Cancun

Hola! In November Jordan and I got the chance to go to Cancun for 5 days/4 nights. It was so great! We thought five days would be enough, but we found ourselves wishing we could stay longer, much longer! The weather was perfect, low 80s everyday. We did an all-inclusive deal this time and loved it. We had great food and got to enjoy all the pina coladas and strawberry daquiris we could handle (virgin, of course)! First is a picture of us at one of the restaurants, and next is one of the pools we hung out by with a swim-up bar at the right side of the picture.

We got up early each morning to play tennis while it was still cool. The weather, the ocean, the grounds--everything was so beautiful! Here are pictures of the court we played tennis on (if Jordan had zoomed in just a little you would be able to see me on the court too), our hotel, as well as one of the many peacocks that roamed around the grounds.

The best part was the ocean. It was great to lay out by the water and just listen to the waves crashing. It was also tons of fun to go out in the water and "ride" the waves, although a few times I didn't time it right and instead got flung to the bottom while the water tried to rip my swimsuit off.

The one excursion we did was to go parasailing. The views from up there were amazing!

The whole vacation was perfect, everything went flawlessly except when our maid played a little trick on me. Let me explain. As I said before, we got to have as much to drink as we wanted, so I found that everytime we'd come back to our room I needed to use the bathroom really bad (I'm sure that's a suprise to everyone since I usually never have to go). I would basically whip the room door open and run to the bathroom as fast as I could. The trick was that on one occassion that I did this the maid had been in and cleaned the room while we were gone and had left the toilet lid down. Well, I didn't stop to turn on the light. I just yanked my swimsuit bottoms off, plopped down and started goin'. Oops, too late, the lid was down. It made for a good laugh though, a little entertainment, at least for me. Jordan didn't think it was quite so funny.

In conclusion I'd like to recommend that everyone visit Cancun as soon as possible! We're hoping to go again next fall--it's hard to beat the value and we don't want to risk going somewhere else and just not liking it as much. Our whole trip including gas to the airport (we left from Dallas), childcare, hotel, food, taxes and fees was under $1500. If you want more info. on how to get a good deal let me know! Adios!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was lots of fun this year! We went up to Mom and Dad's where Becca and Jacob as well as Aunt Terry and all of her girls joined us for the Holiday. We had lots of good food and game playing and it felt a little bit like old times when we would have Thanksgiving and Christmas with the Bevans' every year! Next we're looking forward to Christmas when all four of us girls and our families will be at Mom and Dad's. It will be crowded, but the more the merrier, right? Here are a few pictures I snapped around Thanksgiving.

Near Death

Before going to bed tonight I wanted to share with you the two near-death experiences I had today. Okay, so I wasn't really near death, but a deer and two of my fingers were!

Early this morning, right around sunrise, I was driving on a small, windy road, kind-of in the middle of nowhere (heading to the town of Harrison for work) when I came around a sharp curve and saw a large doe (a deer, a female deer) at the side of the road. As soon as she saw me she took off running--right across the road in front of my car! I started to hit the breaks when I noticed another deer standing where the first had been. Suddenly that deer took off running as well! I slammed on the breaks (I had been probably been going about 50mph) but really thought I had no chance of missing her. I braced myself for a collision with the deer and a totalled car (they were both pretty big does!) but to my utter astonishment felt only a small bump when the deer's hind leg barely kicked my front bumper. The dear continued running, apparently uninjured, and I continued on my way, heart pounding and adrenaline pumping!

My second brush with death today happened tonight at home. After dinner I was doing dishes. At one point I rinsed a bunch of food off of some plates into the drain and then turned on the garbage disposal. I then reached for the dish rag to wipe the sink out and didn't see it. I figured it must have fallen down the drain and reached my hand in to find it--with the disposal still on! How dumb is that? I definitely was not thinking clearly--I think I was tired. Well, after a moment or two of the blades painfully hitting two of my fingers I pulled my hand out, expecting to see blood and a trip to the emergency room to reattach a couple of fingertips. But I was pleasantly surprised to see no blood--the skin hadn't even been broken! Luckily I have a four-year-old garbage disposal with what must be the dullest blades imaginable, because my fingers felt a little bruised and sore but they weren't cut! Even so, that's the last time I'll stick my hand down the drain when the garbage disposal is on!

Someone was definitely watching over me today, saving me from these near-death experiences!

Happy Halloween!

Alexis dressed as a princess

Spencer dressed as a ghost

Dallin dressed as a race car driver

Trista dressed as Little Bo Peep

Spencer

This blog is all about Spencer and his day. Spencer's day did not start out very well, nor did his Daddy's. I left for work at 6:00 this morning and Jordan was in charge of getting the kids to school and the babysitter. All went well until Jordan tried to leave and the van wouldn't start. It's been idleing differently and we've been thinking something is wrong with the alternator. So anyway, Jordan ran across the street to get the neighbor to come jump the van and Spencer decided to follow. However, he only made it as far as the street, where somehow his right eye made direct contact with the pavement. Don't ask us how, we don't really understand it. Just know that he is a five-year-old boy and somehow these things tend to happen quite regularly. So Spencer's school day began with a tardy slip and an ice pack.

