My Talented Sisters

All of my sisters are very talented. I want to tell you a little bit about some of the amazing gifts of my three younger sisters.

In April, my family and I went to Elizabeth's chorale concert. In addition to academic scholarship, Elizabeth also has a music scholarship for the beautiful alto voice she adds to her university's chorale. I was nervous about bringing Julia, but after she did so well at the movie theatre, I thought she'd be able to handle going to a concert.

She was able to handle it... but I wasn't! Ha! Julia kept wanting to crawl back and forth between my mom, dad, Sarah, and me. She also had several loud whispers about Elizabeth, about wanting water, and a question about the conductor which she posed during the total silence between the end of a song and the applause. All of these mildly distracting behaviors put me on edge. I was terrified she was going to start being super disruptive in the middle of this formal concert, so when halftime came, I finally breathed a sigh of relief that Julia hadn't had any major issues and we both ducked out. Julia was crushed to leave. She had loved being there so much that she cried most of the way home. And, really, she did awesome for only being two years old. I couldn't have asked for better behavior.

The first half of the concert was beautiful, though. I wish I had music to post in addition to this photo. Bravissima, Elizabeth!

Julia was so proud of her aunt up on stage!

Also in April, Julia and I were blessed to get to attend the opening of the university's annual art show. Sarah is studying graphic design, and had three(!) of her pieces from her studio art classes accepted into the show. We were so proud to see her art beautifully displayed in a gallery, and I was a lot less stressed at this event... haha! My grandparents were also in town, so it was special for them to get to see Sarah's art as well. Well done, Sarah!

Isn't that self portrait amazing? I was a little obsessed with that piece.

Sarah's portrait of a friend of hers.

Sarah's piece is the apple on the mug. My camera does not do justice to these artworks.

Random side note: My dad does not have a mustache in this photo. This phase in his life was extremely short lived.

Meghan is, of course, creative, too! Behold her magnum opus, the gorgeous Mary-Claire! ;-)

In May, after the loss of Francis Marie, Jessica blessed our family with her artistic gifts by creating a beautiful painting to memorialize our daughter. I was so incredibly touched. The quote is from a song by Watermark, Glory Baby, written by the husband and wife duo about their loss of a child to miscarriage. We hung this painting on our bedroom wall, and I love that it is there as a daily reminder and testament to the very small life that had such a huge impact on our hearts, and the hearts of all those who love us. Jessica was able to capture the depth of sorrow, pain, love, and faith we were all feeling during this time. The painting still brings tears to my eyes, in a good way, because it reminds of the goodness of Francis' life in the arms of Christ, and the promise of our reunion with her someday.

Thank you, Jessica.