It's a GIRL!

Baby Peters was very active today! She wasn't afraid to let us know that she's a girl too! Dennis and I are very excited and realize that we should probably start narrowing down our list of names. I'm glad that she was cooperative in letting us know that we will be needing little pink blankets & bows come May, but she is a little camera shy like her mom. They weren't able to get any 3D shots where her face was visible. :( We'll just have to wait to see her until spring!

The first picture is probably the clearest one...

This one you can see her left hand on her face... So cute!

These are the shin bones I do believe...

She's upside down in this one. You can see her nose and eyes.

Quick Update

Pretty much all I think about these days is little baby Peters. I'm 18 weeks along, starting to show a bit (might just be the turkey from last week...), and I can now feel its little movements! It seems to always start dancing any time I lay down for a nap, or maybe that's just when I'm still enough to feel it. Regardless, I absolutely LOVE it! I'm also very much looking forward to our ultrasound in 2 weeks. Last week we found out that Josh & Donielle will be having a little boy... I feel like a kid again waiting for Christmas to come. I am so excited!

Happy Thanksgiving!

When I was young my mom would make a large tree outline on the pantry door. All through November we could write things we were grateful for on colorful leaves and tape them onto the tree. It was a fun way of being able to see the many things we had been blessed with.

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I did a miniature version of this for Young Women's a couple weeks ago. My tree now sits on my piano to remind me of the many beautiful things that Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

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A few things I am grateful for this year: A loving husband that works very hard and gives me more happiness than I could ever ask for; a healthy little unborn baby that I think I maybe might've felt move yesterday; a comfortable home to live in; a beautiful city that provides me with minutes access to my work, education, the temple, and to both Dennis & my parents' houses; the opportunity I have to work with amazing youth at school and at church; the commandments that Heavenly Father gives us; and the blessing of happiness that knowing and keeping those commandments brings.

~

Happy Thanksgiving!

So you think you can dance?

This weekend I got invited to attend the SYTYCD Season 5 Concert in Salt Lake with the Peters girls. We had so much fun! Distribution center, mall, good food, concert and Music & the Spoken Word... We packed a lot of stuff into 24 hours!

I LOVED the show! It made me want to dance all the way back to the hotel... But I'm really finding that my balance isn't quite what it used to be. Plus, the "pregnancy bible" (aka: what to expect when you're expecting) says that I'm supposed to avoid jumping, pointing my toes, arching my back, doing deep knee bends, or sudden changes in direction when exercising. Seriously? I can't think of any dance moves that avoid all of that stuff. How depressing.

...But the show was still awesome!

Wranglers

Dennis' Wranglers left a butt print on the couch. I just had to take a picture...

The Peters' Pumpkins...

For YM/YW we painted pumpkins. Reminder for next year: More newspaper on the table, a drop cloth for the floor, and less tipsy water cups!

This is Dennis' carved pumpkin. He was finished with his football helmet before I was even done scooping the guts out of mine! So I decided to carve mine to compliment his...
Go Cougars!

Details

So I guess the BIG news is actually quite small, 2 inches at the moment, but we are MAJORLY excited! :) We found out on my birthday (best birthday present ever!) and are now about 12 1/2 weeks along. The pictures of the ultrasound were from 9 weeks. We heard the heartbeat (160) on Thursday which was pretty neat so now we're letting everyone know of our excitement! What else? The due date is May 2nd, which is about finals week at ISU so I'm not sure about classes next semester. That could be interesting. We scheduled the 20 week ultrasound for the week before Christmas, so hopefully we'll know whether our little cinnamon bear is a guy or a gal. I've been doing alright, probably better than I deserve taking into account the agony I put my mom through! I've been nauseated for about 2 months now, but I'm crossing my fingers that it lets up here soon. I've also been super tired and all I want to do is nap, but what's new?

Life is good and we are really really really excited for spring (and little baby Peters!) to come. I think I'm going to put up one of those cute little Pregnancy tickers now...

THE BIG NEWS...

New Callings

Dennis and I recieved new callings in the Spanish Branch... Young Mens & Young Womens presidents! I love working with the youth and I'm glad that they kept me in the young womens after the former president moved out of the branch. I'm so lucky, but a little overwhelmed!

I'm digging through my memory tring to remember some of the good mutual activities I've done in the past... I've got a few ideas but I wanted to know what's worked for other people! I would like to have the youth plan and organize as much of it as possible, but I want to give them suggestions to kind of help them get started. I would also like to hear about any service projects that have been good experiences.

So... Any ideas???

Autumn Drive

We decided it would be fun to take the scenic route home, so we started out on the Alpine loop. I took a wrong turn on the loop, we went on a few miles of gravel roads, and ended up in my favorite place in the world!!! What a happy coincidence! That back road took us to Soldier Hollow and it's only a short drive from there to the best vista in Midway, UT. I was so excited to take my favorite person to my favorite place!

Johannes Huber's farm... A pioneer from Switzerland. :) It's a cool place to visit.

Can you see the house on the top of the hill? That person has one amazing view! I call it John Denver's house. Don't you think he'd live in a house like that?

