Sweet and Saltery

Ali's 12 -3 months ago

2011-04-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Alexi Marie Salter, aka Ali, was born January 3, 1999 in Van Nuys, CA... our sweet little Valley Girl. She's 12 years old! Such a cute Young Woman! Notice no glasses -she got contacts... wow! getting really mature!

Ali loves to draw, write, travel, KFC, reading, cooking, swimming, nature, and she reads the comics every morning! I enjoy seeing her cute drawings around, reading her "Ali-made" comics and stories, discussing books and listening to her giggle as she reads the comics. I love watching her play with Sam and entertain the little kids, and her eyes light up when she sees something that makes her happy. In preschool Ali told her class that her favorite thing to do was sleep - she hasn't grown out of that. She also loves chocolate and blondies, chinese food, and trying new foods -she's fun to take to restaurants. She has a memory like an elephant and can quote books and movies... ask her -she's amazing. Ali's determined, funny and sparky! So glad she's a member of our family.

A Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a merry Christmas, ours was a good one. Amazingly not a creature was stirring, except me (I'm the one trying to use telepathy to wake the kids), until 6:45 when Spencer woke up who promptly woke Ali and Sammy. Dave lit the tree and we hurried down the stairs to check out the stockings, then on to the presents, the long awaited presents.
I loved seeing everyones face light up and watching the kids watch each other hoping they liked what they got them. Sadly I just captured these images in my head, but they're wonderful and happy. Dave and Sam built a golf putting hole which Sam enjoyed for about 20 min then he was on his bike, Spencer played with the 4x4 and 2x2 rubik's cubes, uberstix and his laptop, Dave jammed with the kids to the Wii ACDC Rock Band, Ali explored her Pandigital e-reader which I had fun doing with her, and we enjoyed playing other cool games and eating way too many sweet treats. We had Ebilskivers, our traditional Christmas breakfast -ooo yummy! Listened to Christmas music, worked on a 750 piece puzzle, watched the Fantastic Mr. Fox (one of our favorites), called family, lounged and completely enjoyed our day. I love all the hanging with the family, smiles, singing and talk about our Savior Jesus Christ -what a magical time of year.
Hope you all have a wonderful and happy New Year -2011!

Christmas Lights

2010-12-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

We always look forward to the eve of Christmas Eve (Dec. 23). It's a tradition that started 20 years ago, our 1st Christmas -sweeeet. We go look at lights, make personal pizzas, watch a movie, play games and sleep out by the lit Christmas Tree.
**This was our favorite Christmas light house. The Lynn's took us here Monday night but not all the lights were working so we went back. They started putting the display together back in August. It's amazing -synchronized to 15 min. of fun Christmas music that you tune in to when you pull up.
The address is 1054 Desert Olive Ct. and the lights will be going until New Years Eve. You won't be sorry you went. ;0)

Update

2010-12-28T20:22:00.001-08:00

Dave had the Scout campout at our house in November, so Ali and I went "out" and saw the Bluemen Group. Notice Ali's cover, we got locals 2-4-1 and sat on row 3 -the splash section. We thought they were great! The pic below is the band -they looked like stick figures getting groovy -loved them too.

The cool Green Stripe PJ cousins.

Double Trouble cutie pies.

Hanging with the cousins over Thanksgiving.

Grandma made the gingerbread houses and the kids had a great time decorating. Thanks Grandma!

Spencer woke up and said he wanted to get his hair cut short -total shock. (notice the pic just up above) He loves it.

Jazz Band -Spencer's the shortest trumpet player. He did super!

A fun surprise visit from Joey & Kristie & family. This is the Belagio Christmas exhibit.

Thanks for hanging out with Sammy and I for the day! Congrats Joey for passing your test!

Lovin' Fall

2010-11-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

Oops! here's a few more pics I wanted to remember from Zion -don't know how to move them. The kids, and Dave loved climbing and sliding down this rock on the Watchman trail.

Below is the really c-c-c-cold water they had fun in.

Hope you had a happy Halloween. We had a lovely time. Let me introduce you to my Big Bad Wolf Ali, Wild Thing Spencer, and BatSam.

The kids were out of school for Nevada Day (Friday, Oct 29) and staff development days (Monday and Tuesday, Nov 1st & 2nd) so we headed to Zion. We had awesome accomodations just outside of Zion at the Cable Mountain Lodge. My little brother Nate does a super job managing it. We bought our food and prepared it in the kitchen in our room which was so nice. We also saw a fun movie at the theater there, and we went swimming in the pool Monday morning. I was nervous because it was freezing (according to us Nevadans), 45 degrees, but the hot tub was so nice and the pool was surprisingly warm as well, 82 degrees. This is the Court of the Partiarchs.
Enjoying frisbee at the Lodge in Zion.
Sam was a bit frustrated that he couldn't always catch the frisbee so he caught a lizard instead.

There were so many animals around. There were about 10 of these big horn sheep on this mountain.

Here a deer is watching Spencer and Sam.

Here Spencer and Sam are watching a deer.

We love Zion especially in the Fall. The weather was just right and there weren't gobs of people, although plenty of Nevadans.;o)

I think we hiked 6 different trails, we tried to take in as much of the awesomeness around us, got in some good laughs, and just loved hanging out with us.

Yippee! Fall has arrived.

"Sole" Sisters Activity

2010-10-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

I had such a fun night last night. It was our Relief Society "Sole"Sisters activity. We've lost a lot of ladies who've moved over the last 6 months, but we've recently been gaining lots too -yea! Anyway last night we had a get-to-know-you activity where we were suppose to bring a shoe that somehow represents you and show and tell. I love the ladies in our ward, they're so smart, sassy, fun, talented, and amazing!

Check out these yummy desserts. Pretty clever huh.

"Sole" Sisters

As Relief "Sole"ciety Sisters we're all "laced" together,

I "loafer" thru service, callings, and interests we seek.

We'll "pump" up each other with "toe"tal endeavor,

Won't "boot" out the weary, we'll "wedge" up the weak.

The "platform" of "Sole" Sisters is not to be "sneakers",

Or "converse" about with a "slipper"y tongue.

I'll "stiletto" of grudges, forgive and "hike" on,

I'll cheer, lend an ear, and try to "flat" out be fun!

Spencer

2010-10-13T13:16:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Spencer!

What a terrific 14 year old! 13 was fun, I can't imagine what 14 holds in store. We love you!

Isn't he so handsome ready for his debut in Symphonic band.

Spencer got to march in the Green Valley High School Homecoming parade. Here he is with his band buddies.

On the field playing some pretty impressive music before the big game.

Disneyland in the Fall

2010-10-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

I love Disneyland! So glad we got to go in the beautiful Fall, and I loved that it was almost free -we used our Give a Day Get a Day tickets which covered all but Sammy and I got him a ticket on Craig's list for $30 that I picked up a few days before we left.

We had so much fun running around from ride to ride. This was the 1st time Sammy could go on everything (cept Indiana Jones). He was barely 40" and he was raring and ready.

Sam was chosen to be one of the Jedi's in training.

Spencer was too.

They did so good and were especially brave. Check out the videos at the end. ;o)

I don't think the weather could have been better. We thought Sept. 17th would be the perfect day, so did many others!

Yip, we looove Disneyland!

Summer Ends, Back to School

2010-10-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here's my cute flour faced kids. This was one of our FHE activities that ended in smiles -yea! We filled a bowl with flour, turned it upside down so it makes a nice flour mound, placed a penny on top, and each person takes a turn slicing away. Whoever makes the penny fall into the flour gets to get it out with their teeth. Needless to say that's what they all wanted to do, plunge into the flour.
This was the first day back to school, Ali's 1st year (6th) at Greenspun Jr. High and Spencer's last (8th). This was them walking home, happy and both feeling very excited about this year.

Sam was excited to go back to playdates with Aiden. This is one of the fun things they did on their "1st day" back.

Before school.

We watched these cute kids. Notice the girls, 18 mo, are twins and this cutie pie is Sam, 3 yrs. It felt like we had 2 sets of twins trying to tell who was who with the girls and then I'd say, "Sam" and both Sams would turn. Their mom was at her Dr. appt. She's having a baby the end of Oct or 1st of Nov -busy.

We love going to the Lied Children's Museum every year at the end of summer with fun friends.

Children's museum

Happy Birthday BatSam!

Unbelievable! He's four and loving every minute of it.

20 Years

2010-08-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

On a warm summer day, June 16th 1990, I was married to my sweetheart Dave. Wowee! 20 wonderful years!

In celebration we headed back East to take in some of our church history. We started off in Kirtland, OH.
.
It was so beautiful with all the green green grass, trees and flowers.

The missionaries at all the sites were great. This was one of my favorites, Sis. Gray from Enoch, UT, and was in my ward growing up, so was Elder and Sister Whipple (in Palmyra). Then there was Elder and Sister Hanks who are in Dave's parents ward, small world.

This is the Kirtland Temple. I have always been inspired by the faith and devotion of the early saints who gave so much for their beliefs, such as when the sisters who didn't have much gave their beautiful china dishes to be crushed and used for the outside temple walls to make them sparkle. I was sad not to see the sparkle but grateful to see the 1st temple built by the early church members.

I loved this home, the John Johnson home in Hyrum. This was the original home and paint colors. Notice the bright colors, which meant it was a happy home :o)

This was the porch where the prophet Joseph Smith stood and taught about Forgiveness the morning after he was tarred and feathered. -John Johnson home

We drove east for about 3 hours to Niagra Falls. We stayed in a bed and breakfast there with Joe and Virginia. They were great, very nice and very talkative -loved their New York accent (Joe reminded me of Mandelbaum from Seinfeld). I think we gained 5 lbs there, she didn't stop feeding us.

