"Dear Elder"... for TWO years!

Pictures of Elder Cracroft at the MTC today!

Mama T and Elder Cracroft!
Nobody likes good-byes...
"Elder, what do you think about all this???" "Uhhh..."

For a video of this momentous occasion, please click this link.

(Breathe!) It's JUST HAIR... it will GROW back!

OH! Every kid goes through this stage... I was 5... maybe 6...
My sister, Emily(10) and I were enjoying a summer afternoon in the back yard... when Emily got this brilliant idea that she was going to give me a new look! We DID ask permission first... but granted... mom was taking a nap on the couch... and was seriously out of it. I'm SURE she didn't understand a word we were saying when we asked her if Emily could cut my hair... and remembering her reaction... I'm POSITIVE she didn't hear us! She cried... Just like I did... when I found that Caitlin had the same bright idea as her Auntie!


OK.... I know it's really not that bad... it could have been SOOOO much worse! I Know... I've been to Wal-Mart, I've seen it! I'm just glad I found her before she could really get creative...

I was just thinking the other day, how beautiful her hair was, and how much I LOVE it long. She is a lot like me, and didn't get her hair (really) until about 2... and then it was just wispy-crazy-scientist-hair that would not yield to any brush or spray... actually... it looked a lot like a scared cat!
I really don't know what came over me... I mean I cried... No, I sobbed for a good 30 minutes. It must have been all the pent up feelings from when she was a baby... when people used to tell me what a cute little boy she was! (Come on people, She's wearing PINK!) And when I saw all that blond hair on the ground... oh, it must be... yup, I'll blame it on the pregnancy hormones. I mean, it's just hair, right? (sigh) It's going to grow back!

So, When Justin got home we went to get Caitlin's hair fixed. We decided to take her to Cookie Cutters, an over priced kids salon, but it was worth the $13.95 because there was no crying, she got to watch TV and sit on a sweet motorcycle and she got a balloon and a cookie cutter and sucker when it was all done. (Yeah... reward your child for cutting their own hair... oh well.)

It was fun to watch...

Harley chick...

Those boots! Caitlin, you're killing me...
C-bug with her new do...

side view: I asked them to do something about her bangs... her hair was always in her face. I like this much better...
Then we took the kids to Wendy's for dinner... it was a fun little family night out on the town...

I am pleased with how her hair turned out, and she's still the same spunky and crazy Caitlin!

December 30, 2008

...32 Reasons Why I Love My Justin...

1. He is the most thoughtful man I know!

2. Loves to be out doors (mowing the lawn, camping, or taking a walk, he loves it all!)

3. Is one AMAZING Daddy! Sweet and very loving!

4. He tells me I'm pretty

5. Yes, he will even rub my feet!

6. He loves to travel!

7. Those blue eyes... and that gorgeous smile of his, 'dazzle' me to the point that I lose my train of thought.

8. He's a very skilled handy man!

9. He's not afraid to admit he's wrong about something

10. Justin has this laugh... I call it his 'Saturday Night Live Laugh'... I love to hear him laugh this way, I know he's worry free and having a good time!

11. He'll watch 'chick flicks' with me!

12. Is very kind to animals, yes: even cats!

13. He has read all the Twilight books and LIKED them... it's fun to talk about them together!

14. With a pen and a blank piece of paper, he can draw the the United States by memory... (individual states and all! What can your man do?)

15. He will read the kids 3 or 4 more books after saying... 'OK, last one'...(and with a smile on his face!)

16. He's a wonderful BIG brother... good at giving advice and a great example

17. He can carry a meaningful conversation with just about anyone!

18. He strives to improve himself more each day, sets new goals often

19. Loves to surprise me!

20. He's Musical! (GREAT singing voice and he's learning to play the Guitar and Harmonica!)21. LOVES to watch movies and cuddle

22. He has a 32 oz Maverick soda fetish just about every Saturday afternoon! He doesn't even have to tell me where he's going... I just know.

23. Has good taste in women... (Umm, woman... yeah, that'd be me!)

24. He laughs at my jokes... ha.

25. He does the DISHES!!26. Will play with the kids on Saturday mornings to let me sleep in! Ahh. That's a good man!

27. He's a great speller! (my personal dictionary)

28. He is tidy... most of the time. ;)

29. He's the finance geek of the relationship... and with out him my free spirit would be lost!

30. He's a worthy Priesthood holder and loves serving the Lord in anyway he can! (even if it's in Nursery for two whole years!)

31. OK, I have to say it... he's dang SEXY!

32. AND...Today is his birthday!!! What a great day it is! I love you, Honey!

Happy Birthday! 32 years...

