We’ve got big news…..

There is a little Cramer baby on its way!

Due to arrive on July 20, 2010

Earlier this month Scott was rewarded an all expenses paid trip to Cancun…it was amazing!
The pictures pretty much say it all, we had a fabulous time!

This is the view of the pool and ocean from our room, we had excellent weather
(a small huricane hit the day before we got there so we were a little worried.)

The best part about the whole thing was that it was all inclusive,
so yes, we had all the pina coladas we could ever want!

The food was some of the best we have ever had.
Ha, I liked it a little too much…I gained 8 lbs. in the 5 days we were there!
Sick, I know!

We rented a car one day and went and saw the ancient Mayan ruins, Tulum.

I know I complain sometimes about how much Scott has to work…but right now I have zero complaints!

We have officially been in our cute little Sugarhouse home for two and a half months and have spent every day making it our own.  When I imagined remodeling our place I just pictured the beautiful end product…I must have subconsciously blocked out the stages that get you to the finish…and for good reason! Here are a few reality checks/lessons I have had over the past couple of months.

1.  Meet my beautiful royal blues.  I spend 90% of my time in these bad boys…if you happen to drop by there is a good chance I will be sporting them.

2.  Leaving your solid hardwood doors outside in the cold WILL warp them.

3.  Weeds can indeed grow to be taller than I am.

4.  Sawdust will make it into every nic and cranny imaginable.

5.  Sleeping on a mattress in the basement for 3 weeks makes you really appreciate your bed.

6.  Do not put really starchy foods down your disposal or it will clog and overflow your sink.

7.  Walking into my house and having it look like this…

or this…

or this…

Is a regular occurrence.

8.  single payne windows will give you the rare opportunity to feel the wind inside your house.

9.  Using masking tape instead of painters tape will peel up the paint.

10.  Having a broken sprinkler next to your foundation will cause your basement to flood.

This list makes it sound like it has been a bad experience which is SO far from the truth. We have had so much fun learning and working together on our little home and wouldnt trade it for the world.  When you finish a project it makes all the hard work well worth it.  We are quickly approaching some fabulous finished rooms/projects and will post some pics when we get there.

I guess sleepless nights call for updating the blog.  We have been so so busy I have not even had a minute to sit down and write a few things down about our amazing trip to Africa.  I really don’t even know where to begin…but here it goes.

After a total of 56 hours traveling (21 of those were spent in the Johannesburg airport,) we arrived in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka where we spent the majority of our time over the month.  The first couple days there we drove down to Livingstone where we hung out at Victoria Falls, some of the largest waterfalls in the world.

This picture just doesn’t do it  justice…it was difficult to photograph the worlds largest waterfall!

My sis Sydney and I decided to top off our Livingstone experience by doing the 2nd largest bungee jump in the world!

Ya we pretty much have bragging rights for the rest of our lives:)

We then headed back up to Lusaka where we spent the next couple of weeks.  For those of you who don’t know, the group we went with was Mothers Without Borders. It is a nonprofit that was started by a woman named Kathy Hedlee from Provo.  Every year they bring volunteers to Zambia to help contribute what they can to the growing problems there. They own 80 acres of land where they have built an orphanage/Children’s Resource Center, housing facilities for workers, dug a well for water, have a ton of farmland and chickens for food, and are working on a school and medical facility. It is such a huge undertaking and we were so excited to be a part of it.

This is a small portion of the land. The two structures in the picture are the oasis (bathroom) and a house for some of the workers who live on the land.

While we were there all of the volunteers stayed in a guest house of one of the members there and everyday we had the opportunity to go out and work on the land or take day trips out to sister orphanages, street kids facilities, villages, hospitals, the ghettos, and do medical screenings.

In the Mukuni Village

These are the sweet children at the Children’s Resource Center. There are currently 25 children in the care of Mother’s Without Borders, they hope to bring in up to 200 children when they have the space and resources.  Each of these children have unbelievable stories and will have a special place in our hearts forever.

This is the beautiful Carol Zulu.  We had the opportunity of meeting Carol the first day we arrived in Lusaka and were able to have her join us on our adventure to Livingstone.  Carol’s story is one that makes my heart ache and brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Carol is honestly one of our heavenly father’s angels here on earth.  She has the most incredible faith I have ever witnessed and has a spirit that fills the room.  Carol was the victim of molestation and contracted aides as a result. Over the space of three years Carol’s health gradually grew worse and she became increasingly frail.  When we met Carol she was not in the best of health and we were told that Carol may not live for very much longer.  For those of you who dont know, people do not actually die from HIV/AIDS.  It is an immune disease that weakens your immune system to the point that your body cannot fight off disease.  A few weeks ago Carol contracted Bacterial Meningitis and passed away on September 15th.  We were so blessed to have known Carol for just a short time and know that she has returned to live with her family and our father in heaven.

