Merry Christmas

Jeff helped make our family photo look more festive for the Season. When we got our family picture taken in the fall, we all had white shirts. Jeff said, perfect now it will be easy to change the color of our shirts to whatever we want. It was very entertaining to watch him change our shirts all different colors. Jackie really enjoyed it, she thought I looked better in red, but with six of us we needed two of each color to be even. We tried green on Alyssa...but it just wasn't cute enough for a one year old little GIRL. But a 30 year old girl could get away with it! We appreciate Dads talents and think it did a good job on this one! Merry Christmas to all of you.

Jackies Real Birthday

Jackie was able to be baptized on her birthday. What a special day it was. She was beaming all through the baptism and the spirit was strong. I asked Jackie as she was changing if it was what she expected it would be. She shook her head no, then looked at me and said "It was better". I hugged her and thought, that is how I feel too. It helped strengthen my testimony as I witnessed my daughter enter the waters of baptism, and with that take upon her important covenants. She seems like she has grown up overnight. She is so helpful and responsible.
With Thanksgiving so close to her baptism we were able to have a lot of family there. Here she is with Grandma and Grandpa.
Here is all the wonderful family members that traveled long and far to be here for this special time.
Our family of six. Dallin was done with pictures and ready to run.

The Birthday Girl

That evening we went to Denver. There is a park there that our kids really like. When we suggested to Jackie that we could go to that park for her birthday, she was super excited. She thought her cousins would love it. So Grandma and Grandpa watched all the kids at the park while Mom and Dad went to the temple with the other Grandma and Grandpa. It was a nice way to end a great day. While we were there Helen took a picture of the temple. She didn't use the flash and I thought it wouldn't turn out very good. But, she knew better than me. It turned out so beautiful. I love this picture - It is now our screen saver. Thanks Helen.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful! We didn't have to travel, and we still got to spend the holiday with family. They came to us this year. It was wonderful to have so many family members in our home and to enjoy a wonderful meal together. We had a total of 18 people at the table (2 tables).
The day could not be complete without the pies - yum, yum!
Everyone pitched in to help make the delicious feast!
Jackie loved having a new baby at our house to hold. She got him to sleep in her arms the first morning they were here. She was really good with him. Isn't he precious!
Grandma, Aunt Elly, and I took the kids to the park in the late afternoon. They had a blast as you can see.
Even Grandma went down the slide, multiple times and with multiple children. What a fun Grandma.
Ya the pictures are out of order, but you still get the general idea. Preparing the food. It is a lot more fun to prepare food for company than it is for just your own family. Maybe it is because we don't have company very often.
It was nice having so much help in the kitchen. Grandma helped Dallin make a pie the night before. He was so proud of his pie, he told everyone that he made the pie. It was delicious!
Alyssa peaks through the playhouse window as she patiently waits for the food to be ready.
Malinda traveled all the way out here in her own car, with Jeralin of course. It was great to have them here. Jackie and Jeralin had a blast together all weekend.
Dallin is showing Grandpa his BONE! That is a cherished bone that was found last summer at a family reunion. The kids loved having so much attention from everyone.

Jackies Birthday Party

Jackie celebrated her 8th birthday with a baking party. She had it all planned out with games, food, and face painting. She is displaying the chandelier she got and made for her birthday.
Here are the guests. They were all ready to bake with their aprons. They were so excited to bake and they made some yummy food - rainbow fruit skewers, pancakes, and cupcakes. The funnest part for them was making wheat flour from grains of wheat for the whole wheat pancakes. They were surprised at how good they tasted too.
Every good cook has to taste her food from time to time...they actually were just posing for the picture! Their food turned out delicious and they were all so proud of themselves.

Running Friend

I have been exercising! I found a neighbor that runs and let me join her. It makes such a huge difference to have someone to go with. The time goes so fast and it is much more enjoyable. It is hard to say no when someone else is counting on you. She brings her daughter in a jogging stroller and I bring Alyssa. I have never ran with the stroller before, but it isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I always thought I would have to get up early in order to fit exercise in my schedule, but now I have a found a way to do it without getting up in the dark and cold - YEA! It feels so great to exercise and makes me feel better all day, and eat better. I don't want to waste all my work on JUNK FOOD!

