End of School Year and Graduation

We have been VERY busy with the end of school activities and graduation.

Rachel performed with the her school choir.  (Note the skirt she is wearing?  Yes she made it herself!)

 Went to St. George for Nicole and Dennis' wedding.  Yay Nicole!

Andrew graduated from Seminary.  He was asked to share his testimony that evening and did a fantastic job.  He had also spoken in Sacrament Meeting early that day.  He does very well when he speaks.

Donald and I went with Rachel on her field trip, to one of our very favorite places....This is The Place Heritage Park.

Dusty graduated from 6th grade and elementary school.  He is now a Sevvy!

Trent got to do what he loves best!  It was a blast watching real soccer again.

Andrew got to sing one last time with Choir, and.....

HE GRADUATED!!!!

In a Nutshell

As 2010 comes to a close I thought I would express my gratitude for my family and many blessings. By so doing maybe I can catch up with some of our "doin's".

Rachel: She is so very tenderhearted and likes to make friends. So quickly she is changing from a little girl into a young lady. She has started piano lessons and is doing very well. She asked her biggest brother to play with her at her very first recital. Of course he doesn't tell her no very easily. They did fantastic. She always has a project going, and it is usually for someone else. She is becoming quite an artist. After finding a program online that taught her to draw popular figures she tries everything. In her art class she drew several Pokeman pictures without tracing(I had to ask if she had traced ;)). She is very loving and is always giving hugs and cuddling up to one of us. I am so grateful for her, she seems to know just when I need a hug.  She is anxious to learn to sew and cook.  She made a cute denim skirt that she proudly wears to church.  She is always asking if she can help me with dinner and if she can make something.  I love you my Sunshine!

Dusty:  Do you see the sparkle in his eye?  We have come to recognize that as a night of laughter and entertainment as he does comedy improv!  He has the gift of one liners and picks up on what makes others laugh.  Some nights we have to beg him to stop because our faces and sides hurt from laughing.  He began karate a year ago and has progressed rapidly.  He tested in November for his green belt and achieved that rank.  The green belt is the fourth in rank, there are three more until he is a Jr. Blackbelt.  He can then earn degrees of blackbelt.  He also tested for his nunchuck patch.  In order to receive the patch you have to perform the routine without mistake.  There were 4 other boys that tested with him, (including a boy testing for his 6th belt) he was the only one to pass the test and receive his patch!  He has also received his full splits patch, yes all the way to the ground!  He surprises everyone on test day by kicking much higher than expected.  He looks forward to his birthday in March, he will be 12.  He can't wait to receive the priesthood and serve the Lord.  I am grateful for his quick wit that brings much needed laughter and joy to our home.  Love you Dusty Boy!

Trent:  Mr. GQ!  His hair was too short for the Hawk that day!  Golf dominated his life this summer and early fall.  He spent many days at the the golf course practicing, then trying out and making the Syracuse High golf team.  He was excited to be part of such an excellent program.  Syracuse was #2 in the state.  Some of his teammates are ranked nationally.  He has missed being on the course the last couple of months.  However, basketball filled in the spaces.  He once again made the West Point Jr. High basketball team.  His coach told him he didn't start because he needed him to infuse some intensity and excitement as the #6 man.  Usually when he entered the game there was a spark that ignited!  He will stay busy helping with the girls basketball team as their manager.  Church ball is just starting too.  He continues to maintain a 4.0 in school as well.  I am grateful for his willingness to help, I know if I ask him to do a chore it will be done in a timely manner and correctly.  Watch out he is starting to drive ;)  I love you Trent!

Andrew:  Wow busy!!!  That sums up his schedule this fall.  He is once again in Madrigals and Accapella.  He is glad for Christmas break and the end of performances for a while.  The madrigals performed almost every day for three weeks and sometimes two or three times a day.   He tried out last spring for parts in Grease and Peter Pan.  He made both productions.  They performed Grease this fall.  He played the part of Teen Angel.  His beautiful baritone voice filled the auditorium.  His great grandma Wood said his part was the "BEST".  No prejudice there ;)  Music fills a piece of his soul.    Peter Pan will be performed this spring.  He is anxiously waiting for this school year to end and be done with high school.  That end will bring more changes for him however.  He will be able to send his mission papers in shortly after he graduates.  The missionary spirit has taken hold for him.  He has been able to participate in splits with the missionaries and has been sparked by cousins who are now serving.  I am grateful for his compassion towards the elderly in our ward and his willingness to serve them.  As the oldest in the family he sets an example of righteousness for his siblings to follow.  I love you Andrew!