The amazing falls

We took this picture when we went on the Maid of the Mist.

Our favorite activity while we were there was the Cave of the Winds. Notice that top deck, it's called the Hurricane Deck. It was so cool. Also, notice the sign No Smoking :o)

About an hour and a half east was beautiful Palmyra where we spent the last 3 days.

We enjoyed a session at the Palmyra Temple.

This was at the Hill Cumorah. It was a huge monument with the Angel Moroni on top.

This is the set for the the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was incredible.

This is an awesome family, the Mitchells. They used to live just around the corner from us 5 years ago. TJ was our 1st babysitter when we first moved to Henderson, and Sidney, in light blue, was one of Ali's good kindergarten friends. We just happened to run into these guys who obviously are performers in the pageant and did super duper!

That was an incredible experience to see 800 people gathered to share their testimony and sacrifice over 2 weeks of their time and means to perform for us. We went twice.

This was the Erie Canal. Isn't the green so fantastic.

This was the highlight of our trip, The Sacred Grove.

There were a lot of people in Palmyra because of the pageant, but we pretty much avoided them. We went to the Sacred Grove in the evening after the tours were done and most of the people were gone, then we went back first thing the next morning to take the tour with just a few others. When we got done there was a line to the parking lot.
We loved this place because of the wonderful feeling that permeated the whole area. This was where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ, and the feeling there was undeniable.

This was a magnificent trip. I loved being with my terrific companion of 20 years, holding his hand, talking, being together, doing whatever whenever we wanted, and sharing this experience with Dave. I love him!

Ali's Bookmark

2010-05-27T21:24:00.001-07:00

So this is the bookmark Ali drew in her art class that depicted her favorite book where all of the main characters are sitting on a lawn reading. She hadn't finished it when the judges told her she was one of two winners for the 5th grade! She's almost done with book 3 and she loves it. In case you want to read this fabulous series, the title is Fablehaven and the author is Brandon Mull.

Roos-N-More

2010-05-23T02:22:00.001-07:00

It was Father and Sons last weekend, May 14 and 15th, so Spencer, Sam and Dave took off to Warm Springs for their fun. Ali and I headed to Fashion Show Mall. Earlier that day Ali got to see the Maturation video at school, so in celebration we went to Dillards where our friend Delicia "Sister Coupe" air brushed our face and made us feel really pretty. Then we went shopping and ate some yummy food. On the way home we got a video, Band Slam. We got some snacks, put on the video, and while the previews were playing, we painted each others toe nails -we looked pretty from head to toe.;o) Then we sat on the couch and watched our fun movie. It was such a great evening -loved it Ali! Let's do it again next year. The boys had fun too, playing Steal the Flag, Tag, not sleeping, and swimming, swimming.

Sam and his buddy Aiden have had it nice this year. Twice a week they get together and play, usually Tuesday and Thursday from 10 until about 3, one day at Aiden's and the other at Sam's.
They start off their day at swimming lessons and have become quite good little swimmers -getting ready for summer -woohoo!

Today, May 22, we went to a really fun zoo in Moapa, called
Roos-n-More. We loved it. Here's a bunch of pictures:
Baby Monkey, King Kong

Dwarf Donkey, Oprah

The monkey, Caico, jumped on my back for hugs -it was windy.

Porcupine, Racer X

Lots of Kangaroos

Holding a Joey, baby Kangaroo

A Zebra, Razbe, and a Zdonk, Eeyore, which is a cross between a donkey and a zebra.

Emu

The Sloth was so intriguing to watch.

Cute Otter Snork

Loved the Lemurs

Notice how he's sitting with his legs up on the log.

This one has a baby clutched on tight -very protective.

This monkey, Caico, was so cute and social. He kept jumping on our backs and hanging on us -so cool. Guess what Spencer thinks he wants?

This is a Honey Bear named Dune.

A Bearcat named Frito.

This was another favorite, a 6 week old baby Red Ruffed Lemur, Treelo. We were the last ones there so they let us hold him which they told us was a privilege not many people got.

Spencer's in love.

We had a super duper time there. The owner was so great to answer all our questions and share her great animals with us. We really recommend going there, not very often you get to hold and pet exotic animals. Spencer and Ali are already planning our next zoo trip. Thanks Roos-n-More!

Ch- Ch- Ch- Changes

2010-05-23T01:15:00.000-07:00

Sam is in Sunbeams, and they are, or were, quite an active bunch. There were 8 and, after yesterday, his class has only 4 sunbeams left. This is Addy whom, Sam informed me last week, he is going to marry. Her mom, Jaime, was our awesome hairdresser. They're headed for Little Rock, Arkansas.

Ethan was the first of the Sunbeams to take off, about a month ago, to Texas. We had fun hanging with him and his family. His mom, Kerstin, was a good friend that I had the joy of visiting teaching.

Then a few weeks ago Tommy took off with his family to New Jersey. They'll add a sparkle to any neighborhood or ward they're a part of.
The Rich Family just pulled out yesterday, headed to Dayton, Ohio. Melissa was the Primary president that I got to serve with. SHe was great. These are some of her cute kids.

This is Claire, Sam and I call her Claire Bear. She warms my heart when I see her, and we love it when she comes over to play.

This is Luke-a-Duke. This picture really should've been with the light sabers because that's what they're usually playing with -Star Wars is a favorite.

And they love to play outside.

Sam's wondering when we're moving and where. I don't like change very much, it's hard to see so many wonderful families take off and change our way of life... you've touched our lives in so many ways. Good luck and take care!

Some March Fun

2010-05-23T00:47:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Dave!

We love you so much!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Fun hiking around the Mojave Desert.

It was cold...burrrrr, and windy too.

Masen and Ellie joined us too.

Some BIG rocks.

Fun!

It was Reading Week sometime in March, Ali won the bookmark competition at her school for the 5th graders. I haven't seen it yet because it's on display in her library, but it's an illustration of a scene from a favorite book -I'll post it if it makes it home.

Spencer also won a competition that week. The librarian was giving clues each day to where the hidden lighting bolt (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif) was, and whoever found it that day got a $20 gift card to Borders book store. Spencer left that Friday determined that he was going to find it, and since it wasn't found Thursday, the prize was a $40 gift card. Once he sets his mind to it, he gets it, and so he did.

Lake to Lake

2010-03-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

WE did it! A friend, Christy Miller, told me about this relay from Gunlock to Sand Hollow called the Lake to Lake. It sounded like fun so I talked to some women from my ward and we got our team -With a Cherry on Top -thanks for the name Ali. Mel Putnam made our cool shirts -I Scream 4 Ice Cream (more fun designs on electricitee.com). We picked the legs we were willing to run and started training.

Here's our group before the race began. Alisha Dunlavy, Camille Tueller, Rylee Hadlock, Kristine Lynn, and me.

Alisha, mother of 2, 3 year old Leila and 4 month old baby Greydon, and a strong runner to start us off! She also tied 2 blankets -Disneyland here come the Dunlavys!

Next up, Kristine, mother of 3, 6 yr old Curtis, 3 yr old Alessia, and 7 mo. Micah. She hadn't been running much before 2 weeks ago but was a good sport and joined the team thinking I said it would be a 5k -not two 5 mile runs. She was also a terrific photographer -these pics all came from her camera.

Here I am, on my way. I got to run through my old neighborhood in Santa Clara -I loved it!

But it was hot and I got so thirsty. I prayed really hard that my team would be waiting around the corner with a drink. (notice the beautiful scenery)

And they were!

Camille was next. Super mom. She has a married son, one on a mission in Chile, Dallas is 16, Anne is 14, Paul is 9, and Kate is 5. She was a track star in high school and college and ran in the Wasatch Back -Ragnar last year. She left a note on my car during stake conference and wrote-Bro and Sis Ragnar (I have a Ragnar bumper sticker) then asked if she could be a part of our Ragnar team or knew people doing it. She didn't realize what she was starting. We had just found out that 2 people had pulled out -lucky for us she decided to do it.

The touch off. Rylee was our final runner. She has a 3 yr old Rider and 1 yr old Peyton -you'll see them later on -adorable. She's a great runner determined and willing to do whatever, including the final leg which none of us frankly wanted.

It got hot!

Go get 'em Camille!

She did so great. I couldn't believe the course she ran, I had to give her a hug -little did I know what I was in for.

This is me sooooo happy to be so close to done. This was the hardest run ever for me. It was rated a 10 for difficulty -I wonder if they knew it was going to be blowing -hard for all of it and head on, it was relentless. I was running on a rutty dirt road that seemed like it went on forever -but only 3 1/2 miles, and it was up up then down and up up and down or so it seemed. I was so happy to see the pavement which I was blessed to run on for a mile -much better. The scenery was awesome. I can't wait to take Dave out there. It was up Washington Dam Road.

I had to wipe the dirt off my teeth.

This is after I had wiped, and I had dirt caked on my cheeks and around my glasses that saved me.
I loved the total high I felt when I had done it -I had finished my part and done my best! When I was running, I also loved coming from behind, spotting someone just up ahead and determinedly passing them -it made me feel so giddy. (I probably shouldn't admit that)

Yea! There she was. Almost done -finally.

This is beautiful Sand Hollow, the finish line.

Rylee's fan club. Reece, her husband, got to entertain the kids, Rider and Peyton, the whole day -without a home to go to -such a good sport.

Dave's always a great supporter too -thanks so much! He had the kids -I left him carless (because I was the driver) at his parents house and they hung out with the Salter cousins for the day.

