Bear Clan

Kevin's Baptism

2010-04-13T15:32:00.001-07:00

Kevin was Baptized on Saturday! He did a great job. Patrick did as well. It was a crazy and fun filled day. We also celebrated Claire's birthday on that day as well. It was nice to have so much family and friends over to celebrate both occasions!

Halloween Party!

2009-10-24T21:11:00.001-07:00

My good friend Monica invited our family to a Halloween party at the family center. The kids were so excited! They couldn't wait to put on their costumes and show them off!

Kevin has a lot of pirate gear, so we decided why not just use what we have a and add a little to it to make him a Pirate for Halloween. The only thing he needed was a shirt. I was just going to go to the DI and find him a long sleeved white shirt and call it good, but I decided to look at their cotume section and, no joke, this shirt was the only Pirate item they had and it was perfect. I found some red material to make the sash and cut up some old church pants and he was good to go!

Claire, like Kevin with his Pirate stuff, has a lot of Fairy stuff. The only items she did not have was a wand, because she broke her last one doing to much fairy magic, and some sparkly fairy make-up. She loved playing the part of the fairy princess and can't wait to do it again on Halloween!

There were all sorts of fun activities for the kids to do at the Party. They had a table set up for decorating cookies. This, of course, is where my kids spent a lot of their time.

Instead of a cake walk they had a book walk. The kids all got a chance to walk around and when they landed on the right number they won a book!

Here is Claire with her book. She was very excited to win one. Kevin didn't land on any winning numbers, but they let him pick out a book anyway. It was a fun night! Thanks Monica for inviting us!

First day of Second Grade!

2009-08-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Kevin started school this past week. He was so excited to enter second grade. He looks so cute in his school uniform! My little man is growing up! A few weeks a go he decided that it was time for him to start reading chapter books. I thought he would start and then just move on, but he proved me wrong. He reads every night before bed and updates me nightly on what chapter he is on!

Claire had to get herself some attention too! She wouldn't let me put the camera down without getting a picture of her with Kevin! Here she is in her Jammies that she never wants to take off, because they are her special Dora Jammies that Grandma Barlow gave her!

2009-07-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

anyone about to look at these next post's will want to scroll down and start with the post titled Oregon Part 1 then scroll up one post at a time from there!

Oregon Part 4 (shopping)

2009-07-27T12:14:00.001-07:00

You will notice that here are no pictures to go along with this post. That is because I forgot to take some, but I wanted to write about it anyway, because it was so fun! Janet had this great idea that the girls should stay behind a few extra hours and go to the outlet shops near Newport. The boys took one car and went back to Silver Lake. Janet, Raven, Claire, and I took our car. We had a girls shopping day. It was so fun! I would have to say the trip home was the most fun. We listened to music and sang our hearts out most of the way back! It was a great end to our vacation in Oregon. Thanks Nat And Jan so much for everything! Next time...VEGAS BABY!

Oregon Part 4 (the lighthouse)

2009-07-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

Anyone who know's my Husband well, know's that he loves lighthouses! When he found out here was a light house in Newport there was no way he was going to pass it up!

Here is a Picture of Kevin near the top of the lighthouse.

Here are the stairs from the top. There were a lot of staires to climb.

Claire was too young to go up so here is a pic of her and I waiting at the bottom while Pat and Kev went up. (I went up alone after they came back down)

Oregon Part 3 1/2 (Claires fit)

2009-07-27T11:56:00.001-07:00

Having technical difficulties. Will post video clip as soon as I can!

Oregon Part 3 (the beach)

2009-07-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

The beach was a good and bad experience depending on who and where you were. Kevin loved every part of it!

Janet, Raven, and I had fun playing with the anemone's (is that how you spell it?). They were sticky to the touch and would close in around your finger. They were cool!

Claire hated every minute of it! The closer we got to the water the colder and more windy it got. She didn't like the cold, but she really didn't like the wind. (watch the video above this post to see just how much she hated it!)

There was this grogeous waterfall right on the beach. I made Jan and Nat pose for a picture by it!