On our walk today we were talking about making homemade bread. I mentioned that I would really love to get a Bosch some day, because I have to mix my bread by hand or use my bread maker (which doesn't work so well). She told me about a website www.everydayfoodstorage.net that is giving away a free Bosch. So I had to try. The website is great, she has very practical information about food storage. I watched a video on how to make cheesecake with powdered milk (you actually make sweetened condensed milk with the powered milk). It looked delicious. We have been using our powered milk more lately - in cooking as well as mixing it with regular milk to make the milk last longer. I love the idea of making sweetened condensed milk with it. She also has all sorts of ideas on wheat and beans. I am pinning this one on Pinterest for sure. I can alwasy use some help and motivation for food storage.

One last note. Jackie got glasses. Our first child, but probably not our last. Both Jeff and I are farsighted, we assume our children will inherit it. Jackie was super excited to get glasses, she chose a red pair that our a wire rim with reinforced sides. She looks great and can see so much better. I remember my first pair of glasses and how much clearer that chalkboard became. I wish I had a picture, but unfortantly our camera has died (and it was our new one too). So words will have to do for now.

Halloween

We decided to go to the farm this year to get our pumpkins. Each child got to pick their own out in the pumpkin field and then carry all the way back to the car...thus the varying size for the varying size of child. It was a fun way to do it, we think we will do it that way from now on. It also helps the kids realize where the pumpkins come from and how they get there.
Alyssa found her little pumpkin first and held onto it for dear life. I love this picture of her out in the pumpkin field with the blue sky in the background. She just started walking (all over) a couple of weeks ago. It is so cute to see her waddle around. She is a happy girl with lots of smiles. She is starting to try and say words,which is so sweet to hear. She was saying Moma and Dada at dinner tonight. Of course the kids were trying to get her to say "Dallin" or "Grandpa" or 'Brea" but she only said Moma & Dada - Love it!

Our pumpkins, what a sight. We carved them first and then the kids thought they needed a little paint so people could see them during the day. So then we painted them.
I love Holidays. Here is a our dressed up crew. We have our cute fuzzy caterpillar- Alyssa, our Red and Black- Brea Ladybug, our Hulk - Dallin, and our sparkly witch- Jackie ( I think their costumes fit their personalities well this year - we didn't even plan that).
Change of costumes...this is Halloween night. The previous picture was at our ward Halloween Party, which was the week before. Now we have Batman and a Lion with our caterpillar and witch. They were set to trick or treat. Alyssa even got into trick or treating this year. She had her own little bag and loved getting little treats in it. We went for about 45 minutes and then came home. Dallin wanted to pass the candy out at our house. He sat outside the door on a little chair with the bowl on his lap. He was so mature about it. He would tell all of them "Have a happy Halloween". He wasn't scared of any costumes or anyone. I had to drag him in at 8:15 to get him ready for bed. Jackie wanted to go out some more, so Jeff took her out by herself while Dallin gave out candy at our house and Brea and Alyssa went too bed. Jackie never wanted to stop, she had a bucket that she filled to the top - WAY TOO MUCH CANDY! She was super excited to come home and show me how much she got. In the past we have traded the kids candy for a toy, but this year Jackie said, "I don't want to trade my candy for a toy this time." She has been good about only eating a few pieces a day and she shares with everyone. Happy Halloween 2011.

Denver Trip

The kids had some time off of school in October. We decided to take a little trip to Denver. It was a quick and easy get-away. We stayed in a motel with a pool, which the kids loved. They swam both nights for 2+ hours. Jackie is getting to be a really good swimmer and was swimming across the whole pool. Dallin did great as well. He would jump in, go

under, and come up all on his own. He could swim from Mom or Dad to the edge of pool. He has gotten a lot more comfortable in the water. Brea jumped in for the first time. It took a bit of time, but once she did it, she loved it. She usually swims with a life jacket, or at least a noodle. But we didn't have anything for her this time, and she did great. Alyssa has always loved the water and she would splash and splash with a huge smile on her face. She even got her face in the water a few times and sputtered a bit. That did not defer her one bit, she loves the water.

We went to a Childrens Discover Center the first day. The kids had a blast. They got to pull each other up with a pulley system, be bankers, bakers, sailors, dancers, artist, musicians, and anything else their imaginations came up with. It had stuff for all four kids to play, learn, and discover. I was amazed at how quiet it was in there. There were a lot of young children together, but they were so enthralled in what they were doing, that they were not loud or wild. It was fun to just play with the kids and watch their imaginations soar.

Brea dressed up as something... having a whole bunch of fun with a huge SMILE!

