Rescued!

At 9:30 this morning we received a phone call. Kenai was rescued from a very kind family from running on the train tracks. We are soooo grateful he was rescued and kept safe all night. He has been returned home. Yeah!!!!

Man's Best Friend!

This is Kenai! He was my birthday present three years ago! If you've met him, you would agree that he is the sweetest dog in the whole world. Kenai got his name because Cameron wasn't sure he wanted a dog, so we named him after Cameron's favorite place on earth...Kenai, Alaska. It didn't take Cameron very long to fall head over heels for this little puppy like the rest of us did. Kensington and I just went looking at Bird World one day and met Kenai and his brother. At first we thought we liked his brother best because of his coloring, but after holding both of them, we realized that Kenai was the one for us. He purred like a kitten in Kensington's arms as she held him. We knew he had to be part of our family. He has definetly made his very own huge spot in our hearts. Kenai goes with us everywhere-camping, for drives, we even took him to the hospital to visit grandma after we first got him. He loves to run to grandma and grandpa's, is often found visiting next door his friend Jax, and rarely barks. At night everyone wants him to sleep with them, but he prefers mom's side of the bed, even when there is a huge empty space on the other side of the bed. One may ask why this blog dedicated to a dog? We are on vacation in St. George (see tanning blog for details). This is one of few vacations we've taken without Kenai. We tried something different and left him with my uncle since we no longer have a fenced in backyard. At about 6:00 p.m. tonight we received a phone call that he escaped my uncle's backyard and is missing. Since it was after 5 and is the start of the weekend there is no way of reaching animal control and of course Kenai's tag doesn't have our phone number, the only way to reach us is by getting our number from animal control. So here we sit in our room feeling totally helpless that we can't help my uncle look for our missing puppy. I have visions of a Disney movie where the family dog and cat travel across the country to return home to their owners. Perhaps Kenai will travel across 1100 west, on up 1500 south and be waiting on our door step when we return home. If not, we only hope some honest person has him and will return him to us after animal control can be reached monday morning. Thanks for letting me ramble. It helps to ramble about someone we love and adore.

To Spray, Or Not To Spray!

So here is my vanity story of the week. My extended family is going to St. George this weekend for my niece's wedding (happy wedding Brianna). We have had an unusually cool weather this spring in the great city of Bountiful. For the last many summers I have already bowed down to the sun god time and time again while working in my garden or flower beds. However, this year I have not put in a garden, and my flower beds have only been visited by me while bundled in a sweatshirt and long winter pants. No sun worshipping for me this year. Woa, I got off on a little bit of a tangent so back to my story already in progress. This weekend, St. George, wedding, me pasty white legs. Do you have the visual? My sister, who will remain nameless (Diana), thought she would treat me to a "spray on tan" to help lift my spirits before we departed for the land of sun. I think she really wanted an alibi for her vanity. So off we go to the day spa for a "spray on tan." Have any of you ever had one? All I can say is nasty! I enjoy showering. I take no less than one a day and often will take two showers and a bath in a day. Not in the rules with a spray on tan. One must wait six to eight hours before engaging in such water activities. Not to mention, no loofas, washcloths, or scrubbing of any kind are allowed. Only light patting. SICK!
Needless to say I left the day spa with a painted on smile, literally. I didn't want my sister to feel bad that I hated how I felt. My husband said I looked good, my girls said I looked orange, my mom said the tan looked great, and my friend Carrie said I looked like an indian. Who to believe? Needless to say...two hours on the dot after my "paint job" I was in the shower. All that is left are very orange hands and feet, and a nice little line on my behind from the paper, yes I said paper, panties I wore in the paint shower. Did I mention it is not a booth like the one Ross goes to in that episode of Friends. A beautiful, young, skinny girl stands there and paints it on you with a spray machine thing. I thought I was being funny when I stated to her, "sorry you have to stand here and paint old, fat women like me." Huh...she replied, "oh, its okay. It goes with the job." Not something like "you're not old, nor are you fat." But "it goes with the job." Not only did I feel like the vainest person in the world, I now felt old, fat,sticky and nasty. But hey, I'm ready for the wedding. If only Brianna's colors were orange, then my feet and hands would blend right in.