Oregon Part 2 (crabbing)

2009-07-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Nat, Patrick, and the boys on the crabbing docks getting ready to crab.

Here is a crab we caught.

While we were crabbing there was another guy on the docks with us who caught a starfish. He thought the kids would like to look at it before he threw it back in. Just a fun fact that Raven shared with me, I guess if you cut a starfish in half it won't die. Both halves will regenerate to make two new starfish!

The end result of our crabbing experience! cooking and eating the crab! Yummy!

Oregon Part 1 (Arrival)

2009-07-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

We recently took a trip to Oregon to visit Janet and Nat. They really wanted us to experience Oregon, because it's the best, THE BEST! (right Nat?). Here we are when we first arrived at the Awesome place Jan and Nat were kind enough to set up and pay for us! (thanks again guys). As soon as we got there we all got dressed to go swimming, which is why I'm dressed like this. I don't normally strut around dressed like this, but I do strut! Hehe.

Some pics of our room!

The coast was amazing!

Patch and I posing by the coast on the balcony in our room.

Clairey the Fairy!

2009-06-15T20:14:00.001-07:00

Claire's aunt Tina made her this tutu for christmas this past year. She wore it all the time for a few weeks and then decided she wanted nothing to do with it. I was so happy when she came to me the other day and said she wanted to wear it and wear it she did! She wore it all day. We took the kids to a movie that day and she insisted on wearing it. Patrick thought it was a little weird at first, but she was so adorable! She took her little fairy wand and wanted to wear her pretty purple shoes. She was casting little fairy spells. She was so girly! I'm so glad she isn't all tom boy. She had me worried there for a while when her favorite toy was a motorcycle.

Crazy Hair Day!

2009-06-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

So, the day before Kevin's last day of school they have what is called Crazy Hair Day! It's the one day of the year that the kids get to wear what they want and more importantly do their hair as crazy as they can. At first Kevin wanted nothing to do with crazy hair day. He was too embarassed to try something silly and new, but 5 minutes before school he changed his mind. This little mowhawk was what came of that 5 minutes. I just happened to be helping out at his school that day and I saw all the kids with their crazy hair. I was thinking Kevin's was pretty crazy, but oh no! I was wrong. Turns out it's a big thing at his school (he transfered there last October). One girl had put her hair in lots of little braids and then attached a helium filled balloon to each braid and another boy grew his hair out just so he could do a reverse mowhawk where he shaved all the hair down the middle of his head! It was like being in a Dr. Suess movie, Crazy! I guess I have my work cut out for me nexy year!

Bear Lake!

2009-06-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

We went to Bear Lake a few weeks ago for Memorial Day weekend. We all needed to get away. It was fun! Here we all are at the beach! It wasn't very sunny, but it was still fun just the same. Kevin and Claire went crazy picking up and collecting shells. We also got to spend some time with Patrick's grandparents who live up in Garden City during the summer. They really enjoyed having Kevin and Claire around to entertain them! It was a great little trip away from home!

Minnie Golf!

2009-05-19T17:59:00.001-07:00

Patch and I took the kids to play minnie golf this past saturday. Kevin had been before, but Claire had not. They loved it! We all had so much fun. Kevin got a hole in one and won a free game of minnie golf! He was so excited! Here is Patrick making his move!

Kevin waving to the camera!

Mommy and Claire taking a break on a nearby rock!

My little babes being cute as always!

Little Seeds!

2009-05-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

Claire has a new favorite song! It's called "Little Seeds". It's a song she sings in nursery. Enjoy!

The Inspector!