Everyone has asked me if we had a “fun” time…”fun” is such a relative term.  Of coarse we had an amazing time, but it was such an eye opening experience and was so much harder than I ever imagined.  I dont think that I was quite prepared for some of the things that we came across. It was such an emotional roller coaster, one minute you would be playing futbol with the kids from a village and the next you would be sitting in the home of a family who is starving and dieing from aids. About 40% of the Adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. As a result of this there are orphaned children everywhere, More than 36 million children under the age of 15 are orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The problem is just so huge it is overwhelming.  Most of the time I was there I just felt like everything we were seeing couldn’t possibly be real. I have heard about the AIDS problem in Africa my whole life but it wasn’t until it was put in my face like that, that I was forced to try to understand it. Scott and I have talked about our experience and at times I feel discouraged…Even though I was there for a month doing everything I could to help I know that I may have helped out someone for a moment or for a day but they will be faced with the problems of tomorrow and everyday to come and there is nothing I can do about it. I had to rely upon my heavenly father for strength to try to understand why these amazing people have to endure so much. I learned a great deal about god’s plan for each of us and his individual love for each of his children.

So many people have been encouraging me to write a post about Africa, I dont know if this is what you expected but thank you for letting me put some of my feelings and experiences in words. I learned so much while I was there and know that I will be a changed person forever.

Yes, i will warn you in advance this post may or may not be very long so if you choose to just scroll through and see the pics i will not be offended. (ok maybe just a little but whatever.)
Our Summer has been crazy crazy starting with me doing summer semester down at BYU which is never fun but oh so necessary and having to cram finals in right before we left for Africa. But on top of that, Scott and I finally found the little house of our dreams, so we packed up our stuff and threw it into a pod the day before we took off to Africa for a month! Scott and I with the help of Scott’s mom have looked and looked for a place in SugarHouse…and after months of searching we found this gem…

It is definitely a diamond in the rough. We wanted a fixer upper and we found it, it will be such a fun project for Scott and I to work on together.  So now that we have our own place COME ON OVER we would love to have visitors!

So We closed on our house and off to Africa we went. Now I will just have to save Africa for the next post, there is just way way too much to say and it definitely deserves it’s own post, but i will give a little preview.

Have I left you wanting more??? I hope so…stay tuned

After we got home we had 3 days to unpack the pod full of all our stuff before it needed to be picked up, so we wasted no time. We spent the first day cleaning every nick and cranny of our new house, the second and third day unpacking the pod…and every day since that unpacking boxes, painting, weeding, pulling up base boards, removing carpet, and more unpacking.  Our new home away from home is Home Depot, I have a feeling that we will know all the workers too well by the time the remodel is complete!  The house was built in 1948 so there is PLENTY of work to keep us busy for a good while.

As for the rest of the summer we have lived it to the fullest having bbq’s, boating in lake powell, time with friends and family, kickin it at the cabin, playing with nephews, and did i mention unpacking? I am sad to say our summer is quickly coming to a close with fall semester starting on the 31st… I am trying not to think about it.  One more week to soak in the sun, thanks to all who helped make our summer great!!!

Scott and I are so excited to announce the birth of our 5th little nephew…

Jackson Ray Cramer

Such a Perfect little Babe!
He was being so cute…I made sure Scott was ready with camera in hand for
every little yawn, smirk, and stretch!

Jackson is the is the son of Scott’s oldest brother Dan and his wife Tammy.  Baby Jackson did not want to come into this world easily….At a a healthy 9 pounds 6 ounces he decided he would like to enter this world posterior (meaning facing up instead of down.) This makes the process more painful, longer, and stressful on both mom and baby.  But Tammy did beautifully and brought this beautiful little boy into the world with a smile.

This is Dan and Tammy’s fourth son, they are amazing! The Cramers are a family of boys…
let me lay it out for you.

Scott’s Father Joe had one brother (no sisters)
Joe married Janet and they had 5 sons
Daniel…he married Tammy who has 5 brothers (no sisters) they now have 4 sons (no daughters)
Steven…married Elizabeth who has 3 brothers (no sisters) they are expecting a son in October
Scott
Jeff
Robert
As you can see we are a family of many men and few women, but if all the little boys are as cute as Jackson I say…
BRING ON THE BOYS!

Congratulations Dan and Tammy, he is adorable and we are SO excited for you!

Scott and I are so excited for our upcoming adventure in July…We are going with Mothers Without Borders to Zambia Africa!  Mothers Without Borders is a service organization that works with the orphaned children of Africa.  They have bought over 80 acres of land in Lusaka, Zambia where they are working to build a children’s resource center for the children that have been orphaned due to AIDS.  The progress that they have made over in Zambia is absolutely amazing! They have already built a housing facility for children where they are taken in and are taught about family structure and have access to education, counseling, vocational training, spiritual development, and health care.  It is so exciting, my family will be joining us on the excursion so we will be able to experience this all together! We will be staying right at the children’s resource center where we will take part in helping to build the school and health care facility on the grounds and work directly with the children who live there.  Not only is Mothers Without Borders working to create their own refuge for the children, but they support many other service groups in the area.  We will have the opportunity to serve in these organizations as well by working in orphanages, serving and feeding the street children of Zambia, helping with medical screenings, and much more.   I should have thought of posting this on my blog long ago…we are leaving on June 29th and will be there for the month of July, so the time is approaching quickly. They have given us a list of things that are desperately needed over in Zambia and we are working on gathering as much supplies as possible. If any of you are interested in donating and taking a part in this we along with the children of Zambia would greatly appreciate it! This is the list…

