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.

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.

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.

Six Days New

Big Day For the Callister Boys

Today we took Henry to get his first haircut. It was sooooo much fun! Stephen got to wear a very fancy cape and hold a screaming baby in his arms. This is the first picture, I will add more later but I wanted to get the picture up before Stephen made me delete the ones of him in the leopard print cape. :) Oh it is a big day because I made an appointment for Stephen to get his haircut today too. (I may show up with my camera).

Henry is ONE!

On Tuesday Henry turned one, I can not believe how fast the time has gone by. I was thinking about everything that has happened the past year and how busy life has been. It was nice to take a day and think about Henry and all of his growing and learning that he has done in the past twelve months. The following is a collage I made of all of his 1 year old photo shoots. The problem with taking pictures is I see something I like and do the whole photo shoot all over again trying to capture something a little differently. I never did end up with the shot that I had envisioned but I got a lot of cute ones in the process. Enjoy!

Sisters

Evelyn and Lilly have an amazing relationship. They are the best of friends, yes at times they are the worst of enemies but for the majority of the time they are steadfast in their relationship. Evelyn looks out for her little sister and Lilly really looks up to her older sister.


Evelyn, when just a baby became attached to a blanket, never without her "Pretty." This blanket was Evelyn's comfort and security item, to this day she sleeps with it somewhere on her bed. Lilly on the other hand never attached to a blankie or a stuffed animal. We always joked that she didn't need a security item because she had a fiercely attentive older sister. When they were smaller and in an unfamiliar situation, we would watch Lilly and see her creep closer to her sister and attach herself to Evelyn. She always found comfort in having her big sister near by her. And Evelyn has always lived up to her role as protector.


Two years ago the girls sat down to root beer floats, (Lilly's made with soy ice cream) and there was a mix-up and Lilly ended up in the hospital. As a mother I was upset that this happened but the memory that stands out about that night is Evelyn standing by her sister, crying and telling the nurse that it was all her fault. She should have been watching her sister more closely. I was awed by the fact that a six year old felt that much care and responsibility for her sister.
As they get older I have watched this bond become stronger and stronger. I hope that they will continue to have each other as best friends and allies. Here is a photo at the park of "The Girls" (as Tessa calls them). Enjoy!