New Job!

Raymond started a new job. We are so excited for him. He is working for a company that deals with ATM surrounds. He is helping with inventory and shipping. It has been a change, but we are excited for it.

Halloween

Look at me. I'm updating my blog. Finally. Well, first let's talk about Halloween. J and S knew what they wanted to be. J would be a princess, and S would be a tiger. I knew what I was putting on Aa, a little Blue's Clues costume. G and A kept changing their mind. G went from a bat to a knight to refusing to wear a costume. A went from a ninja to something I can't remember, and ended up as a snow leapord. We celebrated Halloween on Saturday the 30th by attending the "Boo at the Zoo." We had a great time. It wasn't too cold and the handouts were great. Aa particularly liked the small rodent and reptile house. He liked all the small furry animals. He would say "kitty" and try to pet them through the glass no matter what was on the otherside. He didn't care if it was really a bunny or a meerkat. S got to pose with the tigers while A got to touch a snow leapord pelt. After the zoo we went home and carved our pumpkins. Then the rain started. We were worried about our trick or treat plans, but it let up enough for Raymond to take the kids for a little while. We had a great day!

A and J's birthday bash

Here are some pictures from A and J's birthday. Enjoy!

Busy Summer Part Two

While my sister was in town we took a trip to Yellowstone. It was fun. My favorite part is seeing the geysers and other thermal features. While we were at Old Faithful we also got to see Caslte Geyser, Beehive Geyser, and Grand Geyser all go off without hardly any waiting. It was exciting and special. Those are ones not everyone gets to see, especially not within just a couple of hours. S especially liked Grand Geyser. While we were waiting he wanted to leave. He didn't want to wait. After it went off though, he was glad he waited. He learned that some things are worth waiting for and you have to be patient. I love it when they learn life lessons.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife until the last day. That day we did get to see quite a few bison. I was glad because A was getting a little disappointed and he was much happier after that.

An Exciting Month

July sure has been an excting month for us! We attended the Crane Family Reunion in Idaho to start out the month. It was a blast! The kids loved hanging out with their cousins. We played a lot of great games and visited Crater of the Moon. We even got to do a service project there! It's great that the Crane family has incorporated service into their family reunions.

Next we celebrated Raymond's birthday. We made three different cakes for the event all at his request. They were German Chocolate, Tres Leches with strawberries, and Better than almost anything cake. We also got tickets to see the Paul McCartney concert. It was so fun!

The next weekend we had a family reunion with Raymond's extended Crane family. We and Raymond's mom were the only ones in his family able to attend, so it's good we went! They had a dinner at a park, which pleased the little ones. Each family presented a talent for entertainment. Since we were the only ones there, we sang a song Raymond wrote called "Dreaming of You." It's one of my favorites!

My sister came to visit from Texas with her family at the end of the month. They spent the night at the parade route for the 24th of July. S went with them. We met them there in the morning and had fun watching the parade.

Happy Birthday AA!

Aa turned one! We were happy to have so many family members there to celebrae Aa's special day. I made him a teddy bear cake because he likes to growl like a bear. He really enjoyed eating his special cake!

Field trip Fridays

We have started summer break! I have noticed a sharp increase in the messiness of the house now that all the kids are home all day. We are having fun though. Each day we do some home summer school and go to the park for lunch. Every Friday I'm trying to think of an activity we can go do for a field trip Friday.
Our first fied trip Friday was at the zoo. It was a not a great day as far as the weather went. It rained pretty hard. The rain couldn't dampen our spirits though! We had a great time. I liked the baby elephant. There was a camel just laying out in the rain. S thought that was so funny for some reason. We rode the carousel. The only sad thing was that the shows were cancelled due to rain. We will have to go back another day when it is sunny to see the shows.
Yesterday we went to Wheeler Farm. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals, climbing the tree, and playing in the treehouse. We also took a tractor ride around the farm. The kids had a fun time.
Next I think we might try the West Fest. That should be fun for the kids. We can ride carnival rides and eat carnival food. We can also check out the free entertainment.

Potty training conversations with J

J has been potty training for about three weeks now. She is doing pretty good most of the time. The other day I was changing Aa's stinky diaper while J watched. She said, "Oh it's poopy. Bad poopy, bad poopy." I explained to her that poop wasn't bad, it just needed to go in the potty. She thought for a minute and said, "Bad Aa, Bad Aa." I then explained that Aa was a baby and baby's poop in their diapers. Then she said, "disgusting." I didn't know she knew such a long word. Let alone it's proper usage.

Happy Birthday G and Grandma E

In April we celebrated two very special birthdays. G turned 4 and Grandma E turned 90. We had a small party for G. He wanted a Spiderman cake. This is the fourth or fifth Spiderman cake I've made, but if those boys want Spiderman every year, that's fine with me.
We had a big party for Grandma at the church park. She didn't want a big party though, so we called it a "family reunion" on the invitations. Hee Hee. She always tells us she's "49 and holding" so that's what I put on her cake.

