St. George

We went to St. George a couple weeks ago. My mother-in-laws friend had a time share that she couldn't use so she offered it to her and of course we took the chance to go with! We went March 1st-5th! It was a well needed vacation. Between work and the cold it was time to get away!

The timeshare we stayed in was beautiful! It had a big living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Very roomy! It also had a pool!

Swimming was the kids favorite! The pool was heated so it was wonderful!

We certainly tired the kiddos out!

We of course went out to eat... ALOT! We took Lys to Red Lobster because she really wanted to see the live lobsters. When we got there we noticed the entire blocks lights were out including Red Lobster. We went in and they said the power had been out for over and hour and they weren't sure when it would turn back on. So we decided to try else where because we were starving! We headed to Outback which was right across the street and right as we got there we noticed the lights pop on at Red lobster! So we headed back over QUICKLY and they got us on the list. We were sitting there 10 min when the lights went out again :( for about 30 minutes they kept going off and on  when finally they stayed on and we got seated and enjoyed a delicious meal! We were all just really tired from the long long long... long wait. But it was well worth it!

The next day we drove thru snow canyon and spent most the day at the Sand Dunes. We could have stayed there forever. It was nice and warm :)

 Henry was really concernced about the sand and didn't want to get on it. I burried his foot and he had a little freak out until I showed him that you can unbury it haha.

Henry just wanted to be held and preferred to watch the fun. It was pretty darn cute tho. He was VERY worried about Hazel. He did not like that she just crawled around in the sand and would get very nervous for her. She rolled down the hill with him watching and he freaked out. Looks like we have a protective brother on our hands :)

Hazel (a.k.a Nug or Nugget ) LOVED the sand. She had no fear and plowed right thru it!

However she did prefer to try and eat the sand.

Lys of course had a blast in the sand.

She had to make a sand angel.

Fun in the Sand

It was such a fun trip and I miss it already! I can't wait for warmth!!!!!

I was proud of our kids tho. Both ways they were wonderful. It was an 8 hour drive! But they did great. Slept most the time. Well except Lys who LITERALLY talked Grandma D's ear off for the entire 8 hours.. no joke.. that girl can talk!

Saabaka

I've been putting this off for a while just because I wanted to make sure I said the right things about this guy. Plus every time I thought about it and what I would write, I'd flood with tears.

Saabaka

Right before we got married we decided we wanted a dog. I have always loved huskies and had seen an ad for a free pup to a good home. He was part malamute part lab. I decided to check him out and instantly fell in love with him! He was 6 months old when we got him and the previous owners had named him Preston. Ya, we didn't like that either. We named him Saabaka which is Russian for Dog. :) It fit him perfect.

He was just smaller than a lab when we got him and of course I didn't think to even check and see how big malamutes got. Well.. they get pretty darn big! He seriously was our giant teddy bear and had the temper and heart of one too. He was such a sweet heart and was a huge dork too lol.

He always had so much energy! When he was only a year old the only way we could tire him out was to take him on motorcycle rides.. and I mean LONG motorcycle rides. Both Devin and I had dirt bikes and we would go up Hyde Park Canyon on some trails and Saabaka would chase after us. We would go up some steep hills and he'd still keep up no problem. HIS FAVORITE THING was when we'd stop by some streams so that he could just plop down in them and drink until his heart content :)

{Photo bombed by Saabaka haha}

Some of my favorite things about him:

} He loved when I rubbed his lips, and he had some saggy lips! It was something he only let me do which made me feel special :)
} I loved his floppy ears
} I felt protected with him around. One night during a walk up Hyde Park Canyon Saabaka started growling really low. It kinda freaks me out when he does that because I always know something is up. Well he took off up the road  when out of a bush popped a mountain lion! I have never been more freaked out in my life! The mountain lion was alot bigger than Saabaka but he stood his ground and growled and barked until it finally took off up the mountain! I felt like he protected us, well.. I know he did!
} I liked when he let me just lay on him

} I love how much he wanted to be a little dog and would want to sit on our laps or get in bed with us. Keep in mind he weighed around 250 lbs!

} One of the funniest memories was when we went for a hike and he just took off. We called and called him to come back and we finally tracked him down when we heard him excitedly barking. Turns out he tracked down a little baby skunk and was sooo excited! He was in playful stance and we could tell he wanted to try and play with it. We kept calling him to try and get him to back away but he got to close and blam.. he got sprayed! He ran faster than I have ever seen him run before all the way down to the canal. He stunk so bad for a whole week and ended up sleeping outside.. oh man.. it was bad!

} He loved cats. He loved to chase them, but he loved to try and play with them too. HOWEVER he didn't realize he was much bigger and his way of playing pretty much was malling the poor kitties haha

} He loved the outdoors and loved hiking with us

{This is one of my favorite pictures. These two really had a bond and sure did love eachother}

We sure did have a great 10 years with this guy and I miss him so much. Every time I see his empty bed I feel just as empty. But I am so glad he came into our lives and gave us so many wonderful memories. He was very special to us!

Love you Saabaka!!!!!!