Christmas 2012 With The Whole Gang

Sometimes we don't have Anahita home for Christmas but this year we did. And of course Shirin and Gabriel do a Christmas with us and a Christmas with Gabriel's family in Florida. In fact they like Christmas so much they do one for their little family at their house too - three celebrations altogether.

It wasn't long after Tita had gotten home that the kitties had to investigate everything. Chappu loved Tita's old running shoes.

Earlier that day we'd gone to Charlotte so Tita could be fitted for some new running shoes. As much as she runs she needs a really good pair, so this fellow was the purported expert, or so the store personnel claimed. I guess you can look interesting and still do a good job fitting peoples' shoes.

She'll probably kill me for including this picture but it was so funny - she wanted to break in her new shoes so she wore them (and her pajama pants) while cooking us dinner. Her food was yummy - a quinoa and lentil dish - cooked by a chef in flamingo pink running shoes.

One of the first things Kai did after getting up Saturday morning was to check out the pile of presents under the tree.

Poor Banu! She's giving Kai the stink-eye from under our bed.

Shirin hired Cyrus to take a picture of her and Tita.

My gang.

My hired staff, putting together the luminaries for our house that our subdivision does every Christmas. It looks so lovely when all the neighbors light them. People drive slowly through the neighborhood with their lights off and some of the neighbors go from house to house Christmas caroling.

We walked though the neighborhood to look at our neighbors lights.

This house was our actual destination. It was a mine field of guide wires and electrical wires and I had to go in more than once to rescue two little curious boys. They had more blow up characters than last year!

It was fun for the big kids too.

There's nothing better after an evening of strolling through Christmas lights and luminaries than sitting around a nice fire. Saeed had been working on Shirin's fire pit since her last visit; it now has a a barrier of bricks and...

... some nice benches.

We had hot chocolate and s'mores.

I have to laugh when I see this picture -it's too posed and what makes me laugh is that my mother would love it!

The next day David came over bearing gifts. The boys were so excited.

Iron Man! I wonder if it comes with a pink duster?

David Claus:

Shirin was trying to get the boys to cooperate and pose for a picture that would be the wall paper for her new Surface. Who knows how that picture turned out!

Tita peering into her stocking for some goodies.

Wish I could remember what Gabriel was saying to Cyrus about that granola bar... probably something like, "Now son, these are really disgusting. You give me yours and I'll eat it for you."

The next day we took Tita to the airport only to have her call us up to ask if we could turn around and come back to get her - her flight was delayed by four hours. Yikes. We made lemonade out of lemons and went to the Vietnamese restaurant for lunch to kill some time. That's why this nice picture of Saeed and Anahita has sexy Asian ladies on the poster behind her!

And this is a picture Tita sent us today wearing her new Georgia Bulldog T-shirt (from Shirin) with the caption, "I may be back in SF but I am wearing my Southeast gear! With my Gamecocks hoodie too! Represent!"

What a great few days together. I loved our time together.

Irresistable Kittiness

 Is it just me or is Loopi-loo just too cute?

This picture was taken at an awkward angle with my iPhone, but this is Lupe lovin' up against me one day after work when I plopped down on my bed exhausted. Talk about fuzz therapy!!

Old Pics From October 2011

As I look back at these (and the folder was dated 10-9-11) it was clearly Shirin's birthday. Where was Anahita? If I remember correctly she didn't come home for their birthday in 2011 so she will be absent in this post.

This was the first pic in the folder, of Cyrus mashing the top of a fuffin. Hey!

 I don't remember what type of cake I made, probably something healthy based on Gabriel's expression.

 Hmmmm. I wonder if Nama would mind if I went after that cake.

 Shirin was teaching Cyrus how to ride a bike.

 It was really hard for him to go up hill!

 Nama to the rescue.

 Proud little biker.

I don't remember, but I guess while we were biking Kai was helping Baba cook dinner! It's so funny to see him without hair! (Kai I mean.)  :-)

Lunch At The Lake

We recently got lunch "to go" at Earth Fare and ate at Winthrop Lake. Gorgeous.

