New Skillz July 8, 2008

So it’s been awhile since I’ve posted any videos of Naomi doing cute things. Well, the last week and a half or so has been an explosion of new skills and new levels of cuteness. Naomi has been a very busy girl working on crawling skillz, pointing skillz, growling skillz, pulling up skillz, clapping skillz, terrorizing the dog skillz, garbage can hunting skillz, biting skillz… The list keeps growing and we have our hands full. So here’s a little video Naomi demonstrating a few of these new skills. The first crawling clip is from the first day she figured it all out. Enjoy!

Tag from Dan June 25, 2008

So, Dan tagged me to list 10 things about me you may not know. So here it is.

10 things you may not know about me:

 

1. I was Amy Grant for Halloween in 3^rd grade.
2. I have a fear of skunks and high school gym bleachers.
3. I slept with my blankie until the night before I got married.
4. I have a freakishly good memory when it comes to remembering dates.
5. I’ve had a screw in my left foot since December 16, 1994.
6. Bounce fabric softener is my favorite smell.
7. I was in “Academic Bowl” in junior high (a competition for the nerdy kids) and helped lead our team to victory by answering a question about Garrison Kiellor and Lake Wobegone. Thanks Dad.
8. Sometimes I have the urge to hang drywall and lay tile.
9. In college, I decided I wouldn’t date a guy that couldn’t drive a stick shift.
10. My revolutionary, mind blowing second grade science project on “what freezes faster- hot water or cold water?” was chosen to be on display at the Discovery Center in Boise. (Unfortunately, they were only accepting projects from the 5th and 6th graders or something like that, and mine never got to go. And in case you’re curious, cold water freezes faster than hot water. That always made sense to me, but for some reason people were surprised by the results of my scientific study.)

This is the part where I get to tag other people. You’re it!

Katie

Jess

Shelley

the Cramer cousins strike again June 20, 2008

Four years ago this August, Josh and I got married. It was a very blessed day. Except for our car. The poor Saturn was attacked by Cramer cousins, my brother, and a few stragglers.  It was a day we will never forget, which is unfortunate for some. wha ha ha ha ha.

To gather some sympathy from my readers, here are a couple photos taken of our car that warm sunny day in August 2004.

For the last four years, I’ve been waiting for my chance to welcome another victim to the Cramer family. I even saved a couple bags of souvenirs to pass on. This last weekend Josh’s cousin Dave got married in Portland and finally, I had my chance.

The troops were gathered and Ben (brother of the groom, and the best man) handed over the keys. Here are some pictures from the fun.

 

Lucky for the next cousin to get married- the collection of “decorations” has grown. Inflatable monkeys, army guys, and dinosaurs have been added to the collection of underwear, steering wheel covers, and giant dog bones.

Notes:

1. Since I have a conscience, this job was not nearly as bad as the job on our car. But the revenge was still sweet.

2. Don’t get me in trouble for posting pictures of inappropriate dinosaurs. 

3. By the way, congratulations Dave and Ashley. Your wedding was a blast and we’re so happy for you guys. xoxo

8 months old, and 2 weeks in June 11, 2008

Part One: Naomi turns 8 months old today

It’s been awhile since I’ve given you a good Naomi update, so I’ll start off with that. I can hardly believe our baby girl is now 8 months old! The last few months with her have been a lot of fun with some expected challenges too. Currently, she has 2 teeth on the bottom and might be working on one on the top. Elona, if you read this you’ll be happy to know her bald spot in the back of her head is finally growing back in. She’s eating up solid foods like nobody’s business and seems to be a big fan of her veggies, especially peas. She also started eating Cheerios last week and gets very excited when she sees us pull them out. Her coordination has improved greatly and now most of the Cheerios actually make it into her mouth instead of on the floor or her lap. She’s sitting by herself really well now except when she gets really excited or laughs hard- then she falls over! The biggest thing on the horizon is crawling. She can now get up on her knees and rock, then she lunges forward and ends up with a face full of floor. It won’t be long ’til she puts it all together I’m sure.  Then our lives will no longer be the same. 

 

It’s hard to tell what she thinks about our move. I think she’s loving having her aunts and uncles and grandparents around to entertain her. But there have been pretty big changes for her to deal with too. She’s sleeping in a new room, a new bed, etc. Her naps have mostly been terrible and I’ve been on the verge of pulling my hair out. The good side being she’s so tired by the end of the day she’s goes to bed no problem. It also means she’s going to bed a little earlier than usual and now she’s waking up earlier than usual. I’m hoping it’s short lived.

I think I’ve been dealing with some guilt for moving her to a new place and disrupting her whole life. When we were here at Christmas things were off, but I always knew we’d go back home and things would be ok. This time is different and there’s no “home” to go back to. This is probably harder for me than it is for her.