2009-04-22T17:12:00.001-07:00

Ok....Now you have seen the pictures, time to explain what they are all about! Aside from old Halloween pictures I have never seen or been able to get Patrick to dress in costume. I've always wanted him to cut loose and have a little fun, but it's just not his thing. I have learned to accept that over the years, so you can imagine my suprise when he told me about a month ago that he had to dress in costume for a young men/young women activity. For those of you who don't know, Patrick is in the young men presidency in our ward. The young men and young women decided to do a combined activity where they put on a live version of the game clue. Patrick was originally supposed to be a character that was more in the background and he had very little lines. Well...When he came home with the script it said he was to be the Inspector! On top of that he noticed that the role of the Inspector had the most lines. You can imagine his stress! Again, those of you who know my husband know that he is not a social person. He likes to keep to himself. Well...Patrick decided to try and make the most of this new development and went full out with the costume! I was so proud of him for stepping out of his shell for the night! He is an amazing, funny, and creative man and I'm glad others got to see
a side of him that only I see! Of course I had to get pictures! Patrick did grumble a little, but ultimately agreed to let me take them. In return I let him get pictures of me with his moustache and hat....and Of course the kids wanted in on the action, so we made it a family affair! I love my husband very much and I know he had way more fun then he'd like to admit! I love you babe!

Sunday Stroll!

2009-04-06T15:52:00.001-07:00

Sunday afternoon, after the 10:00 session of Conferance, Patrick and I decided to take the kids out for a walk. It was such a nice day (Finally) and the kids have been itching to go outside all winter. We had so much fun just hanging out and watching the kids play. I love this time of year, because it's not too hot and the bugs haven't quite comeout yet. I hate bugs! I love when my kids are getting along, even if it is for the sake of a picture!

That man with my kids sure is sexy1

What a Nerd!

My Creative Son!

2009-03-27T20:36:00.001-07:00

Kevin loves to draw and one day, while I was gone visiting family with Claire, Patrick took Kevin to work with him for a few minutes. Weeks later he was cleaning out his desk when he came across these drawings. He brought them home to show me, because he thought they were funny and cool. In this one Kevin is jumping from building to building. When he gets to the highest one

he proudly exclaims " Me Kevin YA! ". This one is a picture of what Kevin calls a ziz bird. The ziz bird, Kevin says, is bigger then the world. The little round thing next to the bird is the world.

This one is of an evil villan Kevin likes to call Lord Syrde (see-rd). Lord Syrde is holding his evil lighting sword.

I love that My Kevin has such an imagination. He suprises me every day with a new drawing or story or game that he has made up. They are so detailed. He invites me into his little world and I'm happy to join him!

Birthday, secrets, and dreams!

2009-03-18T14:14:00.001-07:00

So Kevin had a birthday on sunday and we invited our friends Monica and Chris over to Patricks Parents house to celebrate. Thier son, Isaac is Kevin's best friend. He wrote this special birthday note to kevin all by himself. He had no help coming up with the idea (although I think his parents said he is really into Harry Potter). I think it is so funny and thought I'd share it with you all! It says " dear kevin your present lies in the vault of secrets and dreams from your best friend to kevin".

Here is Claire thinking she needs to be the center of attention.

And Here is the adorable 7 year old birthday boy himself!

Family Hike!

2008-10-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

We recently took a family hike up Logan Canyon. Here are some pics of the kids on that hike. Kevin was scared of everything (I mean everything). He didn't want to walk too close to the plants because there might be bugs that jump out or snakes that sneak up. He didn't want to get close to the river because heaven forbid he fall in. However, he did find this walking stick to protect him. As scared as he gets you gotta love the kid!

This is his brave boy stance before the hike started. Hey, at least he tries!

Claire was the exact opposite. She wanted to wander off and explore. If there was a bug she wanted to touch it. If we were near the water she wanted to go in it. Her and Kevin kind of balance eachother out.

Here is Claire with her walking stick. She actually used this to walk with. She didn't play with it at all, she just used it to walk. She is serious about her hiking.

Great Grandma!!

2008-10-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Claire loves her great grandma. From the moment they met Claire has always been drawn to her. She askes about her all the time. These pictures were taken the last time my parents came to visit and she askes to see these pictures all the time!

Goofy Goobers

2008-10-19T18:17:00.002-07:00

In the spirit of Halloween here are my crazy children attempting to do Scary for the camera.

Spongebob "Claire" Pants!!

2008-10-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

Claire loves spongebob lately and she found this costume in Kevin's toy box. Of course she wanted to wear it. She wore it all day. She loves to pretend to be different characters.

School's Out!