Edamame

Last week I bought some frozen edamame (soybeans in the pod). I cooked and we tried it last night. I had never had it or cooked with it before. I tried it and the pod was so tough and stringy I nearly choked! The beans inside we good though. G helped me to pop the beans out of the pods so we could eat it. My mom said that when she has had it in the past, she just pops the beans out with her teeth right into her mouth. I guess that would have worked, but I couldn't see the kids doing that. Have you ever had edamame? How have you prepared it?

Quick trip to Boise

While the kids were on Spring Break we decided to take a quick road trip. We hadn't seen Raymond's grandparents since their 90th birthday party two years ago, so we decided to head up to Boise. We loaded everything up, grateful for the space a minivan offers and were off. I am also grateful for portable DVD players. We got there late Thursday, but the kids were excited to sleep in a hotel. The hotel had a free program you could order that was kind of new age called "rest." It had images and soft music. We put that on for the kids to watch while they fell asleep. It really did help them calm down and fall asleep faster.
Friday morning we took advantage of the hotel swimming pool. It had been awhile since any of us had been swimming. Aa had never been. Unfortunately we discovered a hole in our baby float. It was in the inner ring, so it didn't work great for Aa, but J and G were still able to use it.
After swimming we went to lunch and then over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. They still live alone, thanks to hospice care and Meals on Wheels. Grandpa still putters around the yard, but Grandma has a harder time. She kept saying, "You have five kids?" And then she'd count them.
The kids played outside on the tree swing. J picked the flowers and then showed them to Grandma. Raymond helped get a pile of pine needles and pine cones into the garbage. We ate dinner and Grandma and Grandpa's and then headed back to the hotel.
Grandpa and especially Grandma were sure unhappy with us for staying at a hotel. I have to tell you though, I'm glad we did. That way we didn't have to worry about breaking things or making a mess. The hotel had free breakfast and beds for everyone. Not to mention the pool.
By the time we got back to the hotel, Aa was asleep, but the boys wanted to swim again. Raymond took them, while J and I watched "Beauty and the Beast."
Saturday we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's for Grandpa's family famous sourdough waffles. Yum, yum. We sang some songs for them, and Grandpa gave all the kids a harmonica. He even played us a tune on one of them. The kids loved the harmonicas.
We left Grandma and Grandpa's house to head home. We decided to stop at Fossil Beds National Monument in Hagerman, ID for a break. It was fun. The kids enjoyed it. We drove past 1000 springs on our way to Twin Falls.
We than stopped in Ogden to visit Raymond's sister. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. It was a fun trip.

Crawling around is fun to do

None of my other children crawled until they were ten months old. In fact they all crawled at ten months. Why would I expect anything different this time around? But despite his small size, Aa is determined to remain ahead of the curve. He refuses to be left behind. He has the army crawl down!
But that's not enough for Aa. A few days ago I was sitting on the floor playing with G and J when Aa came crawling over. He grabbed my shirt and pulled himself on up. I was impressed. Later that day I found him crawling up two steps. Again I was impressed. He's such a curious little baby. I don't remember any of my others being as curious as Aa is. He is so fun. It seems like he's all the sudden "grown up" in just the last month.

If you missed it...

If you missed Raymond on TV you can see it here.
http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=55&sid=9906879

Raymond on TV

Raymond is going to be talking about his business on KSL's Studio 5 Tueday, March 9th at 11:00 am here in Utah. Thought you might want to know!
His website is www.savinggreenathome.com

S turns seven

Here are some photos of the birthday bash. I used an Elmo pan for the tiger cake. S is such a silly boy!

Saving Green

Raymond is finally ready to launch his new business! We are hoping things go well and he gets lots of customers. He has been out of work for a long time and it has been a lot of work to get his business ready. We are having two parties this week to let people know what he is doing. One will be Wednesday at 6:30 and than again Saturday at 6:00. There will be pizza. You are welcome to come if possible.
His business is helping people learn how they can save money on their energy costs. It is interesting stuff and some things I had never heard of before. Pray for us that this goes well.

Happy New Year!

It's about time I got back on this blog! Here are the ups and downs of the Crane's 2009.

In December 2008 the company Raymond was working for went out of business. This started a new adventure for us. We searched and searched for a job, but never found one. This gave Raymond the opportunity to open his own business. He moved through several ideas before settling on energy consultation and green remodels. He is getting ready to start talking to customers soon. Hopefully he will be in a place to go by the end of this month.

At the beginning of the year, Raymond and Jamie were able to participate in our stake production of "Beauty and The Beast." It was a lot of fun! We made a lot of new friends and really enjoyed getting out of the house for a few hours.

We have been working hard on our rental properties this year. We are now pro's at painting. We were able to sell our house in Magna after some remodeling. It ended up looking pretty nice, I must say. We've also learned a lot about the court system, but we won't go into all of that.

The most exciting and wonderful thing this year happened in June when we welcomed Aa into our family. He is such a happy and easy going little baby. We all love having him here with us. All of our children are such blessings. It amazes me how unique each one of them are!

We love you all! We are hoping for a fabulous 2010.