Mitt for President!

We love Mitt!!

Keep up the good work and we'll see you in the White House soon!

She continues the legacy

Aryan will go back to the city of her birth to carry on the legacy of her parents! She is BYU Idaho bound. We are all very excited for her!!

I LOVE MY SISTER SARAH!

Who can say that their sister is their best friend? I can!!

Shayla's Baptism

The last of our children to be baptized. Even though all of their baptisms were wonderful, Shayla's felt like the most special.
If you ask anyone to explain Shayla in just one word, the word is ALWAYS "sweet." Shayla is just plain sweet. I know that's because the Spirit just radiates from her and will even more so now that she has been given the Holy Ghost as a constant companion.

Shayla with her Dad, just before her baptism.


I wanted a picture with my sweet girl too.

We have such a wonderful ward family here and they proved that by attending Shayla's baptism. We had snow and ICE the night before and I was worried that no one would come to her 11 AM baptism because of it, but the RS room was PACKED. Shayla must have felt so loved!
Not only did she have lots of friends there (including 3 non member families), we had FAMILY there too. My sister Sarah and her husband Robert flew in from Washington. Also, Masood's sister in law Maxine came with her daughter Shiryn and Shiryn's 2 boys Taylor and Lyam. They drove down on Friday night (during that snow/ice storm). What should have taken them 6 or 7 hours, took them 9 and they got in at 2:30 in the morning. We LOVED having them all here with us.


From L to R: Lyam, Shiryn, Taylor, Robert, Mariah, Sarah, Shayla, Lisa, AJ, Masood, Aryan and Maxine.



Shayla's Canadian Family



Shayla's Washington family



This was taken after her baptism. She was pretty excited, can you tell?

Special moments to remember:
Mariah gave the talk on Baptism
Auntie Sarah gave the talk on the Holy Ghost
Aryan did a special musical number ("Teach Me to Walk in the Light")
Uncle Robert said the closing Prayer
One of our Sister Missionaries, Sister Richardson was suppose to say the opening prayer but she was late, so a member of our ward who's name is also Sister Richardson got up and said it instead.
Someone told me that Shayla had the BIGGEST smile on her face when she walked into the font with her Dad.
Shayla doesn't like to get her face wet, but she did great. she only showed a brief moment of panic on her face when she came up out of the water.
As soon as she came out of the font and went into the bathroom, she said to me, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom really, really bad!" That made me laugh!
She was baptized on her brother AJ's 12th birthday.
She and AJ shared a cake with their names on it after the baptism.

My little guy turns 12!

I don't care what anyone says....AJ was the CUTEST baby boy in the whole wide world!!

The Bishopric gave him a candy bar for his birthday (pre-haircut).
I hope AJ felt like he had the most special birthday because he got to share it with Shayla and her baptism day. We specifically waited for this day so that we could have family here to share in both the baptism AND AJ's ordination to the Priesthood.
We had my sister Sarah and her husband Robert fly in from Washington. We also had his Auntie Maxine, his cousin Shiryn and his 2nd cousins Taylor and Lyam drive down from Toronto.

AJ and Shayla shared a cake after the baptism. Then we went to the Persian restaurant with everyone for lunch. They brought AJ another piece of cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to him in Persian.

AJ and Taylor got matching "Angry Bird" hats. AJ also got a cell phone for his birthday.

This is AJ after his ordination to the Priesthood. It was such a special day!

The circle was small. Only his Dad, his Uncle Robert and the Bishop were there, and we had to do it in the Bishop's office after Sacrament meeting, but let me tell you the Spirit was so sweet and so amazing. I don't think he will ever forget what a special weekend and special birthday this was for him.

Here are 12 things I remember about AJ's birth DAY.

1. I remember I had to walk a lot in the hospital. He wasn't very anxious to come out!

2. My husband almost passed out while I was getting the epidural (not the first time).

3. I had a student nurse in the room that WOULD NOT stop talking to me. She kept me awake all night long, because she wanted to talk. I wanted to tape her mouth shut.

