Shannon and Kiley with Santa

Our district had their annual Christmas party this past weekend. We made a point of not telling Kiley that Santa was going to be there. When she found out he was going to be handing out presents she told me very seriously, "Mom I'm not going to kiss him, or hug him either." Then with some more thought, "He has too much hair mom." She grabbed my hand and you would have thought it was the walk of death- but she went to go see Santa because he had a present for her. I actually got a quick, fleeting picture of the two of us on his lap. None with just Kiley and Santa, maybe next year. The party was wonderful- lots of laughs and great food. Ah to be able to each cheese cake without any guilt. Heavenly! :)

Merry Christmas!

The season is finally upon us. Kiley, Jon and I decorated our Christmas tree about a week and a half ago, despite the fact that I was a very grumpy pregnant woman! Kiley loved hanging the decorations, but couldn't be convinced that the ornaments needed to go in different places. She thought our tree looked be-U-ti-ful!

Hello from Kami

Kami has been feeling a little left out of the blog and wanted to say hi. Kiley helped her design the perfect outfit.... she is so caring like that!

The Clouse Kitchen after.....

Can you say WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!???????
We are loving, loving, loving every inch of this new kitchen!!!!




After!!!!!

During 2

Bonnie painting.....The HGTV Remodeling team.... picture by Kiley J. Clouse , master photographer
Did I mention work horse?

During the Remodel

Kiley helping GB paint the wall

Paul pulling out the cabinets. Kiley had to take some of these pictures.
The sage-y paint on the wall, replacing the darker red-ish and peachish colors.
Bonnie did about 99% of the painting- here she is getting up from on of her few breaks.

Kitchen Before!

Kitchen Remodel 2007!!!!!!!!!!!

The Clouse kitchen remodel of 2007 is finally o-v-e-r!! What an amazing transformation of our kitchen! It looks brighter, bigger and totally different! Jon's parents came up for a visit and we started the demolition almost as soon as they walked off the plane...... people have been calling us slave drivers but honestly they are the ones who just go and go and go! Through this whole process I have felt like I am the one that is 60-something and not them! Bonnie and Paul are two amazing work horses! I'll post some "before" and "after" pictures in a few different posts.

A Ballerina, Ariel, Frankenstein and a Witch!

Halloween was an interesting experience this year. Kiley and Jon got dressed up for the Kids Count Halloween Carnival the Saturday before Halloween. Kiley was at first Ariel from the Little Mermaid but thought her costume was "itchy" so we switched to a pretty Ballerina. What a change in our child this year from last. She had fun playing the different games that were available and even was willing to get her face painted!

Her Dad went all out with his costume and was Frankenstein. He really played the part and freaked out a couple of kids at the Carnival. He added about 5 inches to his already tall 6'6 frame by wearing some platform shoes. He was a sight!

Mom was a party pooper and was just tired and pregnant.

On Halloween night we got to go trick or treating with Camryn, which absolutely made the day for Kiley since she loves her cousin so! Kiley was Ariel and Camryn was a pretty witch from "Practical Magic". They both looked so cute!! We must have been out for at least three hours, and I think we hit at least 12 houses. I was pretty pooped out by the time we got home, and ended up crashing on the couch. Kiley could not be talked into going to one more house with Uncle Max or Camryn to get more candy so she was pretty tired herself.

Dress Up Time!

Oh how our three year old loves to torture the dogs. She calls it "playing" but I'm sure by the looks Kami gives us it is torture. Kami wants to know when this headache is going to go back to where it came from??? We had to break the news to her last night that there is yet another one on the way, her life will never be the same. Kiley has started playing "dress up" with Kami and Harley as you can see in the pictures. She also likes to put her shoes and boots on both, but that isn't as entertaining as hats and scarves.

The LeClair Children....

Jeanette, Max and Shannon. Wow we are all grown up! Who looks the oldest now? :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Kiley!

Miss Kiley brought in her third birthday with a bang. She woke up not even remembering that the 22nd was her Special Day.... but she wanted a cupcake for breakfast. It took me a while to get her to tell me why she should get a cupcake for breakfast, but she racked her brains and remembered. I was up before 8:00 decorating her special Ariel cake, I told her to not ever doubt my love for her because it wasn't just anybody I would spend 4+ hours decorating a cake for!

She got to go to Umma Bossy's and Uncle Joe's house for breakfast- and what a treat she got there. Umma had made her three cupcakes specially decorated and we sang her Happy Birthday before she even ate her sourdough pancake. Kiley was in hog heaven. The afternoon party was a blast with a Little Mermaid theme, a pinata, her favorite games of Duck, Duck Goose and the Hokey Poke and Ariel cake and ice cream. Many of her cousins are a little old to play these games now, but they were such great sports and didn't say a word! Every time someone became the "goose" all the little kids jumped right in and were chasing everyone around the circle. It was a riot.

Waiting patiently for their turn at the pinata- Kiley, Camryn, Triston, Dillon, Alethia, Jake and Teresa is in the background.
Ryn helping Kiley open her presents
Miss Kiley and her Ariel cake- she was so excited!
This is what I got Mom!

Kiley showing the others what that pinata was all about.


We also made a bunch of pizza and other snacks. Thank goodness Papa, Gram and Auntie Jeanette were there to help because Mom's hormones just couldn't handle the stress of getting everything ready! The house looked so nice and when Kiley woke up from her nap we all got to hear the, "Oh!" from her that made it all worth it.

