November 2011

We lost a member of our family the beginning of November.  River was our first child.  When Brad and I were engaged we decided to buy a house.  I told Brad that if we bought a house then I was going to get a dog.  When we were house hunting we even made sure we got a house with a fence and room for a dog.  We found a great house with a big fenced in yard (little did we know that the fence wouldn't be much of a deterrent for the little guy).  I initially wanted a Golden Retriever but I was worried about health problems with Goldens as they are often overbred and people who don't know what they are doing breed them too often.  So I was being picky trying to find the right one.  In the mean time just a month or so after Brad and I were married, my sister Hillary was in town visiting and we were looking at the classifieds in the newspaper and we saw a listing for a 6 month old Husky.  Hillary wanted to call and see the dog but I was skeptical because he was 6 months old.  I thought there must be something wrong with him.  Hillary convinced me to at least see.  So I called the lady and we made arrangements to go out to Avon and meet him.  Hillary and I drove the 25 min to Avon without even telling Brad and upon arrival we learned that I was right, there was something wrong with him.  At least to his current owners.  He was lazy for a Husky and his shoulders were too narrow.  This made him unfit to be the sled dog that they had bred him to be.  He was a sled dog reject but perfect for a house dog.  I fell in love with him immediately.  Even though his name was Nixon (or Castlerock's Scandalous Afair according to his certified pedigree) and he was shedding like crazy the day we met him.  He talked to us in his unique way and cuddled up to us loving every pet we gave him.  Hillary and I headed home thinking of ways to convince Brad that we had found the dog.  Brad was still even unsure about the idea of getting a dog.  We convinced him to at least come meet him. When we arrived River gave him quite a warm welcome and "talked" to him, playfully batted at him with his paws and nudged his little nose into him.  He certainly knew who he had to impress.  It worked. River came home and became our baby.  He went everywhere with us, cuddled us (he thought it was a lap dog) and made us very happy.  Not to say River didn't have an evil side.  He quickly proved to be Houdini and got away all the time.  He ran away daily at first.  It stressed us out and we would cry and our poor neighbors and friends were always helping us look for him.  No matter how hard we tried we couldn't secure our yard.  There were so many times he got away and we couldn't figure out how he did it.   One time after he ran away and I found him quickly just down the street on the next block I tied him up in the front yard as I was doing yard work.   A police officer showed up to our house asking if I owned that dog.  I said yes and then he asked if he was loose that day.  I said yes and she proceded to give me a ticket for him running at large and told me he killed a kitten while he was out and gave me a ticket for that and told me we had to go to court.   The lady said he tore her kitten apart.  It was hard for me to believe since there wasn't an ounce of blood on his fur and he wasn't gone long but that defense didn't hold up in court and we were fined $200 and River was put on probation for a year.  He also tore apart many things in our newly remodeled home.  He completely tore up the linoleum in our kitchen and destroyed our carpet trying to get into a room and tore up the arms of our couch.  We can home to him on top of our kitchen table one time.  He kindly left some scratches in it so we couldn't forget. The day he tore up Brad's scriptures from his mission was the last straw for Brad and we took River back to Avon and told them we couldn't handle it.  After a lonely, sad night at home we drove back the next morning and took him back.  We fenced off a small area in our yard and ran a small pony electric fence around the perimeter.  This helped keep him home while were gone but he still found ways here and there to get out.  Usually we could find him or someone else would and kindly call us so we could go get him. The fact that he was so friendly was his saving grace.  I think the longest he was gone was 3 days.  Two times after being gone at least overnight he returned on his own.  One time I got a phone call from Petsmart (about 4 miles from our house in a busy shopping area) and they told me River just came running through the sliding doors as happy as can be.  When he wasn't running away we loved to take him hiking and camping.  We loved to take him to parks and let him play with other dogs.  He loved to play hide and seek with Brad.  Brad would hide while I held River and then I would say go get him and he wouldn't stop until he did. I have often said if he didn't run away and if he didn't shed he would be the perfect dog.  He didn't bark or slobber.  He was so good and gentle with kids, he was well socialized with other dogs and he brought a big smile to our faces.  A year or so ago we started having trouble with him running away to a neighbor farmer and chasing his sheep.  River never hurt them but the farmer wasn't very nice and called animal control every time instead of calling us.  I had to go pick him up at the ada county animal control 25 minutes away 3 times and pay $200 fines each time for running at large and "attacking" livestock.  We were told if he did it again the judge would most likely order him to be put to sleep.  We felt like we were in a terrible situation and felt like for his safely we may need to find him a home where he can't run away and get into trouble. The thought of being forced to put him to sleep for pretty much not even doing anything was too much.  After looking into some situations we realized that no matter where he was he would get into trouble so we just worked harder to secure our home.  We added a screen door as another deterrent, put concrete under the gate and added a padlock to the gate so the girls couldn't leave it open and River couldn't jump up on it to open it.  This helped and we didn't have anymore runins with the farmer or animal control.  We had a great last year with him and he had a good summer spending a lot of it in Park City, his favorite place.  We also got to go camping a few months before he passed away which was his favorite activity by far.  We really enjoyed River and he brought our family so much happiness.  There is something amazing about a family dog that is truly a part of the family. He wasn't just an outdoor dog that we fed and took care of his basic needs.  He was a member of our family that we loved and when he passed away we felt a large part of our family was missing.  People were so incredibly kind and understanding when he died.  We received many kind words and memories of River, cookies and cinnamon rolls from my friends, cards and picture from my nephew.  Even months later we received a large package from "River" with a poem that read "A little place to rest your head, and think of me at night in bed. Just hold me closely to your heart and know that we're not far apart" and three husky pillow pets and a husky stuffed animal.  I couldn't believe the kindness and thoughtfulness.  I wish I knew who it was so that I could really thank them for such a kind gift.  It meant to world to my girls and I am grateful there are amazing people out there to be such an amazing example to my girls.  We are better for it.  

I started off just wanting to mention Rivers passing but got a little carried away, I got a little carried away adding pictures too. :)

We spent the first part of the girls break in Park City again and then drove to Burley for Thanksgiving.  This year has been so odd in the snow department.  It is crazy how little snow there was in Park City over Thanksgiving but even crazier that there was more in November then there was in December when we were there for Christmas

After River passed away we decided we wanted to burry him in Park City since it was his favorite place to be.  Since we were going to be going to Park City in a couple of weeks we decided to have him cremated and then we had a memorial for him when we were there.  We buried him in my parents yard in a nice corner.  It is nice to be able to go and see him.  My parents and Hillary and Stephen participated with us and Brad read a poem that was sent to him by his sister and we all shared favorite memories of River and then had one big family howl.  One of Rivers other favorite things to do. 

We didn't take many other pictures while we were in Park City but we had a really great time.  

One afternoon we went to Settebello for lunch in SLC (amazing pizza!).  My dad emailed me this picture and it cracked me up when I noticed something kinda creepy about it.  Can you find it?

The only other picture that was taken was this one of apples ready to be peeled for apple pie.  It represents PC well because food is always such a part of our time there.  We are always preparing and eating something yummy! 

We had Thanksgiving with Brads extended family.  His grandparents, aunts, uncles, mother, siblings and  cousins.  We had such a large group we did it at the church.  The food was great and the company was great.  A good time was had by all. 

Two of Brads sisters made this picture wall for a fun backdrop for family pictures.  This is brad and most of his siblings.  

Our little family.