Happy birthday lil bro!

Yesterday was my brother Gus's birthday, but I was in Sioux Falls with Othman all day running errands before picking big brother Patrick up from the airport, so I didn't have time to blog! Oops.

But Gus's 23rd seemed like a good day, not least because a large contingent of our family arrived (from Alaska and Texas) for our family reunion! Beer and bonfires ensued, so who can complain about a birthday like that?!!

This summer has had some ups and downs but here's hoping that 23 is a fantastic year for you Gus! Happy birthday!!

Photographing a high school senior

Today and yesterday I had the exquisite pleasure of taking senior pictures for one of my sister Maria's best friends. For you non-Americans, we have a tradition of doing photoshoots with students in their last year of high school to commemorate the end of an era. I really love the tradition, because it captures kids at a very special but sometimes overlooked time of their life. However, photoshoots with professional photographers can really break the bank. So when I was a senior in high school, I had a couple friends take my photos and was really happy with them. That meant that when Katie asked me earlier this month to take her senior pictures for her I was first of all happy to pay it forward, and secondly just thrilled since I knew how fun it would be. 

(Spoiler: I wasn't disappointed.) 

My sister Maria and Katie have been friends since they were 7, and I've joked that she's my "adopted sister" for many many years by now.

And this girl is just beautiful. I mean with a smile like this:

and eyes like that:

what more could you hope for in a model??

Last night we walked to a nearby campground to take those outdoor evening pictures, then this morning we strolled in tiny downtown Brookings and ended up finding lots of beautiful backgrounds.

And even some that weren't especially beautiful themselves, but made good backdrops.

  

She was all sorts of fun but also super chill throughout the shoot, which made for some really nice pictures.

And WOW those big blue eyes just awe me.

Thanks Katie for giving me the opportunity to photograph you! Hope your last year of high school is everything you want it to be. 

Small town summer

Last week big brother Patrick came to visit from Chicago sporting a beard. I guess he's finally embracing his inner hipster.

Invariably when he's here we go out to eat. A lot.

We were all sad to say bye, but happy he'll be here for our Henebry family reunion next week!

Although he left, his amazing housewarming gift stayed behind:

Talk about one amazing puzzle. The wooden pieces are incredibly intricate and fit together so well. It was finished soon after it arrived due to lots of collaborative work, but we all already want to do it again!

Along with puzzling, I've been reading an incredible amount—I'm almost done with my 8th book since arriving in the US! And with places like this to read, what else would I want to do?

I also did a bit of crafting with my lil sis Tessie the other day. We made some cute magnets which involved inordinate amounts of glue and glitter, so naturally we were happy campers.

My dear friend Alli also came up to Brookings to visit! We had a nice walk around downtown and then met my mom and Maria for lunch. (Restaurant pics are always awkward, right?) Later that day we helped my mom with a Brazilian cooking class she gave, watched live music downtown, margaritas in hand, laid in our hammock and watched some amazing lightning from a nearby summer storm, and caught up on the last six months. Talk about a perfect summer day.

In addition all that other stuff, I've been going on daily walks—often accompanied by Maria or Tessie—generally between 2 and 3 miles long! I've been just loving the greenness of the streets I walk down, and how quiet and peaceful it is. Gotta soak up the highlights of small town America while I can.

Plus with skies like these, where else could you want to be??

I've always loved the big midwestern sky. It has a feel to it that I haven't experienced anywhere else in the world. 

To me, it feels like home.

Missing my hubby

A couple days before I left for the USA, Othman and I went to the beach to watch the Moroccan sunset. Of course I couldn't pass up the opportunities for photo ops.

I love silhouettes.

But what I love more is that Othman is going to be here in THREE days!! Even he (who pretty much only makes silly faces for photos) is shocked at how soon it is!

Shakespeare Camp 2015

Last Saturday my two littlest sisters performed in their homeschool group's 7th annual Shakespeare Camp. It started in our old backyard seven years ago, when I was already in college. The middle and high schoolers who participate have only ONE WEEK to rehearse, so they have to have all their lines memorized before the week begins. Every year they choose a different, complete Shakespeare play, and this year they did Love's Labour's Lost (which I wasn't very familiar with).

 

I took a bunch of photos during the performance on the at the behest of my mother. Thus here is the play in snapshots.

The King and his cronies reading a letter from the Spaniard Don Armado.

Who is shown here despairing over his love for a "wench"...

...and now wooing her.

The Princess of France, aka my sis Bia, looking regal with her court, including Katherine, aka lil sis Tessie in light blue.

Gossiping ladies in waiting.

Another letter from Don Armado, which severely bored and rather disgusted the ladies.

The constable was tired.

Bia's friend Katie playing a character, Holofernes, who pretended to be smart by spouting bad Latin but just confused me.

The Princess and her ladies comparing gifts from their lovers.

The King and his court pretending to be Russians, and the Princess and her ladies pretending to be each other. Typical Shakespeare.

At the end, we had two songs sung by Spring and Winter. I was again confused.

Curtain call! Yay!!

Not sure what happened here but I love the effect.

Bia and Tessie with roses from our dad. Congrats to the actresses!

My mom, the producer/costume director and Caitilin the director.

The best part (well other than seeing my fabulous sisters) was sitting next to Taryn and catching up. We realized we hadn't seen each other since Christmas 2010, and picked up right where we left off!

July Fourth, part 2

After the parade we had a very busy day, including a Dairy Queen lunch, a Women's World Cup game, firework shopping and more. Between all the busyness mom and the girls found time to decorate the cheesecake we had made the other day:

Then as dinner was getting prepared I took out the more eager little Pepinos for some daytime firecrackers, like snakes, snappers and, of course, smoke bombs:

They loved them of course, as Maria and I regulated and encouraged them.

To add to their utter excitement, my little sister Tessie has three kittens who live in our garage, and they hardly had a moment of peace the whole weekend. This one clearly earned her keep:

But Josie was smart enough to take advantage of Noura the Kitten's exhaustion, and held her for almost a solid hour while watching her older sisters do fireworks.

Meanwhile, the grillmasters grilled.

Josie then got so excited that smoke bombs don't make noise...

...that she decided to join Marguerite to light them!

My lil brother Gus couldn't stay inside with all the fun going on in the backyard.

He probably just came out to chill with this cutie:

Maria was enamoured as well.

The teenagers arrived home from an event, bringing home a balloon animal, whose species was the subject of hot contention. (Bee, butterfly, or hummingbird? You decide!) It was a hit one way or another.

Then it was time to eat. Here's a picture to give an idea of the organized chaos of too many people in a house for the weekend.

As it got dark the excitement mounted.

The teens pretended they were bored, but we know better.

Earlier in the day we had bought no fewer than 150 sparklers, being aware that the Pepino kids had never been allowed to play with them before. But my mom had promised them they could, and us older kids took good care of littles, so lots of sparkles (and lots of smiles) happened! 

They lit one after another after another, and were heard to say later that night that this was the best Fourth ever, refering to the sparklers.

Even Josie joined in the fun!!

As the kids went into the garage and chose "their" next firework, and the adults/big kids lit them, everyone enjoyed the yearly spectacle.

(Meanwhile Josie, who hates loud noises, covered her ears!)

Finally, I organized Tessie, Raphael, and Maria to have fun with sparklers while I used the long exposure on my camera, with some nice results.

Happy Fourth of July!!