We loved these guys. This was actually 2 teams, Thing 1 and Thing 2, and they ran the whole race together. I think they were an all men team, and they were always behind us, another reason we really liked them (we ended up in 11th place -from the end :0).

There they go -almost done.

Some other cool teams: Just Another Manic RunDay, Sole Sisters, and Hans Solo -he ran the whole race solo -all 50 grueling miles -he came in just behind us.

I loved hanging with these ladies -they were great.

We did it! It was so exhilarating when we finished our last legs -50 miles you'd think we were the "Indiana Janes" so adventurous and amazing. My dad asked me why I kept doing these races, if I had to to keep me running. For me, it's just something to keep running interesting and challenging -and to get out of the house. ;0)

Bring on the next race!

weekend fun

2010-03-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

We had a super time in St. George a few weeks ago. Dave had a business trip in Denver that we weren't invited to Fri-Sunday and the kids were out of school Friday. So we dropped Dave off at the airport at 6:30 am and headed for St. George. We kicked back and took it easy for a while at Mom and Dad's then headed to Nate and Heather's for a fun BBQ. They live in Toquerville, which we decided would be a super place to live. They have this huge backyard that's to die for. The kids played hard until the scrumptious dinner was ready. Nate had marinated beef sirloin and Dad prepared chicken. They were so delish -cooked just right -tender and juicy. Mom brought yummy fruit, and Nate barbequed asparagus. We had rolls and chips and carrot cake for desert. I wish I had my camera. Magnus was adorable. He's mister gung ho. I love his run. Asa's pretty gung ho too and so cool. Spencer, Ali and Sam had a great time hanging out, playing hard, and having fun. Nate and Heather were and always are great hosts. Thanks so much!

Saturday, Sam, Grandma and Grandpa Wells and I went the Princess and the Frog that wasn't Spencer and Ali's idea of fun, they were anxious to hang out with their Santa Clara friends. We met them over at Laser Mania. They had a blast -of course! I think they ended up being there for about 4 hours.

Madison and Ali -feeling a little trapped at Laser mania.

Spencer, Davis and Chase

We thought we'd head home when we dropped them off, but it started raining and we ended up staying and playing Settlers of Catan with Grandma and Grandpa Wells. I really enjoyed visiting with Mom and Dad. It was such a great weekend.

January Happenings

2010-02-16T00:56:00.000-08:00

We went to the Lion King with my parents on January 16th. It was Mom's birthday and we had a great time celebrating it with her!

The show was wonderful and we recommend it to everyone. The effects were amazing and the music and scenery -loved it!

Spencer and Dave had fun building a Go Kart for one of Spencer's merit badges.

Fun stuff!

Sam loves green food -sprouts, avocados, broccoli, green peppers, green grapes.

Sam didn't get to come with us to the Lion King so we took a trip to Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef with buddy Aiden.

They saw some cool animals and enjoyed hanging out, as they always do. Lucky me, I got to hang out with Cami too.

The next morning was the St. George Half Marathon, January 23rd at 9am.

I woke up at about 5am listening to it pooring rain. I started praying so hard that it would stop. I love the rain, it's one of my most favorite things, but I didn't want to run 13 miles in it. Luckily my prayers were heard -and probably many others since there were about 2000 runners participating in the event. It was cold, I think about 40 degrees which actually to me was quite pleasant.

This was one of my supporters. Sam and Dave came to see me off.

This was the starting line.

And I was off!

I really enjoyed this course. I felt so good until about mile 10 when my right knee started to hurt.
I wasn't sure what time it was. I told Dave I hoped to be done in about 2 hours and 10 minutes. Any ways I crossed the finish line and was so happy to look up and see 2:00 -2 hours, but where were my adoring fans? They went to find me on the route and got there a few minutes later -Spencer, Ali, Sammy and Dave -and my parents and Katie (she ran the 5k) showed up at about the same time.

I was so glad I did it, but I was frustrated that my knee was hurting. The next time I ran was the Tuesday after and my knee was feeling better, but by the time I was done, it was hurting again. So I went in and ordered me a new pair of shoes on line and I haven't had any more problems. Lucky for all those runners that I didn't have these shoes for the race -they make me so fast ;o)

Happy Birthday Ali!

2010-02-16T00:43:00.001-08:00

Ali turned 11 on January 3rd.

Ali decided she was ready to get her ears peirced. She was so brave. She asked them if they could shoot both ears at the same time -they did, and look how beautiful.

Ali is turning into such a wonderful young woman. We love her creative, funky spirit. The way she puts words together on paper and for us to hear -she has quite a fun sense of humor. She's a talented artist. She loves animals, especially dogs, and she's a super sister to her brothers.

We love you so much Alexi Marie Salter!

Catch Up Time -Christmas and New Years

2010-02-16T00:17:00.000-08:00

So we have Sammy the Lamanite for our Christmas Eve program.
The others decided they were too old to dress up.

Christmas!

We headed to Beaver for New Years Eve with the Gublers and the Griffins.

The food was delicious!

Thanks to Chef Jim and Chef Shawn.

Sausage stuffed mushrooms

Garlic Shrimp and Barbequed Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

The snow was great and Spencer spent most of his time out in it building jumps for the snow board and tubes. We also had a great time tubing up in the canyon.

We had a great time hanging out with wonderful people. Thanks Gublers for always being such great hosts!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T20:16:00.001-08:00

Ali was busy getting ready for her Valentines party Thursday and Sam decided that he needed a Valentines party as well. Alessia and her cute little baby brother Micah were coming over Friday morning and so was Aiden. We made cookies, because that's what you need for a Valentines party according to Sam.

They had a great time decorating cookies and eating them, then we had fun playing "Hug, Hug, Kiss" (Duck, Duck, Goose).

Saturday we went for a fun Valentines hike.
Ali is quite the hiker.

So were Spencer and Masen.

Actually they were all great hikers.

Ellie, Ali, and Sam

Our fun group

Ready for a drink -it was a nice warm, 65 degree, day.

The rest of Vegas had the same idea, Red Rock was packed.

Today we played "Hug, Hug, Kiss" only Spencer's version -the person who was "IT" gave out hugs to everyone and then kissed the one to be the chaser. We had fun. Then we played "Love, Love, Who's got the Love?" which is our Valentines version of "Button, Button, Who's got the Button?"

We laughed hard and ended it with a pileup on Dad.

Hope you had a happy Valentines Day!

Lots of Love,

the Salters

December Fun

2009-12-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

Dave took me to City Center's VIP pre-grand opening last Wed. Dec. 16th. Kleinfelder Eng. worked on City Center and so they were given 2 VIP tickets. They were playing interesting music with different kinds of instruments and handing out food from the restaurants. I told Dave it reminded me of Star Wars when they were eating at places with wierd music playing. Once, me thinking I was ready for something sweet because we were eating lots of exotic meats and sauces, I saw a man carrying some ice cream cones -it looked like chocolate and vanilla swirled. I eagerly took one and bit in, as did Dave, only to find it wasn't ice cream but probably liver and something really icky. Luckily just up the stairs was a beautiful assortment of yummy chocolates. It was fun hanging with Dave and seeing all the upscale shops and rooms and lots of lavishly dressed people. There was a neat fountain that changes colors and a cool wall of water as you arrive. This picture is who we were greeted with as we entered. We love Christmas caroling to the neighbors.
The Christmas parties are fun to look forward to. This is from Dave's work party.
We also enjoyed yummy breakfast and great people at our Ward Christmas breakfast; had fun running around the Red Hill with Joey, Kristie and family; visited with my grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins at the Covington Christmas party; and savor the time with my parents and family -plus a really fun bonus of holding a very sweet little baby girl Maggie.

Every year, beginning with mine and Dave's second Christmas (1991), we sleep out by the Christmas Tree the Eve of Christmas Eve (Dec.23). This year we decided to start the evening off by making your own pizza.

I think this will be a new tradition because everyone thought it was their best pizza ever.

Usually we play games and sing Christmas songs, but not this year. Ali got upset during a game, which she was winning, and stormed off to her room and only came back down to sleep -oh joy.

In the morning Dave made some super delicious omlets from the leftover pizza toppings.

This one is mine -Yum!

Happy Christmas Eve and

Happy Birthday Steve!

California -Fun!

2009-12-07T00:34:00.000-08:00

California here we come!

We headed towards Sacramento Wednesday, November 25th at about 2:00 pm. and didn't get there until about midnight. It was a long drive, but so fun to get out and see Wendy and Lori awake to greet us. Thanksgiving day we had fun playing croquet in the beautiful CA sunshine, playing more games, reading and making these cute turkeys.
Here's our group: Wendy and Blair and their cute boys, Ben, Eric and Nate; Lori and Jamie; Wendy's friend Heather; and our family -13 of us all together.

We ate around 5:00 and it was yummy! Then we put on our PJs and hung out -the girls painted their toes and Sam decided he wanted to help.
These were actually blairs toes. Aren't they pretty? Sam couldn't wait to see them the next day to see if he still had those pretty toes.
Reading was big, just find a comfy spot. Playing the computer (I think they had 4 in a row upstairs -heaven for Spencer) was another big hit -so was bowling since it was raining Friday which I loved -I ran in it that morning. That night Ben showed some of us how to play Peanuckle and then Spencer came down and showed us how to play Spades. We didn't go to bed until 2am. Saturday Dave got in 9 holes of golf.
We had such a super time at Wendy's. She's always so accommodating and fun. I couldn't believe how quickly Sunday came. Then we loaded in the car again -this time we were suppose to be on the road for only 6 hours. Oops! Holiday traffic. We got out of church at about 12:00 and didn't get to Anaheim until 9:00 pm.