Beautiful Daughters

These daughters of mine are truly amazing. Cameron has done an excellent job teaching them how to spoil me on days such as my birthday, mother's day, and christmas. However, he has always taken them to do the spoiling. I was pretty sure that with him being away for mother's day, the spoiling would go unspoiled. Not so. Saturday was a VERY long day for all of us. I had a major melt down, one of such magnitude that no amount of running or binge eating would have cured. So, I opted to go to bed. By 8:00 p.m. I was sound asleep. Heavenly! I went to bed leaving my kitchen with dishes in the sink, counters a mess, and the front room untidy. Not something I usually overlook. The girls disappeared to Grandma's and with her help they planted me a beautiful pot of flowers and wrote me a lovely card. Upon returning, they noticed the house in disarray, and busily went to work cleaning it. I awoke Sunday morning to a wonderful aroma coming from downstairs. The girls came giggling into the bedroom to announce that when I wanted to join them, breakfast was ready. Ready indeed. I first noticed how clean everything was. Compliments were made all around. I sat down to a table that was set with tablecloth, centerpiece of flowers, and a card at my place. I was so overcome with appreciation for my daughters I could barely speak. We had a delicious breakfast of french toast and scrambled eggs. I had no idea they even knew how to cook these things and it tasted so good. I could not have asked for a more perfect mother's day. As I sat in Relief Society and listened to Tiffany Guzman's beautiful lesson on motherhood, I was truly so grateful that Heavenly Father sent these beautiful daughters of His to me for a time. I hope that I can raise them in a way that He would be pleased with. They have come into my home with such amazing spiritual gifts. I hope that I can help teach them and help them cultivate their gifts.

Humility Runneth Over!

Last week at school was teacher appreciation day. On Wednesday the PTA designated to bring your teacher a flower. I have a problem following rules and blending in with the crowd so I put on my thinking cap. I love my cricut machine. It cuts out almost anything I can dream of. The girls picked out the paper they wanted to use and we made this lovely bouquet of flowers with paper and pipe cleaners then placed them in a pretty little bud vase. I think the phrase I was heard uttering often was "I'm so freaking amazing!" The creativity did not stop there. My niece Brianna is getting married the end of this month, so I decided to put together a scrapbook using her wedding colors so that she could have a sign in book. I spent a couple of late nights, the second accompanied by friends whom I'm sure think I am crazy, but I finished the scrapbook. It turned out beautiful if I do say so myself. Again, heard from my mouth over and over, "I'm so freaking amazing!" Mother's Day also can't be celebrated with purchased gifts, but must be homemade gifts from the heart. I saw an idea on a blog and one upped it. I took the girls to K-Mart put them in the little $1.00 picture booth and "Freaking Amazing." Of course can't give mom a store bought card, but had to make a homemade one. I tried a new thing and handstitched flowers on a card. I think my mom loved it. Thanks Laura for the make and takes blog. I've added it to my list. I love having weeks when I feel really creative like last week. This week I haven't been quite as creative. I'm looking for ways to be able to say "I'm so freaking amazing!"

New Hair

Karadie made some real accomplishments this year in school. I asked
her what she wanted to do to celebrate and she replied that she wanted
to cut her hair. I made a few suggestions like go get an ice-cream cone, get a new book, or someother non-invasive celebration. Not Karadie, if there is one thing that child inherited from me it was my stubborness. We didn't ask dad, cuz we knew he would have stronger feelings against her cutting hair than I did. So we just did it. I must admit, her new hair fits her sassy, fun personality. We're really proud of her and her achievements in school. Way to go Karadie!

