Enjoying the EC!

Here's a little pictoral update from the road... our trip back to Pennsylvania and Virginia has been a lot of fun so far!
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Here's Will, being totally stoked to find out a trip to Grammy and Papa's house means even MORE Thomas trains to play with!!


And Caitlin feels right at home playing the little artiste....


Making sugar cookies with Grammy and Auntie Emily...


Amanda was fortunate to attend a reflexology training seminar for two days with Mom.
Reflexologists have to attend courses like this one to maintain their certification, and Amanda jumped at the chance to get trained for the first time officially while Mom attended for certification.


More cookie factory adventures!


Finally on Friday, Justin got to fly into town after a lonely week as a bachelor. It was so great to be reunited, and we got to spend the next two days in the magical place where we met! Here's Justin reenacting that moment over 8 years ago of walking through these doors for the first time.


One of many pictures we took together that are very similar in pose and location to photos we took as young lovebirds between 2000-2002. This one mimics a predecessor taken on Conference Sunday, 2000!


In so many ways, SVU has not changed a bit. But, in other ways, the campus has experienced some beautiful changes and developments! Among the most notable are the addition of the new student ward chapel and the new student dorms (up on the hill).


Another reenactment. :)


Amanda wanted to go down in the basement of Robey to see the old mailboxes. While they had been renumbered, we still did our best to remember about where our boxes were.


Beautiful, beautiful entrance to the campus! We were amazed at how green the leaves still were for the most part... it's been unnormally dry in the east in recent years. Rivers were a lot lower than before. It's a hunch that the lower water levels are related to the late greenness of the trees.


Once upon a time, Justin painted Amanda's toenails in this very spot. :)


Justin walking across the front lawn. "Can you define the word 'path' for me, Mr. Cracroft?" Nice purse, buddy.


Oh, these hallowed halls... so much enlightenment took place for us here!


What a cute pair we make! SO fun to share a couple of days together sans children (thank you, Adams parents and sisters) where it all began EIGHT years ago!!


Our buddy Trent, on our way into Nick's for a little Italian grub...


Travis and Ericka, about to be parents (next month)!


The day was absolutely PERFECT for a football game... perhaps even a little too nice, if that's possible. We got a little more sun than planned, and Amanda dressed too warm... a perfect excuse to buy a new SV t-shirt!


Justin is the apple of Amanda's eye, for sure! :)


Yep! SVU has a football team now! They played a great game but had quite a battle with Frostburg State in the end, losing by eight points.


One of our favorite spots... the Parkway!


We made a new friend up there!


And his owner was sweet enough to offer to snap our photo for us! Thank you!


Seriously, this has to be one of the most beautiful roads in the world. The surroundings are so picturesque, and the road itself is smooth beyond compare with those velvety grass shoulders manicured on either side. Amanda agreed to come back with me in the near future for top to bottom ride of the entire thing... ON MOTORCYCLES!


So gorgeous!


Who's that cute gal?


We stopped at Otter Creek. There was this great gift shop-slash-restaurant there with one of the few campgrounds along the parkway. We enjoyed a sandwich/salad and a divine blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream! We want to come back with the kids for a little camping excursion someday!

Attempt at a reenactment on the James River Footbridge, but alas, we were a little too late when it came to daylight. Amanda told me that our original visit to this spot was one of her first moments when she knew she wanted to marry me. Lucky, lucky me!

That's it for now! We're now spending some quality time with the whole Adams crew in Lititz, and the weather couldn't be more perfect here! Sounds like our timing was perfect, with winter hitting early and in full force back home in SLC. Hmm... maybe we'll just stay?!?