Monday morning we woke up and headed across the street to Disneyland with our good friends, the Gublers, from Santa Clara, UT.
Waiting in line which was hardly ever more than 15 minutes -mostly we only had about a 5 minute wait.
Matterhorn -fun! and Sam was tall enough 35" was the min and he was about 36".
We also loved the Tower of Terror in the California Adventure park. and Screamin, and Soaring California (my favorite).
Sam loved the Pooh ride that we rode a few times while we waited for the big kids to get off Splash Mountain which was Ali's favorite.
Pirates of the Carribean -Sam asked very seriously, "Are we going to get killed?"

It's a Small World was so amazing. They did a great job decorating it for the Christmas season.

A little wet after Splash Mountain, but still Ali's favorite. Lucky we had such terrific weather.

Spencer's favorite -and we all loved it, was Space Mountain.

It is a small world. We ran in to my cousin's husband Stafford and their daughter Finley from Kansas, the Halls from our ward in Henderson, and the Imlays and the Hanks from St. George.

We had a great time hanging with the Gublers.

They have a son, Drew, who's a week younger than Sam (he is also 40" tall so he got to go on some of the big kid rides like Space Mountain),

A daughter, Maddie, who's about six months older than Ali,

a son, Chase, who's about 6 months younger than Spencer, and another son, Dyllan, who I wish we had a buddy for.

Sam loved Dumbo and all the fun Disney characters around.

I loved all the fun Christmas decorations.

This was in the Haunted Mansion which they'd decorated for Christmas too -the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Crazy driver Sam.

More fun Disney Christmas.

It's a Small World was so amazing at night and so was Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

This was so cool. After the fireworks, on Main Street it snowed (bubbles).

Disneyland is so magical! We had a great time. We were there Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday until 2:00pm when waved good bye sadly. But I was so happy to pull up at 6:30pm and find our home anxiously waiting for us, and sleep in our very own comfy beds.

Home Sweet Home ; )

Halloween

2009-10-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Sam decided a few months ago that he wanted to be Max -King of the Wild Things. He's really good at being Max.

We went to Where the Wild Things Are at the theater a few weeks ago and Sam thought it would be great if Dave and I were KW and Carole -some of the wild things from the movie. I thought about it and decided it might be kind of fun to try to create those characters. I tried to talk Ali and Spencer into being wild things also, but that wasn't happening.

Last Saturday Dave and I went to a fun Halloween party at the Calls house. We ate yummy food, hung out, and and played the Thimble game. They also voted on best costume which Dave won

(actually Janelle, the hostess, won but she wasn't accepting the award). Another couple there, the Lynn's had great costumes. Kristine was Wilbur -the pig from Charlotte's Web, and John was the web who was carrying their 3 month old baby Micah in a front carrier (I can't think of the name?) and Kristine added 6 legs and the baby's made 8. It was so cute and clever.

On Wednesday night I got to perform Thriller with a fun group of "Mormon Moms" at our tri-ward Trunk-or-Treat party. It was a thrill. We've been practicing for a few months now every Wednesday morning at 9:00 -now what? You can check it out at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OIVtdjKrKc

Dave got to run the Spook Alley which he and the Scouts (Spencer's one of them) put together.

The Scouts also were the scary grabbers and moaners inside the Spook Alley. -Fun times.

This was at Ali's class Halloween party.

The whole school gathered out on the lawn the last half hour of school for a parade. It was pretty cool. This was the 1st time the kids got to wear their Halloween costumes to school. Some of the teachers had fun too.

Ali's been reading a lot of manga books and one of them is about a witch named Majoko. Ali is her friend Majohra who is also a witch.

Let the Wild Rumpus start!

I love their tails, and so do they. Sam and his friend Aiden, who's a dinosaur, argue over whose tail is bigger.

Spencer and his buddy Vincent. They didn't want to hang with us and told us to stay back -jk ;0).Here's our little trick-or-treating group. I was amazed at how long Sam hung in there. I thought we'd be done 1/2 hour into it. Notice he already took off one of his "claw" hands in the picture. Not too long after he told me he wanted to take off the crown. By about the 6th house he pushed off the Max head part because it was too hot (it was such a great evening). After a few more houses he wanted his costume off. I told him we were done trick-or-treating then. He left his costume on. We kept going and going. It was slow because he was so curious about all the scary things around in people's yards. Ali was quick with her buddy Ellie. Spencer called as we were heading home and said he was done -probably did twice as much in the same time. They all got so much candy, and tomorrow's fast Sunday -that ought to be fun.

This was a really fun year for Halloween. Hmmm ...what are we going to be next year?

Fall

2009-10-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

I love Fall! I love turning off the ac and waking up to the crisp air

-yippee! I love pumpkin cookies, Halloween, and mostly, my favorite thing is, going outside and not glistening from the heat

-I love being outside right now -love it!

Sam is not happy here because he wants to be jumping -not posing!
***
This was the Spring of 2007 -also a pretty good time to be out. Sam was OK posing then.

We love Zion in the Fall.

HALLOWEEN

1999 2006

2008
"Blown Away"
Sweet Gypsy Al
Have you ever seen a Turtle kiss a Lady Bug?

Unfortunately I have jury duty starting tomorrow -hopefully they send me home.

Ragnar Relay -Team Mandelbaum

2009-10-10T21:42:00.001-07:00

Brace yourself - this is a little syrupy.

I did it! I was runner #7 in the Ragnar Relay Las Vegas for Team Mandelbaum. Here's a fun video about who Mandelbaum is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcFSOnumgZA

Our decorated van #2.

So I have been running now for about a year and a half, mostly running 4-6 miles about 4 times a week. I have run in one race which was a 5k for our class reunion last year which I did win -thank you very much -and yeah there were only 5 of us. So anyway, when Allyson Bateman, my good visiting teacher and Primary friend, told me they were looking for another girl for their relay team, I was intrigued. A relay race with a 12 member team, 2 vans and 170 miles from Logandale to Red Rock? Sounds a bit crazy but fun -so naturally I told her to count me in.

I got the e-mail that I was runner #7. The only one on our team that I knew was Allyson and she was in the other van, Van #1, so I wasn't so sure about that, but I looked at what my runs were like and I decided I wanted the challenge. In the 1st leg I was running 5.6 miles rated hard, 2nd leg was 6.3 miles rated very hard -yikes!, and the 3rd leg was 4 miles rated moderate. I chose to go for it. That evening Dave and the kids came with me to go check out my "very hard" leg to see if I thought I actually could do it. I thought it looked do-able and asked Dave if he'd take me back the next morning (Saturday 4 weeks ago). It started at Boulder Beach (Lake Mead) and headed up towards Boulder City -mostly uphill with a 869 ft. elevation gain, on a trail most of the time. So I ran it. I was pooped out, but I did it, slowly, but I did it. I started pushing myself harder each morning and running lots of hills and more like 5-7 miles at a time. I also realized that the boulder beach run would be at night and I was scared to be on a lonesome trail by myself at night, so I enlisted Dave to be my pacer (we're allowed to have someone run or ride a bike along side us during the night). So Dave and Spencer started biking together at night going up hills and around our end of town. Dave has been so supportive -I love him!

The week before I was feeling pretty good -bring it on, but Wednesday night (the race starts Friday) I was really scared. It felt like the butterflies -no, bats were going crazy in my stomach. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night worrying about everything, which worked out nicely because Thursday I slept pretty great.

We met at Adrienne, our very fearless leader's house at 11:30 am and headed for Valley of Fire which was where we started our 1st leg. So, there are 6 people on our team in van #1 who ran the 1st half of Leg 1.

Some of Van #1's crew.

We are in van #2 with the other 6 team members.

Since I was runner 7, I was the one to start the second half of Leg 1.

Looking pretty groovy -like a true Mandelbaum.

It was feeling warm and I didn't know how I was going to do. It was about 1:30 when we got there. I looked around at all the other crazy people doing this thing -crazy. People decorated their vans, some were fun, some flashy, and some were really terrible and raunchy. I met up with my friend from Santa Clara, Mary Ann Schoenfeld. It was great to see her and get to visit.

MaryAnn and 9 others on her team had run the WasatchBack Ragnar and got a "Saint and Sinners" medal. Way to go!

Not long after our van #1 arrived and handed me my number and I heard someone yell team 110 your runner's here. They hurried and pinned my number on, I grabbed my music and I was off. I thought I was so slow and thought they were going to kick me off the team. It was hot and a lot harder than I had anticipated. When I got done they told me my pace was 8:17. I was sure they had it wrong, but they assured me my legs were running fast and my adrenaline must have kicked in. I decided not to argue.

Enthusiastic cheerleaders -Bryan and Sean.

I handed off to Stephanie. She's a great runner and has been training hard for this. Her run was 8 1/2 miles -very hard and very hot at 2:30 in the afternoon.

She handed off and walked around for a few minutes. She was sick with heatstroke or exhaustion or something from the heat. She was nauseated and later threw up, achey, chilled and disappointed. I had a blanket that I gave her which wrapped around her shoulders and back. A while later, another member of our team, Eric, said that we needed to start thinking about covering her legs. I asked, "Do you think her legs are getting cold?" Then I realized what he was actually meaning, that we needed to start thinking about who would be taking her runs. That freaked me out a bit. I didn't know if I could handle more. It didn't matter in the end because she pulled out of it luckily, and she did super.

