Christmas Eve Fun

We really enjoyed our Christmas Eve together! It was 40 degrees outside and the sun was shining, so we got to play outside for quite awhile. We went over to the sledding hill at our neighborhood park and had a ball. That evening we had a nice dinner together, talked about the Christmas story, opened some presents and enjoyed hours of lego building fun.This is how every run ended...with a little person laying in the snow after a big (purposeful) crash.

We got to enjoy the hard work of someone else and start our runs on top of this "hill."

I ended up laying in the snow a lot, too :) There's nothing that takes me back to the pure joy of childhood like playing in the snow.

Here are my handsome gentlemen at our Christmas Eve dinner.

We always let Isaiah open some presents on Christmas Eve. This one was from Grammy Trudy and Papa Mehdi-a tub of legos to build with!

The sequencing of blogger is off right now, so we're back to the sledding pictures. Weird. Oh well.

This box was from Grammy Debi and Papa Jon-some fun clothes and a pair of dino PJ's.

A special gift from Daddy-Isaiah's own pair of fancy dress shoes :)

This was the scene for the rest of our evening. All 3 of us worked on building a lego train.

Ramin and Isaiah giving it a test run before bed.

Rapha kitty was snuggled in his favorite spot (under the tree) the whole evening and seemed to enjoy the action.

Merry Christmas from the Razavi's!

"The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this."
Isaiah 9:2,6-7

Buddies

Isaiah and his best buddy, John enjoyed their last day of school on Friday the 16th and celebrated by having a sleep over! This was Isaiah's first experience sleeping at a friend's house and it went great. I could barely get him to tell me goodbye when I dropped him off. He was so excited. They were quite busy as you might imagine, but Meggan was able to get a couple of really cute pictures.Isaiah and John looking cute in their snow gear.

What big boys they are!

Thanksgiving with Family

When the holiday season began in November, I think I completely forgot about our blog because I haven't posted anything since the end of October. Yikes! We've had a full and rich month and a half with a special trip to Indiana and Ohio to be with family for Thanksgiving. We hadn't spent a holiday with family in 3 years, so we definitely had reason to be thankful. Here are some of the pictures of our time together...

Day at the Indy 500 Race Museum

Isaiah loves race cars and so does his Papa Jon, so one day during our visit we went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to check out the museum and see all of the old cars. Isaiah was thrilled to see in person so many of the cars he's seen in books. It was a great day!

This is the original brick start/finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over the years as they modernized the racing surface, the original brick was preserved at the start/finish line as a memorial to the track's beginnings. Isaiah loves knowing all of the historical details, so he was really excited to see this.

Part of our visit to the speedway was a ride around the track itself. Unfortunately, for our little race car fan, we were in a bus, but the thrill was still there as we rounded the turns and imagined what it would be like to take the 2 1/2 mile loop at 220 mph.

Broad Ripple Drum Stick Dash ::

Early on Thanksgiving morning the whole family headed down to Broad Ripple to walk the Drumstick Dash 5k. We had a fun morning together and really enjoyed starting the day outside.

Isaiah James with his Grammy Debi and Papa Jon at the start line. He was actually happy, but wanted me to take a picture of his "game face." So, that's what the scowl is :)

He had little interest in waiting for the walkers (me, mom and dad), so he would surge ahead and then have to wait for us to catch up.

He took his foot off of the gas pedal for long enough for me to get this picture with Grammy.

Our lovely Thanksgiving spread.

Our dinner table, ready to go!

I'm not sure what Isaiah was thinking in this picture, but he kind of looks afraid of the gourd.

Ahhhh! The bliss of pumpkin pie!

Eagle Creek Park ::

On Black Friday we decided to hit nature instead of the mall. We loved our morning in the sunshine and enjoyed every minute of breathing in the crisp Indiana air.

A race on the trail with Daddy.

Isaiah in a snuggle with Grammy Debi and Uncle Jordan.

Doing a little balance beam with Uncle.