Safety in Obedience

Amanda is always the queen of keeping this blog updated. I may sound biased, but I love her posts and am missing them right now while she's busy with her family. I've had a unique experience of having time to myself I don't normally get, and one of the things I've done is take a little more time to read some great things I should read more often... like the Ensign. Forgive me for copying and pasting, but I was very impressed by this section on obedience from President Uchtdorf's latest message in the October issue, and I just wanted to share. (On that note, one of the brethren--I'm thinking either Uchtdorf or Monson--specifically spoke about sharing our beliefs, even through blogging, during a conference talk)

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We recognize that we are living in a time of turmoil, disaster, and war. We and many others feel strongly the great need for a “defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6). How do we find such a place of safety? President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught: “Our safety lies in the virtue of our lives. Our strength lies in our righteousness.”3

Recall with me how Jesus Christ instructed His Apostles, clearly and directly, at the beginning of His mortal ministry: “[Come,] follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). This was also the beginning of the ministry of the Twelve Apostles, and I suspect that they had a feeling of inadequacy. May I suggest that the Savior Himself teaches us here a lesson about core doctrine and priorities in life. Individually, we need to first “follow Him,” and as we do this, the Savior will bless us beyond our own capacity to become what He wants us to be.

To follow Christ is to become more like Him. It is to learn from His character. As spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we do have the potential to incorporate Christlike attributes into our life and character. The Savior invites us to learn His gospel by living His teachings. To follow Him is to apply correct principles and then witness for ourselves the blessings that follow. This process is very complex and very simple at the same time. Ancient and modern prophets described it with three words: “Keep the commandments”—nothing more, nothing less.

Developing Christlike attributes in our lives is not an easy task, especially when we move away from generalities and abstractions and begin to deal with real life. The test comes in practicing what we proclaim. The reality check comes when Christlike attributes need to become visible in our lives—as husband or wife, as father or mother, as son or daughter, in our friendships, in our employment, in our business, and in our recreation. We can recognize our growth, as can those around us, as we gradually increase our capacity to “act in all holiness before [Him]” (D&C 43:9).

The scriptures describe a number of Christlike attributes we need to develop during the course of our lives. They include knowledge and humility, charity and love, obedience and diligence, faith and hope (see D&C 4:5–6). These personal character qualities stand independent of the organizational status of our Church unit, our economic circumstances, our family situation, culture, race, or language. Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They cannot be developed without His help.

Playing Together!

Burr, it's getting cold out side!

Pepper in her new sweaters!! You go Girl!

It's funny, and it's become my favorite past time, too... watching people walking their dogs past our yard... When they get a look at Pepper in her sweaters... EVERYONE Laughs! I love putting smiles on others faces!

Aww, What's cuter than puppy pugs?

Our friend's pug dog, Rosie, had 3 puppies last week... for Family night on Monday, we went over to visit them... they are SO cute! They look like little hippos! Don't you think?!

Ha! Well this one below, looks like he could be Yoda's cousin!

Hmm, just try not to be jealous!

My 2 1/2 year old Son, Will brought me breakfast in bed this morning!!! He fixed it himself... in case you want to train your children... here is exactly what he did...

Breakfast for Mommy...

By: Will Cracroft

First find a bowl that will hold this precious breakfast!(Looking around the kitchen) Ah, yes... the Dog bowl... perfect! While your at it... best to stick to the 'Dog food' theme (Pepper loves it, why not mommy?)... dump the dogs water into bowl of left over soft dog food from night before... open pantry and add a few hand fulls of dry dog food. Now stir with toy train!

There, it's ready!

Slowly carry the breakfast to mommy's bedroom, spilling when ever possible. Now, quietly set bowl on sleeping mommy's pillow. *Remember... do this quietly, so she will not wake up just yet...

Then... run to the pantry and grab your breakfast (bag of cookies!) and wait on opposite side of bed and say "please" over and over again while shoving the bag of cookies in mommy's face until she wakes up!

Results- Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, in stead of hugs and kisses I got a time out! Also, I've never seen Mommy jump out of bed so quickly... Guess placing the breakfast on her pillow wasn't such a good idea, because it tipped over- drenching everything: including the bed, sheets, comforter, mommy's hair and Pj's. Looking on the positive side... Today's laundry day!

A Blessing From Above...