This is also one of my favorite properties in Midway. I call this one Pemberley. :) I'm expecting Mr. Darcy to ride up on his horse at any minute...

Dennis' Birthday Gift

Last weekend Dennis and I went to the BYU vs. Utah State game for his birthday. It was fun! Dennis loves the Cougars. All I can say is that I was wearing blue. ;)

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Before we left Twin...

I love going to games in Utah! Sometimes I get to see people from years ago... (Sorry It's a bad picture. We were three rows from the very top. haha) This is the BYU squad. I cheered with one of these guys at Flyerz, and I coached one of his stunt partners when she was in 9th grade!


I have to say, pre-game and half-time are my favorite parts of footbal games. :)


It was cold... But I still got my creamery ice cream! Booyah!

Powder Puff

Every year I have a BBQ for my cheerleaders so that they can hang out, eat good food, and learn the basics of football. Nobody likes an ignorant cheerleader. What better way is there to learn than to play? It's always an entertaining thing to watch...

It's the end of the summer as we know it...

I love summer, and I'm sad to see it go (even though fall is my favorite season!)

This summer I found a new flower to add to my list of favorites. I think it's a Zinnia. I didn't grow very many, but next year there will be lots more of these huge, beautiful, vibrant guys!!!

Here's a picture from Girls Camp a few weeks ago. It was my 9th girls camp in 10 years! I spent most of my time in the kitchen as one of the cooks, which was fun, but I would've much rather been in the mountains with my girls!

It's the last day of camp... Can you tell?

Below is a picture from mutual last week. We had a water party as a reward for reading the Book of Mormon. We spent hours filling up baloons, and we popped them all in less than 20 minutes! Funny how that works.

I started school today. I'm taking 12 credits from ISU and 3 from CSI. I drive to Pocatello (about two hours from where I live) on Tuesdays and Thurdsays. I'm happy though, because I don't have to leave super duper early in the morning like I did last year (7:30 vs. 6) or get home really really late (4PM vs. 9PM) and I only go 2 times a week instead of 3! So, in perspective, it will actually be a good semester. :) I need to remind myself of that everytime I find myself cursing Pocatello... Because everywhere you need to go is uphill, there is NEVER any parking, it's always ten degrees colder, the streets don't make any sense, the sun is right in your eyes BOTH ways (driving east in the morning, west in the evening), the roads are bad, and the guy at the taco bell takes five minutes just to punch in your order at the cash register!... Like I said, I'm being optemistic. :)

RM

I'm having mixed feelings... I finished my part-time service missionary calling today. Does that make me a Return Missionary?

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This year and a half has really gone by quickly! I have made so many new friends and learned so much about other cultures, other languages, and I've learned about teaching through a lot of trial and error. Heavenly Father has also helped me immensely in my calling. Sometimes I get really frustrated with English. So much of it doesn't make any sense to me, how can I explain it (using English) in a way that makes sense to someone that doesn't speak English as a native language? Classes always seemed to work out, and my students were so enthusiastic whether I only had one student there that day, or nine (like today). I also think Heavenly Father has given me this opportunity so that I could learn that I really do like teaching ESL!

~

My Class!!!

Announcement!

So... Big news!







I'm going to be an aunt! ;)







Exciting?... Totally!







...What? Were you expecting something else? ;)

My, my time flies!

I was listening to this song today while in the car. It makes me think of a few things...

• Yes, time does fly! Holy cow! Where has the summer gone? It's supposed to get up to 103 this week, but I can't help but feel depressed that there's only one month of summer break left!!!
• Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of an American on the moon. What have we done since then? Aren't we supposed to be on Mars by now? I'm just hoping it will be in my lifetime.
• And, since when did Enya have guitar solos in any of her music? Kinda different, I think I like it!
• I would like to play around on a harpsichord. Wouldn't that be fun?

On a side note, totally unrelated to anything Enya, I really hate it when pants wear out. Usually I have no problem growing out of clothes, shrinking clothes, or staining them, but when a perfectly good pair of jeans still fit, but start getting a little faded and frayed I'm going to keep wearing them. Maybe I should rethink my pants philosophy because sometime this morning, unbeknownst to me, I acquired a rather large rip across the rear pocket that extended to the middle seam. Let me think of all the places I went this morning... Hm... Oh yes, I coached 22 junior high girls, then put on my missionary tag and taught my adult ESL class at the DI. I then had a meeting with other service missionaries and did a little shopping in the DI itself. It wasn't until I was in the dressing room that I noticed the rip in my pants! ("How long has that been there?") I had some grocery shopping to do, but I decided to come straight home instead... I wonder if it's against missionary dress code to expose as much as I did today! Ugh!!!

July

July has been great! My cousin came and visited us last week and we went on a little hike to Ross Falls. Here are some pictures:

This could so be Logan's Senior picture...

Dylan hides from the camera and Logan looks like he's going to hurt me...

But I know he wouldn't...

Dennis doing cowboy stuff...

Youth Conference was a few weeks ago. The theme was "Decisions Determine Destiny." We got to meet many people from the Book of Mormon. This is Captain Moroni. It was a pretty neat experience!

