamas, he loves that everytime.
• Allie: Being chased by the milking cow. Followed by a close second; getting her face painted.

We have had a good time with Baby Adam. Thanks to Patricia and Arslan for entrusting us with your most precious commodity.

YEA! Allie came home tonight. Sometimes the weekend seems soooo long. Today Saj and I took the kids up Little Cottonwood Canyon and went for a little trail walking. We couldn't believe it, there was snow already. Afterward we did a little shopping and came home for a nice Sunday dinner. Thankfully everyone, except for Jaany, is asleep right now. Jaany has been having a hard time sleeping lately and goes to bed a little later than I'd like. Around 9:00, after a bowl of cereal. Strange routine, I've not gone through this with the other two. Each one their own special person =-)

I'll post pics of the canyon tomorrow. Good night.

This week we will be taking care of our nephew, Adam, who is one and a half. We have a few fun things planned for the week. Allie is not at home this weekend, but, the boys and I thought it would be fun to take Adam to the library. Fortunately, we have a great children's section in our local library. The boys all played with the puppets in the puppet theatre after everyone had chosen a video off the video wall. As can be predicted, we came home with one Thomas dvd and one Scooby Doo dvd. Surprisingly however, no Tom & Jerry-LOL. We've had lunch, read stories, and played as well today. We hope mom & dad have a great time in Hawaii. Aloha.

It's been a looong time

Well, no I've not fallen off the face of the earth. But we have been very busy. Bustling about home. We haven't been traveling as much with Saj lately. But we have managed to stay very busy. The kids have begun a bit of a more formal routine with school. Which is going very well. Kamran is working on first grade math and trying to read. Jaan will begin working on Kindergarten math and phonics in September, which is right around the corner. Allie is doing well with sixth grade studies. We are working on Human Bodies in science. And will be traveling through time in history, beginning with the formation of Earth and the Big Bang Theory. Our artist of choice for August was Jackson Pollock and the kids will be working on a miniature painting of their own inspired by Pollock.

Fall sports have also begun. Allie has once again chosen to play fastpitch softball, she is really showing improvement this season. Her love for the game is evident. Kamran has elected to try his hand at tennis. He is doing very well. Jaany has chosen soccer this season and his games will start next weekend. He can hardly wait. Have a great Wednesday.

I don't know why I keep posting these backwards with the photos first and the text afterward.

Eventually I'll figure out what the hell I'm doing. Until then you're just going to have to take me as I am. :D

Enjoying fruit & yogurt The Popsicle Possey
More fun at "Dairy Days"




Enjoying fresh made butter...yummy







Love is in the air. SWAK

Making friends with the goats

Kamran's last baseball game

"lollipop eyes"
Me & my guys California Adventure Park Parade

Boys in the "Hoods"