Which brings us to Part Two.

Part Two: 2 Weeks In

We’ve been in Boise now for almost two weeks. I’m just calling it two weeks now since we head to Portland tomorrow for a family wedding for the weekend. I’d say it’s been up and down since we’ve been here. 

Usually, when you drive up to the guard at the border crossing the first thing they ask is “where’s home?” The day we crossed I hoped he wouldn’t ask me that since I was certain I’d burst into tears and say “I don’t know!” Fortunately, he didn’t ask, and for the record- he was the nicest border guard we’ve ever had in 4 years of driving back and forth between the US and Canada. So I guess you could say I’m dealing with confusion about my identity of home these days which is a new experience for me. 

Amidst the minor depression caused by having no home or a clear path to follow, things have also been very good. Time with our families has been a lot of fun and I’m glad we get this time with them. We’ve also enjoyed how easy some of the transitions have been. Car insurance and registration, health insurance, storage units, etc. have all been so clear and straightforward, very unlike our first few weeks in Canada where I cried in several government buildings and we had to do everything two or three times.

Clear cut and easy. All except our drivers licenses… Apparently in the state of Idaho if you’ve been issued a license from a foreign country you have to take the written exam and the driving test in order to get an Idaho license. I think this is a fine rule if your foreign license is from a country far far away with different driving rules. But for us I think it’s absolute crap. I had an Idaho license for 8 years before we moved to Vancouver. 8 YEARS! And now I have to take the stupid tests. I’m not going down without a fight.

Anyway, somebody is up from her 45 minute morning nap and we have things to do and a trip to pack for. More soon!

Vancouver days are ending May 27, 2008

Not much has changed since the last blog entry- except for maybe the condition of our house. The packing is still in progress, although we’re on the down hill slope now. little odds and ends are left and our supply of boxes is diminishing. Pretty soon we’ll just be hucking stuff into garbage bags for the trip home.

Anyway, the real reason for the post is to show you the cool present we got at church on sunday. It was our last sunday at UC and I was in tears before I was even out of the car. It was hard and Ben picked songs that made me cry some more. (dang it Ben) But really, it was a huge blessing. They had a send off for us at the end of the service that was touching and very special. And made me cry some more. Then they presented us with a present from the worship team. A panoramic photo of Vancouver on canvas. It’s pretty sweet- about 4′ long- and will look fantastic in our next house. They also had people sign the back of it. It was the best present ever and will forever remind us of our days in Vancouver. I borrowed a picture from the photographer’s website, but I don’t feel bad using it since I now own it.

oh- and basically, that’s what the view from my office was like when I was working. A little lower to the ground, but just as spectacular. Pretty sweet, eh?

Not much else to report at this time. More goodbyes said, and a few more to go. I think it’s a given that I’ll cry every day this week. This saying goodbye business is hard and exhausting! We’ve been taking pictures at each event and I’ll try to get them posted soon, but maybe not until Boise so hang tight.

Until next time-

 

5 days to go. May 24, 2008

Crap. Once again, several good blogging ideas have been neglected over the last 3 weeks and I’m stuck with a large update. I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that my life only consists of big updates these days, what with a move to another country on the horizon and all.

The month since graduation has been a lot of fun. Naomi is enjoying having 2 full time parents and the city of Vancouver has been fairly good to us by giving us some heat and sunshine. We only had a few priorities this month: do things around Vancouver, hang out with people, and get ready to move. We’ve been fairly successful on all accounts. A few events from last weekend have already been documented by my other friends, so I’ll send your their way.

For the Cloverdale Rodeo on the hottest day of the year so far head to Dan’s Blog

For the Cramer/Endicott Goodbye Party Beach Bash head to Shannon’s Blog

Alright- now for a few snippets of Cramer life.

Last Thursday we headed down to Granville Island for lunch at the Market. When Josh and I were engaged, we visited Vancouver to see if we should move here and go to Regent. While we were here that weekend, we had lunch at Granville Island on some steps by the water. That weekend was a pivotal weekend for us and we remember everything we did, every meal we ate, etc. So it was fun to go and have one last meal on those same steps. We also realized we’ve been in Vancouver for 4 years and have never tried bubble tea. So we added a new element to our lunch as well and tried a vanilla bubble tea. I’m thankful for the amusing experience, but my life will not be lacking if I never have it again.

Drinking Bubble Tea

Another thing we’ve been wanting to do is use this great picnic backpack that we got as a wedding present. The original idea was to head to Lighthouse Park, but by the time Naomi was up from her nap and had lunch, we were too hungry to drive that far. So we headed to a park on this side of town with a great view. We had yummy cheese, olives, baguette, and some orzo salad and pumpkin fritters from the Choices deli. Here’s a picture of the spread, unfortunately the basketball court background doesn’t show the actual view from the park!

