Vegas!

Vegas!

We flew out of Vegas at 10pm so we left the night before and stayed at Justy's house. He had cleaned and everything for us. Mom had to pick up a load of pallets the next morning so that night we went to the Tournament of Kings that night. It was sweet, they had a gluten free selection so even I could eat the food! It was delicious and such a fun show. Dylan was totally into it. He kept screaming "OH NO!" whenever the bad guy came out (who we were rooting for). We played some games while we were waiting. Dylan especially loved throwing balls into bowls. He won two balls that he loved on all the next day.

He was so happy!

Look at that!

After we helped mom with the pallets, we went to breakfast at Ihop and said goodbye. While we waited for that night Julie, Justin, and Dylan decided to show me the dinosaur museum. Aaron decided to catch up on homework while it was quiet. Something you rarely see at home. :)

Justin will make the worlds best dad! Dylan had a hard time wanting to take a nap with us there, but he finally crashed in the car. He was so excited to see where he woke up.

 They had sharks!

And scary dinosaurs! There is a button to make the dinosaurs growl, and Dylan wouldn't even come in the room. They were way to real to him! It was the funniest thing ever!

These dinosaurs were more suited to him

We became Archaeologists! 

Thanks for the hospitality Jewlz! I will miss you like crazy in New Mexico! I'm so bummed you won't be in Vegas. I've gotten used to you being there and its been so nice to rely on someone at the airport. We love you guys and already miss you!

Kodiak Bear

Kodiak Bear

Meet Kodiak Bear, the newest addition to our family. Unless you absolutely want a dog, don't tell Julie you might be dog hunting. Aaron sort of wanted his own dog since its been a year since Amber ran away and he's finally mourned long enough. We looked into getting a husky here, but the adoption fee at a shelter is $250 and that was a little out of our league, and we were really looking for a puppy. We told Julie we were going to look around for a dog (since it was cheaper to get a dog at the shelter in UT and fly it back) and Julie went crazy. She found us several dogs to look at in shelters around the area, and found us one in Las Vegas to look at. Ollie was the dog in Vegas and Julie went to look at her and said she was the sweetest Lab she had ever seen. So we went from sort of looking around for a dog to falling in love. Score one for Julie! We fell in love with her sweet disposition and great personality. Thank you Julie for your help and the kennel! We never expected so much of it!

Aaron named her Kodiak Bear, Kodi for short. She was an absolute doll in Vegas, but I don't know if it was the lack of heat or she just got used to us in Alaska because she went nuts! She is a crazy fun-loving puppy here for sure. She is still fairly well behaved. We are working on just chewing toys and always coming back, but she was potty trained and kennel trained in a day. She knows how to sit, stay, lay down, shake, and we are working on roll over. She needs work on her leash work because we haven't put her on one since she got here. She is really good at staying right next to me, and behind me every time we have seen wildlife. I wish I were so lucky with Sadie, our moose chaser. She has grown like crazy too! When she first got here, she was about an inch shorter than Sadie. She is now, only a month later, about three inches taller. She eats four cups a day and loves dinner time. She will drag her dish into her kennel whenever she thinks she needs to be fed. She is a lot like Amber in the attention hog, body slamming, lick your face way but such a good listener. Sadie took to her immediately. She loves her. They play together all the time! The only peace we get is after a whole day of playing outside or a five mile run when they both pass out on the floor. Aaron loves her like crazy.

She has the goofiest grin

Kodi taking Grant on a walk

Favorite spot at Julie's house was the fireplace

Sleeping on the floor in Seattle at our seven hour layover. Flying is difficult with dogs because they make you grab them on layovers (try finding a flight to AK without a layover) and you have to go through security and hang out until an hour before the flight where you have to go through security again. Boo! I guess she was worth it.

The Johnson clan

Hanging with the Johnson clan

We stayed with my mom and dad in one of their spare bedrooms that wasn't completely overrun with Mom's business (our whole closet was filled with candycanes). I'm so proud of Mom and her dedication to her new business. The fact that she will drive through Vegas and pick up and load her pallets and sell them herself is just amazing to me. Way to go Mom! It was absolutely fabulous to be at home and see the fam! Josh and Jan and fam came down to see us, Justin, Julie and Ben came down to enjoy a few days, Jer, Britt and fam were close by, and it was so fun to see Jess and Jared!