4. This was my first labor WITH an epidural that I actually felt the urge to push and could feel the baby coming out.

5. Amir Josef Moarefdoust was born on January 21st, 2000.

6. He was born at exactly 9:00 AM

7. He was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21.5 inches long.

8. He was my biggest baby.

9. When he was born he had no voice (he was very hoarse). I thought my husband was going to pass out over it.

10. He was a very hairy baby. ha ha

11. I was happy but scared to have a boy after having 2 girls.

12. He is my only boy and I love it that way!!!

The Problem with Giving Blood

I've never had a problem with giving blood, I mean it doesn't scare me or anything. The problem I always have is IF I'm able to give blood. My iron is ALWAYS too low to give.
This year, Aryan was finally old enough to give blood. She was scared, but I talked her into doing it. Then Aryan realized that she had the same problem I did and couldn't give because of low iron. A 2nd chance to give rolled around this week. She was bound and determined to give blood this time. She doubled up on some iron pills and ate a huge Spinach Salad the day before. Luckily, she barely made it. Her iron level was at a 13, which is .5 higher then the 12.5 minimum requirement. Sadly she did not have a good experience giving blood. They had a hard time finding a good vein and when they did, the nurse stuck the needle in wrong and had blood squirting out ALL OVER THE PLACE!! She said it hurt like heck and she was scared to death. Even after that horrible experience, she was too embarrassed to say, "heck no, get me outta here" and let them try the other arm. This arm and a different nurse was a better experience and they got her pint of blood, but she's not sure if she'll ever give again!

It's Great to be 8!

My Three White Dresses
My mom bought me a white dress,
Not red or pink or blue.
She said it was a special dress
Like very other few.
There has been just one before,
A dress now put away,
That I wore some time ago
Upon my blessing day.
As a little baby clothed
In my first white dress,
My dad held me in his arms,
There to name and bless.
So pure and clean was I just then,
With time to grow and learn
About the Father’s plan for me.
My glory I must earn.
Now I’ve reached the age to judge
The wrong road from the right,
And I am here to be baptized
In this dress of white.
So once again I’m free from sin.
The path is clear to me.
I’ll grasp the rod and hold on tight,
I vow with certainty.
Just as mud would stain my dress,
Sin would stain my soul.
The key is to repent or bleach,
For whiteness is my goal.
And if I try my very best,
Then richly blessed I’ll be,
Wearing inside God’s holy house
White dress number three.
So today I make this pledge:
I’ll strive to choose the right,
Through this sacred baptism ordinance
In my second dress of white.
(Linda Gay Perry Nelson, 1993)

Shayla's 1st white dress (her blessing day January 4th, 2004)

Shayla's 2nd white dress

Only 1 white dress to go!

Life's Twists and Turns

Wow, you just never know what life is going to bring you next. After we built our house in Washington, I thought that was it. We had everything we wanted. A great house, a great school, a great ward, we had family around us and the list goes on. Then, Masood got a job in Ohio. OHIO of all places!! Even after almost 4 years I still say to myself, "What am I doing here in Ohio?" We've met some good people here and then they've moved away. I've started a "hate list" of any transplanted Ohioan the moves here and then gets to move away. I still like these people, (and you know who you are) but they're still on my "hate list."
Now, here comes another twist and turn to our life.............
We just found out that Masood's company "Farmers Insurance" decided to downsize their Columbus Districts from 3 to 2. Masood is a District Manager and has #2 seniority, but also has the smallest District in Columbus, so the company decided to divide up his District into the other 2 and then let him go as a Manager. So what am I saying? I'm saying that my husband won't have a job by the end of February.
So here we are at ground zero, not sure what to do or where to go. We sat down with the kids to tell them the news and to get some input from them. We asked them where we should start looking for a job. Should we stay here, move back to Washington or look anywhere? Shayla was first to raise her hand...."I want to move back to Washington, because I miss my Auntie Sarah and my cousins." AJ was next...."I want to stay here in Ohio, because I love hockey and hockey is my life" (I guess he doesn't realize he could get hockey anywhere). Next was Mariah....she didn't say much because she was bawling her eyes out, which in turn made me bawl my eyes out. I already knew what her answer was. I said, "you want to stay here don't you?" She nodded "yes." Aryan just said, "I'm going away to college soon, so you guys can go where ever you want." Oh, that was after she said, "why didn't I get this choice when we moved to Ohio?" ha ha So, I guess we start our search here. I guess Ohio can't be such a bad place to live, if you're kids are loving it enough to want to stay. I can't lie, there are things I do like. I still miss Washington and the life we had there, but this one isn't so bad either.
My Sister asked me if I was angry that we moved all the way to Ohio for a job that didn't last move then 4 and a half years. My answer to that was, "I'm sad, because Masood worked really hard to build up his office and his District and I'm sad to see it all go, but at the same time, I know that the Lord has his hand in all things. We were meant to move here and if we are meant to stay here then we will." I just pray that Masood finds something that he is happy with and he finds it.....soon!

