Halloween Pics

Queen Elena

Wicked Eva

What a pair!

Happy Halloween!

Max William

Christopher now has a fellow male Kramer cousin (granddaughters: 9, grandsons: 2). On Wednesday, Emily gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby boy: Max William Chambers. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz., and was 20 inches long. Both mother and baby are well.

Since she thoughtfully posted a few pictures of Christopher after he was born, I thought I'd do the same for her. Here are two adorable close-ups my mom and dad took at the hospital (I have bronchitis, so I can't meet him yet---AAAAAAAAAARGGHHHH!)

Christopher's Favorite Things

Christopher is now 9 months old. Here are some of his favorite things:

Reading with daddy.

Playing with dolls.

Mowing the lawn

Being adorable.

Demonstrating his army crawl.

Hike to Stewart Falls

Erin, Christopher, and Chris at the base of Stewart Falls.


Chris, Christopher, Erin, and Geoffrey on the trail.

One of the first views of the falls from the trail.

Stewart Falls

My department offers the opportunity for faculty members to bring colleagues from other institutions to BYU to collaborate on research projects. This week I finally took advantage of the opportunity and brought another young professor to BYU. Aside from brainstorming and doing some initial data analyses, we took some time off to enjoy a hike in Provo Canyon to Stewart Falls. Chris and I originally thought it would be a perfect family hike, but my sister Eleanor convinced me that Elena and Eva might not do so well given some of our time constraints. Emily graciously offered to watch the two girls so we could still go. Since Christopher is still really stranger anxious, we brought him along in a hiking back pack.

The weather was fantastic--sunny and clear, but still cool enough for a hike. I had forgotten how enjoyable the hike is, how beautiful the view is, and how refreshing the mist from the falls is when you hike down to the base. After the hike we had to gert back to work, but not before we enjoyed a little Cafe Rio lunch.

Dance Recital

Preparing to pray with the other dancers before the show.

The flower barrette we made for the recital.

A congratulatory kiss from Mommy after the show.

A congratulatory kiss from Daddy after the show.

Eva, Christopher, and Elena

Elena loves to dance. Even when she was only 3 years old she loved to try new dance moves. Remember her salsa dance?! This past year she thoroughly enjoyed taking a creative dance class at BYU. The big dance showcase was Saturday May 16th. Elena's class performed a dance called "April Showers Bring Dancing Flowers." To accessorize her costume, Elena asked me to help her make a little flower barrette. We chose a coral color flower we already had in our craft drawer, and added a little yellow center because yellow is Elena's f avorite color. Grandma and Grandpa Kramer, and Grandma and Grandpa Holmes came to watch. Elena danced beautifully. We were so proud!

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to wish all of the wonderful women I know a belated but very Happy Mother's Day.

I had such a wonderful day yesterday. Chris woke up at the same time I did and made me breakfast (he's not much of an early riser, and despite his many wonderful domestic skills, he doesn't usually prepare meals at our house). After I nursed the baby, I handed him to Chris and got to enjoy ample time to shower and get myself ready for church. By that time, Chris and the girls prepared me a scrumptious plate of gluten free/dairy free blueberry pancakes, with a beautiful strawberry flower garnish. They even bought a spray can of non-dairy whipped topping to make the plate look especially marvelous. How thoughtful!

After church, Chris prepared clam linguine, fruit salad, and brownie sundaes for dessert (here we did eat dairy). We then went over to Grandma Kramer's house to celebrate with her. During our visit Syd, Gustavo, and baby Ella also came over. It's always so fun to celebrate and relax with each other.

Trip to Boise

Last weekend we accompanied Chris on a trip to Boise for an audition with Opera Idaho. We discovered that we're not the best travelers (what should have been a 6 hour trip took us 9+ hours). Despite the length of the trip, we really enjoyed our time with each other. We ate lots of fruit snacks and rice quakes (gluten free and dairy free of course), drank lots of capri sun, stopped at many rest stops for potty breaks and mommy milk for Christopher, listened to music, and tried to watch Mary Poppins and High School Musical on a portable DVD player. Our kids got along well, and for most of the trip, Christopher was able to relax well in his carseat.

We stayed with Chris's Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Brad. Their home is beautiful, and they were excellent hosts. Rosalie made scrumptious waffles for breakfast. She even made her own maple syrup. Serena (their daughter) lives in the area, so when she came over to go running with her dad, we got to meet her adorable little boy Lincoln.

One of the other highlights of the trip was a visit to the Discovery Center of Idaho. That Saturday happened to be free to the public, so the kids and I went there while Chris auditioned for Opera Idaho. Among other things we went grocery shopping in the center's market, pretended to be veterinarians, made a tornado, road an air-brake chair, blew gigantic bubbles, and watched Irish dancers perform. We had oodles of fun.

We learned from the first leg of our trip that we DID NOT want to make so many stops. The return trip took about 7 hours.