Happy 27th Birthday (2 days early) Mary Claire!!!

On March 26, 1982 a bundle of joy came into our lives. Mary (named after her Grandma Mary) Claire was born and we were so excited to have another little girl in our family. Claire was the best baby. Seriously, she never cried. She was a little thing and only weight 6 lbs. 12 oz. She had dark hair and HUGE eyes. She and Jordan became fast friends and played together hour after hour.

When Claire was very little the doctor could see that her feet were turning in and that she would be pigeon toed. He put her in little corrective shoes with a bar that turned her feet out so the problem could be corrected. It seemed to work.

Once Claire began to crawl, she became an all terrain vehicle. She would crawl through, under, over and in everything in her path. She crawled up on top of a table and feel off, cutting her lower lip. She had to have five or six stitches to repair the damage.

Claire attended Joy School taught by her mother and other mothers in the neighborhood. She was a very quick study and learned things easily. She loved books right off the bat. She won many reading contests in elementary school. How many parents to do you know of who have to tell their child “put down that book and go outside and play, stop reading?” Yeah, I know. None.

Claire attended elementary school nearby and walked to school for K-4 and grades 10-12.
Claire was always a picky eater and like what she liked. She always wanted to have a “cold lunch” because she didn’t like the food served at school.
Claire took to balls and sports like no other. She can throw a football further than most boys, even now. She played sports in grade school and became a good little soft ball player. She has many trophies of their soft ball triumphs. She made many good friends playing sports throughout her school years.

Here are a few other facts about Claire:

• Claire use to share her testimony in church. One time she said that she was thankful for the prophet, President Regan. The people all thought that was so cute and they laughed. She didn’t return to the pulpit for 12 years.
  
• Claire attended the Accelerated Learning Lab at Cherry Hill school grades 5-6. Her teacher was Mrs. Crandall. She loved Mrs. Crandall and all her friends at Cherry Hill. She cried her eyes out the last day of school. It was pretty shocking to all of us, since we hadn’t seen her cry for years. I don’t think she cried again for many more years, until she had to say goodbye to Jordan when Jord left on her mission and then again when she graduated and left BYU. She loved attending BYU and was so sad for that chapter of her life to be over.
  
• She attended Junior High and rode the bus to school for three years. She excelled academically. She was on the student council in 9th grade and was on the Tech Crew. They ran the audio/visual booth in the auditorium. She has many good stories to tell from that adventure.
  
• Claire played basketball in 9th grade and later she played tennis in high school. She threw the javelin in track and once again distinguished herself for her throwing ability.
  
• was the high school Sterling Scholar in technology & architecture. She had plans to become an architect. She would often draw elaborate floor plans of many imaginary places and also our homes. In fact, Claire would sit in church and draw floor plans. She would also keep track in a note book a list of names of people who shared their testimonies on fast Sunday. She would time how many minutes they took and write it down in her notebook. If they cried, she would put tear drops by their name. If they cried a lot, she would put a river or a lake by their name. Claire is a funny, funny girl.
  
• She earned her Young Womanhood recognition award.
  
• She has had her own subscription to Sport Illustrated since she was about nine years old. She still reads it cover to cover every week.
  
• She hated piano lessons and after a few years said to me: “I’m not going to play the piano anymore and you can’t make me." She was right! It was the only time she wouldn't cooperate.
  
• Claire wasn’t too interested in “liking” boys, yet three of her best friends were boys. Brad, Lyndon and Kent were some of her best friends. She went to a few school dances, but she mostly didn’t like all the dressing up, makeup and eating fancy food at restaurants that made up a successful date experience.
  
• Claire graduated from high school with a 4.0. She received the Robert C. Byrd scholarship and a four year BYU scholarship. She maintained her scholarships all through her college experience. She was one of the HS valedictorians and gave a talk at graduation at the Marriott Center on BYU campus. We were proud of Claire for her academic accomplishments.
  
• Claire worked at Timp Bookstore and had some great adventures there. She was helpful in catching one of the adult female clerks who was stealing the store blind. She made some of her own money to finance her own adventures.
  
• Claire went to girls camp every year to Camp Shalom. She hated the dirt and cold showers, but she had a good time with her many ward friends – Kati, Katie, Trisha, Crystal, Jana, Becky, to name a few.
  
• Claire lived at Heritage Halls her freshman year. She knew she was in trouble when she went to her assigned room and saw that her roommate (a stranger) had Star Wars posters on her wall. She changed roommates and eventually ended up with a great group of friends who she meet in London on her semester of Study Abroad. That experience kind of changed everything for Claire and set her on a path with many great friends who she still refers to as her London girls. Claire can read maps like no other and traveling is one of her favorite things to do.
  
• Claire worked at the Museum of Art as a security guard her entire time at BYU. She loved working there and met some fun people. Her experience of being strayed with pepper spray for training is a classic.
  
• Claire got brainwashed at an early age to love BYU football, indeed, all BYU sports. She remains a true fan today.
  
• Claire did a lot of babysitting when she was growing up. She is very good with little kids. She coached a little girl’s softball team. She started babysitting for the Lindleys. Not only did she make good money, but they took her along as a nanny on a family trip to Hawaii when she was in junior high school. Score! Claire also went to Shanghai, China to tend the 8 Lindley kids for a week while she was in college.
  
• Claire decided in a major in accounting with a minor in English. She graduated from BYU with a very high GPA and she and Jordan walked at the same commencement, along with R. She is a fabulous writer.
  
• She met R in the library at BYU where he worked. He had his eye on her for some time. He even tried to get her to talk to him by leaving a $5 bill by her locker. When she picked it up, she just returned it to him and told him that someone had lost it near her locker. He was hoping that the “lost” bill would initiate conversation. Wrong. They did finally engage in conversation some time later when Claire asked R for help finding a reference. Their first date followed shortly thereafter.
  
• Claire had a plan for her life. She wasn’t so sure that marriage was in the plan at the point when it presented itself. She had to wrestle with that decision. She had plans for graduate school, a mission and then marriage. That just shows that you can’t always follow an exact plan when something better comes along. That something better was R.
  
• Claire graduated from college and got engaged a few weeks later. She promptly went off on an internship with KPMG in Washington DC for the rest of the summer. Her fiancée R went back east to work and live with his sister in Virginia. They had great weekend adventures while living in the east. She returned to Utah four days before her wedding. She had her bridal pictures taken, bridal showers, temple experiences and family parties all in those few days before getting married and then promptly moved out of state afterward. It was a whirlwind time for all concerned (especially her mother)
  
• She got a job at a good accounting firm and started in the work a day world. She moved to a ward where she had great new friends and got accustomed to her hew home state and surroundings. R is a wonderful husband and they have had a great time helping each other, traveling, enjoying their common interests playing tennis, watching sports, reading, etc. etc.
  

Happy Birthday dear Claire. Your parents love you!!!
You can see her blog here www.wowclaire.blogspot.com