Ever since we moved to Ohio, AJ has only had one other friend (a boy) at church that is his age...Carson Buer. But now there is another....Emmanuel Sunnyway.
Emmanuel was baptized tonight. AJ went with the Sister Missionaries a couple of times to teach him and his Mom. He's also loved having another boy his age at church.
It's true, we love her!! We've had Izzy almost a year now and she's just as much apart of our family as each of my kids. The other day we couldn't find her, we searched the house from top to bottom and wondered if she had gotten outside (she's an indoor cat only). Everyone was in panic mode and I couldn't imagine our family without her. Luckily she is a very sound sleeper and we found her under AJ's bed.
Izzy is the BEST cat!! We got her from the humane society when she was 7 months old. We knew nothing about her, but from the moment we held her, we knew she was special. We had had a very bad experience with a very cute puppy and we couldn't have that happen again with another pet. Luckily Izzy is super sweet, and smart, and lovable and you name it...if it's good, it's Izzy.
She likes to sit in your lap.
She's very silly and flirtatious (only with Masood though).
She can sleep wherever and whenever, but her favorite place is to curl up by someones feet (esp. if that someone is taking a nap too).
Her favorite thing to do...watching out for the birds. She talks to them in a strange voice that you never hear otherwise.
On top of the computer. Lately she has become fascinated with the printer.
Her favorite watering hole. In fact she will ONLY drink water out of the toilet. Oh well, we let her because we love her!
Why she thinks laying on paper is cool, I'll never know.
She is Shayla's kitty, but we all claim her as "ours."
Ahh, aren't they sweet?!This was the first choir concert of the year and also Mariah's first choir concert ever. She played Clarinet all though middle school but wanted to quit this year. I told her that if she quit, that she had to take choir in high school instead. She said alright. I mean she's been singing in our ward choir for a few years now so why not? She doesn't enjoy singing as much as Aryan does, in fact Aryan is a Soprano and Mariah is an Alto, so they are totally different singers anyway, but she seems to be enjoying herself. She did tell me however that she couldn't look at me whatsoever or she would bust up laughing her head off.
This year's fall concert was all the choirs, as well as the orchestra and all the bands. This is the first time they've done this. It was a long concert but it was really good!!
Here is Mariah. She sings in the All Girl Choir. I remember the first time I saw Aryan singing on stage in her robes I was like, "I can't believe she's in high school." As for Mariah I think, "I'm so excited she's in high school!"
One of the activities we had planned for our youth this year was a City Slicker Rodeo. We had it on the farm of a member that lives in Mt. Vernon, OH (about an hour and 15 min North of Columbus). The youth had such a blast and said it was the BEST activity of the year.
First they were split up into groups and went around playing different rodeo games such as: Rifle Shooting
Shayla's best friend is our neighbor next door - Lauren. Lauren is a year younger then Shayla, but a head taller. Lauren had a birthday last week and for her birthday she wanted to take Shayla to "Sweet and Sassy." It's a cute little posh salon for little girls. You can have your hair done, your nails done, your toes done, ride in a limo, do a fashion show....you name it. Lauren and Shayla decided to have their nails done and both of them also had a hot pink and black feather put into their hair. They loved being pampered....they loved every minute of it! Here are some fun pictures of their fun time together.
Having their nails done
Can you tell she's enjoying this?
So pampered!
Pretty nails, pretty hair feathers.
Coming through the beads to walk the catwalk
Best friends forever!!Mariah's high school soccer season ended on her birthday on the 11th. The first day she was home after school, I was surprised. After a few days of having her home after school, I wanted to write a letter to her soccer coach that said, "Dear Coach, I don't know what to do with an extra daughter around the house after school...and....she's board. Please help!"
They had an AMAZING season though! They had 11 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie. She absolutely loved playing high school soccer. Now it's back to playing club (and traveling more) UGH!
On the field her last game
"Go Warhawks!"
Shayla with her 1st soccer trophy
Shayla's team, the Red Cheetah's with Coach Andy.Masood's 45th birthday was on Friday Oct. 21st.
None of the kids (nor I) had school that day, so we decided to head down to Circleville, OH (about an hour south of Columbus) to the biggest street fair in all of Ohio. It's called the Circleville Pumpkin Show. Besides, rides, venders, parades and food, they had LOTS of pumpkin things, but we were good and only walked away with some pumpkin fudge - YUMMY!
That night Aryan sent home a pizza for her Dad that had the number "45" all laid out in Pepperoni. She put a special message inside the box as well.
On Sunday, we had our good friends, The Philpott's over for some Persian food and fun. She brought her famous ice cream cake.
Masood opening his presents
Steve, Gail, Eli and Hila PhilpottMy sweet little baby with the bald, bowling ball head, big brown eyes and thunder thighs has turned 15 today! I can't believe it - where has the time gone?
Look at her now!
She's #3
