Colter and "Bear" - June 18

Colter and "Bear" have been inseparable for the past year. One day not long after we moved to Dimmitt, Colter was going through the stuffed animal basket when he discovered Bear who had been part of our stuffed animal collection since before Colter was born. Soon Bear was requested at both naptime and bedtime and Colter began carrying him around everywhere! He has traveled with us from Florida to California and always helped Colter feel better, whether it was an uncertain trip to the church nursery or feeling bad from a stomachache.

All was going well with their relationship until the boys returned from their backpacking trip to New Mexico. As Colter was climbing into bed their first night back he asked for Bear. Danny and I quickly discovered that Bear was missing and Danny decided Colter must have taken Bear out of his backpack when they got back to the truck and left him at the trailhead parking lot in New Mexico. We thought he might be OK without him, but quickly discovered that wasn't the case. We explained to Colter that Bear had so much fun on the backpacking trip that he decided to stay for a few more days. Then we found some "stand-in" bears to get us through the night and began to search the internet for another "Bear". Thankfully I found one rather quickly and in one week Bear (fresh and clean from a "shower") was "returned" to Colter through the mail.