A real job

What a fantastic weekend it's been! I survived speaking in sacrament meeting on Sunday. I love our little branch. They were all so supportive of me, especially after my last talk (I passed out at the pulpit... yeah...) and I made it through the whole thing on my feet! I even think I did an okay job with my Spanish accent, at least that's what I've been told, but maybe they were just being nice. Jajaja (That's how you say hahaha in Spanish ;) My topic was on fathers & the priesthood. I told a story about my dad being supportive of me and coaching my soccer teams throughout the years. Then I told a story about how he got a yellow card once... I knew our branch would appreciate that! We have quite a few serious "futbol" fans.

Then, today was my first day volunteering at the Refugee Summer School. I absolutely loved it! This school was organized for kids that have just arrived in the US, and haven't had the chance to go to school yet. Some of them have only been here for a week. It'll be good for them to get a bit of a head start and have a chance to socialize beforet they're thrown into the public school system. There were kids there as young as 4, all the way up to 15. I have to admit, I'm not as good with little kids as I am with teenagers. I'm working on it though! I made some friends from Iraq and Nepal (and somewhere else that I can't remember). I wish I could take pictures with my new friends, but the Refugee Center doesn't want pictures to get in the wrong hands, which is understandable. Just take my word for it, they are stinking adorable! I talked with (or tried to talk with) the older girls a lot and one of them gave me a hug at the end of the day. I love them already! I'm only signed up for one day a week, but I think I might just show up on the other day too.

Another thought I've had this week- I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do the things I get to do. Most of my time is filled with non-paying gigs, like college, teaching at the DI, coaching (it pays, but I've never calculated my pay per hour... Man, that would be depressing!) and now I get to spend time with the cutest kids I've ever seen! Maybe someday (possibly soon) I will need to get a real job, but I just seem to be attracted to the jobs that don't come with a paycheck. Is that bad?

...Or maybe with our current president, I won't need a real job anyway! jajaja ;)

Graduation

Congratulations Kati!

It totally stinks that you're already off to college... But we're absolutely positive that you'll do great and have so much fun!

Sore muscles

Ahh... Cheer camp. If you've never been, let me tell you... It's exhausting!

This year being the first year of the Canyon Ridge cheer squad's existence, we coaches decided to stay home for cheer camp instead of spending the couple hundred dollars per cheerleader to go away to camp or to bring staff here. So... I got the opportunity to teach a boot camp! I was totally comfortable doing so, because I spent my summers in high school teaching boot camps to junior high squads. I choreographed and taught a half time routine, as well as game-time chants and we did training exercises, team-building activities, and a whole lot of stunting. I'm so proud of my girls and guys! Here are a few pictures... I'm sure in the next few months there will be plenty more to come!

Canyon Ridge Cheer is #1!

Tumbling slideshow

I was looking around on the Burbank Photography blog and found a link to a video that Randy put together of some tumbling at CSI... I wonder if I always look so serious while I tumble. And mom, don't critique my form too harshly, because in slow-mo like this you can see everything I do wrong! ;) Cool video, though!

http://burbankphotography.com/videos/eagles_tumble/

Go Eagles!

Oh, and a little bit of Culture Club for your musical enjoyment. lol.

Car Wash!

Did I mention that I'm going to be an assistant cheer coach at the BRAND NEW High School next year? Go Hawks! We had tryouts last weekend, took 18 girls & 3 guys on Varsity, 15 on JV. That's a lot of cheerleaders! They found out if they made the team Friday night, and then we had a combined fundraiser with the basketball team the very next morning. Here are some pictures from the day's festivities:

Brad from KEZJ brought the KEZJ truck for the girls and guys to wash. They kept really busy and I hope they had a lot of fun!

This holiday weekend was also fun for our cows. There was a little bit of branding, a little bit of shot giving, a little bit of ear piercing, and a little bit of AI-ing... Sadly, I took no pictures. :( lol

I very much enjoy all of the time that I get to spend with my husband doing what he loves to do. It's fun to watch him be a cowboy, and I'm sure it's fun to watch me when I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I hope Dennis and John (Dennis' dad) don't get too annoyed with all of my many questions! I've really come a long way, really. When Dennis and I were first dating I asked what the difference was between a bull and a steer... The answer might've made me blush just a bit... :)

Poor steers...

A dash of color

In the last post I mentioned that we were painting a wall in our living room... Well, here it is! The pictures aren't that great, but I love my new red wall! Our living room is already a little dark, and the dark red makes it even darker, so there's now a lamp by the piano. I'm excited because I can actually see my piano music now when I play.

It goes wonderfully with the americana themed living room. Now I just need to figure out how to arrange everything, maybe get some vinyl lettering on the walls. We already have some in the kitchen and I love it! It's hard to see in this picture, but it says "bienvenidos!" (which is welcome in Spanish). I also love Dennis' smile as he fixes the blinds, and his shirt that makes me think of Steve on Blues Clues. Isn't he such a handsome handyman?

It's fun decorating our own house. It took me over a year to get brave enough to paint anything, but now I think we'll add some color in the bedroom and spare bedroom. So much fun! :)