Posted by sieni on November 1st, 2008 — Posted in Family, Tara, Trips
Recently Tara and I returned from 3 weeks visiting family in the States. We were in Portland, Maine, and it was the perfect time of the year to visit. The leaves were changing, and every possible colour could be seen for miles and miles on stretches of road. My parents came from Samoa, together with my sister, Ioana, who flew in separately from San Francisco and surprised the heck out of us! We stayed with my grandmother, my dad’s mom, and visited with cousins. It was sooooo wonderful.
It would have been the second time I travelled alone with Tara, and the first since I weaned her, so I packed a bunch of crafts and stickers and crayons and coloured paper and little toys in sandwich bags for the plane, thanks to an idea I saw on the Crafty Crow. They were a hit! and kept her in her seat THE ENTIRE TIME. While I was nervous about landing at JFK airport and going through immigration and customs and lines with a toddler, I was surprised, actually shocked, at how nice people were! Everyone helped us: from the immigration officer who was so polite, to the couple who paid for my trolley when I didn’t have the right change, to the person who lugged my bags off the carousel, to the customs officer who didn’t even look at the food I packed, to the check-in counter who took take care of everything when I was suppose to self-check at those new machines. And the whole time I had Tara strapped to my chest in the Ergo, and mind you, she’s not a little baby anymore. I said so many thank you prayers that day.
Here are pics from the holiday
Playing in the yard
Food my parents brought from Samoa:
Everyday Tara would take walks with her papa
Dad, Tara, mom, Gram, and Ioana before buffet dinner
Visiting Maine’s wildlife park
Picnic at the fort
Freeport was shopping heaven–outlet area for big name brands–attracting tourists from all over
Mom enjoying her Maine lobster
Tara with her cousins Ryan and Adam at the corn fields, getting ready to go for a hay ride
Joining the hunt for a pumpkin for Halloween
Playing in the corn box
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Posted by sieni on September 14th, 2008 — Posted in Family
Yesterday we celebrated Tara’s birthday by taking her to her favourite place in the world… the beach! Here she is showing us how old she is.
Instead of birthday cake, she had a treat of ice cream for the first time–pink with strawberries (her pick)
Earlier in the week, we surprised Saba for his birthday at a Thai restaurant. Here’s Tara’s version of eating with chop sticks
With friends
There are tons of these dinosaur statues around town and on the walk back, Tara got to sit on one
All in all, a very fulfilling week with many things to be grateful for!
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Posted by sieni on August 31st, 2008 — Posted in Random moments
A few pictures taken at the Commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Bab yesterday
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Posted by sieni on August 21st, 2008 — Posted in Random moments
This morning Tara and I caught a taxi to our weeekly Rose Garden class, and halfway there the taxi driver turns around, looks at Tara and asks me how old she is. I reply and then ask him whether he has kids of his own. He says tiredly, “Nine”. NINE?! At first, I think, because of his poor English, he means a nine-year-old child. But no. He goes on, “I have nine children. All boys.” Nine boys?! “First three, then one, then two, then one, then two again. We wanted a girl.” Holy moley smokey! Respect to his wife. Reminds me NEVER to complain about how difficult it can get with just one!
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Posted by sieni on August 5th, 2008 — Posted in Tara
Welcome to our cubby house! would you like to stay for tea? grapes? bananas? teddy bear, “trunk” the elephant and Tara would love to host you!
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Posted by sieni on August 2nd, 2008 — Posted in Tara
First haircut since birth and sporting the first skirt sewn by her mama
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Posted by sieni on July 28th, 2008 — Posted in Tara, Trips
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Posted by sieni on July 24th, 2008 — Posted in Tara
Stickers galore
Modeling mommy’s apron
She told me she was painting a fork, a spoon, and a hat
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Posted by sieni on July 11th, 2008 — Posted in Random moments
A friend forwarded this clip to us, and I can’t stop watching it. After watching that, watch this one. I love this individual’s initiative! Brings me pure happiness 
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