Michael Jackson

I think Everyone has said something about Michael Jackson on their blog, or on facebook, so I will resist the temptation to go on and on.  However, my very talented brother-in-law, Chris, wrote an awesome post, and I would love you all to read it here.

As a dancer, I grew up worshipping Michael Jackson.  His moves were envied by every single dancer out there.  It took me years to learn the moonwalk. I had every word to every song memorized.  I don't think anyone realized the cultural impact this man would have, or how he would affect us personally.  

I added some of his music to my class playlists, and it has been fun this weekend for all of us to relive those songs we grew up with.  

When I heard the news, I immediately thought of two people: my friend Amy from high school, who worshipped MJ, and a sweet girl named Shelby who took dance from me, and at one time told me that I dance better than MJ (she was about 5 at the time). 

Whatever you may think of him and his life, you have to know that you were at one time or another effected by his music.  Even if only for a moment.

Have You Ever Seen This Much Cash?

Well, the kids hadn't either.

Farewell Residency!

Pete's residency finishes up at the end of July, and I just have to say how proud I am of him for doing it.  He has loved the experience, and has grown so much in all the areas of dentistry.  He has been able to do procedures that even some of his superiors have never one, and some procedures that he will probably never get to do in his own practice.  It has been rough; similar to another year of school, however we are used to it, and the year seemed to fly by.  

Thanks, Pete, for loving us enough to do everything you can for us.

All Doctors.

All Captains.

Mark Church, Aaron Campbell, Jennifer Pritts, Jennifer Britt, Pete Emmons, David Ayala, Bernardo Bianco and Brandon Leeser.

PhotoStory Friday: I *Heart* Zumba

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Warning: It may sound a little like I am boasting about myself.  I'm really not!

As many of you know, I am a Zumba Instructor.  I am certified to teach other things, however all I am teaching right now is Zumba, and I teach a lot of it.

If you don't know what Zumba is, check it out here.

In short, it is a dance/cardio class based on latin moves, and I always throw hip-hop in there.  It's salsa, cumbia, tango, belly-dancing, flamenco... you name the latin dance, we do it.  

At the moment, I am the only teacher at the gym, which poses a problem when I need a sub, however, it has also created "followers."

Yep, I have my own followers.

I love teaching this class, and have so many compliments on it.  My classes reach 70 people, which doesn't happen in any other classes.  

My name is mentioned on other blogs.

At coffee shops.

In banks.

In the locker room, when they don't realize I am there.

And it's always something good being said.

Everyone I have talked to is so sad that I am leaving next week, and wondering if they will continue coming to class, to which I tell them "of course you will!"

However, to have people tell you that they like your class that much is such a compliment.  My ego has been boosted so high by teaching this class.  I feel completely confident shaking my butt in front of an entire class.

I am going to miss them all just as much, and I hope that I can make an impression in Germany like the one that I have apparently made here. 

Cooper Is 20 Months Old Today

Just thought I'd mention that.

Isn't he so cute?

The Teeny-Tiny Carnival

Last week, a little, teeny-tiny carnival came into town, and Pete and I decided to take the kids on Thursday after work.  This mostly turned out to be a bad idea, but in the end, the kids had fun.  It was about 95 degrees with about that much humidity, there were no paved walkways for the stroller and huge cords everywhere, which meant that we had to pick  up the stroller just to go over the cords, and tickets were $1 each, with each ride taking at least 3 tickets per person.  We spent $20 in tickets and the kids only rode 2 rides.  Luckily, Pete and I got to go on the merri-go-round with them for free.

This was a small roller coaster, and both kids were pretty excited to go.

Noah loved it, but halfway through Annie mouthed to me "I'm done now."

Everyone was excited for the merri-go-round in the beginning...

But this is how the rest of the ride looked:

Noah and Annie played that game where you throw ping pong balls into bowls floating in water.  By some miracle, Noah landed his in the only red bowl in the whole pond, which meant he got to pick whatever prize he wanted.

Annie got a pitty-prize, but she was so proud of it. I also threw darts at balloons and won a tiny little dog for Cooper, which made him happier than anything else the whole day.