Donald:  My companion and sweetheart for 20 years and counting!  Life at work is ever changing for him.  It hasn't been an easy year for him.  Hopefully, with a new boss and a new year the stress will ease for him.  The commute has become long for him, his department was transferred to Riverton.  He works there 3 days a week and then 1 or 2 days in Salt Lake.  Sometimes he is able to work from home.  He has been busy as the ward executive secretary and serving with a new bishop.  His release from stress and enjoyment is making knives.  He has completed several this year and is constantly seeing and thinking about others.  He met a man that said he would teach him how to make his own blades, made of damascus steel.  He looks forward to learning that skill this year.  I am grateful for his patience, kindness and companionship.  I love you Donald!


Michelle:  Me, well I am still teaching sewing and find fulfillment in helping others create their own clothing.  I am ready to finally bring my loom in the house and begin to weave.  I was able to spin much this summer but not enough to empty the bags of Alpaca I was given.  My source of Angora has gone.  Frank developed a tumor on his tummy and we had to put him down.  In fact we are pet free at the moment, Shadow the cat disappeared this fall and we miss him.  We keep expecting to see him waiting on the garage steps when we get home or out mousing in the yard (yes I have mice in my house now! ugh).  I also have returned to the workforce.  I am working as a Title 1 tutor in an elementary school.  I am grateful that I can be off when my children are and home before they are out of school.

We have been blessed much by the Lord this year and are grateful to Him.  We love all of you our family and friends!  We are grateful for your examples and love.

The Cramers

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
That our family can find peace, love and joy in our stockings.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
We try to catch the kids up early, by putting traps to make noise. They try to wake us up as early as they can with their own tricks.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? A new bathroom complete with a spa tub.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
We spend lots of time together playing games and making goodies.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
Boggle, Uno, Skip-Bo, Porch to Porch, Colored Eggs, Huckle-Huckle Beanstalk.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
PJ's for Christmas Eve, and Celebrating Christ on Christmas Eve.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
A Mountain Cabin.

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

UDraw

Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Zumba Fitness

Family Flag

So when Jim came and instructed us on some Tipi etiquette he said we should think about a family flag. It would distinguish our camp and lodge. It will go on the pole out in front that the smoke flaps are attatched to.


See the pole?

Anyway, we talked about it as a family and we decided to keep with our theme of "Three Toads and a Princess". Either my creative juices are dried up (they were never very good to start with), or I am just brain dead from all the decisions from the kitchen, but I can't seem to get a visual for this flag. We would like it to go with the Rendezvous/Tipi feel. I can sew it and figure out the details if I can just get a jump start. So any ideas you creative people out there????

Remodeling, Baptism, Camping in a Tipi!

I feel like we have been on a fast moving escalator! Ok so, sometimes in the middle of the remodel, a slooooow escalator with the world still going at warp speed. We have talked about remodeling our kitchen for a couple of years. This winter we decided to go ahead and get started, Mike came, they took out the frame for the light fixture, Mike made a hole in the ceiling... it all came to a screaching halt! We had a drop ceiling over the work area with a florescent light down the middle. The hope was, that when the kitchen was built, they had put the whole ceiling in and then built the drop ceiling. That would have contained the insulation in the attic while allowing us to raise the ceiling. No such luck, with one swipe of a hammer we found out that the insulation was sitting on top of the drop ceiling. We talked about removing the insulation during the dead of winter and decided that I couldn't function with my kitchen being cold. So the project was put on hold until there was better weather.

Finally in June, I told Donald that it HAD to be done by Rachel's baptism in August. So we began. (I use we loosley.) Donald and the boys got up in the attic to assess the situation. With masks on and a lantern they began to shovel the insulation off of the drop ceiling and pile it on the adjoining areas. After a week of shoveling they were finally ready to start in the kitchen. They began taking down the upper cabinets...


...yes a sawsall was used, after the "fix the stripped screw" thingamajig didn't work.