9:00 am- drop Caitlin off at preschool
9:17 am- arrive at 24 hour fitness parking lot. Hmm, surprisingly full.
9:18 am- park on street, get Will out of the car and my swim bag... ready to rock!
9:22 am- fill out forms...so that Will can be checked in as the 30th child of the day to visit KIDS CARE! He's full of excitement, and doesn't even notice I'm walking out the door... Awesome!
9:29 am- cruz towards locker room, notice pool is full of cute little old ladies bobbing up and down... Ahh, Aqua class... Darn! (do a 180)
9:31 am- skip to my car to grab my 'just-in case-there's-an-aqua-class-bag'. On my way back ask the girl at the front desk for a 'class schedule'... Awesome, acquire and memorize!
9:33 am- back in the locker room... feeling a bit like Mary Poppins... just with out the carpet bag...
9:36 am- dressed and ready for an elliptical work out! Look out, here I come! Super amazing, a bit boring with no ipod, but empowering just the same!
10:10 am- time for work out number two!
10: 18 am- suited, showed and totally stoked to start my 30 minute swim with only 3 other people in the pool... completely relaxed and care free, ME time...
10:46 am- showered, dressed packed up...
10:55 am- pick up my little Wilbur from Kids Care!
10:56 am- Oops! Forgot my sunglasses in my locker...
11:01 am- on our way home, what a success!

Thank you, 24 Hour Fitness for understanding my desire to work out during the day, and not have to wake up at 5:30 to do it.

Thank you, Will... for being sweet and wonderful, no matter where I drop you off.

and Thank you to myself, for taking the time to take care of us... we so need it!

Our New Camera and Things I've made...

A few of you wanted to see what our new camera looked like (Only ours is all silver, not pink!)... Keven, Amy, Whoever, this is for you...

It's a really great camera if your looking to upgrade...
I made this super awesome quilt for the Boy Scouts, they had a goal to tie 100 quilts... so I offered to help them accomplish that goal! this is what I was doing all last week, incase you were wondering why I looked like crap every day! :)

Finished Product:

The striped and solid blue fabric are old sheets my mom gave me!! and the green/brown was extra from a bag I made... i thought the colors went very well with each other, don't you?

This picture was right after I 'sandwiched" all they layers together... I taped the back side to the floor and streched it 'taut' so it wouldn't move around etc... then I placed the batting on (with the help of me honey) and then we placed the quilt top on! I trimmed, pinned, watched a little of "Baby Mama" and got to work on the binding...

Here's my humble work station... this is where all my crafty inspired thoughts are created...

While I'm at it, I made this heating pad cover months ago... LOVE the Fabric, Thanks IKEA!!

Caitlin's Steve... (Stripes, actually!)

Caitlin was having separation anxiety after we sent Pink Steve to Pennsylvania... So, I decided that she needed one for herself... and this is what I came up with! The head is actually sort of round... I'm so proud of myself! But I'm thinking that the pink bow is kind of dorkie... so that might go... but I'm making 'her' a blue too-too, that will look awesome, I know it... I can't wait!

Striped Steve is LOVED!!

"Tale as Old as Time..."

-The following conversation took place in the car last week, while listening to Beauty and the Beast soundtrack:

Caitlin: Mommy, I'm Gaston!
Me: Oh really? Don't you want to be Bell?
Caitlin: No, You Bell, Mommy!
Me: Cool!
Caitlin: Daddy's Beauty and the Beast!
Me: Daddy's THE BEAST?
Caitlin: YES! And Will's Maurice! (it changes, sometimes he's Chip or LeFou-that's Gaston's buddy!!)

-This was another time we were in the car Caitlin yelled: "Daddy, SING! Mommy, SING!"
(Justin and I both were stumbling along with the words... Caitlin, totally satisfied in the back seat bobbing along to our super impressive talents... Will must think we are CRAZY!)

-Sunday Night at the Cabin we were singing Kareokie, and Caitlin and Will had the Mics... and Justin was busy looking for a song they might know...

So I said, "Justin, there must be something in there (the kareokie cd's) from Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast..." and just then Caitlin started singing...

"Kill the Beast! Kill the BEAST!"

It was so funny...