Happy Birthday Cameron from A to Z

Fifteen years ago you blew into my life and swept me off my feet. Here are the ABC's about you that possibly persuaded me to fall in love with you:
A-You are adorable and affectionate.
B-Believable? Not so much. I still haven't figured out when you are telling me the truth or some fabricated story.Also, BEARS. Not much to say about that other than you like bears, you study bears, you hunt bears, our blog is named after BEARS!
C-Charming, charismatic, caring, clever, charitable (hmm, there are a lot of "c" qualities that you have).
D-Daredevil. Unfortunately for me you are not afraid of too many things. Most of all you are DAD to Karina, Kensington, Karadie, and Kazen.
E-Eternal Companion to me.
F-Fascinating. You somehow know something about everything which totally fascinates me.
G-Gigantic. Really, you are.
H-Hair. Most men do not go through more hair stages than their wives, but you have gone from a long haired hippy to a bald billiard ball and all the stages in between.
I-Intuitive. You know what the gender of everyone's children are before the ultrasounds, you are always intune with the spirit. Karina inherited her intuition from you.
J-Joker! Not much more to say about that.
K-Kitchen Master! We haven't eaten anything great cooked in our kitchen since you left.
L-Laughter. We miss you filling the house with laughter. Loveable, we love that you are loveable.
M-Maniac! Mischievious!
N-Neat freak, well not at home, but when you are working.
O-Optimistic. You always have the most positive outlook on life.
P-Playful. You may be turning 37, but you haven't forgotten how to play hard.
Q-Quiet. NOT!
R-Respectful. Thank you for teaching the children how to have respect for things that are important and sacred.
S-Sensitive, sweet, sexy, and spiritual.
T-Timeliness. Well not really on time timeliness. You have a timetable all of your own.
U-Unforgetable!
V-Versatile. You know how to do so many things so well. Photography, remodeling, cooking, cleaning, yard work, decorating, dressing, hunting, and the list goes on and on and on.
W-WOW! Wonderful, works hard for you family.
X-Refuses to ever have and X-Ray. This is true. I'm not making this up to fill a letter in the alphabet. You really don't like X-Rays.
Y-Youthful! Yearning to be home with his family.
Z-Zany and crazy for life.

I'm sorry that we can't be with you for your birthday in body, but we are so with you in heart. I love you so much! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Papa Grizzly

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA GRIZZLY! Your baby cubs love you so much. We all have agreed that we miss you ( what the heck am I talking about we knew that from the very beginning). Anyway We love you happy birthday and we want you home now!

She's Growing!

Woo Hoo! Karina has grown one half inch in the last 2 weeks! We have never been so excited for one of our children to grow. Her shoe size has gone up (amazing for a child who's had the same size feet for 2 years), and we had to buy larger pants last week! Many reasons to celebrate a half an inch. Yeah growth hormones! (This blog was approved by said child).

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy

I can't believe that it was 7 years ago tomarrow that this incredible boy was placed on loan to our family. He was only with us a short 21 months, but he taught us so much. His example is eternal. We strive each day to join him again.


Most of you have probably heard Kazen's incredible story. It started over a year before he was born. My doctor told me after Karadie was born that I was not to have any more children. He told me to consider a hysterectomy sooner than later. I couldn't bring myself to one more surgery, so we waited. Cameron had a very sacred and special experience that I won't share now, but in essence, he let me know that one more was waiting to come to our family. I knew he was right. I knew that Heavenly Father would bless me to be alright if we brought one more spirit into our family.

I wasn't blessed the way I wanted to be. Are we really ever? I wanted a healthy pregnancy with no bed rest. I pretty much told the Lord that too. He knew I needed to learn obedience and patience, so instead of being in bed for 10 weeks, I was in bed for 20 weeks! Awesome!