When Stephanie started feeling a little better she started talking about how great it is to run at night. I told her I was a scardy cat. I told about a dream I had a few months ago, in the summer, when it was so hot. I had started running earlier in the morning when it was still dark. Any way, I , in my dream, had just walked out my door and these guys started coming towards me. I tried to scream but nothing came out. I said a prayer that I would be able to scream and I actually let out a blood curddling scream, which woke up Dave whom I sufficiently freaked out.

Our last 2 runners ran at night, and, gratefully, it cooled off. It really was beautiful and I started getting anxious for my night run which was coming quick.

We handed off to runner 1 from van #1 to begin the second leg of our journey and our van headed back to town for some food and shut eye. It was almost 10:00 and most places were closing, but we were starving because basically we had eaten breakfast and snacked the rest of the day, so we were determined to find something. We did, Capriotti's, a yummy sandwich shop. We headed back to Adrienne's, chowed and then tried our best to sleep. I think I might have gotten 20 minutes sleep when I heard Adrienne say we needed to leave in 3 minutes. It was 12:30 am when we got back in the van, our beloved van. I called Dave to make sure he was up and on his way. He was already there and couldn't believe we were just leaving. He called back a few minutes later to let us know that our runner was coming soon. Somehow we made it there in 15 minutes. When we got there, runner 6, Will, was waiting again. I threw on a reflective vest, the headlight and someone put on my tail light. I started running and anxiously looking for Dave, and there he was just ahead of me and we were off. This was my most favorite run. It was so great to have Dave there to talk to and see the beautiful Lake Mead, the stars above and feel the excitement. There were lots of runners, but everyone was either passing or being passed, no one was about to run along side another runner. When we got to the top of the trail, about 5 miles up, we looked back to see the trail all lit up by bobbing headlights. It was so amazing! Dave was an awesome pacer. I loved him so much for being there for me and sharing this experience with me.

Cheering

The rest of the 2nd leg went great, until we got to the end and got to wait for our runner 1, Brad, to start the final 3rd leg, but par for the course.

We headed back for some more sleep. It was 5 am and I asked them to just drop me off at my house because it was somewhat on the way. I ate some cereal, tried to sleep but couldn't, showered and headed over to Adrienne's at 7:30 am. Can you even guess what happened? Will was waiting for me in the transfer box, again. So I was off again. My final run and I actually felt so good especially when my cheering, adoring fan, section arrived. They would drive by honking and screaming, "Go Mom!" Then they stopped and got out and gave me high 5's as I ran by. Spencer got out on his bike with his bike helmet and reflective vest and told me he was going to be my pacer. I was sad I had to tell him we could only have pacers at night. He was ready to go, he'd been training too. They loaded back up and were at my finish line to greet me. I tried to sprint the final 50 feet or so, handed off the baton and stepped on the edge of the pavement and went down. They were worried I was hurt, nope, just embarassed and worried my new pants would have a hole. I hugged my family, and sent them off for some fun hiking adventures in Red Rock. Then it was back in the van with a new feeling, I was done and I did it! and so glad I did. When we were at a later exchange, I saw a guy who looked familiar. I asked him if his name was Dave and if he was Melissa's brother. He was. Melissa is married to my brother Steve. I told him who I was and he told me he'd run in the St. George Marathon last weekend, took his family to Disneyland, and was here now finishing up Ragnar. Wow! Amazing! Where does he get his energy. I later found out that his team won 1st place in the Corporate division.

Stephanie and Adrienne -running buddies since high school.

Red Rock

The end to this was pretty stinky. We were trying to help Adrienne make it towards the finish line because the directions were a bit confusing. Then we had to go park the van at the Red Rock Casino parking lot, run through the casino maze and find our way through the crowds of people at the finish line. Adrienne had of course finished, luckily for her her wonderful parents were there to cheer her on. When our whole team got there, minus Bishop Darren Cox, we all ran through the finish line together -Team Mandelbaum -yea! We took some pictures, said our good byes and it was over.
Here's my one casualty -my owee blister.

When we started, someone had said that one of the best parts was eating after it's over. My last run ended at about 9:15 am and we were waiting at the finish line at about 12:30 pm, so when we left at around 1:30 I was starved. In-N-Out Burger never tasted so yummy good -Aaron would be proud.

This was an amazing experience for me. Really the best part was hanging with 5 other very cool people whom I got to rub shoulders with for a little over 24 hours. Adrienne was the one who made it all happen, our leader. She was great and so full of energy. She's the one who got us to Boulder Beach in record time which was a bit scary. She's a competitor, a great runner, organizer and team player. She has 2 little kids and her husband Will also ran the race but in the 1st van. He was the one waiting for me to hand off to.

Adrienne's brother Bryan, from Boise Idaho, is a great guy who drove the van most of the time and is an amazing runner. He's fast and great at the distances. I think he ran the furthest of any of Team Mandelbaum. He's in the Airforce and is a newly wed. His wife Brittany also ran, but was also in the 1st van.

Sean is Adrienne and Bryan's brother in law. He has a beautiful new baby girl (which is why his wife wasn't running). He's studying to be a doctor. We put him to the test. He'll be great. He's very caring and genuinly concerned. His demeanor reminded me of my little brother Aaron which drew me to him. He did great eventhough he doesn't like running a lot and would prefer to be out biking. His last run ended up being an extra mile -he was a trooper.

Then there is Eric who I found out is an engineer who knows Dave, and he was Bishop Grondel's counselor before the ward split -so before we got to know him. He was nice to talk to and eager to help out, a real good guy. He drove the van quite a bit also. He is a great runner and had run the Los Angeles Ragnar Relay so he had some good insight for us. He's got a wife, 3 daughters and a 3 yr. old son.

And Stephanie, from St. George, sat in the back of the van, when she was feeling good, with me. I really enjoyed talking to her and getting to know her. She's pretty amazing and has done quite a lot in her 30 years of life. She's spunky, fun and adventurous and has been a runner for a while -she's not a beginner. She's a wife and mother of 2 little girls. I'm so glad she was able to hang in there and finish strong.
These people have inspired me to want to be more and do more. I'm sad to think that I might not ever hang with them again. I'd love to meet their families and see them in a different setting. This was a crazy fun time -pretty unforgettable. Thanks Team Mandelbaum!

There's another guy, part of my personal team, Dave. He was such a great support, so patient and helpful. On Thursday, Dave sent out an e-mail to his fellow workers letting them know he was leaving Friday at 2:00 so he could go be Mr. Mom (Cami took Sam until then -thanks so much!) and he also told them I would be running in a 300 mile relay (so glad it wasn't) and that he was going to ride along side me during my 2 am run. So Dave left work early to get the kids, play, feed them and get them to bed. He didn't go to sleep because he was coming to hang with me which ended up being around 12:45 am. I said earlier how great it was to have him there as my pacer, it really was so great. I got done (about 2 am) and had to say good bye. Dave still, however, had to ride his bike back down to the car, load it up and drive home which was probably close to 3 when he got there. Then at 5am he got jolted awake cause I opened the garage (he didn't know I was coming home), and at 7:30 he drove me over to meet the others at Adrienne's, hurried home for a quick shower, got the kids up and ready, packed water bottles and a lunch and was there, Blue Diamond and Fort Apache, to cheer me on at about 9 am. Then he took the kids for a super time hiking and climbing around at Red Rock. Pretty amazing! You're da bomb baby!

Ragnar Relay -what an interesting experience. I've never done anything like it -so glad I did.

Spencer's a Teenager!

2009-10-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

Spencer's a big part of our family. We love him so much! This was such a super terrific day for our family. Spencer became ours forever.

He is such a fun, passionate, enthusiastic boy.A loving big brother.

He's good at baseball,

Games,

Legos, Music,
Friends, and pretty much whatever he sets his mind to.

Happy 13th birthday Spencer!

Waa Laa!

Can You See the Difference?

2009-09-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

These shorts are Spencer's favorite. Can you guess why?

Do you see any differences between the two pictures?

These are Spencer's favorite shorts because they are reversable. He can't wait for PE next semester when he plans on wearing his shorts silver side out, but turning them black side out when he leaves. Also when he goes to the bathroom he plans on changing them. He actually experimented the Friday before school started to see if his friends would notice the change. Unfortunately his friends didn't seem to notice so Spencer asked if they had seen anything different about him. Nope neither of them had. Bummer. Can't wait for next semester to hear what everyone has to say.

Spencer's so tricky -I love it!

School Begins

2009-08-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Spencer is now in 7th grade at Greenspun Jr. High. He thinks it's pretty cool. He's hoping to grow a lot this year -more than Ali anyway, and keep up with grades, music, and friends.Ali is in 5th grade at Bartlett Elementary. Her teacher is Mrs. Lewis. She thinks it's going to be exciting and a great year. This is the first year she hasn't been in her good friend Ellie Putnam's class, so she's looking forward to making some new friends.

This is what Ali had written on the 1st day of school.

Sam loves to be in the water so he and good friend Aiden Putnam are taking a swim class and also an exercise fun class.

We're looking forward to this 2009-2010 school year.

Some More Summer Fun

2009-08-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

Our little camera broke -the one that was so easy to take everywhere. Such a bummer. I managed to get a few with our other more bulky camera.

This is a fun place called Bounce U where the kids played hard and got nice and sweaty.

This was called the Spider Web. It's pretty tricky to climb to the top, but these climbers made it.

Ali and Ellie

Spencer and Masen

This was a hard day. Sam was into everything. I ran downstairs to get something and Spencer started yelling, "Mom! Sam made a mess." Needless to say I was not happy. Spencer ran down the stairs and told me to get the camera first. Smarty! that cooled me down lucky for Sam who was just having a great time.

This was Ali's Gotcha Forever Day.

