Once and for all

Every year when we pull out the Christmas bears, there is a moment of amnesia when we can't remember one or more of the bears' names.  We try to reconstruct the order and we always eventually remember but inevitably we decide that we have to do something so that we can remember all the bears' names.  I've batted the idea around of embroidering labels for each of them.  That would be lovely but so far I haven't had vast expanses of time in December for embroidering...

We always go to my blog to help us solve any sort of memory quandary.  My blog has become the definitive source of history for our family.  Braeden said I should do a post with all the bears, once and for all.

So here it is.  I've posted about the bears here and there but this post will be the one I add to every year.  As long as the internet doesn't explode (is that even possible?) we will have our Christmas bears' names recorded for our posterity.

(You're welcome, posterity.  We won't have vast sums of wealth to leave you but we will leave you with the names of our bears.)

1995:  Smith--the bear who started it all.

Adam bought him at Smith's grocery store in Provo.  He didn't know what he was starting.  Also, Smith has the distinction of being the ugliest bear.  He's not unloved though.  He used to have a bell around his neck that Braeden chewed off as a toddler. 

1996: Fergus--one of my favorites

Adam bought him at the BYU bookstore and delighted me with this handsome bear.  Also Fergus may be my favorite because he's the last bear that was for me.

Not that it's about me.

(Why isn't it about me?)

 

1997: Mystic

We got him in Mystic, Connecticut on a magical day we watched Santa come into town on a tugboat.

He used to have more of a tassle on his hat but it was chewed on.  (Who needs a dog when you have children that chew on everything?)

1998:  Hobee

Hobee is another sentimental favorite.  Braeden loved Hobee and named him "Ho" because it was his name for Santa and "bee" because it was his name for bear.  (It also turned out to be Braeden's name for baby.  A few months later he named Emma, "Bee Emma.")

1999:  Millie

Our first girl.  She was named after the millennium.  She is also Emma's favorite.

2000: Connor

From La Connor, WA, he became Mark's favorite.  He's super soft and sort of ugly but then you look at Smith and you know Connor--or any other bear--will never be that ugly.

2001: Cardamom

We got him at IKEA and he was named after the spice that makes Pulla--a Finnish sweet bread--so delicious.

Poor bear is crooked and one of his legs and one of his arms is longer than the other but I don't hold it against him.

2002: MacIntosh

I look at this cute bear and fondly remember the Christmas Mark was born.  Adam bought this little guy at a flower shop and he was named because of his apple green bow.

2003: Stilly

We got Stilly when we lived in Granite Falls along the banks of the Stillaguamish River.  I love the Stillaguamish River.  I hated living in Granite Falls.

I don't hold it against Stilly.  I love his expression.  He looks at me like he knows I hated Granite Falls.

2004: Alderwood

This poor bear is our least favorite.  He's from Build A Bear and there was a dispute at his arrival because Adam liked to be the one to acquire bears and I thought it would be fun for the kids to be involved at Build A Bear.  Poor Alderwood is the result.

If he weren't so unlovely we may not hold it against him but no one seems to like him much.

Sorry buddy.

2005:  Stewy

Adam reclaimed his position as the bear guy with Stewy.  He called the kids down to dinner and put a pot on the table.  They took off the lid, expecting soup and inside was Stewy.  He's named after stew.

He's little and cute (despite the blurry picture).

2006:  Shasta

We got him the year we went to Disneyland.  We named him after Mt. Shasta in Northern California that we drove by.  Sometimes these names are stretches but that doesn't stop us!

I love his pot belly.

2007: Noah

The valley flooded the year we got Noah.  I love his rain gear.

I love that we live on a hill so we didn't need to build an ark when the valley flooded.

2008: Lumi

Lumi means snow in Finnish and it snowed A LOT the year we got Lumi.  Adam left him on the doorstep next to a pile of snowballs he'd made with a little tea light glowing inside (he learned how to do that in Finland).  It charmed us all.

2009: Lad

Lad was named in memory of Grandpa Linn--Linn Adam Davis.

He is sweet and I love his sweater.

2010: Geyser

Adam bought this bear at a gift shop when we went to Yellowstone the summer of 2010.  Way to shop early Adam! 

2011: Cashmere

We named her--because of the apples on her dress--after Cashmere, WA where we stopped on our way home from Lake Chelan to get aplets and cotlets.  It's a pretty little town in the middle of apple orchard.

Cashmere is a pretty little bear. (And aplets and cotlets are disgusting but some family members love them.)

2012: Missy

Missy is named after the Mississippi River in memory of the year we went to Nauvoo (and many points in between).

Missy kind of looks like a drowned rat.  She's cranky but I like her sweater.

2013: Earnest

Named in honor of the play that took over our lives this autumn.  Also, according to Braeden, he is named after Ernie from Rudolph--Ernie the elf who wanted to be a dentist, not make toys.

The Hangers On:  Snow and Flake

We got these bears the Christmas I was (hugely) pregnant with Braeden.  My grandma gave them to us.  They are not in the same social class as the rest of the bears (they aren't truly Christmas bears) but we let them stick around anyway.