Of course Kiley couldn't wait to open her presents and did she ever! She was a whirlwind of opening, showing me and then on to the next. Kiley was overwhelmed with "lippas"- her version of lipstick, new purses, babies and cute clothes. We waited until Saturday to show her the new Red Flyer wagon and piggy bank she got..... which was a hit with walking around the neighborhood and behind our house.

Great News

I don't have a picture... but wanted to share some great news. The Clouses are expecting Baby #2 in April. We are so excited and Kiley seems to be pretty happy about finally being a big sister. We'll see how she is when it does happen. I'll have ultrasound pictures to share soon- and hopefully news on whether or not we are having a boy or a girl. All is going well so far- mom is tired, cranky and frequently nauseous. Other than the normal stuff- no complaints!

Spawing Salmon

Our new teacher inservice took us to Lake Aleknagik again this year. We were lucky enough to enjoy another gorgeous day in this beautiful part of Alaska. Kami and Kiley got to come along and on our boat ride we went and checked out the spawning salmon. I'm not sure who liked seeing them more- Kiley or Kami! Kami kept trying to pick one up and was running after them as they tried to swim away from her. Kiley wanted to tickle them with a feather and have Mommy touch them, she did end up touching one but it wasn't the highlight of her day! It was such a neat trip- I hope we get to go back every year! I am a little late at posting these pictures since our new teacher inservice was in early August! But better late than never....

Just hangin' out

Jon and I bought this armoire for our bathroom for storage... but we found out a little too late (after it was assembled) that it is much too large for our bathroom. Now it is a linen closet in another room. But anyway guess who thought it was a fun play toy just for her? Miss Kiley of course, and Dad thought it would be neat to lock us both inside. :)

The Family Hunters, and other tidbits

My Great White Hunter........
Jon didn't look this happy while he was hunting. It rained almost the entire time and they didn't see one bull. We still haven't gotten our moose so hopefully he'll go out again...
When "the boys" got back from their hunting trip on the Nushagak, Max and Cody decided they would try their luck on the 4- Wheeler at Snake Lake. Max always seems to have fun no matter what he is doing and as you can see from the picture they sure had a blast on this trip, even if they didn't get anything.

I have been totally slacking in the blogging department lately. Starting work again, and not having a whole lot of extra energy are my only excuses. I also need to start taking some pictures and then actually download them to our computer! We are still busy organizing and unpacking our house, will we ever get done? Jon tackled the garage this weekend and it is still a work in progress.... he is trying to get it some what organized for our new kitchen cabinets and counter tops that will make it in sometime in October. My gorgeous walk-in closet finally got put together- I finally have room for all of my clothes! It is absolutely heavenly, I will have to post a picture.

Kiley is just busy- busy talking, playing and riding her bike. Last night she was very naughty and put about a roll of toilet paper down the toilet, Mommy was NOT happy. She is closing in on three so hopefully the terrible two's will be left behind her. Miss Kiley is addicted to purses- or anything she turns into a purse. She has her nail polish, lippa's, and any object that is shiny or that she has deemed "mine".

Kami has her cousin Harley to keep her company. Harley is my sister Jeanette's dog that we are watching for....?? well we are not sure. Jon forgot that he was in the house the other night and when we woke up the next morning Harley had left us three very brown, large, steaming "presents." What a guy huh? We are excited for Jeanette to find her own place so Harley can go home. We do enjoy him though- he is quite the fetcher.

Happy Anniversary!

Our honeymooner cabin on the Agulawok- very, very nice!
This little bear decided to give us a show right in front of our cabin- he was chasing spawning salmon in a little creek.
Kayaking on the Agulawok- it was gorgeous!
Waiting for our plane on the beach at Katmai

One of the bears at Brooks Falls

Jon and I celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss :) on August 3rd. We were surprised with the opportunity to go to the GCI Lodge on the Agulawok for the entire weekend. Since this seemed to be a very busy weekend for everyone in my family we flew my mom up to stay for about 10 days and to watch Kiley.
We had a heavenly weekend-with hiking, kayaking, a deluxe cabin all to ourselves plus wonderful food and conversation. I don't think we have had any other anniversary to top this one! We also got to go to Katmai National Park for the day and watch the bears foraging for salmon. I got some wonderful pictures- and I still can't get over how lucky we were!

Beautiful Aleknagik

Kiley, Jeanette, Jon, and Harley, Kami and myself went to Aleknagik and stayed over night. We couldn't have picked a better weekend! It was SO hot and gorgeous the entire time. Kiley got even more tan than from our vacation time, and I had fun soaking up some more sun too. We had a fun picnic in Sunshine Valley and the dogs swam and swam and swam. Then we did some beach walking and sun bathing. Jeanette found some "sinky" spots as you will see in the pictures, and got just a little muddy!
Jeanette and I tried our hand at oaring around on a boat, we'll have to practice a little more with that before we are old hands! Jon took Kiley out and they boated all around- she had a blast! All in all it was a great trip and we can't wait to go camping again!

Hiking to China Cap

We had a blast hiking up to the top of China Cap mountain. Kiley was our "Dora the Explorer". We told her she was going to be our leader and she heard that and kept going with it! Luckily there was a trail to follow because we had a hard time keeping up with her (the trail was pretty over grown). She got to the top and wanted to keep going!