Three college graduates from the Crane home…..three more to go (halfway there)!  Alixandria  graduated from Utah State in health education.  Congratulations!!

BIG NEWS at the Crane home. Brogan proposed to Stacey last night.  Their big day will be Friday, May 14, 2010 in the Salt Lake temple.

I just learned about an original new children’s eco-friendly sock.  They are so cool that I thought others would like to take a look at them too at  Rock-a-Thigh Baby, LLC

When my son, Tyler, called to tell me the news about the American Fork band bus crash, and that one of the instructors was killed, I could hardly register it because this only happens to people I don’t know and that I hear about on the news.  Tyler wanted to know if I was glad he wasn’t in the band any longer because he would have been on that bus, the “woodwind” bus.  I was so relieved when he told me that all his neighborhood band friends were okay, and that he wasn’t on that bus. 

Sunday at church, there was a heightened feeling of gratitude for Heather Christensen’s quick response to grab the wheel of the bus most likely saving many lives at the cost of her own life.

My son, Brogan, didn’t have enough work to do at the main business shop where he works so his boss had him build a cedar fence, deck, and shed for his back yard.  I was impressed with the finished result.  Here are some photos of his work.

I have lived in Utah for 21 years, and I have never heard of the spiral jetty.  It wasn’t a fellow Utahan that told me about it either…… it was my nephew from Idaho.   Who would have thought an artist in the 70’s would have built a spiral shaped road in to the Great Salt Lake?!  Weird!

Even though my son, Shawn, had a difficult time finding an Eagle project, he ended up locating an interesting one.

He was assigned to dig up six old gravestones and redo the cement around them.  The headstones he refurbished were dated from the year 1908 to 1930, and three of the six were young children.

Saturday I enjoyed watching my daughter run a half marathon, her first official race. She made a spur of the moment decision to run in it while she was with her roommate who was signing up for the race.  She was feeling some regret about her decision since she hadn’t been able to find the time to train because of the demands of being back in school while continuing to work twenty-seven hours a week. 

She determined to go ahead and run the race despite her lack of preparation.  Considering she had never run more than nine miles before the day of the race, she did remarkable running 11.5 minute miles.  It must be all those exercise videos she has diligently done for the past fifteen years. 

She said she enjoyed running the first nine miles listening to her IPod playlist while relishing a gorgeous early morning with next to perfect running temperatures.  The last four miles were difficult because she became light-headed and weak.  The thing that re-energized her was the cheering from onlookers along the race path and listening to upbeat music. 

It was an especially neat and inspiring experience for me to cheer in my loudest voice for my daughter, the elderly, and the handicapped.

Way to go Marci!

I recently read about a little girl named Sophie that was born with severe allergies to peanut butter, milk, eggs, wheat, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.  I have always been of the opinion that multiple allergies are developed over time, but Sophie’s case discounts that theory. 

Out of necessity, Sophie’s mother, Emily, started modifying and making up recipes that Sophie could eat.  When Emily met other children with allergies who ate only a few foods because their parents didn’t know there were other choices, she would share her recipes with them.  She later decided to publish a cookbook  titled Sophie-Safe Cooking.

Since I have three boys who are always looking for fun things to do on dates, I always watch for ideas.  

• Take a tour of a local factory or other local spots of interest 
• Organize a potluck dinner
• Visit a museum, aquarium or zoo.  Check the newspaper or internet for free or discounted tickets.
• Build a snowman or sandcastle