I have missed my baby sister like crazy! We have been so close for so long, and then hearing about all of her problems with medication and depression made me sick to my stomach. The first time she was in the hospital I started bawling and was praying like crazy. Very suddenly, I felt as though someone were embracing me. A warm comforting feeling filled me and I knew she was going to be okay. The Holy Ghost is a wonderful comforter. It was a very spiritual few weeks of feeling helpless and crying erratically whenever I thought of her there in the hospital. The things that went through my mind! I couldn't think of a life without her in it. It was such a relief to see her and hold her and hug her like I wanted to for months! Aaron was such a perfect husband during that time when I would randomly start crying anytime of the day. I'm so glad I married him. He knows when to make me laugh and is such a spiritual giant. 

Jess and I had a girls day and did some shopping and chatting and tanned out at the pool. She told me there that she thought she was pregnant and found out for sure a couple of days later. Try keeping that a secret! I am so relieved that she is so excited and happy to have this baby. We didn't see too much of Jared, but I'm glad they are so in love and ready to start a life together.

Jess's little stinker Stallin

Jess and Jared at game night

We got to help celebrate Justin's 25th birthday. 25! Isn't that crazy! We have missed him up in Alaska. There is no one around to do anything crazy stupid without him. I miss having a running partner too. Dylan was more than happy to help him blow out his candles. This little boy is such a crack-up. He has a big personality. He helped me give his mom a massage and then he decided he needed one too. He will not be ignored, and loves to laugh. We played lots of games with him and its so funny when he's tired he sticks his little hands in your armpits! Weirdest thing ever....except maybe when Brooke tackled me to the floor and grabbed my boobs.

We had tons of game nights. I almost won our Texas Holdum tournament, but when Jess and me went all in on the last round to end the game, she pulled out a three of a kind and I only had two pair. That girl is so lucky! Jer and Britt taught us a new game called Heart Attack that was really fun. We ended up playing that one a lot. 

I'm amazed at how camera shy my family is when I try and take pictures! No one wants their pic taken!

Alex is a doll! He loved getting up on Uncle Aaron's lap. He has such thick hair! Super cutie!

Alaska still doesn't have blossoms like this! It was heaven!

We took the kiddos to the park in Coral Canyon. Julie and I wanted to take them to Red Cliffs but they were completely out of room, so the park it was. I ended up getting heat stroke while we were out playing, dang this heat! Everyone said it was cool because it was in the 90's but me and Aaron were dying! Grant and Kendel loved the tire swing the best.

Grant and Kendel had tons of tricks they insisted on showing us. They were pretty awesome tricks.

Dibs was picking flowers for her mom

We promised them a hike so we climbed a small hill just outside of the park. Julie says she was so glad not to have girls...they were shrieking about snakes, the heat, and getting stuck. We finally carried them up and down the hill. Grant was a champ and gave us each sandstone rocks to take home as prayer rocks. "So if you don't pray they bonk you on the head."  

We also did the splash pad, bumper boats, and frozen yogurt with the munchkins. It's so fun to steal the kids for a while, but its much more fun to give them back. 

I don't have any pictures of Ryan because he doesn't like me. ha ha. I felt so bad because Jer was helping mom with something in the front yard and Ryan was playing in the back by himself. He got locked outside and had fallen in the pond so I opened the back door to this soaking wet boy who was screaming his head off. When he saw me he didn't know who I was and just curled up on the ground and cried. I felt so bad! I couldn't find Jer either so I was completely at a loss of how to deal with this crying boy. Jer finally came in and asked me what I had done to his boy. ha ha. Poor kid.

I ended up putting a 140 miles on my bike while I was home. Oh my goodness, how I've missed my road bike! It was so much fun that I ended up going around the lake by myself one morning. Riding with Dad has always been a favorite and Aaron used to ride with me all the time. Riding Mountain bikes is not the same!

We did the canyon twice, once with Bill, Dad, and Aaron, and once with Josh and Dad. So much fun!