Dallin "pulling" Brea up and then Jackie pulling herself up. They did this multiple times and it was hard on the arms (I only did a few time and my arms were soar). My kids have some mighty strong arms.

We had planned on going to a farm and doing a corn maze. The weather had been pretty nasty earlier in the week, and we weren't sure how well it would work out. We decided to drive up there and see. When we pulled up all I saw was a lot of MUD. So....Jeff took Jackie and Dallin out while I stayed with Brea and Alyssa in the car to take a NAP. That didn't last too long...Brea wanted to go too. So we all tromped the the mud at the farm. They did have a corn maze but a lot of the stalks had been knocked/blown over, so the kids just cut through and finished fast and easy. It was still fun to see the animals and squish in the mud. Luckily we had brought boots for all the kids (they were for the snow not the mud, but it worked).

The next day we went to the Denver Science Museum. It is huge and amazing. I wasn't sure if our children were old enough to really enjoy it, but they did. They learned about outerspace and saw an astronaut on Mars (hypothetically). They saw a demostration on how a vacuum works and how the air around an obeject makes it hold its form. When the air is removed (vacuum) the object enlarges, it was really amazing. They saw into the human body and how it works. Dallin loved the dinosaur exhibit with full size dinos moving and looking at us. There were beautiful Gems on display. Also we saw all kinds of animals that live on this beautiful earth. We saw how Egyptians and Indians lived and got to be inside an Indian home. We had a great time, but were worn out by that evening.

Dallin and Brea dressed up as astronauts. They flew the spaceship, picked up rocks on Mars, and put the planets in their right orbit - all in a days work!

We of course had to stop at our favorite park in Denver before we headed home. We only had about an hour the last evening and it was kind of cold. But we went and the kids did not even notice the cold, probably because they were running the entire time (in fact they took their coats off because they were so hot - CRAZY). What a great couple of days to just spend time together and have fun together. It is nice to be able to take a quick trip for a couple of days and just spend time together. I love my family so much.

P.O.B.A.L. & Elly's visit

This post is more for my own sake and memory, but if you are interested you can check it out.

My camera broke right before this reunion, so I have no pictures. But my sister posted about it here http://ellyricks.blogspot.com/2011/10/pobal.html

She also has great posts from when she visited us here in Colorado, instead of posting it all (to save time) I am just going to link her post. http://ellyricks.blogspot.com/2011/10/just-chillin-at-cramers.html andhttp://ellyricks.blogspot.com/2011/10/colorado-parks.html andhttp://ellyricks.blogspot.com/2011/10/colorado-springs-zoo.html. Thanks Elly for your great posts, now I don't have to do it.

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures taken and they turned out so great. We decided about 4or5 years ago that we liked outdoor pictures better than the studio ones. We have a great friend that has been taking them for the last four years - and she does such a great job. Thanks so much Candace, these pictures are such priceless memories for us. We always seem to get such a cute picture of the kids. I love this picture and the cute and cheesy smiles of our children. They were trying to smile really good to earn a "fruit snack", Dallin really wanted it!
This was a 'un-posed' family goup pose. The kids wanted to pick flowers more than take pictures, so when they brought the flowers to me we got a family picture, just for fun.
This was our favorite family picture, everyone looks good, out in nature, all smiles. I love my family.
I like to make a college of the pictures we get because there are always so many good ones and I have a hard time deciding what to use. I absolutely love the background picture - each kid in his own little world while Mom and Dad and off in their own world - so true to life! And Alyssa is caught on camera WALKING. We have proof, although it isn't too often, she is taking a few small, hesitant steps. The kids get so excited when she walks to them.