Now...here comes my favorite part... A kiss for each year!

Happy Birthday Parker!

BIG 1-9

You hoped, they called!

Hard to believe you're already 19... even harder to believe that you leave in two days!

Best of luck, We LOVE you!

Justin, Amanda, Caitlin and Will

The Cutest Star on the Block!

I mentioned that I was looking for a new star for our tree...

Well, What do you think?

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S

love, The Cracrofts

First Baby Quilt!!

I almost forgot about this baby quilt that I made two months ago... I was holding off on posting about it until I delivered it to my buddy Heather, who is having her first baby ( A BOY!!) due in FEB!! :)

I had a really fun time making this quilt... Caitlin helped me pick out the striped fabric... and I match all the rest! I cut what felt like a milllion mini 2 1/2 inched squares , but the awesome part about it is that I used my sweet Roatery cutter (looks like a pizza cutter) and mat... Makes quilting life SO much fun and easy! Then I layed out my squares and started a pattern...

Will was VERY interested in all these little colorful squares... lucky I cut more than I needed because he (and Caitlin) ran off with a few...

I guess I forgot to take pictures of the next few steps...(So, picture this in your mind.) I basicly made single rows by sewing the blocks from left to right. Then I sewed the rows together, starting with Row 1... going down to row 18 (or whatever it was...)

Below is a picutre I took after I 'sandwiched' the quilt top, batting and back; and after I machine quilted it all together.

The finished product...

Here is a close up picture, after I washed it.

I didn't 'pre-wash' my fabric because I wanted it to have that old fashioned krinkly

quilt look... I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

Shhh...Here is a sneek peak at the fabrics for my next secret project!

It's almost done! :)

This is WHY...

...Yes, This is why we didn't take the kids to see Santa this year! (I'm thinking our kids need a little proof that Santa brings toys... then maybe they'd be up for a little visit!)

I tell you... just for kicks... we should have taken them to see him... I mean... LOOK at how priceless these pictures are...

Christmas 2005

Christmas 2007

GoiNg tO a HoliDaY ParTy??

...and don't know what to take? Try these festive and easy recipes!!!
Yummy Appetizer...
Fruit Salsa
1 apple, cut into very small pieces
2 kiwi, cut into very small pieces
1 cup frozen mixed berries, (I use a mixture of blue, black and raspberries)thawed and put in blender just enough to break into small pieces
Sugar (to taste- maybe a few tablespoons)

Mix all together in a bowl and let “marinate” for a few hours. Serve with cinnamon chips!

Chips
Flour tortillas
Margarine or butter
Cinnamon
Sugar

Butter the tortillas and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar, then cut like pizzas. Bake in the oven until slightly crispy: 350, for about 5-8 min. So yummy and easy!

Salad...
Autumn Pear Salad

Dressing:
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
Salt and fresh ground pepper

Mix dressing ingredients in jar; shake well and refrigerate.

Salad:
½ head green leaf lettuce, washed and torn
½ head red leaf lettuce, washed and torn
2 ripe pears, thinly sliced
½ cup unsalted cashews, toasted
Couple handfuls dried cranberries
Optional: 2 oz. Asiago cheese, shaved with vegetable peeler

In salad bowl, combine greens and ¾ of the dressing. Arrange pears, cheese, cashews, and cranberries over top and drizzle on the remaining dressing. YUM!

Dessert...
Buckeye Bars

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
22 NILLA Wafers, crushed...(place in gallon ziploc, use rolling pin, this is fast!)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 of 8-oz. tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw.)
3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate


LINE 8-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Beat butter and peanut butter with mixer until blended. Mix in wafer crumbs. Gradually add sugar, mixing well after each addition. Press onto bottom of pan.
MICROWAVE COOL WHIP and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir. Microwave 15 to 30 sec. or until chocolate is melted; stir until well blended. Spread over peanut butter layer.
REFRIGERATE 2 hours. Use foil handles to lift dessert from pan before cutting to serve.

Merry Christmas!!

Directive?

I saw this "cube" of towels on the bed this evening, and I couldn't help but think of the movie Wall-e. Our kids have been watching it--without fail--every time we go to my parents' house. In fact, "Wall-e" has become synonymous with "dinner at Nans & Pops house."



So, for any of you who have seen it, take a looksie at these photos and try not to think of that cute little box-shaped robot shaking as he hurriedly compacts a cube of stuff to demonstrate to his pal Eve the main purpose of his existence...