2008-05-25T19:44:00.002-07:00

Kevin finished School this past week so I thought I'd get some pics of him in his School environment! This is Miss Hansen, Kevin's teacher. She is so nice and really good with the kids.

This is Kevin's best friend and partner in crime, Isaac. They do everything together. I'm sure it helps that Isaac's mom and I hang out a lot ( hey Monica, What's up!).

And finally, here are the boys givin' Miss Hansen some end of the school year sugar. I wonder if this means they like older women!

2008-05-25T19:44:00.001-07:00

We had just gotten home from church and I was trying to get he kids out of their church clothes. I couldn't find any of Claire's clothes in her room so I checked the laundry room and this is what I found. Now if I had found her asleep then that would be an eerie connection to my falling asleep in the laundry basket pics. Any of you who haven't seen the pics may not understand this post as much as my Family. Oh well, you can just enjoy my gorgeous daughter instead!

Family Pet!

2008-05-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Patrick caught this little guy while mowing the lawn. We decided to keep him or her. Kevin and Claire love to hold it and watch it hop. We named it Hoppy, because that is what Claire said when she saw it hop for the first time. Kevin usually hates to touch any animal or bug, but he has really taken to Hoppy as you can see in the first picture.

Halloween! (six months late)

2008-04-17T08:37:00.001-07:00

SO, I know halloween was like ten years ago (ok, maybe not quite that long) but I figure it has been a year since I updated my blog so this is an improvement. We did a Spongebob theme this year as you can see. Kevin was Spongebob and Claire was Plankton. I made the Plankton costume and well thats all I'm going to say about it, because my sewing skills kind of explain it's self (I messed up A LOT). As you can see Kevin used a jellyfishing net for his candy. We wanted to get Claire a bucket and write "Chum Bucket" on it, but we didn't have time. I really don't think she cared all that much anyway. I hope to update more in the future. It is hard for me because we don't have the internet at home, so I have to go to my in-laws house accross town. I love you all!

2007-04-16T15:17:00.002-07:00

Open...

...Look at Mommy and Daddy...

...And close...

This is what Claire did for 30 min. strait. Open, look, close. For some reason my baby girl loves doors. And that is all I'm gonna say about that.

What a Basket Case

2007-04-16T15:17:00.001-07:00

I was getting ready to put away our clean laundry. I turned away for a second and when I returned, this is what I found. Claire had climbed in and started to take out all the clothes. Then she just sat in the basket and played for a good while. I seem to remember me doing something similar only I was asleep and the laundry may or may not have been dirty.

Brother and Me

2007-04-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Claire and Kevin just love eachother so much. He is such a protective big brother

Memoirs of a Chocolate Eating Claire Bear...

2007-01-18T13:14:00.001-08:00

" I wonder what this strange brown brick is. Maybe I'll taste it just to make sure it is safe for others to eat...

...( lips smaking )Yummy, this is really good. I sure hope nobody sees me eating this. I would so hate to share ( soft ho hum humming )...
...Uh Oh!

Merry Christmas!

2007-01-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

Claire Got a Dora Couch from Santa and she loves sitting on it, unfortunately so does Kevin.

Kevin Got a gameboy advance SP from santa and he hasn't parted with it since christmas. I think we may have to have a gameboy playing intervention.

Tubby Time !!

2006-11-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

Our little Claire Bear loves to take baths. Here are a few pictures of her enjoying tubby time! " Oh, Hi mommy"
"I know I'm cute!"
" I would make Crayola a lot of money with my cuteness!"

Happy Halloween

2006-11-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

Look at our cute little bumble bee!
Batman a.k.a. Kevin to the rescue!
They make the cutest crime fighting duo ever!

Pumpkin Walk

2006-11-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Every year The city of Logan does what is called a pumpkin walk. A bunch of schools and businesses creat a theme from pumpkins. Kevins preschool did a wiggles theme and it played thier song "Uncle Noahs Ark" He had fun decorating his pumpkin. Getting ready to enter the Pumpkin Walk!
The wiggles Jeff and Anthony (It's sad that I know them by name)
This is a sign showing who worked on this theme. As you can see it is Kevins School

Little characters!

