Last night, while watching the republican debates, I had an epiphany; I am no longer a republican. Now, this may not come as a huge shock to some of you who have had political conversations with me over the years, but I was genuinely surprised. Not only was I dismayed by the candidates in general (Fred Thompson can barely put a sentence together), but I was also put off by the topics they were debating. I found the entire opening minutes of the debate to be particularly offensive. For those who missed it, the candidates spent several minutes discussing immigration (Governor Romney did get a few good jabs at Giuliani). I understand that republicans are historically tough on immigration, but the way all the men were speaking had an undercurrent of "illegal immigrants= lesser human beings here to sap all our resources." Maybe I'm just more sensitive than most about immigration because Mohamed is an immigrant, and I saw firsthand how difficult and sometimes degrading it is for "aliens" to do things the legal way in our country.

So there you have it, I'm ready to admit it. I'm a democrat. Terry, I hope somewhere you are reading this and smiling to yourself.

Unfortunately I do seem to have my timing off a bit. According to the oft quoted cliche "if you aren't a democrat in college you don't have a heart, and if you aren't a republican after you graduate, you don't have a brain." I guess that leaves me both heartless and brainless.

Up the Tall Mountain

By Amira Elizabeth Baayd

I thought since Norah got to tell her story I should let Amira do the same. The day after Thanksgiving we hiked to the top of Diamond Head- an inactive volcano. The hike was less than a mile, but quite steep. Amira decided to hike almost of all it herself. She did a great job and was so proud of herself when she reached the top. Several Japanese tourists applauded her effort, adding to the drama of the moment. Here are a few pictures and Amira's explanation of them.

" I went up the- what's that? The mountain. Playing and playing with my friends."

"I got excercise and I was so tired. Scary. I'm nice and happy."

*Amira quickly tired of explaining the pictures so I'll just post a few more.

My happy girls:

At the top

Mohamed got some great shots of Amira once we finished the hike

Life as I know it

by Norah Aziza Baayd

Okay, so my parents are really awful at remembering to take pictures and keep in touch. Because my sister and I are so incredibly adorable I've decided to do my parents' job for them. Here is a summary of the last six months of my life:

I knew I loved my sister, right from the start. She loves me right back:

She can do lots of amazing things like talk and walk and hop on one foot. Once, she almost got eaten by a dinosaur:

I was pretty upset about thatAmira makes sure things never get too boring. She likes to dress up in all different costumes:

Sometimes I try to dress-up, too:

Everyone is always hugging me and kissing me and pinching my bum. Mostly I'm okay with that

So, there's my life. I'll try to make sure that my Mom and Dad share more pictures with everybody. Oh, and Adelyn- thanks for giving me the idea to write this post, myself.