Monday, June 22, 2009

Traveling

Wow what an exciting week so far. We have spent a lot of time in the car but have seen so many interesting things on the way. Indian Reservations (casinos but they have to lure you in by calling them something else), Yellowstone (lots of wildlife and mountains), Mt. Rushmore (the girls earned their Jr. Ranger badges), the Mississippi River (home of their music teacher's famous song), Chicago's sweeping skyline, lots of public restrooms and McDonalds restaurants.


Here are a few of the pictures so far.


Going towards NE entrance in Yellowstone.




Henry at Mt. Rushmore.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ballet

Saturday was the ballet recital. This is our fourth year attending and waking up in the morning to go to a dress rehersal and coming back at night to compete with a large crowd to find a spot suitable for watching three hours of dancing. The whole day we have to contend with the weather and limited amounts of shade. This year was different, this was a day that a little girl has been talking about ever since last year when she had to sit and watch her older sisters dance, you couldn't help but feel excited for her. Her big day had come.
Bright and early Saturday morning we were greeted by a smiling face at our bedside declaring "today is the day." We went to rehearsal early that morning and she was not too sure about all of the activity going on around her. Her teacher led her on stage and she still seemed unsure. As I waited for her backstage I wondered what she was thinking about her first experience on stage. She came running up to me and asked when she could do it again. All day long she kept talking about going "up to the stage." The actual performance that night was a different experience, she knew what to expect. Before the dance started she looked up and saw Stephen way in the back waving and she waved back, smiling from ear to ear. This time waiting for her backstage I knew that she had a great time. After watching her sisters dance we decided to pack up and call it a day. She did not want to leave after all she was a BIG girl that danced on stage. That night a very sleepy little girl curled up in my arms and right before she fell asleep she smiled and asked if we could do it again tomorrow. A dancer is born.



Sunday, June 7, 2009

More Baby Pictures

Little Baby L was so much fun to to take pictures of. She was perfect and let me pose her any way I wanted, plus I got to visit with her mom and really cute big sister.
I took a Photoshop class in Portland a few weeks back and one trick they showed was adding text boxes around the photos. Here is my attempt at it.