BCF Best Cousins Forever!

My niece Mariah is here from Germany. She'll will be staying with us until the middle of August. The rest of her family will come the end of June.

Tierra 5 months and Mariah 1 month.

Mariah was born in Tucson Arizona and I flew down to see my sister a month after she was born, along with my mom, dad and Tierra. Mariah was the 3rd born in her family and the second girl. Tierra and Mariah have always been close to each other. I think they made a pact in heaven to come down together.

Mariah's family moved to Ogden when Tierra was 1 and lived with us for 4 months at my moms house until they found a house of their own. Mariah's dad worked at HAFB Commissary. He got a promotion as the Commissary Manager and moved to Dugway (past Toelle, in the middle of no where) when Mariah was 5. Then he got another promotion and they moved to Italy right after Hudson was born. They have been overseas ever since! We went to visit them in Italy when Tierra was 9. I've always loved Italy and thus the caption for my blog. He has had various promotions since then and they have lived in the Azore Islands and now Germany. The government pays for them to come home every couple of years. They never want to come back to Utah, but I hope eventually they settle in the US. Their kids want to come back to "America" but my sister loves culture and they have made a lot of good, interesting friends over the past 8 years. Tierra and Mariah have remained best cousins while living thousands of miles away!

Tierra and Mariah in Miami

My mom went with my sister on her business trip to Florida. Because she was nursing Mariah, she had to take her with and needed a babysitter. I tagged along with Tierra. It was so much fun. We were able to visit the Everglades and stayed in a nice hotel all paid for.

Mariah and Tierra attended 3 years of preschool together.

This was their first day. They were both still 2 when they started!

3 yrs. old. My mom bought these matching dresses for them.

They practically looked like fraternal twins.

I couldn't find the picture of them in matching blue summer dresses my mom made for them.

They always enjoyed dressing up (just like me and my cousin Tammy)

A Pioneer Primary activity. Tierra and I attended their ward in Ogden even though we didn't live in their boundaries. I just loved the people there.

Bibioni beach in Italy. (My sister called it "Boobie" beach because it was a topless beach like most beaches there.

A huge mansion in Trieste.

Rialto Bridge in Venice.

Again matching clothes my mom bought for them. Even now Tierra helps her pick clothes out for Mariah for Christmas or her birthday and Tierra gets the same thing.

Gangsters

Still dressing up. This was 3 years ago when they last visited.

Weird ducks.

The sign says "Dancers"

Movie Stars

Old Grannies

Matching clothes at Lagoon.

Here they are at age 14 and still trying to match and look like sisters. They have little plastic barrets in their hair. Mariah just bought them, I guess they are back in style. Funny, because they are the exact same ones that I had for Tierra when she was a toddler and I just gave them away to Emily P. I think.

Tierra has always wished over the past years that Mariah lived here and everything would be that much funner. I tell Cynthia that she has deprived my kids of memories with their cousins. I think life would be better if the whole Najdawi family lived here!