Winter came for a short visit

I am not going to complain one bit about the mild winter we have been having. I am LOVING it!! We had snow last year starting in November that lasted through April. This year we haven't hardly had any. In the month of December, we had 1 day of flurries. This week, we had 2 days of snow...not a lot, but enough for the kids to get out the sled and play in it for a while. 3 days later we had a day that was 60 degrees!!! It's been crazy but awesome!!

"So Long"

This summer Aryan challenged me to grow out my hair. She wanted to see how long I could get it. I don't think I've had long hair since AJ was a baby (I think it was permed too. ha ha). I told her I would do it. I hate it on my neck, and when it got there I wanted to cut it - but I didn't. I kept on growing it. I even pulled out my wave iron and stated using that more. I really liked it like that, but I didn't always have time to do it that way in the morning. The problem with having longer hair for me is that I don't have much hair. My hair is so thin now and so having it long was just gross and annoying to me. So new year and a new do! I gave in and I cut it. Not a short as I usually like it but good enough for me. When I got home, my kids were all like "Wow, you cut off more then we thought you would," and my husband didn't even notice!
Before - long and curly

Before - straight (ooh gross!)

Can you beleive I had hair this long?

After the hair cute (much better).

Taking it down

I love Christmas time...mostly for all the decorations. I love having a tree where my living room is usually bare, I love lights on the outside of our house, I love garland and stockings hanging from the fireplace, I love the nativity on the TV stand, I love it all and I'm always sad when it all comes down, but the saddest thing to take down for me are my Christmas cards. I hang then all on the back of my front door.
I've been sending out Christmas cards since I was on my mission (and almost 19 years of marriage). This year Masood asked me why, with all of the technology we have now days am I not just sending them out by email or Facebook or just having it on my blog? The answer to that is because it's soooo impersonal. I send out 100 cards every year and this year I got about 40 in return. I LOVE hearing from our friends that we maybe haven't heard from since last year. I love looking at their picture and seeing how their kids have grown and I love sharing our lives with others too.
So here was my door of pictures for this year....can you find yours?

And yes, in case you are wondering...if your card comes with or as a picture, I keep them all. I have been keeping them for forever!

Happy New Year!

We didn't have any big New Year's Eve plans this year. I'm usually at the youth dance, but this year it was on Friday (the night before). No one invited us over and we didn't invite anyone over either. I say it's because we don't have many friends here. Yes, we have acquaintances, but not a lot of friends. NO BIG DEAL though cause we like it that way.
I did get some finger foods (chicken wings, cheese ball and crackers, chips and salsa and some sparkling cider for a Midnight toast).
Half of us watched a hockey game, the other half of us watched random TV - Oh and the New iCarly show that was on at 8 (i still psycho). Yes, we still love to watch iCarly. I asked Shayla if she was going to stay up until the big ball dropped and she didn't even realize that it was New Year's Eve. She was like, "What? Tonight is the night that the big ball drops?" ha ha It was pretty funny. Last year she barely made it past midnight, but this year she didn't have a problem. We've been practicing a lot this Christmas Break with a lot of late nights (and late mornings). We go back to school on Wed and it's going to be TOUGH to get up!!
We also played some games (the new Simon Shuffle we got for Christmas is pretty fun).
Here are just a few pictures.....(off the TV too).
The "Big Ball" with 41 secs to go.
Happy New Year 2012

Jenny McCarthy kissing some random police officer in the middle of Times Square. ha ha

The only picture I took in the evening was a self portrait of us 3 just after midnight.

So do I make New Years Resolutions? NOPE....never have! I'd probably just break them anyway so why make them?

January 1st....our church time changed to 1-4 PM. Lucky for us we didn't have to get up early, but I HATE 1 pm church. No more Sunday naps for us. Since I'm in the Stake YW, I'm an easy target for subbing somewhere else within my ward so I helped out in the Nursery. There were only 5 easy kids, so it was good.

January 2nd....we woke up to snow. The ground it white (not a lot, but it's white). Winter has been good to us so far and I have been loving it. The longer this snow stuff has stayed away, the better!! Last year we had snow starting in November, so not having it until now has been Heaven to me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

What was your Christmas garbage like?

I'm always amazed at how much garbage people have after Christmas!! We've never been the type of family to over splurge on Christmas gifts for our kids and I recycle all my boxes every year (I fold them up and re use them) so I was happy to see that my garbage wasn't any different from week to week, but the neighbors garbage's were outrageous!!
Neighbors

Neighbors

More neighbors

And us....just our normal big can and 1 box of recycling.