Kazen joined our family 4 weeks early. He spent 2 weeks in the NICU at LDS Hospital. Time was spent on the ventilator, off the ventilator, on the ventilator, and off again. At first he didn't want to eat, but once he figured out nursing, he was a super fabulous eater (of course we had to wait until he was off the ventilator). After spending 2 days under lights for jaundice we brought him home weighing 5 lb. 7 oz. ( he lost 3 oz. after he was born).

The girls were immediately in love with their baby brother. The never left him alone. It amazed me he ever learned to walk, for the girls hauled him everywhere. He wasn't much smaller than they were, but they treated him like a baby doll and carried him wherever they felt he needed to go. The afternoon we brought him home from the hospital Cameron and I crashed on the living room floor. I layed on the couch and Cameron layed on the floor with Kazen in his arms. Cameron woke with a start wondering if I had picked him up to nurse him, but when he realized I was sound asleep he began to FREAK out! We started searching all over the house, soon to discover Karina had carried him downstairs to her room and gently placed him in her doll crib. She sweetly explained to her daddy that Kazen wanted to play and she was just looking after him. That's how the rest of his life was. His sisters were always looking after him. Now it is his turn to look after all of us.

We have felt his presence near many times. We love you buddy. We can't wait to be with you again! Happy Birthday!




Cameron and Kazen in
St. George










Up to trouble!

Halloween
2002














Christmas
2002









1 week before his passing.
He thought he was so cool
sitting in this car.

Emotional Week

I'm going to apologize upfront for the blogs that may appear this week. There are 52 weeks in every year, but for some reason 5 years ago this week and a half became a difficult week and a half for my family to get through. So, since this is my first year blogging, I'm going to be paying tribute to those I love who are no longer with me. Be patient with me, or just don't read. Here is a quick glimmer of what May flowers bring to our home.


May 3rd Cameron's Dad's Birthday (Grandpa Bob)

May 7th Kazen's Birthday

8th Grandma Richter-Beesley's Passing Anv.

May 9th Cameron's Birthday

May 14th Grandpa Bob's Passing Anv.

Memorial Day!


Five years ago when this week of happiness changed to a week of sadness it was air sucking from your longs difficult. However, with the help of family, friends, and faith, we celebrate the lives of those we love with much tenderness. Thanks for indulging me this week and allowing me to remember those I love and deeply miss so much.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Bob!

Today is my father-in-laws birthday. He would have been 66. I will admit that we had a rocky relationship for the first many years that I was in the family. Most of it due to his wife. However, the last year before he passed away, we became very close. I learned to really appreciate and love him. I have yet to meet a more charitable person. Over the years he donated thousands of dollars to so many charities. It has been fun to discover his name on plaques at Primary Children's Medical Center, Hale Theater, and many other places. We love driving to Park City and seeing Grandpa's slide on the side of the mountain for the olympics. He did so much on the Olympic Committee to bring the world to Salt Lake City. We are so proud of all his hard work.

Bob's last winter with us we shared some great moments. I'd like to endulge a moment and share just a few. He was overlooking our new roof project, so there were many mornings when he would show up at the crack of dawn (even for me who is a morning person) with breakfast from McDonald's and kisses all around for the girls. Yes, I surprised Cameron one morning with a giant lip smacking kiss with his dad. The girls and Kazen all loved waking up to breakfast with Grandpa. Still working on the roof project, Bob and Kazen were out watching the workers tear off our old roof. Kazen began to climb the ladder, backed back down, turned around to Grandpa with his hands on his hips, then proceeded to chew Grandpa out for making a mess of our drive-way. Grandpa swooped up that little angel and they both had a good laugh. Christmas that year was so much fun. Bob showed up early, waking all of us up Christmas morning and wanted to open presents. Our favorite Christmas by far because we had him all to ourselves the entire day. He even went with us to the Deters' side of the family in the afternoon.

The girls love and miss you Grandpa Bob! Cameron and I miss and love you too! Thanks for taking such good care of us in this life and for continuing to watch out for us on the otherside. We are looking forward to a sweet reunion with you! Happy Birthday!