Let's Slide Again!

Pete had a four day weekend, so we decided to spend a little time together (which we haven't been able to do much of during this residency), so we headed over to our local bounce house, The Jump Zone.  I have heard the name since I got here, but assumed it was a huge building and a very pricey activity, so I avoided it.  However once we got there, and used our military discount, we only paid $13 for all the kids, and Pete and I were free!  Totally worth it.  We took Annie's BFF, Penelope, with us, because she is going on vacation at the same time that we leave, and they are really going to miss each other.  

The Sinking Pirate Ship.  This one had the best and fastest slide.

The Princess Castle. This one had a great little jump area that Cooper loved.

Superman and The Circus House.  The Circus House and a giant elephant, and everytime I took Cooper on the slide he would say "effant fun!"

This is the "Effant" slide.

The Fire Truck.  This one also had a really fast slide.

Penelope had no fears at all.

These two rarely left each other's sides.

Cooper was so much fun to take down the slides.  Check out his hair!

Pete and I had had just as much fun as the kids.

Noah was so fast on most of the slides that this was the only action shot we got of him.

Although he paused for a minute to take a picture with his mommy!

Cooper enjoyed bouncing and falling, each time saying "ooohhhhh."

Annie had a blast, and to our surprise, enjoyed going down the slides without us.

Pete is planning on taking the kids again this Saturday when his friend Matt is in town, and I am off teaching.  Matt will have a blast, right Leslie?!

Bad 80's Workout Clothes?

This is what happens to our children when we start cleaning for a move:

Spirit socks from 1998 + Crocs = bad 80's memory.

Annie's headband + atari in mouth = the need for bleach wipes and a good rough house (Pete's not fond of his son wearing a jeweled headband).

Happy Father's Day!

PhotoStory Friday: That's Not My Name

Hosted by Cecily and

Last week, Pete had to go in and get new dog tags made for something, and he called them in and SPELLED everything out for the lady making them.  He even double checked over the phone.

When he picked up the first set of tags, he read over them and then asked the woman behind the counter "Do you know anyone named Teter?"

She looked at him with a confused face, and Pete then said, "because my name is Peter, and I have never heard the name Teter.

Also, my religion is Mormon, not Morman."

He then had the second tag made.  

His colleague had to point out that his name was now Petter, and that he was still Morman.

Stormy Night

Last Night we had a pretty major storm; big enough that the tornado sirens went off again.  I don't think there were any touches, but it was still a nasty storm.  Just as I got home from teaching a class, it got dark and cloudy and within a few minutes, it looked like this.    

Pete went out to take a few pictures while I rescued the Sister missionaries who were watching the storm approach them.  

We stayed out on the porch and watched the rain, thunder and lightning, and then the rain turned to pea-sized hail, and we decided to go inside rather than continue to be pelted.  

The highlight of the storm came when lighting struck the electrical tower directly in front of our house.  It is only about a half-mile away, but the view is right in front of our porch.  The lightning hit, turned into a double streak, created a bunch of sparks, and lit up the entire sky.  It was amazing! Somehow, we didn't lose any power.

The missionaries had fun playing in the rain with the kids. I think they had more fun than any of us.  We put our camping chairs out on the porch and they just hung out and watched the storm.  Pete and I love watching these storms, and we will actually miss sitting out on the porch and watching them after we move.

Creative Genius?

A few nights ago, after we had put Annie and Noah to bed, Pete and I were sitting at the table discussing aspects of our move, and Cooper was sitting on my lap.  As I was writing down my never-ending-to-do list, Cooper grabbed the pen from my hand and began scribbling.  When he was done, he pretended to grab something from among the scribbles, put it in his mouth and then said "yummy!" He then shared his "food" with the two of us, and over and over again said "yummy!" 

I just don't remember if the other kids did this kind of creative things at a year and a half.  Maybe they did.  

I think he just picks up on a lot more because he is number three. 

Or maybe I have a creative genius on my hands.  

Is this the face of a creative genius?