Only at EF could your "to-go" box be an old recycled carton! Love it.

Kitty TV

My sister gave me a video titled "Kitty TV", a series of vignettes of scurrying gerbils and fluttering birds to titillate any cat worthy of the genus Felis. I think I blogged about it a few years ago. Recently we were watching a nature program about the animals in Alaska and it attracted an audience we weren't expecting.

Tippy started it off.

I brought the table closer.

Frosty was very interested in the Arctic Fox and...

... the Loon.

Football? Not so interesting.

Squirrel Hiding Nuts In My Mint

I guess I'd better leave my pots on the deck this winter, even if I have to remove dead tomato plant material. Somebody will come looking for a mid-morning snack (AKA "second breakfast") in a month or two, and it had better still be there.

My First Grappling Match & Halloween 2012

We had some visitors the weekend before Halloween, namely two SUPER HEROES and their parents.

Batman and Robin on our deck.

I loved the excuse to drag out the Halloween stuff.

It was too chilly to squirt each other so Kai was instructed to aim the water gun at things and plants. Here he is obediently giving this pumpkin a punishing squirt.

At first he looks dangerous but then you see the golden curls and his red toe nail polish and it lowers the level of fear a little bit.

Cyrus chose to stay inside where it was less dangerous and a bit warmer. I'm not sure if it was Super Heroes against Giganto Witch, but notice Rhino Man to the far right. He goes missing. We reveal his whereabouts at the end of this post.

The artist bent deeply over his project.

Cyrus showing his not quite finished artwork.

Saeed fixed an amazing salad with all organic fruits. Technically the cherry tomatoes were fruits but we voted them out the next time he makes this!

Gabriel competed in a grappling match, the first since high school? college? Here's his cheering squad. It looks like Shirin is married to David and Gabriel came along to take care of Cyrus. Next to them is David's friend John. 

Kai was really excited about watching his Dad. Zzzzzzzz...

This was a new experience for me. I have always cringed at wrestling due to the sweaty men grabbing each other and perceived pain, but was willing to give it a chance. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be and Gabriel assured me that a competitor could "tap out" if he was in too much pain. There was still a bit of sweat and grabbing but I was far enough away.

My flash couldn't reach that far so the quality of this photograph isn't wonderful, but Gabriel looked great.

The champion with his belt and banner.

Cyrus admires the belt as Super Daddy tries to catch his breath.

Cyrus like the fact that his dad won, while Kai wasn't quite sure what had happened!

After the Modaresi-Beals went back to Athens without Rhino Man I discovered who had him. Apparently Frosty had hid Rhino Man so he could employ him as his guard.

Hmmmm Rhino Man, you smell delicious.

AAAAAAAAA! Oh no! Rhino Man bends over in pain has the Big Cat takes a lick. The rest of the pictures are too gory to post, but let's just say Rhino Man was tricked into being third breakfast.

Two feet away Chappu sleeps unaware of the drama going on at the other end of the table. To hell with Rhino Man.

Leaf Bug

I came home from work and saw this "leaf" on the truck:

Actually it's a katydid. Cool.

Amy's Wedding

Here are my pics from Amy and Tuan's wedding.

Patiently waiting for the wedding to begin. Kudos to Cyrus and Kai for making it through the long service. I think keeping them quiet wore Shirin out!

Not so patiently waiting for their food. I think Shirin had taken Kai to the bathroom.

Beautiful cakes.

The couple across the table got married the next weekend.

Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of Amy's wedding dress but I loved this traditional Vietnamese outfit she wore to the reception even better.

It was similar to an Indian salwar kamees with the silky pants.

 

 Lanie looked great. In case you don't know she's the "Dumpling Girl" in Atlanta.

After the wedding but before the reception Cyrus was making a very sad face. I interviewed him about that and asked why he was unhappy. I'm not sure he knew why so he came up with a good reason: he missed Woofull, the stuffed elephant he adopted from our house (used to be Shirin's) and was now in Athens. Interestingly, it was either Lanie or Amy that gave Woofull his name back when they were little girls.