Rolls that Go On Forever

Budding Photographer???

So, I went to an Enrichment interest group activity on photography and I learned a few things, hopefully, about taking better pictures. This was very beneficial to me since I have a camera that is probably just a couple steps up from a disposable one. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for it. I just always looked at the pictures I was taking and thought, "Well, what can you expect from this camera." Now, I know that wasn't entirely true. I learned a few tips to help. The next day or two I took the kids to a park and just decided to shoot away. My very first photo shoot.
I did break rule number 1: Take pictures outside just after the sun has set and early morning when the sun has just risen. Don't take pictures in the afternoon. Yeah, well, it was like 1 o'clock or something, but I was being spontaneous, though. So, this picture demonstrates the tip of filling the frame with your subject. I learned to not stand back and snap a picture of what's going on. Get up close and personal and on the subject's level.
Add some texture. My friend suggested putting this is black and white and it would give it some texture. Okay.
I don't know. This one was just cute. =)
The rule of thirds. This was a big one for me. Divide the frame into a thirds horizontally and vertically (so it looks like a tic-tac-toe board). Don't put your subject right in the center of the frame. It's a more interesting picture if it's off-centered. I wonder what Gabbie is thinking right now. ???
Framing. Look around. See what you can include in the frame to frame or border the subject. It's all about making ordinary things looking extraordinary.

This class was really fun and helped me a lot. I'm not there yet, but at least I can get better and knowing I can do it with the camera I already have is awesome!!

Pumpkin Farm

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere!
I couldn't get Gabbie to look up since she was completely distracted because she had barefeet and she was standing on the dirt and grass, etc. I couldn't get her to look up to save my life.

Davis the Cowboy

Davis at the Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. I almost don't even need to tell you how much he LOVED being on that pony. It was totally worth the wait in the line and the $4. He had a huge smile the whole time.



He really didn't want to leave. Can you tell?!

Cute Gabbie

My friend, Sara, took this oh-so-cute picture of Gabbie while we were at Bishop's Pumpkin Farm the other day. I just had to share. =)

Catching Up

So, I know it was a long time ago, but I still wanted to show some pictures. All the Cramer's got together at the end of August and had blast!! Here is some of our fun! Here we are at T-Spa Nails enjoying some pedicures and fun girl time. Even Gabbie got to join in. There were 3 more seats with Megan, Lauren, and I facing Liz, Amy, and Mom.
We left ALL the kids with some babysitters. To make things easier we put name tags on all the little kiddos.
Gabbie and Grace -- cousins and girlfriends for life. =)
We left the kids and all went out to a yummy tepan yaki restaurant. It was quite a show and oh so good. It was also my Dad's birthday!! It was so much fun to have us all there for his birthday! I'm glad we were there to celebrate with him!
After the restaurant, we relieved the babysitters and then had a fun Family Night and gave some "old school" gifts to Dad. It might have been more nostalgic for us than him, but we all fun. The gifts were things we used to give him when we were younger, ie: King's size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Old Spice cologne, Almond Roca, Snickers bar, etc. hmmm... lots of food. We can't turn down good food. =)

Finally back!

Sorry about the long hiatus. Our internet connection has been down for what seems like FOREVER! But, we're finally back, so I don't have to call Bob to tell me what is in my inbox in case I missed an important message from you! =)
I noticed I haven't written anything since September. Things have been going well. Bob and I finally decided what paint colors to put in our bedroom and bathroom. I'm really excited. I went ahead and started last weekend. I just LOVE to paint. It's the fastest cheapest way to update and decorate your room... well, at least in my opinion. And it's actually something I'm good at. I'm not that great at picking out the pictures and accessories. I definitely need help with that.
It's late, but I'll post a picture of the finished product later. Hopefully, I can get completely done this Saturday.
Bob is still working hard and doing a good job at providing for a family. I am so grateful for his dedication and hard work that allows me to be home with the kids.
Davis is talking a lot more everyday. He's obsessed with horses and dinosaurs now that he's seen Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum. He carries around his "torch" (flashlight) and my car keys and goes looking for dinosaurs. He'll go into the downstairs bedroom and then run back into the living room yelling, "Daurs! daurs!" Translation: "Dinosaur! Dinosaur!" He also loves to sing songs from nursery. He can sing "Popcorn Popping" really well. I'm always impressed. He's also saying "Thank you" and "I love you." Oh my goodness!!! I can't tell you how many times I say "I love you!" to him just to get him to say it back. It is the most heart-warming thing EVER!
Gabbie is SO cute! She's smiley and happy and wants to run around with Davis ALL the time. They sure love each other. Davis is really cute with her. She is completely enamored with him, so that's gotta feel good. =) Gabbie is learning how to eat food without spitting it out with her tongue and is constantly on the verge of crawling. She can go a few scoots to get whatever toy she wants and then she just stays on her tummy until she's frustrated and then yells for someone to come rescue her. She's almost to the point where she can grab something and then sit back down again -- which would be a victory for me, too, so I don't have to come to her rescue as much. I could finish a few things around here. =)
And then there's me. I feel like this is a Christmas card. Maybe I should wait on this. =) But, I am doing well. I've been staying late watching TV, relishing in my alone time with Bob (even though he's usually zonked out around 9 pm). =) When the kids are in bed it's so nice just to do whatever I want. I find myself staying up just to have as much time as I can. It's like going to bed makes the morning come faster when it starts all over again. So, I stay up. Late. Sometimes very late. And the whole time I'm thinking, "I've got to go to bed. Gabbie is going to be up early and who knows when Davis is going to wake up." So, the only time I'm hating is when I hear Gabbie crying in the morning. Maybe one of these days I'll grow up and just go to bed.