The rest of his day went well though, and after school the kids and I went out to the front yard where I got busy planting tulip bulbs and pansies in the flower beds. At one point I looked up to see Spencer hammering a tennis ball into the ground... with an actual hammer. It made me wonder, but I just kept on planting. The next thing I knew he'd gone into the house and came back out with a cup full of water which he poured on top of the tennis ball. Finally I asked, "Spencer, what are you doing?"

"I'm planting this ball so we can grow a new tree and get a lot more tennis balls!"

He was quite disappointed and a little bit skeptical when I tried to explain to him that not everything grows on trees, some things are man-made. Ahhh, such are the disappointments of childhood.

Shortly after the tennis ball incident, I was continuing to plant when Spencer came out of the house with a piece of paper and a crayon. He lay down on the cement and began to write. I could hear him whispering the words, "I have money."

"Mom," he said, "how do you spell 'have'?"

I helped him spell "have" and then he asked for help spelling "money." When he was finished he proudly picked up the sign and said, "There, I'm finished. Tomorrow I'm going to sit out in the street with this sign on the ground in front of me."

I didn't really look closely at the sign--I thought he had just written "I have money," so I didn't understand what he was doing.

"Why do you want people to know you have money?" I asked.

"No Mom," he explained. "My sign says 'Can I have money?' I made it because I want people to give me money."

I still didn't understand and began lecturing him that people don't just ask other people they don't know for money.

It turns out I was wrong.

"Yes they do Mom," he said. "In California they do. You know, the old guys, they sit on the street with a sign so that people will give them money."

Apparently Spencer has aspirations of being a bum... We've taught him well so far, haven't we?

October Update

Last weekend was general conference. I have to admit that I only saw or listened to two of the four sessions, but what I did hear was great and I'm looking forward to reading all the talks. I especially liked Sister Beck's talk Sunday morning entitled "Mother's Who Know." It was very inspirational and reminded me what an important job I have as a mother. It also made me feel, as talks about motherhood often do, a little guilty--it made me wonder if I'm doing enough, if I'm a good enough mom. But just when I start to doubt Heavenly Father sends me a little reminder from my one of my kids. This one came from Alexis. We had a nice Sunday afternoon together, went for a walk as a family, had dinner together, etc. Then before bed we read scriptures and Alexis offered the family prayer. Alexis has praying down to a "T" lately. She puts her prayer voice on (you know the voice that's an octive higher and goes up and down a little bit like a roller coaster with each sentence), and prays for everything that is important to her. The best part is that lately she's been thanking Heavenly Father for everyone in the family, individually. She's "thankful for Trista and that she's so adorable, thankful for Dallin and that he's so loveable, thankful for Spencer and that he's such a good brother to play with, thankful for me (Alexis) and that I'm such a good big sister, thankful for Mom and that she gives us food, and thankful for Dad and that he works for us." It makes me laugh that she feels like the most important thing I do for her is get her food! I guess I'm at least getting that part right!

On Monday night we carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening. It was fun, but Jordan and I definately aren't very creative. Oh, well, the kids enjoyed it and we even toasted the pumpkin seeds for our treat.

Yesterday was Alexis' seventh birthday. She had a party in the morning with a few friends from church and school. The girls beaded necklaces, then had cake and ice cream, and then we opened gifts. Alexis got the Barbie Island Princess DVD, a dress and shoes, and some goggles (for swimming class) from the family; money from Grandma and Grandpa; and two Barbies, a jewelry box, and a gift card from her friends. It was a fun day!

Family Pictures

I know, I know, it's been a while since I last posted something. But I've been busy... you know, new job, four kids, out of town, etc., etc. Anyway, here are some pictures of our family at Silver Dollar City. Grandma and Grandpa Salmon are here from Utah and they and my parents came to Silver Dollar with us. It was a great day. The kids were all so good and we had lots of fun!

As you can see, the highlight of Trista's day was the fact that the park is landscaped with many tiny walls that were the perfect height for her to back up to and sit on--all by herself!

The rest of these pictures were taken a few weeks ago when the kids and I were out playing in the yard together. You can clearly see that Spencer and Trista are going to be the next Roger Federer and Justine Henin (except cuter!), respectively.

The Little Red Hen, a Toy Story, and Other Fables

School's in, we're back in the swing of things, and all the kids are well again (knock on wood!). Alexis is enjoying first grade, Spencer loves kindergarten--especially since his best friend Josh is in his class, Jordan and I started taking a tennis class together, and Dallin and Trista are enjoying their "school" day (Mother's Day Out) on Thursdays. Life is good!