Pulling down the old ceiling was fun, until they got to the part that was near the eaves. Even Dusty wasn't small enough to get under there!


They had to shovel MORE INSULATION into a big plastic bag.


Then the sheetrock went up! I was thinking this will take no time at all...hahahahahaha. Ya know the saying, "a watched pot never boils"? That is how it is waiting for drywall mud to dry and then be sanded and then more mud and then sand and then more mud and then sand...you get the idea.


Meanwhile, the kids and I stripped the wallpaper. They were happy to help. How many times does mom hand you a squirt bottle and say soak the wall?


Can I just say how grateful we are for good friends! We could not have done this without Michael. He even had the coolest tool for the lights.


It took the jigsaw, a bowsaw and once again the sawsall to cut off the bar.


We found a treasure when we removed the lazy susan and flipped the dishwaher and drawers to the outer wall.

Seventies carpet anyone?

Removing the bar opened up the space sooo much. I kept thinking as soon as the upper cabinets are put in, or the rest of the lower cabinets put in, it will close it in. Nope, I feel like we added space in the same space :)

Putting the floor together was like making a jigsaw puzzle. How grateful we are for such a creative mind in Donald's dad. He never ceases to amaze me. He can make anything work with whatever there is on hand. He figured out how to make toungues and grooves in boards that were cut off. All it took was a table saw, a dremel and a steady hand. It saved us a ton of money!

Just so ya know the tounge is part of the genius in the man!

Trent was delighted to once again go up in the attic and fish wires for the lights.

It would not be his last trip up the ladder.

And then there were lights!


Once the lights were in, with lantern in hand and masks on, Andrew, Trent, and Dusty once again trudged up the ladder to shovel insulation back in place. They sweated off a couple of pounds. My kitchen was MUCH cooler once the insulation was replaced. I could never have done without insulation in the winter!

We painted the ceiling, finished the lights and then came the upper cabinets. Trent and I had given them a fresh coat of paint.

I knew I borned such strong boys for a reason.

We were closing in. The baptism was coming fast too. We took a day and went to Donald's Aunts funeral in Idaho Falls.


We painted the walls and trim. Then went to Enterprise for the 24th of July and a family reunion.




We came home with a sick little girl :( She was still sick on Monday for her Birthday.


We postponed her friend party until the next week. (What was I thinking having a birthday party in the middle of choas?)

Tuesday before the baptism we removed the sink and the rest of the countertop. With a lot of faith and a terse phone call to the countertop place, we hoped that on Wednesday we would have new countertops. Donald left a little later than normal in the morning. He hadn't been gone 2 minutes when my phone rang...get dressed the countertop guy is here!!! They had told us they would let us know what time to expect them. We hadn't heard a word since they had measured three weeks earlier.
We had no worries however. He did a fantastic job and was gone by 12:30.

They are beautiful!

On Thursday, Donald installed the sink I found on KSL. Finished the trim and put the recepticals and switches back in. It's a good thing too! Because this happened..

and this...

Which I canned on thursday and friday night.

On Friday, we went to the Oquirrh Hills Temple open house. We met Steve and Nan and family, and my parents at the Temple. The next day was the baptism and except for a few minor touch ups we had made it!!!!!

Rachel looked beautiful in her dress! (did I mention I managed to make it in the middle of everything without her knowing!)


The kitchen was perfect for all of our family to move around and to serve the food.
People were inside and out and we loved having everyone!




We had Rachel's friend party the next week. She was so excited to have her cousin come to sleep over and be at her party!



I canned some apricot juice and then some jam and then some more juice and then jam...they can freeze next year!

I also did some tomatoe sauce. That is good because it also means that Donald made this...


You may notice that he is a little scruffy and hairy. That is because he and Trent had just returned from a week at scout camp. They had a good time. Maybe I can get them to post their experiences and photos.

Then finally....we learned how to put up the Tipi. Jim came on Family Night and taught us how it worked.




those strong boys I borned, again.



The kids slept in it for 3 or 4 nights. Then we took it down and loaded it up to go camping and archery hunting.

We went to Monte Cristo in a spot we have gone before. We knew it would have plenty of room for the Tipi and Donald's parents trailer. They came along to watch the younger two kids while Trent, Andrew, Donald and I went hunting. We had a fun time!




