Living the Dream

Living the dream is for the youngsters, any more its just a day at the salt mine. Some days you mine more salt than others. Recently there has been some extensive mining, along with that there is usually some humor and usually alot of sweat and tired bones. You got to love the pic of the turned over jack-knifed house trailer. A family of six was riding in the Nissam Tundra pulling a 30' trailer and a 18' boat. I liked the commment from the driver of the Pickup, "It really pulls great" meaning that until now he had never had any trouble pulling doubles. Best news no one received as much as scratch.

Next dream was a little too real and a bit of a night mare. If you happen to be in a BRT (big red truck) It is a very very bad sign to see smoke rising from the base of a big dry mountain on a 100 degree day with low humidity and a stiff South wind. The initial attack was a bit futile but you have to try anyway, after dragging hundreds of feet of hose straight up the mountain and two and a half hours of spraying and pulling hose, we were called off the mountain and shifted gears to structure protection. By that time, the acre size fire that we started with was well on it way to being 500-600 acres. The rest of the day and night was spent pulling larger lines to protect the homes whose backyards were the mountain. Kind of a long shift at the mine.

Gma and gpa go bad!

Ok, for my Birthday gma wanted for me to rent a Harley for a day and she would go along for the rideee!!!
We finally found a day that would work, yesterday. Travel Log is a s follows.
Actually picked up the Harley at Timp Harley at 5:00 on Wednesday. We rode about 75 miles that evening, just around the valley and to the top of big cottonwood canyon. It was a bit chilly in the canyon but what a beautiful refreshing ride. Tursday morning we started about 9:30 and headed for Heber and points eastward.
We ate lunch at the Hanna Bar and cafe. I tried to get them to open the bar for me because I was a bad dude for the day, but they weren't impressed, they see bad dude guys all the time. Any way what a beautiful little valley around Tabiona and Hanna, so quiet and laid back. At least until the bad dude rolled into town. After lunch we proceded up wolf creek pass, once again solitude and peace were abundant, I think we passed one other vehicle the whole ride over Wolf Creek. The smells and the whole environment are much closer on a motorcycle. Besides you know your the ruler over the whole area because your a bad dude.
We coverd about 200 miles and gma was a trooper, or bad dude-et she said she was having a great time. So back to real life today, just Clark Kent again. It was a great day, check out the Pics, Timp Harley, Soldier Creek reservoir, Wolf creek pass and Jordanel reservoir. As I look at the pics some how Our bad dude image isn't quite there yet, perhaps a little tat and more leather attire, o well there is always next time.

Miss You Grams!

Grams left us one year ago today. Time sure does fly doesn't it? Some days I still picture her sitting down at her house waiting for a visit. We all have lots of great memories of Christmas Day's spent there, or crowded around her little kitchen table to eat lunch on "hair day". I sure do miss that lady but I know that I will see her again someday. We love you Grams!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best mom and grandma in the world! I mean, really, what other grandma would jump on the trampoline in her swimsuit with you? I dare say NONE! Grandma Debbie is known for loving the grandkids unconditionally and she rarely (if ever) tells them 'no'. She isn't ever too busy to play whatever game they ask her to. Is it any wonder why she is one of their very favorite people?

Thanks, Mom, for everything that you do for all of us. You are such a great example of kindness to everyone, especially those people that are sometimes overlooked by most. I hope I can somehow become a better person by trying to be more like you. I love you - Nal

One last summer fling

We went boating at Deer Creek on Thursday for one last time before school starts tomorrow. Dad didn't ski because the conditions weren't right but it was still fun. We had a relaxing day just floating around the lake.

One funny thing that happened was that we saw a fishing bobber floating over by the shore so we decided to drive over just for fun and get it. Well, right before we got close enough to grab it, it disappeared under the water. Dad decided it was hooked to a fish so we waited around for a few minutes for it to re-surface. We had just given up and started to head back when we spotted it again. So we were more sneaky this time and we cut the engine a few feet away from it. As we floated toward it I could see that it was attached to a huge carp. Then before I could snatch it out of the water it disappeared again. It was probably for the best since that monster probably would have pulled me in instead of the other way around. It totally reminded us of the part on Jaws when he pulls the barrels under. So, we had a good laugh.

Hayden's favorite part of going to Deer Creek is seeing the Heber Creeper. He always asks Grandpa to race it and to honk at it, which he does because each grandkid has him wrapped around their finger. We chased that train from the bottom of the reservoir to nearly the top. Hayden was thrilled!

This has been yet another fun summer of boating. The kids have become quite the deck-hands too. They hurry and get their life jackets on before we get in the water, they know when to sit down and hold on, they know when to hold the flag up, they make sure the ladder is pulled in, etc. It is nice that they are old enough now to really enjoy it and I don't have to be worried about them the whole time.

My favorite part about boating comes in the late afternoon when Hayden crawls up on my lap and goes to sleep. It happens every time we go boating and I absolutely love it because at home and on a normal day he wouldn't give in like that and fall asleep on me, but boating is hard work and sometimes you just need "15 minutes".

Boating Day tomorrow

There hasn't been much activity on the blog yet but I have sent out gmail invitiations to everyone involved so hopefully things will get moving soon. In fact, tomorrow is the last boating day before school starts so there should definitely be some pictures and things to report on tomorrow evening. Until then....

Here's the BLOG

This blog is for the family of Jim and Debbie Crane to share funny stories, pictures, etc. of our daily lives. We all have young kids now so every day is an adventure. It is fun to take some time to jot things down at the end of the day and hopefully even laugh about it. So, Happy Blogging!