 
Yesterday, we went for a walk on the beach with the Cochran family. They have become good friends and I’m so glad we got to have one last evening together. Here they are with their cute baby Gloria:

Last night marked the start of the goodbyes. Our good friends Lucas and Shannon pulled out of Vancouver early this morning so we squeezed in a quick goodbye last night as well. I don’t have the pictures of the 5 of us from Shannon’s camera yet, otherwise I’d post one.

This morning, I’m feeling quite sentimental. We think about who we were when we moved here and realize we leave as changed people. This is good and healthy. It also leaves us with tension and some fear about how we integrate our new selves back into the city of our childhoods. Last night, it occurred to me once again that we have made so many good friends here. I don’t know that I ever imagined a time in my life that would be so blessed with so many wonderful friendships. And I suspect that it will never be quite like this again.

Thank you friends for changing our lives and loving us. You will not be forgotten.

 

Graduation weekend and other things May 5, 2008

(Quick question to WordPress users: why does my post look totally fine, and then when I publish it, it’s formatted all funny?? I’m going bonkers….)

I meant to get this blog out last week so that I could start off with “Last weekend….” but now it’s Monday and I have the awkward task of figuring how to word this.

…Two weekends ago, the weekend before last, a weekend last month…. was the weekend we had been waiting 4 years for. Josh finally graduated from Regent College with his M.Div. It was an event to be celebrated so both of our parents and Josh’s sister, Jackie, came up to Vancouver to be there for the special occasion. They all got here on Friday afternoon and were around until Tuesday morning. I don’t really like writing super long narratives so I think I’ll break the weekend down into bullet points. I heart bullet points.

Activities we participated in:

• Walking around Queen Elizabeth Park
• Hanging out in the hotel
• BBQ’n it up in the backyard
• Ridiculous 5-pin bowling
• Baby dedication at church
• The Regent Alumni Grad Tea (only Josh and I participated in this one)
• Regent Graduation
• A few rousing games of Zilch and Pass the Pigs

Food we ate:

• Sandwiches at Kokopelli
• Chinese food at the Ridge
• Wings at Wing Nuts
• Chicken Satay with peanut dipping sauce at our backyard BBQ, followed by scrumptious Dairy Queen ice cream cake
• Yummy soups and scrambles at Burgoo
• Safeway roasted chicken. mmmm
• Kitsilano Sushi
• Mom and Dad’s super fantastic buttermilk french toast

Overall, it was a great weekend. Church on Sunday was a particular highlight for me. We had a chance to dedicate Naomi with our parents there which was very special. We also had a few friends that had moved away from Vancouver show up at church. They were all in town to participate in graduation. It was an extra special treat to see the Thorps and the Kaufmans and all their cute kiddos. Being at church that Sunday felt so much like being home to me, making our approaching departure all the more difficult.

And now I suppose that catches you up to our current circumstances. We have a date set to move back to the States. May 28th. I have pretty mixed feelings about it at this point. I keep trying to compare this move with graduating from undergrad at Oregon 4 years ago and moving back home. Somehow though, this one is so entirely different and a hundred times harder. Four years ago I had a fiance to get home to and a wedding to finish planning. This time we’re moving into the unknown. I know God has it all figured out and he’ll take care of us. He’s got a job picked out for Josh already. But the waiting game is one that has never come easy for this kid. So while we wait, Josh will continue to look for a job and we’ll live with his parents in Boise until we figure something else out. To continue with the bullet point trend, here are some things about moving that we’ll miss, and things we’re looking forward to.

What we’ll miss about Vancouver:

• University Chapel
• The city of Vancouver, more specifically, our neighborhood
• And of course, our friends

What we’re looking forward to in Boise:

• Being near our families
• Target
• Left turn lights

Alright friends, this is enough for today. See the album below for pictures from our super fun weekend.

Graduation Weekend

This is for you Jeff. April 29, 2008

Lots to say. The month of April has flown by at warp speed. But a real update will have to wait for another couple days. We’ll leave you with this. Jeff Reimer, this is dedicated to you friend.

another milestone April 6, 2008

Two posts in one day. Unheard of!

This evening, Naomi had her first bites of “real” food- good old rice cereal. Here’s a video witnessing the first few bites. She seems very enthusiastic about this new addition to her world.

Shovels are funny. April 6, 2008

This video captures the highlight of my whole week.

Background info: Naomi giggles, but not very often-  maybe once a day. So I love anytime we can get her to laugh

Thursday afternoon I was chatting with our landlord and two of her boys out in the sunshine. Out of the blue, Naomi started cracking up. Kade (3) was playing with a shovel and apparently, it was hilarious. This continued for several minutes. Hope you enjoy the giggles.