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!