Michael Jackson's Death

I can't believe I'm blogging about this... but I've been mesmerized by the Michael Jackson death coverage. It just all brings me back to the good times of his music. I remember hearing my first Michael Jackson song. I was riding in the back seat of Ora's car while Lisa Fitch and my older sister Patrice were driving around St. George. They turned on 'Billy Jean' and we listened to it most of that summer. I was HOOKED. What an amazing song. I had heard of his albums with the Jackson 5, but 'Billy Jean' was the song that turned me into a fan.
Then came the anticipation of waiting for the release on MTV of the 'Thriller' music video. And Michael Jackson's performance in that video was amazing, not to mention the costumes and makeup. I remember sitting with my best friend from 4th grade, Jackie Ayotte, and waiting for the video to come on. Back then, we had to wait for MTV to play it... we couldn't record on TiVo or search on YouTube. (This is for my kids, not to show how old I am!).

One of the nice things to come out of his death is that it's cool to listen to his music again. I have to say, the Michael Jackson songs from the 80's still put a smile on my face. Yes, I will join the craze by downloading several of my Jackson favorites to the iPod for workouts. Some of my other favorites: 'Beat It,' 'Billie Jean,' 'Thriller,' 'The Girl Is Mine,' 'Bad,' 'We Are the World.' Tell me your favorites!

Note to my kids: While I loved Michael Jackson's music, he was a pop icon, NOT in any way a role model!

Lastly, I find it so ironic that his death almost halted the Internet. How much things have changes in our way of getting news and information since his music was first released. He almost brought down the Internet, but the Web didn't contribute to his rise to fame nor was it even around.

Lewis Girls Trip to Vegas

I had a fun trip with Eric's sisters to Vegas. First, we went to Greg's baby blessing. He blessed Maddox, 2 months old. So adorable!

Then we went to our hotel and swam and rested and laughed and chatted over TEA TIME each night.Who knew Orange Spice herbal tea could be so yummy?

It was so much fun. I'm so lucky to have such great in-laws.

When I first arrived, there was so much luggage in the car, there was hardly room for me. Typical of how girls travel! So, they smashed me into the back of the vehicle and away we went. Then, I helped push all the luggage to the room. I quickly earned the label of their stepsister! It was helpful in convincing Eric that I wasn't having TOO much fun with his family while he was home working! Being the evil stepsister was the first of many lasting jokes between us girls!

I'm a Little Bit Country...

For my birthday, my sisters took me to a George Strait concert in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.It was amazing, never been in such a big facility and it was so new that it was the cleanest thing! The opening acts were amazing with Lee Ann Womack, Blake Shelton, Reba and then George Strait.For sure one of my top concerts of all time! Thanks girls for the memory!

Dylan Finishes 1st Grade

Dylan's teachers, above Ms. Cristina and Ms. Thacker, right, gave him confidence from a distance. They trusted him more and more to be with the regular ed kids and stood back to let him do his best. Dylan's teachers pushed him even when he found things hard or pushed back. He grew so much in his reading abilities and seems to be loving science. Dylan loves to tell us what is a solid or a liquid and how things change. He got 100% on every spelling test, that does come easy for him.
He is here with his aide again, Ms. Cristina and with his regular ed teacher, Mrs. Terrell.

I think the biggest change in Dylan this school year is his desire to be more social. He walks up to kids and asks them "How is your day?" "What is your favorite color?" "What is your favorite car?" and a few other favorite questions. He really wants to play with others and not just be near them. Finally! I'm so proud of him, I know school social settings can give him a lot of anxiety (didn't we all feel that sometimes?), but he is giving it his best effort.

Here's a photo of Dylan at the beginning of 1st grade:

and a photo of him at the end of the school year:

Plus, he lost more teeth this year than I can keep count of! He loves to tell us "the tooth fairy is going to be awfully busy tonight" right before a tooth falls out. He also thinks the tooth fairy takes orders and tries to give us a list of things to leave for each tooth!

Ella's School Year

This year, Ella grew so much with the help of Ms. Rachel, above, and Ms. Ayesha, below. She was in a 3's class in preschool (because of her late birthday, she'll always be the oldest in class). She gained such a desire to read and learn. She loved music time and the letter people. Her teachers gently nudged her that she cannot always get her way. And they let her be herself, while also laughing with her at all the little things she finds silly. They really got her funny personality.

Here's a photo of her from the start of the school year:

What a change to the end of the year:

She had an amazing group of kids who cheered each other on and luckily some will be in her pre-K class next year!

One of Ella's favorite things this year was when mom or dad came to class to be the reader!After the party at the last day of school, her preschool friends had a pool party. It was a big hit! Several of them took swim lessons together too, so they are swim buddies.
I'm so proud of how much Ella improved in school this year in her letters, her patience and her love of learning!

My Theme!

So you know how certain points in life seem to have a theme yelled at you over and over? Mine is that things keep changing, nothing you can do about it. And to not get too attached to THINGS! I won't be a movie spoiler, but if you see Disney Pixar's 'Up,' there's a strong message about how people not things matter most. I cried.


I just get so sentimental this time of year when another school year wraps up. It feels like it marks time -- my kids growing up and nothing I can do to stop it. I feel emotional when I say good-bye to the teachers, aides, etc. who have worked so hard with my children over the past school year. I can hardly buy the teacher gifts because I hate letting go of them. I grow so attached and love their influence on my kids.

Lastly, I just gave up my cell phone number after 10 years. When I was a newlywed, Eric put a cell phone in my pocket and called it to surprise me on my birthday. The last digits of the phone spell "RISA," his nickname for me. Well, after moving to Texas, I decided I should get a local cell phone number. But, I miss the old one -- it felt like part of my identity. Again, the theme: don't get attached to things! Change will happen, embrace it? I'll try!

Michael's Farewell

I love these photos of the final moments saying good-bye to Elder Winterholler at the MTC! Michael was SO enthusiastic to go and so well prepared.I'm so impressed with Patrice and Michael -- never before had I thought about the sacrifice a mother makes sending away her missionary until I saw it through my sister's eyes! OUCH!Chris puts on the missionary name tag.
Grandparents wish him off at the MTC.

I so enjoyed spending two weekends in May with Michael and his family. You can see in Michael's eyes how well prepared he was to start his mission. He was truly converted and it was a contagious peaceful happy feeling being around him.One thing I loved about Michael was how much he loved going to the temple. He wanted to make sure all of his family went with him, but he also went on his own as much as possible. Now, he's off to Seattle and to change lives! Karly posted some awesome farewell weekend photos on her blog.