Winter Break According to Cody

Cody had a project at school where he had to write about what he did over the Christmas break. I just loved it so I thought I would share...

 I love the red rock formations.

They had to write all of the places that made up the setting... 

Grandpa and Grandma's house (above window), Baltimore/Atlanta/Las Vegas airport, shooting range, Valley of Fire, restaurant, church

Characters. He had to list people that were a part of his vacation, a trait they have, and evidence of that trait.

Raquel: happy

Raquel was happy because she was happy no matter what.

Me: funny

I was funny because I told the funniest joke in family history.

Grandma: helpful

Grandma was helpful because she helped me when I was sick.

Tyler: nice

Tyler was nice because he let me play his games.

Olivia: loving

Olivia was loving because she kept giving hugs to everyone. 

Each tree is a summary of important events.

Tree #1: I got to open presents with everyone.

Tree #2: I went shooting on a mountain. I always go shooting over Winter Break.

Tree #3: I went in my grandpa and grandma's hot tub.

Tree #4: I ate cake for my dad's birthday.

Tree #5: I played hundreds of games with everybody. 

In the snow globe he drew a picture of his remote control jeep. I love how he drew himself with the remote control and that you can't see his head. The bottom says: I am remote controlling my jeep I got for Christmas.

They had to write about New Year's Resolutions. He had to write about the "old me" and the "new me" and then in the middle is the stuff about himself that he wants to stay the same:

Old Me: talkative, not as good at school, nice

New Me: be better at school, non-talkative, nicer

Stay the Same: liking pizza, happy

Cody's First Primary Talk He Ever Gave!

Last week Cody gave a talk in Primary! 

It wasn't the first one that he has been asked to give (remember this one?), but it's the first one that he actually gave...and he wrote it almost entirely by himself. He got a little nervous the night before, but prayed for help. When it came time to do it, he just went for it. Everyone in the room was silent and you could tell the kids and teachers were all listening. He did a really great job and we are so proud of him.

We asked him to record it for us. Even the outtakes were good so we had to include those too! Enjoy!

I know that I am a Child of God and that He has a plan for me. One way I know this is because Heavenly Father answers our prayers. A few months before the Primary Program last year I started to pray every day that I wouldn’t be too scared to say my part in front of everyone. I had never been able to do a talk or part before so I knew I needed Heavenly Father’s help. When the day of the Primary Program came I felt surprisingly excited. When it was my turn to speak I felt a little nervous but I was able to do it. I know it was because Heavenly Father had helped me. I’m glad Heavenly Father answered my prayers. And now I am able to do the things in Primary that I am asked to do like give this talk. I know that we are all Children of God and He will help you if you have a problem. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Steve's Birthday: Valley of Fire

Steve loves spending his birthday at Valley of Fire. It was the warmest day of our trip and a beautiful day for hiking! Grandma Tammy offered to stay behind with Kylee. We missed them!

After Valley of Fire we went to Smash Burger for dinner. YUM!

Thanks for a great birthday party!

Family Pictures on Christmas Day

Grandma Tammy found a great place to take family pictures. The only problem was that it's a busy outdoor mall so we took pictures on Christmas Day when no one else was around.

 This is the keeper for the wall. Rylee and Livy are both wearing little sweaters that Tammy's grandma made for her when she was a baby.

Steve and I tried to get a family picture but some of us were more cooperative than others. The results are worth looking at for a good laugh even if we can't put any of them in a frame...

missing monkey #2

 finally get monkey #2 to get in the picture but she won't turn around...by this time monkey #3 wants out of here

 monkey #1 still smiling, monkeys #2 and #3 are putting up a good fight

 Cody looks so cute in every one of these. Kylee was done before we started...Later that night is when her flu bug kicked in so looking back on this now makes a little more sense.

Christmas 2012

We spent Christmas in Las Vegas with the whole Cramer Family. It was a long day getting to Vegas for me, Cody, and Kylee. We had a few delays and long layovers that made it a longer trip than we planned but the kids were amazing troopers and we had fun regardless. During our stay at Grandma and Grandpa's, we had lots and lots of fun even though Kylee had a rough time with the flu for five days (poor thing). We played tons of games, cooked lots of good meals, made cookies, did projects, and watched movies with poor Kylee.

 Switching time zones can be rough.

 The boys did some skeet shooting with Gordon...

 (Brady)

Brady, Gordon, Steve, Zac, Tyler 

Cody stayed in the car and kept score.

 Of course, the Jeep was a fun toy. After driving it, Steve and I have decided that we want to get one someday (but that's nothing new, we said that before we drove it).

 Livy even got a ride in the Jeep on our way to the park.

 Horseshoes

Rylee loves the hot tub

 Shooting with Grandpa

(Tyler) 

 Gordon got a pink cupcake cheek pad for Christmas (out of the same fabric as Kylee's apron). I made it for a joke since he has bruised his cheek a few times while skeet shooting. Turns out he liked the idea and actually used it. It's a nice look for him, don't you think?

 Liar's Dice in the hot tub

 Livy loved the hot tub too. She had her own private time with Grandma and laughed the whole time.

We are really glad we got to make the trip to see some of our wonderful family. We were sad that we couldn't make it up to Utah to see more wonderful people, but the weather and sickness kept us from going up north. We hope to make a trip there really soon.