This was the day that she became a forever member of our family, sealed in the St. George Temple to lucky us on July 23, 1999. She gets to choose something she wants to do with the family.

Ice skating -what a great idea on a hot summer day.

Even Sam had fun on the ice. Spencer was too fast to catch a picture of.

This was the Salter Family at Dave's sister Lori's house in Rockport, Ut. not too far from Park City. She has a beautiful home up in the mountains. The weather was great and it was fun visiting and playing games. The Salter's are a fun bunch. We were sad everyone didn't make it, but it was still a pretty big group.

Some of the other Summer highlights: Swimming; Spencer's Diving; staying with our friends the Gublers at Mandalay Bay and playing hard and hanging with them for a few days; Scout Camp for Dave and Spencer at Lake Arrowhead; some of my Santa Clara friends coming on my birthday; and a quick weekend in Scottsdale, AZ.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sam!

2009-08-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

This cake was what Sam was so excited to wake up and eat. He helped me make it and decorate it. Isn't it beautiful? He was proud of it.

He had a great time trying to blow out the candles which he did over and over thanks to fellow pyro brother Spencer.

We didn't have a friend party -most of his little buddies were out of town.

What he wanted to do was go jump, so we did at Sky Mania. He's such a jumper and I am too so I didn't get any pictures. It's such a fun place with trampolines all over even the walls, so yes, we were bouncing off the walls.

Having fun in his new tent.

Sam thinks birthdays are so much fun.

Some Summer Fun

2009-07-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

This was July 3rd on the Colorado River near Nelson's Landing.

We were having a great time in the water in our awesomely powerful water crafts, when suddenly we saw a huge black cloud coming our way. We got out of the water and as we were approaching the beach where our stuff was, the rain started falling and falling, then pelting and pelting us and it got very windy. It was quite an adventure. Spencer and his buddy Vincent power rowing.

Ali, Sam, and Dave drifting.

Sam and Ali -row row row your boat. (by the way Mom, Dave was close at hand in case of anyone overboard)

That night we stayed at a really great hotel, the Cable Mountain Lodge by the entrance to Zion so that we'd be able to wake up early enough to be in Springdale's 4th of July Parade.

We made it -Yea! and the kids had a great time and got to throw out gobs of candy.

This was Cable Mountain Lodge's float -very charming and kid friendly.

Thanks Nate (my baby brother who manages Cabel Mtn. Lodge -thus our connection)

He drove the train.

Then we went to meet my parents and older brother Riley and his family in Zion to walk the Narrows trail.
Lots of squirrels.

A tired out Sammy.

A nice man on the trail.

Ali and Emma

Hanging with Grandpa

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's for a yummy barbeque and a great firework show.

This was part of COUSIN WEEK.

Cason who is about 5 months older than Spencer and Makenah who is about 5 months younger than Ali came and played with us. They get along so great and had a super time.

One of the things that we did was go on the New York New York roller coaster. Makenah was the one who was most excited to do this. Sadly when we got there they made her take her shoes off and she was just barely too short. She was a good sport anyway.

We went swimming and to Sky Mania to jump, jump, jump.

Then on Friday we went to Pine Valley, Utah and went camping.

I really love camping. The kids have so much fun playing hard, climbing and exploring. And Pine Valley was so cool and smelled wonderful -I wanted to bottle it up and take it home with me.

Cooking's fun!

Here's my little chef Sam -he loves to cook.

Ali enjoying a yummy crepe thanks to Spencer.

Spencer mastering the flipping of the crepe.

Ali made us some delicious pork chops -finger lickin good.

Our Dandy Delightful Dads

2009-06-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

I love my dad. I'm so grateful for his goodness. He's genuine and true, thoughtful and kind and clever. He knows the scriptures, words, and politics. He's full of surprises, knowledge, interesting jokes, and FAITH -that's what helped us get Sammy here. He's a loving grandpa and he's been a strength in our life. I know I'm blessed to have him.

This is my super father-in-law Jay. He's been great. He's an energetic guy. He's a stalwart in all he does. He's fun to hang with, a good missionary, funny, thrifty and helpful. We love him.

This is my Grandpa Covington. We love to hear him tell his childhood stories. He's kind and hardworking, and a good man. He's a good example to us. We love you.
Here's the awesome dad in our home. We love him so much!

This is a little gift Sammy gave Dave for Father's Day.

Growing Up

2009-06-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

How is it happening so fast? That was 2 years ago. Now Spencer is a 7th Grader, 2nd year at Greenspun, acting so big. Ali is a Big 5th Grader, last year at Bartlett, and Sam is potty trained -all the baby things are pretty much gone.

Yesterday Sam pulled a stool in front of the toilet and told Dave he was going to go potty -aim and fire. Yikes!

Salter Family Reunion

2009-06-18T00:16:00.001-07:00

We had a super fun time in Capital Reef last week.

The kids had non-stop fun, even when we woke them up early to cook breakfast for the rest of the bunch. Blueberry Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon and Hashbrowns -Yum!

Spencer made some cool boats out of twigs and grass. The kids all had fun down by the river.

Dave enjoyed a quick nap.

And we hiked and hiked.

A little jamming with cousin Brady.

Gobblin Valley was a hit.

Brady, Vance, and Spencer really got around.

Inside a cool cave where we took a break and told stories.

Sammy was such a great little hiker.

Also, note worthy, not a single diaper and not a single accident. Yea! What a big boy!

Here are some other things we liked.

An amazing tree,

Nice weather and popsicles,

And there were lots of "reindeer".

Each family took turns cooking a meal. This was Joey's yummy roast and potatoes.

The adults enjoyed visiting, reading and cooking.

Pirates Dice for the boys.

And Arts and Crafts for the girls.

The Youngest of this Salter bunch -Suzie, almost 4 mo. Uncle Tyson is taking good care of her.

She was a great camper.

Sammy saw Uncle Jayson sitting on the table and decided he'd join him.

Then we all said our goodbyes.

We're so grateful for the many wonderful memories. We loved Capital Reef, and the fun Salter Family!

Is this a SIGN?

2009-06-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

No more scary movies. That was a bad parent thing to do and now I'm paying for it -they're sleeping on our bedroom floor. Spencer told me that if his friends ever insist that he watch a scary movie with them then they aren't true friends and he'll leave -good plan Spencer.

Baseball Spencer

2009-06-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

Look out! It's Spencer from his team the Lookouts. He's a spunky player. He's fast and alert and does great as Short Stop, Catcher, and, Spencer's favorite, Pitcher.

Here's Spencer in action.

This game he only pitched the last inning -3 up 3 down. He struck them all out.

Ali and Sam are good sports too coming to the games. They cheer, "Go Lookouts!" Or mostly they make their own fun. Yesterday evening they got a little chilled -can you believe it? cold in June in Henderson.

After the game we watched the movie Signs. Not our best idea. Our kids were all so ssscared, we ended up having a family sleepout so we could keep each other safe.

Last Day of School!

2009-06-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

June 4th was the last day of school.

Ali went with a new hair-do. She was thinking she wanted to cut her hair to her chin but decided shoulder length would be easier to live with.

After School we went to the Putnam's for the annual School's Out Party. So much fun!

The Pool was awesome.

And so was the Jump House -all the kids played hard in both.

We went at 1:30 and went home at 6:30 -the party was still going too. Needless to say, everyone was wiped out.

Thanks Cami for always throwing a terrific party.

2009-06-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

This was a paragraph that Ali wrote to convince others not to get rid of the saguaro. I thought she did a great job and her teacher, Mrs. Walker, did too. The scan is kind of hard to read so here it is:
When people see the spiny Saguaro, they see a plant, nothing special. But it is! It is, in fact, a habitat to many animals. It's teeming with life! Birds perch up on the cactus to get the sweet nectar from the cactus's flowers. When a cactus is too old to live, it will topple over into the brush. In time the cactus decomposes and becomes fertilizer. So do not, I repeat, DO NOT take them away! A cactus is part of nature, and we wouldn't want that to go away, now would we?
I hope you are convinced!

This was Ali's drawing that was entered into the national Doodle 4 Google contest after being chosen to represent the 4th graders at Bartlett Elementary. Below is her wish for the world that accompanied the drawing. She didn't win nationally, but we're so proud of her creative talents.

Some Pics

2009-05-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ali's new look. It's a whole new world for Ali, she never knew things were so crisp, clear,and full of color.

Musical Spencer. He won this guitar at our church auction for $12. Ask him to play it for you -he's sounding pretty good.

He's also really liking his band class where he's learning to play the trumpet.

Our family get together. Notice the beautiful flowers in the forground made by Ali and her cousin Katie.

Magnus is turning 1 Tuesday! Happy Birthday Heather June 1st.

Grandma Tammy (Dave's sister), Mom Cherish, and sweet baby Suzie.

Tricky Asa

Sam and his buddy cousin Lydia -not as innocent as they look.

Sam and I got to hang out with the Bodily's at the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.

Definitely the highlight for Sam. He didn't want to leave Lightning the Dolphin.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

I was blessed with a really great mom. I'm so grateful for her example and support to me and my family. She is righteous, kind, good, and wonderful in every way. I love her so much!

I am also blessed to have a really great mother-in-law. She has been through so much and just keeps moving forward. She's been good to talk things through and is so understanding and nonjudgemental. I love her too.