PhotoStory Friday: Interesting, Maybe

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

These two shots have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

I just thought they were interesting.

Maybe.

This one I took about 20 minutes ago, when Pete and I stepped outside during a storm.  I was just messing around with the camera, and got this one.

It's actually a little bit creepy, if I do say so myself.

This one I took a few weeks ago, while I was babysitting Baby E.  

She was just chillin' in one of our bean bags, and I thought this was the best way to capture it.

So there you go.  Decide for yourself if either one is interesting.

Happy Birthday, Noah

Noah

On June 9, 2003, my life as I knew it, changed forever.  I became a mother - your mother.  Your dad and I waited a long time for you, and we were so excited on the day you finally came to us.  We had decided not to find out during the pregnancy whether we were having a girl or a boy, but we both knew deep down that you were a boy, and that your name was Noah Keith.  You were given the name Keith after my father, and you were also born on his father's birthday.

At 5:12 p.m., you joined our family.  I couldn't have been happier, and your dad couldn't have been more proud.  You had many visitors come see you in the hospital, so many in fact, that the ladies answering phones and greeting people at the hospital had our room number memorized.  

Taking you home was one of the most exciting things.  Your dad and I had a lot of new things to learn and figure out, and you were so patient while we made all of our mistakes.  The first year of your life flew by, and before we knew it you were walking and talking.  One of my favorite stories to tell  about you as an infant is that when you learned how to roll over, you would roll and roll, all over the room, just to avoid falling asleep.  Eventually you would give up and sleep, but it usually took a few laps around the living room.  You never have been big on sleep; I think you were just always afraid you were going to miss something.  You rarely napped, and you were always (and still are) up with the sun. 

When you were younger, you loved Winnie the Pooh, music, playing with your cousins and doing whatever your dad was doing.  You have always been drawn to water, so as soon as we could, we put you in swimming lessons.  You are now an awesome swimmer.  

You have always made friends very easily, and you have always been very social.  Anywhere we went, you could find someone to play with.  When Annie came into the family, I think you regarded her as royalty- someone of great importance.  You loved her with every fiber in your little body- just like a big brother should.  Although now you have your disagreements with her, she has always been your best buddy.

You made many friends the first few years of your life, including Sydney, Ryan, Ben, Olivia and Hailey.  These friends were a big part of your life, and I hope down the road you will all keep in touch.

When Cooper came along, you again fell into the big brother roll just as you should.  You have always made sure that he is taken care of and happy.  To this day, you spend much of your day making him laugh.

You have adjusted so well to all of our moves, and right now you are ecstatic to move to Germany.  You started Kindergarden last year and that is when you and your personality really exploded.  You went from being my little boy to quite a big kid.  You are so smart and funny - you were one of the only ones in your class that knew all the letters, colors and numbers before you started school.  Your eyes have always been your most striking feature, but your hearty laugh has won over many hearts.  That laugh is your essence.  I will never, ever, in all my years, forget what that laugh sounds like. 

Now, you are at the age where Superheroes invade all that you do.  You love to ride your bike or your scooter, spend time outside with your friends, and explore anything that can be explored.  You love oreos and pop tarts, chocolate milk and tacos.  You talk about flying into outer space, having a dog, and wanting roller skates.  You love school, you love learning and you are constantly asking how to spell things or what these two numbers add up to.  You are always on the go, and sometimes I wonder how you have all the energy you do.  I have often felt that the Lord gave me the energy that I have in expectation of you.

I don't know where I would be without you.  I look forward to each day, seeing your adorable smiling face.  You always have a story to tell me, or a new idea you can't wait to share with me.  I am always telling you that I need a break from you, but in reality, when I am away from you, I miss you so much.  I can't believe that you are 6 years old today.  You have grown so much, and even though I would love it if we could just stay right here in this moment, I know that the next few years are going to be even better, as you continue to grow and learn so many amazing things.  Thank you for choosing me to be your mom.  Thank you for having faith in me.  Thank you for loving me unconditionally.  And thank you for being my son.

Happy birthday, baby.

I love you.

Mom