I love vaulted ceilings!!!




We will take it up to Fort Bridger with us over Labor Day Weekend. The kids have gone back to school (yipeee!) I can take a breath and get some more canning done. You are all caught up with the Cramers!

19 years and counting!

We have been so busy the last few months! I will catch everyone up soon...for now just wanted to tell my sweetheart how much I love him! It was 19 years ago today we weathered our first storm as a married couple ;) We were taking pictures in my parents backyard when the storm clouds started to gather. Most people remember our wedding reception as the one where it rained all night! Thank you Don Don for weathering many more since then. I love you!

It’s here!!!

The Tipi came home last night!!!

I can't wait for Jim Sherman to come next week and teach us how to set up the tipi and proper tipi etiquette. More importantly, I can't wait to use it in the mountains, camping with my family! There is a sweet spot at Monte Cristo, where we have camped before, that would be perfect.

We had a wonderful time at Easter

 

Rachel was beautiful!!

 

The boys??

Enough said.

I would be happy if the weather would stay like it has been the last few days…it could reach 80 and be fine. This spring has been hard on my body it would just adjust to warm weather and then BLAM cold again. Needless to say too many days with hives and fluctuating body temperature.

Andrew is almost done with his first year in high school. It won't be soon enough for him! He is working part time at Schneiters Bluff golf course right now. It has been a little hit and miss with the storms. However, he does get free golf for so many hours worked. He also TRIED OUT AND MADE Acapella and Madrigals at Syracuse for next year. YEAH!!! Don't remind him that in little over 2 years he will be preparing his mission papers and leaving. It is beginning to seem real and not just some random time in the future, he is little nervous. He is a good kid and honors his priesthood even when it is difficult and lonely. Thanks Andrew!

Trent is finishing his first year of Jr. High. He has worked really hard and if he TURNS IN HIS DRAWING OF DAFFY DUCK, sorry a little reminder, he will have accomplished a 4.0 all year long. WAY TO GO!!! As always sports fill his days. He has gone early to soccer club, played 3v3 basketball at lunch, played in a basketball tournament (first time I remember seeing him play nervous, he is usually very confident) and of course gone golfing several times. He doesn't work at the golf course and so he has to pay, he does mow Brother Porter's lawn and that funds golf. He has learned what it means to be Quorum President and what an assignment given requires. He has fulfilled that calling well. Thanks Trent!

Dusty will be done with fourth grade soon. He has learned lots about the state of Utah and has enjoyed contributing when they talk about Mountain Men and the Rendezvous. He is becoming quite the accomplished skateboarder. He spends much of his time after school with his friend Josh Olson, riding, grinding, alling, etc. I broke down one day and took Rachel and him to the skate park….AHHHHHHH…I thought we had left such language in West Jordan. Donald took him another day and I guess the presence of an adult male tamed it considerably. He continues to make us smile he has incredible timing with his wit and humor. Thanks Dusty!

Rachel will complete second grade. She is doing so well with her reading and math. She has very much enjoyed learning and performing with Performance Academy. We have had a return to ABBA. She sings and dances to many of their songs for their performances. Next year she wants to try gymnastics. There is a place that has just moved close to us so I vote for that. We have travelled to Kaysville this year for her classes. She is grateful for the warm weather and sunshine so she can ride her bike and play with Sydney Olson. We have had fun trying out new hairstyles from other blogs. Rachel is my shopping buddy and all things girl! Thanks Sunshine!

Donald has had some stress lately at work. The new Draper Temple was the first temple with a new phone system. Let's just say there were some growing pains. They are hoping the Oquirrh Mountain Temple goes much smoother. They are also beginning to change the phone system for church headquarters. Many days he has to say "at least I know my job isn't going to be gone tomorrow, we are too busy". He sets a good example for the boys in fulfilling his calling even when it is difficult! Thanks DonDon!

Me, well I am still teaching sewing and completely enjoy it. I have had opportunities to do spinning demonstrations and LOVE IT. I marvel at the hand of the Lord in our lives. True, we have had a difficult time since moving to Syracuse but, we have also been blessed. We have met people and had opportunities, we otherwise wouldn't have had. Thanks Heavenly Father!