Abdurrahman's a month old!

A few days ago
(He definitely has baba's (Saleh) nose! :) )

sandwiched!

I was telling Allaedin last night that I have a strong feeling that soon enough these two are going to gang-up against Nusayba.




Masha'a Allah Nusayba is really good at memorizing and I feel bad that I haven't really been putting enough time into teaching her Qur'an. She gets so excited about learning a new surah because she associates it with getting to hear a new story (she memorizes Qur'an by learning the story behind the surah first and I try to plug-in some actions that will remind her of the verses--you'll notice when she recites surat-ul-'asr :) )



A nasheed she recently learned

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak to our dear family and friends!

Nusayba: Making dua'a that we all go to Jannah
Abdurrahman: Happily dreaming
Asmaa: Planning her next attack! :)

'Ami Ahmad spent the entire Eid with us!



And got us Eid gifts too!


Allaedin and Ahmad went and slaughtered our Eid qurbani:) But when they got home Nusayba kept asking "ayna-alkharoof?" (where's the sheep?). Asmaa on the other hand was just saying "baaaaaa" over and over again:)


No 'usban, but Allaedin made glayah (that he was very proud of!) :)

Abdurrahman

At the hospital

7lbs and 19 inches long

Nusayba had decided here that his name was Abdurrahman before we actually named him
(we decided on the name the next day!)

Visiting Ottawa--after 2 years!

Our visit to Ottawa was a much needed, earned and enjoyed visit. It was very relaxing and I couldn't believe how quickly it flew by. Not having to cook or clean and the extra helping hands taking care of Nusayba and Asmaa were definitely a treat I'll never forget--شكرا يا أبله نجاة

Eid without Allaedin

It was definitely a blessing being amongst family on Eid day, but it wasn't the same without you baba

Enjoying their cousins!

Food contests at every meal really gave Nusayba an appetite!

At the library

At cosmic adventure (the jungle)

It was difficult for Asmaa to keep-up with the three of them, even when it was just to get a sip of water!

Getting spoiled by haneena

yes, I was enjoying an ice-cream cone!

just for you Nana!
(Libyan traditional dress for women--yes, this was the fabric for our Eid hijabs!)

henna in one hand a firecracker in the other!

Swimming!

Nusayba absolutely loved the henna and getting her hair braided!

With our Aunts and Uncles
(khali Akram, you were truly missed)

Visit to Houston

Alhamdulillah, we had an adventurous visit to Houston. Nothing went quite as planned, but the girls definitely got enough of each other:) We arrived to Maha's place at 11:00pm on Wednesday night, by 8:00am on Thursday the phone was ringing off the hook--friends and family members calling to advise Maha and Muhammad that they had to vacate!

I think I got to meet all the MAS members in Houston during this visit and they were definitely very hospitable!

We didn't get to spend much down time at Maha's place (we stayed there for two nights, but there was no electricity so we had to leave again). Here Nusayba is giving a gift to Iman.


Upon arriving to Maha's place (post-hurricane) the girls got to enjoy the puddles!

This was so funny!

Subhana Allah, after the hurricane we drove back to Maha's place and on the way there you could see trees everywhere, missing traffic lights and roof-tops without shingles. Alhamdulillah, there was no real damage to Maha's home--just some broken trees (the one above is right in front of her home) and a broken fence.

Summer Fun!

Alhamdulillah, we've had a busy summer this year--so busy I haven't had a chance to upload any of the pictures:) We've barely stayed home and here's a glimpse of how the girls have kept me busy!

Lemus Farm

Asmaa absolutely loves horses!

Seymour Center in Santa Cruz

Water Parks

We've gone to at least 5 water parks this summer (some of them more than once!), but unfortunately I only had my camera with me this time.

Sky High

Sky-high is an indoor recreation center that is just full of trampolines-where you can literally "bounce off the walls!". They have more than one court (one where you can play dodge-ball on trampolines!) and offer "Munchkin Monday's" for toddlers--we've gone at least 3 times this summer:)

San Francisco Zoo

We were lucky enough to have good company at the zoo!

A day at the Beach

guess who? :)

Park Outings

Anna and her boys, Omair and Aziz, visited from Jordan this summer and we were able to meet at the park with our neighbors a few times.


Nusayba and Jana


Nusayba absolutely loves to get herself wet!



Yes, that was Nusayba's doing!


Asmaa is an absolute monkey--she just loves hanging from bars!


Jet-Skiing

We were invited jet-skiing by one of our community members along with many others from the community--we had a good time!




khala Anna--we miss you already!



A rare treat--savoring every lick!

Book-Go-Round

One of the other really fun trips we've been making regularly this summer (once every two weeks) was a visit to a used book store in Saratoga. Every time we went we would donate a few of our old books and purchase a tone more. The kids books were no more than 50 cents each and in perfect condition. It's a small store, but with a huge variety. Nusayba really enjoyed these trips and has really grown to love and enjoy reading--actually, being read to (which gets to me after a while!).