Year in Review 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  We hope your 2012 has been great.

We are doing well here.  It has been a busy year for all of us.
The kids are working hard in school.  The older boys were able to do soccer this Fall.  Janet has been doing dance class.  Jamie is still teaching piano and voice lessons.  Raymond is working at Sterling ATM.

We were able to take a few fun vacations this year.  In April we went to Arches National Park and Goblin Valley.  It was a great adventure.  The children really enjoyed being able to climb around on all the rock formations.

We also had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone National Park with Raymond's family in July.  It is one of our favorite places to visit.  It has a little bit of something for everyone.

In August, Ammon was able to be baptized.  It was a great experience for him and has allowed him to grow and learn even more.  He is really enjoying being a Wolf in Cub Scouts.  He loves getting his achievements.  Samuel is also in Scouts.  Raymond is serving as the Ward Mission Leader and Jamie is teaching music in primary.

We love you all and hope you have a great 2013!

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Grandma E

My Grandmother passed away on Thursday, February 23, 2012. I will miss my Grandma. I just wanted to write some memories of her and things I loved about her.

Every time I went somewhere with Grandma we would run into someone she knew. When I was young I thought it was the plan to meet them there. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that Grandma was just had a lot of friends. Grandma was very social and loved to take us with her places.

Grandma loved spending winter in St. George. When I was in college near there, it gave me the opportunity to spend time with her. One evening she took me with her to a music event with her friends. I think I was the only one there under 60. Everyone was having a great time singing along with all these old songs I didn't know.

Grandma loved my friends. She was their grandma too. She would let me bring a friend sometimes when I would sleep over at her house. We would sleep in the bear room and in the morning Grandma would make cheese toast. On the way home, Grandma would buy us a frozen yogurt.

When I was young Grandma taught me and my sister all the state capitals. It was a game we would play while driving in the car. I remember sitting by Grandma in the car and it was always my job to help her switch from her normal glasses to her sun glasses for driving.

I remember Grandma coming over to our house when we were small and doing the dishes for us. She was always looking for ways to serve.

Grandma took me everywhere! I will miss "going chasing" with her. I could go on and on. Thanks Grandma!!

Ju's baby blessing

In our church we give newborns a name and a blessing. We blessed Ju on New Year's Day. I thought it was fitting to bless her that day since she is a new baby and we celebrate newness that day. We also had a lot of family in town for the holidays. We had a brunch for our friends and family members before going over to the church for the blessing.

I love Ju's beautiful white dress.

Here is Ju with her namesakes.

Our family that day.

A few more photos

Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas from the Crane family! We have had a pretty good year.

Raymond is still working for Sterling ATM helping with bill of materials, production scheduling, and shipping. He is serving as the Sunday School President at church. He still likes playing the guitar and playing basketball.

Jamie is teaching piano and voice lessons. She has around eleven students. She is serving as the primary chorister and the choir accompanist at church.

S is in third grade now. He loves to read books, especially if they are funny. He is learning to play the piano. He also likes to play video games with his brothers. The games they like to play this year are Angry Birds, Fancy Pants, Active Life Explorer, Little Big Planet and Star Wars.

A is in second grade. He likes animals, especially big cats.

G started kindergarten. He is adjusting to the longer school day as well as the homework. He likes to make cinnamon toast.

J is in preschool. She loves all things "girl." Her favorite color is pink. She likes princesses and ponies. She also likes to play pretend.

Aa is a very active two year old. You never know what he will get into. He loves to do whatever his brothers are doing.

We welcomed a new little girl into our family this year. Ju is now three months old. She loves to be held. She has a great smile. She has slept through the night almost since day one.

We are looking forward to 2012 and the changes it will bring! Wishing you happiness in the year to come! Love you all.

Movember

Have you heard about "Movember?" During the month of November "Mo Bros" grow a moustache to raise awareness of men's health. You can learn more at http://us.movember.com/about
Here is Raymond's Movember 'stache.

Halloween 2011

I'm a little slow posting these, Thanksgiving is only a week away, but here are some pictures from our Halloween this year. First a group shot before trick or treating.
J decided to be a fairy this year.

Aa went as Frankenstein's Monster. He didn't want to wear a costume until I put candy in his "Feed Me" pocket.


A wanted to be the Grim Reaper.

Gideon wanted to be Bumblebee the transformer. I didn't have a Bumblebee costume, so I was glad he changed his mind and decided to be Superman.

But then he changed his mind and really did want to be Bumblebee. This is what we improvised.

Samuel's class did a Zombie dance for school to Micheal Jackson's "Thriller." So for school Samuel looked like this.

But for trick or treating he wanted to be the transformer Megatron.

Hope you all had a great Halloween!