Remembering 9/11

Wow. I can't believe it's been 6 years since 9/11. That means that Bob and I have almost been married that long. It was the night of Sept. 10th that Bob proposed to me. Talk about a high!! Then, I woke up the next morning when my mom called to see if I had gotten a ring. =) She was so excited for me, of course, but then told me to go turn on the TV. I couldn't believe it. Talk about a lower than low. I remember hardly anybody went to classes that day. We were all glued to the TV.
I hope we never forget the brave men and women of that day. Nobody could have ever dreamed this would happen on U.S. soil. It's hard to fathom the thought of a human being doing that to another human being. Sorry, I'm not great with words, but I didn't want to go without saying something and remembering. I'll always remember.

My Best Friend's Wedding

My best friend, Becca, got married in the Seattle Temple a couple weekends ago: Sept. 1st! I was so excited to be there!! Bob had gotten me a plane ticket for Mother's Day to go visit my parents. We just so happened to plan it the weekend Becca and Aaron decided to tie the knot!
Some of Becca's sisters watched Gabbie at the Temple so I could go to the sealing. Davis stayed in Olympia with his cousins. He had a lot of fun, too. =)
This was a drive-by paprazzi shot. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Her dress was gorgeous. Her mom made it!! So talented!
Here we are at the Luncheon. Doesn't she look SO happy!!!

Yummy Yum!

Gabbie wants real food SO bad!! She is no longer safe on our laps when it's time for dinner -- or rather, our food is not safe. She loves this zwieback toast. It's messy, but it helps keep her satisfied. She also loves to suck on apples and anything else she can get her mouth on.

Tummy time!

Gabbie is doing really well with tummy time and has even rolled over twice now! She's such a happy little girl! =)
Davis usually can't stay away -- especially when there's a camera around. =)

Swim Lessons

Davis finished up swim lessons a couple weeks ago. He had semi-private lessons, which worked out for the best. He really loved it. He's a fish, pretty much. He loves to jump off the side into the pool and swim under water as Bob or I give him a push towards the steps.

Gabbie kept me company and watched Davis in the pool during his lesson. Then, we got our own suits on and swam together with Davis after he was done! Bob was able to make it from work (lessons were in the evening) a bunch of times so it was fun family time!!

Brandi Reunion

After I got back from my cousin's wedding, Gabbie and I drove to Danville from the Sacramento Airport to be with Bob and his family! All his siblings from Utah and L.A. drove up and flew in for a family reunion. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. It was a little stressful, too, since Davis came down with a really high fever (103 degrees), but we stuck it out with everyone's help so we could see them as much as possible. It felt good to be home so we could all recover, especially since Gabbie got a little fever, too, but it was sure fun to see everyone.
We got family pictures taken professionally, so you can check them out at http://kellinicolephoto.com/.
Click on "client images" Search: Event Name: Brandi Family, Event Date: July 24th, State: CA. Hopefully, I can post some on here, too. They turned out pretty good. Davis did well considering his fever. We gave him some Motrin right before so he gave us a few smiles. We pushed it too long, though, during a pose with just the grandchildren. Most of them don't even have Davis in them and the others are of him reaching out for me behind the photographer.

More from Father's Day Weekend

I know this is out of order, but I didn't want to miss it entirely.

My mom, Bob and Lance watched the kids while Megan and I played tennis with our Dad. They found a nice tree for shade so Davis could clean the sand out of his shoes. He didn't last very long at the playground because he didn't like the feel of the sand in his sandals. Gabbie was a good girl and let me play for an hour or so before she had to eat again. I think she liked having the wind blow through her hair. =) It was a really pleasant day.
After some hardcore tennis we got some In-N-Out for lunch and ate at the park. We were at Twin Oaks Park in Rocklin. I love it because it's an older park with lots of shade trees, open space for soccer, lots of baseball fields, great big playground, and these brand new tennis courts. Our church building is just next door.

Gabbie's Blessing Day

We got to bless Gabbie on Father's Day, June 17th. Bob did an excellent job and we were excited to have family come. Bob's parents drove up from the Bay Area and my parents flew down from Seattle. Our big fun surprise was Megan and Lance drove through the night from Provo to be here for the weekend! We had a blast! And I appreciate their sacrifice of sleep to be able to come. Love ya!

Fun at Cousin's Wedding

My cousin, Jack, and his lovely new wife, Melissa, were married 2 weekends ago (July 20th) in the Los Angeles Temple. Gabbie and I were able to go and see them and all our Sanofsky family!! It was very fun to see everyone and especially for Gabbie and her cousin, Grace, to meet. =)

I also got to see my cousin, Erika (Jack's older sister)! I haven't seen her in forever, so it was awesome to see her and her husband, Bryce. They are so cute and sweet with their little one, Caroline. She's so cute and darling and has the best hair (which is not showcased very well in this photo)!!! =) Caroline was born with 9p- (9 p delete) with additional genetic material in chromosome 1. To learn more about Caroline you can go to Erika and Bryce's blog: http://lovefromlv.blogspot.com. Love you guys!!!

Davis LOVES the pool!

Davis is such a fish! He's loving the pool, especially since he's had swim lessons this week. His favorite things to do are jump from the side of the pool and then stay under water as long as he can!

Siblings

This was taken awhile ago, but this is what their relationship is like right now. They can get each other smiling and laughing (even though Gabbie looks upset here) just by looking at each other. Gabbie loves to follow Davis around and watch what he's doing. And Davis loves to make Gabbie smile and laugh. Hopefully, this will continue.

There's a smile!

Well, here we are!

Hello Bloggers!
We thought we'd jump on the bandwagon and post our lives to the internet abyss! We love to view yours, so we naturally thought you would want to view ours. =)