I love being a mom, but I haven't always loved Mother's Day. I remember about 16 or 17 years ago sitting in Sacrament Meeting while Dave talked about motherhood, tears streaming down my face. I wasn't a part of his talk. It was Mother's Day and I didn't know if I would ever celebrate it as a mother. We had been going through different fertility treatments and nothing seemed to be working. Finally, after about 6 years, we adopted our spunky sweet Spencer. We met him the day he came into this world and loved him so much from that moment. 2 years and 3 months later, we were so blessed to have another precious baby join our family, Alexi. She was so sweet and loving. I didn't know motherhood could be so wonderful. When Ali was 2 we received another wonderful blessing. It was from Pres. Faust. He blessed Dave and I that we would be able to conceive and bring a baby into this world with the specialized help of modern-day medicine. 5 and a half years later, after lots of specialized medicine, we had Samuel -our sweet little monkey. These 3 terrific children make my life so full. They are all going in different directions -it's amazing that 3 kids from the same family can be so different.

I got to talk to a small group of girls about motherhood. I told them that for me it was like a roller coaster. Sometimes you're up on top and sometimes your down, maybe even struggling to get back up. Sometimes you have to wait with anticipation not sure what's around the next corner. It's so exciting and exhilarating. Sometimes it's really scary and unsettling but it's also reallly fun. Hopefully when I'm done I can say, "That was Great!"

I love you Spencer, Alexi, and Sam. I'm so grateful for this wonderful privilege of being their mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ali -Born to Be a Star

2009-04-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ali has had a great week and a half. It actually started just last Tuesday. I got a phone call from Mrs. Keith at Bartlett Elementary -Ali's school. She told me that Ali had won a drawing contest, Doodle 4 Google, as the 4th grade winner from Bartlett. She drew the google logo and then added an artistic rendition of what she wanted for the world which was world peace. It was very cute, and I'm hoping that I'll have a picture to post of it tomorrow. She'll compete with other winners from around the state, then the region, then nationally. Go Ali Go!

On Saturday, March 28, we got to watch Ali perform in "Hansel and Gretel, the True Story". (She's been going to this class, Readers Theater at the library, every Saturday in March for 2 hours.) She went at 10:00 am and they practiced, took some breaks, ate some lunch, figured out what props would be used and got ready for the 2:30 show. Ali got a fabulous chopstick hairdo and wore a funky dress as the game show host Tina. She was the moderator between the Witch and Hansel, Gretel and their parents. She really did a super job. Also, since she is such a great reader, her and another boy got to read us a poem, "I Met a Dragon Face to Face" by Jack Prelutsky. It was fun too that Grandma and Grandpa Salter were able to be there. I think they really enjoyed seeing our Ali star.

Then Tuesday evening it was the 4th grade musical, "Posibilities". Ali got to dress up as an author -glasses (my old pair which gave her a headache) and all.

She sang wonderfully and it was a cute presentation.

We've really enjoyed seeing our very creative Ali shine. She's quite the talented artist, writer, reader and actor, and we look forward to more of it.

The Duck Park

2009-03-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of Sammy's favorite places is the duck park.

He loves to feed them.

They dance for him.

He makes sure that all the ducks are in the water and get the love and attention that they need.

All this work makes him thirsty, thirsty enough for a V-8!

Words We Live By

2009-03-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Ali was at her Hollywood 101 class at the library,
-it's like a readers theatre and Ali loves it, anyway, they all got to perform their parts in front of the rest of the group for the first time. I asked Ali if it was scary. Her response, "I was born to act!!" Not scary at all.

On St. Patty's Day, Spencer reminded us that he's part Irish. He asked me if he looked Irish because a lot of people have been asking him if he's Irish. He also showed me that he sometimes has a little hoppity hop in his step -isn't that Irish too?

We found Sammy squatting in the corner. I asked him if he'd like to go get on the potty to poop. No thanks he said. But you're such a big boy I reminded him. "Not big enough!"

Happy Birthday Dave!

2009-03-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Daddy Dave! These are some of the things that we love about him: He's a super hard worker whether at work, at home, or at church; he's really fun to play and wrestle with; he's great at seeing someones need and helping where he can; he's genuine; he's fun to play sports with; he's fun to camp and hike with; when he sets his mind to something he does it; he's a good example to us -he goes to the temple every tuesday morning at 5:30;

he's a great organizer; he's a super dad; He's a wonderful husband. We love you Daddy Dave and are so grateful for you!

I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

2009-03-17T00:28:00.000-07:00

I was getting ready for Primary last week, looking for pictures and I ran across this. Ali wrote it just after she got baptized:

"I turned 8 on January 3rd, and three days later I got baptized by my Dad. My grandparents were there and some of my uncles, aunts, and cousins and my good friend Ellie Putnam. I was nervous before my baptism, wondering if I was going to get dunked 1,000 times -I didn't though. Afterwards, I was so happy! My smile felt like it was more than a mile. I'm so glad I am baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!"

Spencer has a goal that he's going to baptize Sam. Spencer will be 17 -almost 18!

Wood Badge for Dave

2009-03-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

Dave has now officially earned his Wood Badge. Way to go! The Court of Honor was held last Wednesday, March 11. He had to go to training over 2 long weekends -Thurs-Sat. and hang, hoot and holler with a bunch of Owls -that's what his group was.

Then Dave had to put his training to the test. He came up with 5 tickets or goals that he needed to complete by the end of 2008. He worked hard and I'm so proud of him. Dave's been the Scout Master in our ward for the past 3 years. I wasn't very happy about that in the beginning, but I'm so grateful that he's there. Spencer's been able to go with Dave to most of the camp outs and other fun stuff so he knew most of the young men before he turned 12.
Certainly a benefit has been that Dave has been able to help Spencer get merit badges -by the way he also, last week, earned his 1st class and Star. He says he wants his Eagle by the time he's 14. Go Spencer! They've really had a great time in Scouts. Ali, Sam and I -we have our fun too!

Super Sam

2009-02-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

Sam is growing up so fast! We love to hear him talk. He has a hard time with S's and F's, instead he substitutes them with a D or if the next letter is a consanant, he just says that. For instance, "Sammy" is "Dammy", "asleep" is "a-leep", "so funny" is "doe dunny". It's pretty cute too when he really doesn't want to do something and instead of "I won't" he says "I willn't". He loves to pillow talk at night too -he's quite the conversationalist. He's our Super Sam.

The Weekend

2009-02-09T20:06:00.000-08:00

Our weekend started off with a Loving Primary party that I was in charge of. I got to the church to see that the gym that I'd scheduled was looking very formal and lovely -for a wedding the next day. Yikes! The Primary kids would be coming in 30 minutes. It all worked out -we just fit everything into the Primary room which actually worked out great, but it stressed me out.

After a fun loving party, I dashed home to pack for our leadership Scout campout -Little Ponderosa at Warm Springs. Dave and I were both going so we were meeting Mom and Dad at the Glendale exit to hand over our sweet children. All week the weather has been around 70 degrees, but a storm was moving in. It got pretty cold that night and it rained on and off all night and the next day. The presenters were really great and we had a good time in spite of the cold and rain. Then we were off to meet Mom and Dad. When Spencer got out of their car, Mom said, "Good riddens!" She said she was just kidding, but he was really full of it and had a great time making Sam squeal (and stay awake) and pestering Ali. He was relentless. I felt really bad when Spencer got into our car with bad gas and Ali and Sam both had red noses from wiping their noses so much -a cold was coming on, and Sam decided to make a stinky mess in Mom and Dad's bathroom. So sorry! But thank you so much, they all had a fun time with you.

On the way home we talked to Spencer about his talk he was going to give in church the next day. It was his first youth talk and the topic was Faith. Spencer told us about a faith promoting experience he had with Grandpa Wells. Pretty much Grandma and Grandpa told him he needed a hair cut bad and Grandpa made an appointment for him. He told Spencer that his barber is really good so Spencer decided to have faith that all would go well and that he'd still leave with some hair -right now in his life his hair is very important to him so this really did show great faith on his part.

Spencer did a really great job on his talk Sunday. Towards the end he told about his experience with Grandpa. He said that when he went to sit down in the barber's chair, Grandpa said, "Just for the record, he's only lost one ear." There were lots of laughs which caught Spencer off guard -but he liked, but he forgot the rest of the story. He was able to compose himself and finish his talk well, and he looked so handsome in his nice new haircut -which he got lots of compliments on. Thanks Mom and Dad.

All Ready the Last Week of January 2009!

2009-02-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

Sam had a fun week playing with friends. At Lukes house on Monday; Aiden on Tuesday; Aiden on Wednesday at Aiden's house; Ethan all day on Thursday; and Luke on Friday. Life is great.

For Ali too. So pretty and enjoying her 10ager life.

Spencer had a super duper Wednesday. He was selected as one of the 15 Students of the Month at Greenspun Middle School. I was privileged to go to a luncheon in their honor. It was at a nice Italian restaurant. We ate yummy food and listened to a guest speaker, Green Valley High's principal, and then they gave out the awards. The teacher that nominated Spencer said, "Spencer is a hard worker and one of the fastest typest in the class (115 words per minute). He has set high standards for himself and he strives to meet them! He is always willing to go beyond what is expected of him and is always available to help anyone who is having any difficulty with an assignment." Music to my ears.

Speaking of music, we went to Willy Wonka, the musical put on by Green Valley High. Spencer was not very happy that I'd gotten tickets for a Friday night. We had good seats, 3rd row smack in the center. When we first got there I knew I made a mistake not getting isle seats -we had Sam with us. Spencer sat next to me and Sam was on my lap. Ali was on my other side, but Dave traded her places so she could see better. It wasn't looking good for a successful evening. After each act, however, Spencer said how awesome it was. He especially liked it when Charlie and Grandpa Joe were flying with the bubbles -something he wanted to try someday. Sam was actually riveted as well. He loved the bright colors and wonderful singing. He sat on Dave's lap after intermission and amazingly continued to do so good. Ali thought it was really, really good and enjoyed it a lot. We had a great time and we were all so glad we came. Thanks Green Valley for a spectacular performance!

