Mother of the Year Candidate

Anyone who knows me well knows my non-skills when it comes to sewing. And that's why I thought you would appreciate my latest completed project.

So, we had a birthday party this weekend for our cutest little friend named Ellie. We needed to find the perfect gift.

And then I found it...

Presenting...

THE SACK LUNCH!!

A bologna sandwich with cheese, tomato, and lettuce. Ruffle potato chips, and a big chocolate chip cookie. And don't forget the brown lunch sack too. All made out of felt.

I saw the idea online and decided to make my own little version. So I borrowed my friend's sewing machine (thanks Liz!) and got to work Friday night. Liz had to show me how to thread the machine and wind the bobbin (because I am really that clueless) and I crossed my fingers that I could do it without anyone holding my hand through the process.

And guess what? The good news is I didn't jam up the machine, break a needle, sew my finger, or completely ruin the project! And the present was finished in time for the party and the birthday girl liked it! Can we say MIRACLE?

What a great way to begin my campaign as Mother of the Year.

When It's Snowy in the 'Burgh...

...you can't go ANYWHERE!!

Our next door neighbors, Martina and Ellie, braved the weather to come over and say hi. See the buried cars? We got {21} inches of snow!!

Our other neighbor, Drew, was nice enough to shovel a path for us to be able to get out our front door and over to their house. Drew is about 6 1/2 feet tall.

I sneaked up on Cody to take this picture of him spying on all the brave shovelers outside.

Oops! He caught me.

On Saturday we got dumped on!! With 21 inches of snow piled around our house and car and no snow plows in sight we got to hang out inside all weekend. There was no way we could get to church today and we don't have any idea when we'll be driving next. We've had plenty of food and no problems with electricity (unlike some other parts of the city), so it's been kind of fun to stay inside together. Stay tuned though. More snow to come on Tuesday...

Cramer's Bakery

Before Steve started school again we spent a week together at home having lots of fun. Most of the time we stayed in, but we tried to brave the freezing weather and get out a little bit (after a lot of bundling first). When we were inside we did quite a bit of baking.

We attempted some bagels that tasted really good, but looked "homemade" so we decided to try again.

Check out these babies! These were even more delicious and looked awesome too. We made whole wheat bagels with this recipe with a few changes. Now we can make our own for much cheaper than buying them. Next time we'll be trying blueberry.

Then Steve decided to perfect his french bread skills since that is something else we love to buy, but have to be careful on our budget. His bread was so delish!

I can't wait until Steve has another break from school because when he's home there's always something yummy to eat!

P.S. Pass on any great recipes you've tried lately. We're always up for something new. We've got to spice up our January somehow.

Celebrating Christmas in the Wild West (aka: The Longest Post Ever)

We are back from the west! And we had a great time.

Kylee is just killing some time in the Pittsburgh airport.

Kylee liked the moving sidewalk and we were pretty much the only one's in the airport so she had it all to herself.

Making sure we get all of our wiggles out before we hop on the plane for a 5 hour flight.

Lucky for us it was a beautiful, clear day. The kids had their noses glued to the window for quite a while. Kylee loved the speedy take-off but Cody was a little apprehensive at first.

After a day in Las Vegas we borrowed a car and drove up to Salt Lake to see the Duncan's. On the way we made a mandatory stop at In-N-Out in St. George. Kylee can really suck down a chocolate shake. Say good-bye to your shake if you try to share with her.

Cody and Kylee had fun at their special table complete with unlimited Captain Crunch and other Grandma goodies.

Most of our time was spent in the basement playing Wii. Sword-fighting, frisbee, tennis, basketball non-stop!

Cody was a little hot shot when it came to sword-fighting. He cracked us all up with his moves.

A few days before Christmas we headed back down to sunny Las Vegas. On Christmas morning Kylee was happy to find chocolate in her stocking and would sneak a bite any chance she got (with or without taking the wrapping off).

Another favorite gift for everyone were the nerf guns. Cody had one in hand at all times. It took a few days of being shot at or constantly telling him not to shoot people before he figured out how not to annoy us .

Christmas afternoon some of us went out to the boonies to shoot real guns. I did my best to impress Steve with my skills.

Steve is a good shot! I stuck with the stationary targets.

Steve and I being total dorks.

In-N-Out Burger with the whole gang. Cody made sure we all got a hat.

Kylee turned on her cuteness and tried to snag another shake...

I guess one shake wasn't enough. Once those lips latch on there's no letting go.

For Steve's birthday we all went to Valley of Fire (north of Vegas) and had a blast.

Our kids love climbing around in the red dirt.

Tyler, Lacey, Cody, Tammy, Kylee, Gordon, Raquel, Brady, Tiffany, and Steve on the white domes hike.

Everybody should be able to hike in hoodies in December. It's a great way to enjoy winter.

There was a cool arch called Elephant Rock.

The next day we went to a ghost town and took some pictures.

The old trucks and cars were cool.

ooh la la

The girls showing off their Christmas scarves.

And then we made the boys do it too.

Cody came up with his own poses.

Now we are back in icey PA where the temperatures are in the 20s and it hasn't stopped snowing since we flew in. We loved the beautiful hiking weather, being close to the temple, playing games (even if I did stink it up!) and all of the fun times. Everyday Kylee calls out the names of her aunts wondering where they disappeared to. Despite the freezing weather we are glad to be home and spend a little time together before school starts next week. Back to real life!

P.S. Thanks Cramer and Duncan family for spending time with us! We love you!

Kylee Is Mine Because...

She LoVeS Chocolate!!

Merry Christmas, I mean Cramermas

Last Thursday was Steve's last day of finals so we decided to celebrate the next day. We didn't want to bring all of our Christmas presents out west so we decided to do our own day for presents and family fun and call it Cramermas.

On Cramermas Eve Steve and I set up all the toys. Here is the wooden train track that we found on Craigslist. We got all of these pieces plus a train table for $30 at a garage sale.

We also got this kitchen set from our Bishop's wife who was looking for a home for it. And there's the train table to the right.

And Aunt Gwen found this new polka dot baby buggy for free.

Then, while we were eating breakfast the next morning Steve was looking at the pictures we had taken of the toys on the camera. Cody came over to see what pictures he was looking at (our kids LoVe looking at pictures). Cody saw the picture of the train track for a second while Steve was flipping through all the pictures.

Cody: "Wait! What was that?"

Steve: "What?"

Cody: "Go back. Who's train track was that?"

Steve: "Is it Gabe's? Gabe has a train track, doesn't he?"

Cody: "That's not Gabe's."

(pause)

Cody: "Hey wait! Those are our guitars right there."

Steve: "We don't have a train track though. It can't be ours."

Cody: "No. That's our basement!"

Steve: "We better go check it out then."

So the kids went downstairs to check it out.

And there it was! A dream Christmas...I mean Cramermas. All for $30.

It is so fun to surprise your kids!

And they played and played and played with their toys until we left for Vegas yesterday.

Merry Cramermas!