The Little Red Hen

As you can see I've included a few pictures of the kids cleaning the bathroom. The first shows how Alexis really feels about cleaning the bathroom. In the second she's hamming it up for the camera. Anyway, I've been trying to make sure the kids learn that part of being a family is helping take care of our home. Each morning before school they must make their bed and clean their room. And on Fridays they sometimes have extra chores like vacuuming or helping clean the bathrooms. We also try to teach them about money and tithing by giving them an allowance. Every week each child gets one quarter for each year of their age.

A couple weeks ago I was preparing dinner when Alexis came into the kitchen. The conversation that followed went something like this:

Vicky: "Alexis, can you please set the table for dinner? We're almost ready to eat."

Alexis: "Why do I have to do it? I have to do everything, etc., etc."

Vicky: "Because you're part of this family, and being part of a family means we all have to help out. If you want to be able to eat as part of this family you need to help by setting the table."

Alexis: "Do you mean like the Little Red Hen?"

Vicky: "Yes. In the Little Red Hen the duck, the dog, and the cat all refused to help make the bread, so none of them got to eat it."

Alexis: "But the Little Red Hen's children didn't have to help, and they got to eat the bread!"

Vicky: "How do you know?"

Alexis: "Because, Mom, I read the book."

At this point I stopped in my tracks and quickly went over the story in my mind. It was all I could do not to laugh. She was right, darn it! The Little Red Hen's chicks didn't have to help--she made the bread herself and then called them to eat it with her. How did Alexis get to be so smart? And how could I be so dumb? Do you know how many times, when I didn't want to do something around the house, my mom brought up the story of the Little Red Hen? And did I ever think about the fact that the chicks didn't help? No, never!! So, all you parents out there, this is a warning to you--you're children are probably smarter than you are. Be careful what you say or you may end up fumbling and saying something dumb like:

Vicky: "Yeah, well, uh, this isn't the Little Red Hen and, uh, her chicks were probably spoiled and no one liked them, and, uh, you just need to set the table anyway."

Toy Story

I'm starting a new job next week! I'll be working for Maybelline, about 15 to 20 hours a week, visiting stores (mostly Wal-Mart) to make sure the Maybelline and Garnier products are stocked and displayed correctly. Most of the stores are pretty close, but a few times each month I'll have to travel about 280 miles round-trip. That's a lot of driving, but these days time alone in the car is like a vacation! And I'll be getting paid to rock out to the radio--one of my favorite things to do anyway!

Last week as we were driving I was explaining to the kids that I got a job and what I'd be doing. I told them that I get to work with cosmetics and that I'll even get free stuff sometimes. Alexis was excited about this and asked if that meant she could have some new lip gloss. Spencer was less impressed, and after thinking about it for moment he said, "Hey Mom, why don't you just quit that job and get a different one working with toys. Then we could get a lot of free toys instead!" Now, why didn't I think of that?

Other Fables

Just kidding--I have no other stories to tell today. But I will include one more picture of my Dad and Trista. We've been able to spend a lot of time with my parents lately and are planning a trip to Silver Dollar City together soon. Maybe I'll take some pictures...

Back to School!...kind of

After a fun (but somewhat long) summer, school began again last Monday! I couldn't wait--I was worse than the kids! I could finally get back into a routine, back to the gym regularly, even have peace and quite during naptime at home! But, oh, no--that was not to be. On Monday both Trista and Dallin managed to throw up all over the van on the way home from the gym. It seems there was a "bug" going around, and lucky us, we got it! After scouring the van Monday I decided I wasn't willing to risk it Tuesday and we stayed home. On Wednesday, about 15 minutes after I had dropped the kids off at school I got a phone call from the school nurse. Spencer's eye was a little red and, sure enough, he had pink eye. So he was home for the day getting drops in his eye every four hours. It turns out I got pink eye as well and have had the pleasure of wearing my glasses for five days now while looking at everything through a red, crusty eye. But Spencer was back to school Thursday and I thought, okay, now I'm going to get things done. So I went visiting teaching that morning, only to get a phone call during the first visit, once again from the school nurse. Alexis had a stomache ache and felt like she was going to throw up. Just as I got to the school and walked her from the lunch room to her classroom for her backpack, she made a beeline for the bathroom where she had a turn at throwing up. I guess the bright side is that it wasn't all over my van or my carpet:) So Alexis was home Thursday and Friday (although Friday I think she was just playing hookey). The weekend went well, though, and everyone felt fine. So Monday morning I dropped the kids off at school and headed to the gym for a round of TurbKick (kickboxing). As I left the gym my cell phone rang. It was none other than the school nurse (we're getting to be quite good friends by now). Apparently Spencer was sick and threw up all over in his classroom. Surely by now the entire staff at Bellview Elementary thinks I'm a terrible mom who has chronically sick children but sends them to school anyway.

However, today was a good day--no calls from the school nurse, and we even had a playdate with Dallin's friend David at Chick-fil-A. I'm attaching one more picture. This one is of Trista before church a few Sundays ago. Isn't she cute with her little Cupie Doll hair? I wonder if she'll ever have enough hair for a real "do."