Since Isaiah was tiny, he's attached a memory/activity to each of his family members and this picture represents what he always asks for when he sees his Auntie Lauren and Uncle Ryan. They play a game together called "Sleepy Mountain," and when the sleeping giant, Isaiah, wakes up, he gets pummeled with pillows. It's hilarious.

Some Time in Tiffin ::

During our stay in the Midwest, we took a trip to Ohio to visit Ramin's Dad (who was holding down the fort while Trudy is in Hawaii) and his Opi. We had a quiet and relaxing couple of days there.

Papa Mehdi had some special sweet treats at his house just for Isaiah. This was one of the creations-brownie bite with whipped cream and sprinkles. Can you ask for anything more as a kid?

Papa had a nice treat for me, too-a little decaf latte, mmmmmm.

I somehow didn't get pictures of this, but we also had a big family gathering/co-ed bridal shower the weekend after Thanksgiving for my brother and his fiance, Abi who will be married on New Year's Eve!

We had a wonderful time with everyone and were so thankful to be together over the holiday.

BMX adventures

A very big part of Razavi day to day life is 'the bike'. We take at least one biking adventure every day. Sonny whips around on his bike like it's an extension of his little body. Here is a picture of a really cool tree Sonny and I found on one of our rides. When he saw it, he said, "Mommy, it looks like God's hand!" He climbed right up into the tree and asked to have his bike with him. I think this may be the first time he's ever willingly set himself up for a photo op.

Preschool

I realized the other day that I have never posted a picture of Isaiah with his beloved preschool teacher, Terri. She has been his teacher for 3 years and is a special person in our lives. This picture is the two of them together at back to school night.

Fun with Grammy Trudy and Papa Mehdi

At the end of September we had a great visit with Grammy Trudy and Papa Mehdi! They came for 9 days and we loved the quality time we had together. The last time they were in town, it was a trip to care for us while I went through chemo, so it was great to be able to do fun things together this time. Here are some photos of time together...

At Boulder's Fall Festival there were several really cool steel animal structures that we enjoyed looking at. Here is Sonny with the sea horse.

We took Grammy and Papa on their first trip to the Butterfly Pavilion, and like usual, Isaiah the butterfly whisperer became a landing pad for all kinds of beautiful varieties.

During the show at the Pavilion, there is a butterfly release. This 'bird wing' flew straight to Isaiah when he was freed from the cage. Isn't he beautiful?

Grammy Trudy and squirmy Sonny.

Papa Mehdi and his Buddy

What a fun visit. We love you!

I Can't Resist

After posting about Isaiah's first day of school, I was taken back to his first days in years past. Here they are...

2009

2010

2011

First Day Of School

Isaiah recently began his third and final year at Mapleton Montessori School. He's the big boy on campus and has already gathered a group of younger friends who he affectionately refers to as his "little buddies." He's having a great time and has transitioned to 5 mornings a week with no problem at all. Here he is on his first day. Can you believe what a big boy this guy is?

sweetness.

no nerves here!

big boy.

Celebrate Good Times...With Meat...

You may be looking at this image of copious amounts of meat, thinking, "it must have been Ramin and Natalie's 9 year anniversary dinner." And you would be correct. Nothing says L.O.V.E. like a cutting board loaded with various kinds of meat that have each been smoked for days on end. SPECIAL NOTE: At this point I'd like to add an apology to my wonderful vegetarian friends who may have been forced to hit the bathroom. Sorry. Anyway, back to the meat. We happened upon this spread unintentionally as we went out for our 2nd anniversary date in a row (we both planned surprise dates for each other complete with childcare, so we decided to go for it and just have 2 celebrations). The first night we went to a delicious local pizzeria and for our second date, we hit one of our favorites, West End Tavern. We had no idea that the BBQ special was being offered that night, but we saw it on the menu and thought, "hey, we've been married for 9 years, let's eat with our hands!"

All messiness aside, I am so grateful to, after 9 years, be sitting across the table from Ramin Razavi. On March 23rd, 2002 he invited me into the adventure of a lifetime and I am so thankful to be walking with such an incredible man.