I don't know if I should admit to it, but I insisted that my sweet, pregnant wife come take a look (these towels were recently tipped out of their large, rubbermaid container after a trip upstairs from the dryer). She could hardly stop laughing, which, of course, made me laugh! LOVE it.

Whoopy... More Snow!!

We got more snow today...and I've decided that I'm starting to love snow again. Not that I want to move to Alaska and become an Eskimo or anything...but I am beginning to love this short unappreciated season. Watching Caitlin and Will get excited as the snow starts to fall... then bundling them up in their snow suits, gloves, scarfs, hats, boots and whatever... it's just cute to watch them prance around the back yard, tilting their heads back catching snow on their tongues, it makes me happy that they are happy. Snow... it just makes a childhood 'magical'.

PS...

My friend Cristi has a new fun little blog... where she's made blog backgrounds with easy to follow instructions. Deck your blog out with cute homemade Christmas backgrounds by Cristi!! click HERE!

Thanks Cristi!

Christmas is Coming!!

Last Monday we brought home our Christmas tree... and it wasn't until Thursday or Friday that we actually got around to decorating it. We had a good time unwrapping all of our precious Christmas decorations... Caitlin fell in love with this tree that my mom made a few years ago!!

Here's Justin setting the tree in the right place. Thanks to Uncle Jonny for letting us borrow his truck to pick up our tree!

Oh, and don't you love my homemade curtains? I'm so talented... (JUSTIN'S NOTE: We've been holding out for shutter blinds, and we're finally getting them! Yay!)

Decorated...

Yes, I know it's a HUGE star... it was the only one we have right now... I haven't found the 'perfect' one at the store yet... so we'll make do with this!

and that white blob at the bottom is a 'Christmas Cat' he 'lives' in our tree... (ask Caitlin!)

Saturday night, we took the kids to see the lights on Temple Square. Jon and a date came with us to dinner...we had a really nice time!

Will and Daddy, listening to the bag pipes!

Caitlin and Jon

Our little family!

Yesterday it snowed! The kids were SO excited!!

Will, sporting his NEW snow coat and boots!! when ever he sees snow... he says, "It's Snowing! It's Snowing!" Even if it's not actually falling...

Pepper LOVES the snow, too... look how it 'balls' up on her fur. (This is her 'Juno' sweater, and our neighbors call her 'Pepper Corn' when she wears it... cute!)

Here's Justin trying out our 'new' hand-me-down snow blower from his parents! It's awesome. This makes life SO much easier... esp since we live on a corner and have all that sidewalk to take care of!

Sunday we took a quick family Christmas pic... here's a little sample:

Caitlin looks SO cute in her scarf, don't you think?

That was our week!

Amanda's Birthday Roast... :)

Happy Birthday, honey!!

Same Bathroom, New Look!

Oo, La La... This was an exciting project... Justin and I were happy to see the pink tile go. As always, one little project suddenly turns into something bigger... more time and... 'Oo, we should get new lights..." and "lets rip this out" etc. etc. So here's a few pictures of our last week... and our newly transformed bathroom...

BEFORE:

Another high five to my handy house man, J-dawg Justin... He worked really hard to get it to the point that we are not embarrassed anymore to have people use our bathroom... :) It's just nice to update things every... you know... 30 years. Nice thing for us is that the shower was re-done like a year before we moved in. So, other than the vanity... which works (for now) everything's pretty new! :)

More awesome pink tile.

Justin saved one if the tiles, probably to show people...hehe... I might frame it and hang it somewhere in our house... just for fun.

After the tile came off... hours of scraping 30 year old glue followed this picture.

Wow, bye bye glue.

This was one messy bathroom after that scrape down. In the voice of Ernest P. Wheral-- "EEeeeeewwwwwah" Anyone?? OK, maybe that's a joke only my Dad will get...

By the look on Justin's face (below)... you'd never guess that this was one of his favorite projects we've done in the house. Probably because he did the whole thing by himself, and it only took a few days. I told him to do whatever he wanted, this was his 'baby'! He picked the color, and the new lights and towel racks all by himself, and kept it "Extreme Home Makeover" secret-like from me till it was all finished! It was so fun!

All smooth and primed, ready to paint!

AFTER:

TA-DA! I'd have to say, I'm impressed! To some it may seam a little drastic from the light pink... but I LOVE IT! Esp. coming from the hallway with the dark wood in the hallway... and it goes well with the other colors in our house. Pictures never tell it like it is in person and neither do the little paint cards at Home De Pot. It's like a brown... with a hint of olive green... it's really cool. We'll need to 'dress' it up a little with some art. That will be fun. OH, I'm so happy it's not PINK anymore! Whoopy!