Hola. Yo me llamo Lyric.

Steve and I took a much needed SUNNY vacation. Actually it was part vacation and part work. I think they call that a boondoggle! Poor Steve still looked kind of pasty when we got home because he was the one working. My brother Sam invited us to join his family in their luxury beachfront condo and do some dental work at an orphanage and at a school in a little village just south of Puerto Vallarta. I stayed home most of the days with the kids, which means playing in the pool, laying by the pool, laying on the beach, or reading on the balcony which overlooks the ocean while Capri sleeps. Not too bad of a deal of you ask me.

I re-learned that Idaho sunsets are just as beautiful, or more beautiful than ocean sunsets, but there's just something about being on the beach in 70 degree weather when the sun disappears.

Me with my gorgeous Mamacita on the beach of the new St. Regis hotel. Access to this beach and hotel and pools is included in my brother's condo ownership. This picture doesn't do it justice. There were white tents with white cushioned beds you could lay on, white cabanas, white everything. It was amazing. I felt like I was in an episode of The Bachelor!

One of these things is not like the others! Don't my brother and Mom look so much alike? Where did this blondie come from?

I had so much fun chillin' with my nieces and nephews. I got my fill of playing with the kids without having to parent them. It was perfect. This is my beautiful niece Sicily, who happens to be one of Sophie's best friends. We decided that if we ever get invited on this boondoggle again we will bring Maxwell and Sophia with us. They would have had a blast with their cousins. Although, like I said before, it was nice having a break from parenting my children who can talk (ie, whine, complain, argue, beg) for a few days.

One of the definite highlights of the trip for us all was Yolanda. I didn't realize how short she was until I previewed my pictures! She is the maid/cook/babysitter that comes with the condo. She works 6 days a week from 9 to 5, whether guests are staying in the condo or not. We decided that she probably really loves it when no one is there! She was an amazing cook. I think I asked her to make fresh salsa and guacamole three times while we were there. When she was making the grocery list and menu, she was trying to write in English, which she speaks poco (little) and she spelled guacamole like this: wacamole. I was laughing hard inside! After we got home, my Mom, my sister-in-law Hollie and I all called each other to see how we were handling life without Yolanda. I really wanted to bring Yolanda home with me, especially if I only had to pay her the wage she earns in Mexico. For now, I'm happy being Yolanda Payne. Although I did try to duplicate her salsa and wacamole and it just wasn't the same. Really, how can tomatoes, onion, cilantro, salt and lime juice be made differently?

Another highlight of the trip for me was watching all the attention Capri got. Maybe it's because not many white tourists take their 3 month old babies to Mexico with them! Everywhere we went she was oohed and aahed over, which I know is the case with white babies in America too, but this was times ten. Old men and women, little children and even teenagers just couldn't get enough of her. It continued on the plane ride home. Capri likes to be facing out when I am holding her, so just picture a little bald head and cute little face peeking out from her Mom's arm. We were the last ones to board the plane (not a big surprise for those who know me well!) and our seats were in the very last row. It was a constant barrage of "she is so cute" and "look at her" and "oh my goodness" the entire walk to the back of the plane. I had to stop making eye contact with people because everyone wanted to ask how old she was, and I felt like I was going to the delay the flight. I must admit that I loved it. Who doesn't love their child getting some positive affirmation!

There is an amazing golf course at the resort that was designed by Jack Nicklaus. It has an island hole. The golf cart path is usable during low tide, but a boat takes you to the green during high tide. We actually didn't play, so Steve was just dreaming, or visualizing, in this picture!

We actually went to church on vacation...which may possibly be a first for us! Sam and Hollie told us that church in Mexico always starts late. It just seems to be their laid back culture. Sacrament meeting actually started promptly, so the casually dressed tourists showed up fashionably late! (Again, not a big surprise!) It was a beautiful building, especially set against the run-down concrete buildings covered in grafitti.

Now for the imporant part...the work part. I helped Steve one morning as his assistant, aka hot suction girl! It was actually quite fun, although I do tend to get distracted easily so I think Steve was very glad to replace this suction girl with the more focused, but also hot, Mother-in-law! I was so impressed with Steve. I knew he was a great clinical dentist, and I knew that his bedside manner was good (not in that way...get your minds out of the gutter!), but I didn't know he had the patience of Job. You know a person is patient when they don't even raise their voice after having to tell a little boy, in Spanish, to open his mouth grande for the 100th time, and I mean that literally. I was also impressed with his Spanish. Apparently he learned some important dental terms at his previous dental gig, and then he would throw in his Portuguese here and there. It seemed to be quite effective. By the way, all these kids were actually very happy children, as was Yolanda in the picture above. For some reason they didn't smile in pictures unless you asked them to, and I kept forgetting the Spanish word for smile.