2006-11-03T16:30:00.000-08:00

Batman and Catwoman! What a cute duo.
It's a Bird, It's a Pl.....Oh ya it is a plane with the cutest boy ever!!
Isn't she the cutest, non white, SnowWhite ever!

I'm Stuck!!

2006-11-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

" Help Mom I'm stuck!" I'm sure this is what Claire was thinking when I took this pic. She crawls under her toy and can't get out. It's funny, because she seems to think she can fit anywhere, no matter how small the space. Once she tried to fit underneath our gliding ottoman and nearly got her head stuck.

Learning to Cruise!

2006-10-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

Claire is so close to crawling. This shows how she can get up on her hands and knees pretty well. She just rocks back and forth trying to figure out how to move her arms and legs in a way that will make her go. She is so cute to watch. When she isn't working on crawling her and Kevin are bonding. She literally lights up when he walks into the room. She waves her arms and legs begging for his attention. Kev loves giving her attention in return!!

Ready For School!

2006-10-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Kevin right before school. He loves school so much and gets really excitied right before I take him. He is making a lot of friends and is learning a lot too!

Silly Boy!

2006-09-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Kevin wanted to dance for us in his room and we got a few pictures of him dancing. He looks a little drunk in the first one, but the second one is cute. He is so cute when he dances. He moves really well to the tune of the music whether it's fast or slow!

Beautiful Baby!!

2006-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures of our Beautiful baby girl! This is what she wore to church. I finally convinced Patrick to let me put a bow on her head, because she looks so cute with it on. Even he agrees that the dress just doesn't look as cute on her without the bow. We love our little Claire bear !!

Family Outing!!

2006-09-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here is Kevin on a slide. He was scared to go down it at first, but when we finally convinced him to go down he couldn't get enough of it!
I was walking behind Patrick and Claire When I asked them to turn and look at me. This is the picture I got. I think it is so cute!
I found these two trees that grew together and formed a "v" I had kevin stand in between them so I could get a picture of him. It took a couple trys to get him to smile for me, because he wanted to go play, but I got one!
Here is Claire Bear in between those two trees, with daddy's help of course. She is so cute. She loved the outing. She couldn't get enough of the trees and the colors, it was a lot of fun for all of us!

Handsome Kevin!

2006-09-08T13:32:00.002-07:00

Kevin Got new church clothes a few months back and he wanted to model them for us. Here is a picture of him being the cute, smart, amazing boy that he is!

Claire's First feeding!

2006-09-08T13:32:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of Claire the first time she tried baby food. She took to it like a fish to water! She knew exactly what to do. She finished the whole bowl and was still hungry for more, but we weren't sure how her tummy would handle it so we gave her a bottle. Her face is a little messy, but most of it made it into her mouth I promise!!

Claires Blessing

2006-09-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

For those of you who couldn't make it to Claires Blessing here are some pictues of her on her special day! She was so tiny then that she swam in her dress, but she looked gorgeous just the same!!

My boys at the Fair

2006-08-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

Kevin loved the rides at the fair. He rode on all the ones that his height would allow. This one is of him on a rocket type ride. Notice the gun (fake of course) He rode around pretending to shoot stuff! The one above is one Patrick went on with him. I was blowing kisses to him from the camera and he was trying to blow kisses back. I love my boys!!

Cutie Pie Claire

2006-08-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some more recent pictures of our cute smiley Claire Bear. Mom bought her that hat at the D.I. and we put it on her head. She went crazy, it was like she knew she was supposed to pose. She loves our camera and we love capturing these moments of her with it!!

2006-08-30T11:34:00.001-07:00

Here is our little Kevin enjoying some sibling time with Claire. He loves her so much and he is such a good helper. Kevin is 4 years old and is excited to start preschool in about a week. He loves to dance and sing, but most of all he likes to fight monsters!

Introducing us

2006-08-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Our little Claire bear. This is a picture of her first smile. She was about 2 months old in this pic. Now she is almost 5 months and she still has that gorgeous grin. She is growing up fast she rolls around all over the place and gabs away at whoever will listen. We just love this new and final addition to our family!!