For Children’s Resource Center

Backpacks for kids- clean, strong, in good condition (Jansport, etc)

Flip flops- size 6-12, adult and 8-12 children

Sports bras, small, med large

Sweatshirts – children sizes 6 up to adult Medium

Dish Cloths and dish towels

For team activities:

Mini- Hygiene kits- washcloth, hand towel, full sized bar soap in Ziploc bag

Baby bed sheets and receiving blankets

Baby blankets, baby sleepers & pjs

Yarn, crochet hooks sizes g-k

6 inch paint brushes for oil based paint

latex gloves

Kids Camps

Soccer balls-please deflate

Pumps

Long rope suitable for group jump rope activities

Medicines for screenings:

Painkillers – adult, children, infant

Iboprofin and Tylenol 

Plastic Syringes- no needles

Anti fungal cream (lots & lots)

Eye drops, both saline and antibiotic

Cough syrup/drops

Antibacterial creams

BP Cuffs & Stethoscopes

Hydrocortisone cream

Antacids (tums, rolaids, etc)

Guaze pads

Small cups for dispensing liquids at the clinic

Latex gloves

Snack size Ziplocs for take home pills

Silver colored sharpie markers

Worm medication

Black medium point sharpies

Ace wraps

Band aids

Lice treatment

Medical tape

Deep Heat

We realize that many of the items on the list (medical supplies) will need to be new and unused so this can be difficult to just find around the house. But if any of you work at a doctors office or clinic it may be possible to get some donations!  This is a big project and we would appreciate any help we can get…please let me know if you have any questions. We cannot wait to meet these children and know that even just the smallest effort can make a big difference. You can checkout the website to find out more about the organization www.motherswithoutborders.org

This is a picture of some of the children living at the resource center

I have had a love hate relationship with my college career. One day I am loving my classes and feeling great about school and the next I am ready to drop all my classes and throw in the towel.  The fact that I have basically taken every other semester off to have adventures in Washington DC and Europe with Scott has really helped space things out, but has also made graduation get farther and farther away from me. I guess all I can do is take it one semester at a time and be grateful for the good days! (ok i am making it sound so horrible, i really do love school…especially now that i am in the advertising program, my classes are awesome.) But I have to say that when a semester comes to an end it brings a huge sigh of relief. On Tuesday after taking my last final I was walking to my car in disbelief that after cramming for finals and having a highly stressful week I only had 7 days to regroup before Spring semester would start. Then I saw this…

A kid on campus sporting his sword and sheeth.

Do these people really exist?

I was so happy! Seriously a huge smile came across my face, i cannot think of a better way to celebrate the end of a semester then with a good sword fight.

I have been waiting to post these amazing pics of little Sawyer until Erin sent out her birth announcements, so the day has finally come when I can share his photo op with the world!  Is he not the sweetest little boy you have ever seen? They happened to snap this picture at such a perfect moment, he is such a good baby he even smiles in his sleep! We have all had so much fun with Sawyer, we cannot get enough of him.  Sawyer is the first grandchild in both Jared and Erin’s family, he has all 8 of his great-grandparents, 4 grandparents, 7 uncles, 2 aunts, and a mommy and daddy who all love him to pieces…so you can just imagine how we are all fighting for our time with him!

With a face like this, how could I not be obsessed with him?

Scott and his older brother Dan decided to take a trip out to North Carolina to visit their bro Steven and his wife Elizabeth who are out there working for Cisco.  As you can tell I (Nicole) am writing this post and no, i was not on the trip so this should be interesting.  I couldn’t get Scott to write a post about his trip so I though I would give it a try.  I mainly wanted to write to thank Elizabeth for her hospitality and taking care of my husband for the weekend. Seriously, she was so great. She drove them around, gave them a tour of Raleigh, a tour of Duke, made them dinner, the list goes on and on. (and all of this while she was sick being 11 weeks prego.) They had such a good time.  When Scott’s parents had only been married for a year or two they moved out to N. Carolina so Joe could go to medical school at Duke.  They absolutely loved it and talk about their great memories all of the time, so when Steven and Biz had the opportunity to go out there for a year they were stoked.  Ever since they moved out there last July Scott and Dan have wanted to make a guys trip out to visit.  The highlight for Scott was Duke. He said the architecture was amazing and so European, it reminded him a lot of Oxford. Also just because all growing up he has rutted on Duke and finally got to walk the grounds.

The Duke Chapel

The inside of the chapel.

They spent the rest of the weekend checking out the local farmer’s market, visiting the North Carolina campus along with the Carolina Basketball Museum, eating delicious homemade meals (which he does not get at home,) and enjoying some good old male bonding time!

Thank you Biz and Steve for having the guys out to visit, they had a great time.

P.S.  I will not be letting Scott leave me home alone again any time soon. This was the first time we have been apart since we have been married, and I hated every second of it. I seriously didn’t even know what to do with myself for 5 days. So for selfish reasons I will be keeping him here with me.