First Day of School

Here is our clan on the first day of school this year. Jackie is now in 2nd grade, Dallin in 1st, and Brea in Preschool. The other kid is Dallins friend Drew, he is a neighbor that rode with us on the first day. They all looked so sharp and happy for school.
It was nice that Brea could start the same day as everyone else, because she was very excited to finally be able to go to school. She has Mrs. Beth (who happens to be our Bishops wife) and she is an amazing preschool teacher. It was nice to have someone Brea already knew, but I think Brea would of been fine even if she didn't know her. She walked right in, no hesitancy, no tears, no clinging. She is a big girl now and very proud of the fact. She was ready to go at 7:30 when the other kids left with Jeff, it was a long hour wait until she got to go. She has a great time at preschool and is starting to make friends already.
Dallin is now an all day 1st grader - That was a hard adjustment for Mom and Dallin. He is a great kid and loves to learn, as long as he is interested in it. If he isn't, he doesn't want anything to do with it. He has beautiful cursive handwriting and works hard to make sure his work is done neatly and correctly (which means it usually takes longer, but looks great). He was excited to be able to take lunch this year, and have some extra special treats in there.
Our big 2nd grader Jackie, or Jaclyn as she goes by in school. Jackie is a really good student and always stays on task and follows directions. She enjoyed her summer vacation but was ready for school to start. She says her favorite subject is Math and she does amazing at it. She is also a very good reader. We are all looking forward to the new school year and new schedule. It is good to have a routine down now and to know what to expect each day. We have been able to read the scriptures every morning while the kids eat breakfast. It is a great time, because we have the kids attention while they are quiet. We have been able to have some good discussions at breakfast and look forward to continuing throughout the school year. I miss my kids during the day and wonder about them a lot. I am glad they go to a wonderful school and are taught well.

Anniversary

We celebrated our 11th Anniversary this summer - Wow! We decided to do the Incline, for those of you that are not from Colorado the Incline is One Mile up, gaining 2000 vertical feet. It is made of 2800 railroad ties. We have wanted to do it for a while, but have not been able to. We are glad we did, but it was not easy. Our legs were tired, after that many steps up and up and up. But it was so rewarding to get to the top and know that we completed it. Plus it is beautiful up there, although we hit it on a overcast day. That made it nice and cool, which we enjoyed because we were sweating pretty hard by the top. Here is a picture from the top, the steps were pretty narrow up here, but they were a lot wider in the middle, that was the part that killed me. I can do the little steps no problem, bu those big ones did me in. You can't see the view to well, with the fog, but it was still beautiful.This is on the way down. There is a four mile trail the winds back and forth that we chose to go down, instead of the actual incline. It was really fun to go down, and nice break from the hike up. I love my husband so much and the 11 years spent together have been wonderful. We look forward to many more happy years together.

Labor Day Campout

We spent Labor Day camping with some really good friends the Stulls. The campground was a perfect, secluded with lots of places to explore. There were rocks all around that the kids played on, they even made their own homes where they spent most of their time. The weather was perfect, and it was a relaxing weekend.Dallin is happiest outside, where he can let his imagination run wild. You can see by the big smile on his face that he is having the time of his life.
We set up our ladder golf game in the campground and had a "couples" match both days we were there. First the Cramers won, but on the rematch the next day the Stulls won, so I guess it was a tie. It was fun to be able to relax and play games.
Jeff, Mr. creative, made this fun swing for the kids. They all loved the swing, and would wait and wait for their turn. It was used almost constantly.Here are six of the eight camping kids hanging out on one of the many rocks around the campground.

Jackie and Katie loved being able to spend so much time together. They are sure going to miss each other when the Stulls move.
Here is our beautiful campsite, we were so secluded that no cars even came up to our site. One truck came close, but turned around. It was wonderful to not worry about keeping the kids quite because of neighbors close. They could run and play and yell all they wanted - and they did.Alyssa was such a happy camper. She did so well outside. Even in her playpen, she was happy. She slept well too. She did get pretty dirty, but that is expected.

Dallins Birthday

Dallin celebrated his birthday at school with this cool rocket cupcake cake and silly face cupcakes. He was really excited to take them to school and thought the kids would think they were awesome, which they did. Happy Birthday to our Big Six year old Dallin.

The party with Chuck-E

Dallin celebrated his 6th Birthday by going to Chuck-E-Cheese. He as so excited to have his birthday there, he was beaming all night long.
The birthday crowd. They were all glad to be invited to Dallins party.
The most excited part, for Dallin, was the ticket blaster. He was inside this tub that blowed tickets all around him, he had to grab them and hold them in his hand. Whatever he ended up with at the end of two minutes he got to keep. It was quite entertaining to watch him. He was wearing his favorite Croc Boots, when he came out he was kicked off the boots first thing, because tickets had blown in them -he thought that was pretty awesome.

Here is the birthday crowd at our house, what a great bunch of kids to celebrate with!

Here are some of Dallins favorites right now:

Food: Tomato Soup

Color: Green & Brown

School Subject: Math

Friends: Drew, Noelani, and thats all I can remember!

Play: Red Rover, and thats all

Movie: Toy Story III

Book: "My Reading Book" (his reading book from school)