Today, actually February 1st, was so beautiful. Spencer, Sammy and Dave had a fun water fight. -Still too cold for Ali and I, but they had fun. Next week is supposed to be close to 70 degrees -wowee!

Tenager in the House

2009-01-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Alexi Marie Salter woke up Saturday, January 3rd, and proclaimed as she decended the stairs, "Oh yeah, I'm a tenager! Uh huh, a tenager!" Ali is a wonderful part of our family. She's smart, creative, fun, quiet, loud, moody, tender-hearted, lovable, good with kids and animals, a great reader, and determined and so much more.

We had a fun day celebrating with Ali. At 1:00, four of her friends came over for cake and ice cream. We opened presents, and headed for the ice rink -yip they have one in Vegas. They tore up the ice, maybe more from their falls, but they had a good time. Then we went to Cheeburger where we ate and the entire restaurant sang "Happy Birthday" to Ali. Yay Ali our sweet 10ager. We love you girl.

2008 was Great!

2009-01-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a review of 2008.
FUN at Disneyland in July. Spencer’s favorite rides were Screaming California, Tower of Terror, and Space Mountain. Ali’s were Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones. Sammy loved them all especially Buzz Light Year, the Tea Cups and the Rockets. Dave and Jenny had a fun weekend away in Phoenix in August. The snow that kept falling and falling the week before Christmas and even getting a snow day (no School) the next day -that was fun!
LAUGHABLE things were Sammy coming down the stairs with a swim diaper on his head. Sammy standing at the top of the stairs proclaiming, "I wake up!" Going Christmas caroling to the neighbors and Sam saying, "Trick or Treat!" Ali telling Ellie she’s not going to be foolish this (school) year.
HAPPY was Spencer saving up his birthday money and buying a guitar -he had $85 and it cost $80. Spencer was also very happy when he finally downloaded Maple Story. Sam’s play dates (every Tuesday and Thursday) with Aiden. Sam is a peacemaker, if someone is sad he’s there trying to make you happy and asks, "Are you happy?" Ice skating made Ali happy -she wants to do it for her 10th birthday coming up soon. Jenny was happy when she finished her first race, a 5k, and won -there were only 4 runners but the other 3 were from Pine View -Oh Yaa!
SAD were we when Spencer came home from school in May and went to find Wookie in the back and found him dead under a bush. He came in screaming and crying. Later, at dinner, Spencer said a prayer that Wookie would be happier than he had ever been and running and playing with Grandma Dunn in Heaven.
PROUD to hear all the nice things people at Dave’s work had to say about him at his 10 year Kleinfelder anniversary. We are proud to see Spencer passing the Sacrament -love it! It makes me proud to see Ali being so sweet to Sam and her little cousins or other little people -she’ll make a super babysitter. I was proud to be an American when Sam and I went to the Sarah Palin (Republican Vice Presidential nominee) rally and again when Spencer, Ali, Sam and I went to the John McCain (Republican Presidential nominee) rally where I saw many other people excited about saying a prayer, singing our national anthem, and sharing other views and standards of our great free country.
SPIRITUAL -Spencer said that he’s felt the Holy Ghost helping him while at school (6th grade) to know if things are good or not. Also, Spencer asked Dave for a blessing after going to Middle School for a few months because the language was so terrible and the swear words were starting to sound like normal everyday words. Dave gave him a helpful Father’s Blessing, and afterwards Sam asked if he could have a blessing too. Ali came home from school one day and wasn’t feeling very chipper so she went up in her room and read the Bible which made her feel much better. We also love to hear Ali’s Family Home Evening lessons which are so heartfelt. I love her testimony! I'm grateful for Dave's faith. At the beginning of the year he started paying tithing on the amount that he hoped we'd earn this year. We didn't get the bonuses and raises we'd thought because of the economy -things were getting tight. When we went in for tithing settlment, Bishop asked if we'd paid a full tithe. Dave said with this check it will be which was more than we'd earned for the year, but that was the amount he'd started the year paying and that's what he was going to finish with. On Monday, Dave came home and said he was just given a raise. Miraculously it was the amount that Dave had been paying tithing for. That was a nice way to end the year, and we hope that 2009 will be fine!

Christmas

2009-01-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

December is always so busy. Somehow I'm going to come up with a better, less busy way so I can really enjoy. I have to admit, with all that was going on, Christmas was wonderful. Somehow I made it to that magical day. I love seeing the kids so happy and grateful, even when they didn't get what they asked Santa for. I love being with my family, just hanging out, playing games, eating orange sticks, and listening to jubilant voices.

I'm grateful for our Joseph and Mary and that we get to have a Samuel the Lamanite -who also wants to be Mary.

Adoption is Wonderful!

2008-11-19T16:21:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to say a thing or two about adoption because it has had such a wonderful impact on our family. Spencer came into our family after Dave and I had been married for 6 years and lots of unsuccessful fertility treatments. We were so anxious to be parents. Dave had graduated with his masters degree in engineering and was working in Salt Lake City for Kleinfelder Eng. One morning Dave and I woke up with excitement that a feeling of parenthood was coming. Our social worker, Ann, called later that day and asked how we were doing. We told her that we were well and had feelings like something must be on the horizon. She laughed and said goodbye. About a month later she called us to tell us we were infact selected to be adoptive parents. Exhilaration! She also told us that the morning she had called us, the previous month, was the day that we were put on firm hold -our birth mother had selected us to be her baby's parents. We had 3 weeks to get things ready. After 2, I was at work and Ann called to say, "Congratulations! You're a mom!" She had already called Dave at work. I stood there in shock, then ran to my boss and told him I was done working there because I had a new job, Mom. Spencer was born that morning. We were so head over heels in love with that little guy. Corrine, Spencer's birth mom, will never know the extreme joy and peace and love that she brought into our family as she blessed us with this special little baby.
He was an active, charismatic, social and bright little guy. Life was never boring and never so sweet. When Spencer was about 1 1/2 yrs. old we applied for addoption again. One day, a couple of weeks before he was 2, Dave and I went to the temple. When we got home, Spencer said, "I want baby sister." A week later, our social worker called us and asked if we'd come to his office the next day. We began a fast right then. Were we ready for another baby? Is this right for our family now? Our answer was No. I cried and thought 'How could we tell the social worker no?' We both felt strongly that a baby would be coming to our family soon, but more around the new year -it was September 24. When we got to his office, he gave us a letter which we nervously read. We both had tears in our eyes as we read that this baby was due January 6, 1999. And the confirmation that this most definitely was our baby that loving Heavenly Father would so magnificently bless our family with. The social worker told us this was an unusual adoption because, like Spencer's birth mom, most girls don't make their minds up until a month or two before. Laurel, Ali's birth mom, knew very early on that she wanted her baby to have a mother and a dad and a sibling, and we were that fortunate family. On January 3rd, it was a Sunday, Spencer woke up, went and got his fleece jacket which he cradled in his arms, climbed in the rocking chair and started singing. When he discovered us there he told us, "My baby sister is born today in a manger." We thought how sweet it was and wished that she was born today but the social worker had told us just the day before that all was going well with Laurel and right on schedule. We went to church and when we got home, guess what? Yip, there was a message from our social worker that Ali had indeed been born that morning, in a hospital in Van Nuys, California. Unfortunately, California adoption laws were that we couldn't take her home with us for 3 days -the longest ever. We left Spencer with the grandparents in Santa Clara, UT, and eagerly made our way to pick up our beautiful precious baby girl.
Spencer and Alexi have brought us so much happiness and sweetness. We know that Heavenly Father watches over us and blesses us. He knows what is good for our family, and I know that adopting Spencer and Alexi was what was the very best for our family. We love you Ali and Spencer!

Salter Family

2008-11-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

We are the Salter family from Henderson, Nevada. Sometimes things get a little nuts around here. We thought we'd share some of those nutty, but mostly fun times with you.
First off, Dave is the old man of the house. His claim to nuttiness: He likes a new hairdo before going to bed. However, this happens usually only on Sunday. Ali's the hairdresser and she does a fantastic job combing and geling and smooshing his hair in just the right fashion. She usually does 3 or 4 fab styles til Dave approves of the perfect one for the night.
Then there's Jenny, that's me and the mom here. Every year I get up early early, the day after Thanksgiving, with Mom and Sarah, and we look for the best deals in hopes that I can get my Christmas shopping done. This time I was nuttier than ever. Instead of going to all the other mad houses I thought
I was so smart and went to JoAnn's to get fleece. Ouch! I stood in line waiting to get my fleece cut with a bunch of other smarties -for 2 hours! I think I saved about $8.

Spencer, he's 12 and the handsomest deacon I ever saw. He's nutty because he wakes up freezing every morning. It couldn't be because he sleeps in just his underwear could it?
Alexi, a.k.a. Ali, is almost 10. She has a knack for tuning me out. For some reason, although I've told her numerous times, we'll go somewhere and hop out to find -oops! Ali forgot her shoes or didn't go to the bathroom (although everyone else did 10 minutes before) and she really really needs to -sadly there isn't a town for another 2 hours!. She luckily has many great redeeming qualities.

Samuel, a.k.a Sammy, is 2 and wants to be a dermatologist? Maybe that explains his fascination with moles. When he's tired or upset, if he can rub his fingers over the mole on my neck he's comforted. Sweet isn't it. Maybe a bit nutty, but adorable too.