We blessed Kyle last Sunday and it was a wonderful experience. My parents were able to be in town and we had many friends and family join us at Church and then at our home afterwards for a little luncheon. We are so grateful for all the people who came. Many people drove quite the distance and rearranged plans in order to share Kyle’s special day with us and we really appreciated it. (We have the best friends!) My fabulous mother threw a wonderful little party full of lots of good food. She is so good at things like that. She pays attention to detail and spoils everyone around her. I wish I would have taken a picture of the food setup she created. It was amazing! Thank you Mom!

Ben gave Kyle a beautiful blessing. He blessed Kyle with health and happiness, a love of learning and a quick mind, a deep faith and a desire to learn and follow true principles. He said that Kyle would have love and charity for the people around him and he would be a light to them as well. He also blessed Kyle to be an example to his sister and his parents. And lastly Ben told Kyle that he was born into a family that loved him very much and that Heavenly Father knew and loved him as well.

It was a beautiful day. We just wish Ben’s family could have been here to share it with us. Crane’s we missed you!!!!

The day finally came when we got to go back to Cox Farm! I had seriously been looking forward to this day since last year. It is such a fun place. I love seeing Hallie happy and having fun.

We started out with the piggies.

Then Hal and Nanna looked for pennies in the hay.

Then it was off to feed the goats. This was Hallie’s  third time feeding goats this year. She is becoming a pro!

Lots of slides!

Little calfs!

Coolest  hay ride ever!

Quality time with Papa eating kettle corn.

More slides

Posing with her favorite princess’ pumpkin carriage.

Again with the slides

Nanna and Papa with two of their grandkids

I have cute kids!

And last but not least we each got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. Well…Hallie picked them out for us.  (FYI: Hal is being silly in the pic not crying.)

Until next year…… 🙂

I just found my motivator to lose 10 pounds!

You see if I wear heels when I’m fat I feel like a pig on stilts….so 10 pounds down and I’ll be wearing these puppies around town! BooYeah!

This weekend we decided to hit up Old Mine Ranch and let Hallie and Kyle experience a little bit of farm life. We went with our friends the Wendorff’s and had fun (although I think we payed too much).

I think the best part was seeing Ben in his “element”. He grew up on a farm and dreams of having our kids grow up on one as well. I really want a lot of land for them to run around and play on but I’m doubting my ability to milk a cow. 🙂 I guess as long as there is a mall close by.

I have to admit that I have a lot more pictures of Hallie when she was a baby than I do of Kyle. Poor kid! It’s not that I don’t take pictures of him it’s just that I went overboard on Hallie. I’ve heard friends say that with each new child you have less pictures. So far I’ve proven that true. Sad I know. I do love him just as much as his sister, but I’m too busy feeding him and then chasing his sister to pull out the camera and catch his cute face digitally. 🙂

I love my little chubs! He has been in so much pain the poor little man. He has reflux really bad and was inconsolable very day. He couldn’t sleep because he was in pain and he would constantly arch his back and spit up. It was pretty bad. Every now and then we would get a glimpse into his personality and discover that he really was calm and happy. He would try so hard you could tell. Darn reflux! After going to the doctors multiple times, increasing the amount of medicine he was on and our families fasting and praying for him we got the miracle we were asking for. He can now be happy like he was trying so hard to be before. He still has episodes where he is in a lot of pain but overall he is leaps and bounds above where he used to be. He now sleeps in his own bed and is getting better every night (knock on wood). He smiles a ton, especially at his crazy sister who he thinks is a rockstar! It’s the cutest thing for me as a mom to watch. I’m glad he loves her already, but then again who doesn’t love her. 🙂

I’m so grateful for a God who hears and answers our prayers. Having two babies in a row with such bad reflux has made me on edge. I’m not as good as the people who never ask “why”. I admit I did. The past two months have been really hard for our little family but things are looking up and I’m extremely grateful. Ohh how blessed I truly am!

This past weekend we went to Breezy Point Beach in Maryland with our good friends/cousins the Gelvins. This beach appealed to us because it was only an hour away and it had a net to keep out the jelly fish. As you can see by the pictures it was beautiful clear water. YEAH RIGHT. But hey it’s the beach and we aren’t picky. It was such a wonderful day! It combined Hallie’s two favorite things: the beach and her friend Gabe. 🙂

Working hard to bring the water to the sand for a sand castle.

Just look at Hallie’s face. She LOVES the water!

Chasing Gabe and throwing sticks in the water then waiting for them to washed ashore.

The new Mr. Crane chillin on the beach with mom.

My new favorite photo. Seriously she is the cutest! This is her first taste of rootbeer. She tried some of Ben’s and never gave the can back. 🙂

Gabe is by far Hallie’s favorite person! She asks for him daily and is at her happiest around him.

Proof that I went too.

Until next summer…beach save us a spot. 🙂

Ben’s cousins came in town for the Boise State vs. Virginia Tech football game. It was the first game of the season and it was held at FedEx field. Ben’s cousin is a super fan and bought us tickets and shirts. We were excited to go for a couple of reasons: we love college football, it was going to be a HUGE game, we had never been to FedEx field (where the Redskins play), and last but not least to get a date night away from both kids.

The place was packed! Around 89,600 people were there. Most of which were Virginia Tech fans and drunk. 🙂 It took over an hour to just get in the field. We felt like cattle. Once we got inside we found our seats-3rd row from the top! lol They actually were good seats because we could see everything. We spent most of the game on our feet. We started losing our voices about 15 minutes into the game so we spent the rest of the night TRYING to conserve our voices and just clap. 🙂

One great highlight of the game was getting beer thrown on us. A fan a few rows down got excited after Boise scored a touchdown and threw his hands in the air while holding a cup of beer. We were lucky enough to get showered in the sweet smelling stuff! Thank you drunk guy a few rows down! 🙂

As I sat there cheering and looking around me I was reminded of my college days. I LOVED college and have so many amazing memories. I reminisced a little and thought how funny it was that I still feel young and Ben and I both still  look like college students but yet we have two kids waiting for us at home. 🙂 Just a reminder that I’m getting old. lol

Boise State ended up winning and the crowd was quiet as we went back to our car. haha the big talkers of VT didn’t have so much to cheer about after the game. We had so much fun and were so grateful that Lydon and Tawny took us. Thanks again you guys!! We loved having you visit. (Maybe one day we will make it to Oregon).

Let’s see do my kids look alike?!

YEP!

I love my 2 little lovers!

I said Goodbye to this handsome boy:

And I went here:

I met this lady:

And then I saw him again: (AWKWARD!)

I had an amazing 4 week experience:

Then got on an airplane:

And flew here:

I can’t believe it has been 5 years since I became a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  The 4 weeks I spent at the Missionary Training Center were full of learning, teaching and a lot of laughs. The 18 months that followed in Washington D.C. was life changing and unforgettable. Cheers to serving God and helping teach His word to the world!

Hallie turned 2 on Friday the 13th!!! She had a fabulous birthday and was spoiled way beyond what a two year should be. Seriously she shouldn’t plan on ever seeing a birthday quite like this one again. That sounds sad but boy was she spoiled!

THE PRESENTS:

The festivities started a few days early while Grandma Crane was here. Grandma got some help from uncle Tyler picking out Hallie’s present. It was a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal. Plus even better Hallie got lots of great books! Thanks Grandma Crane!!! (We love the books and read them all the time.)

For months Hallie has been asking for a bike. We told her that she would get one for her birthday and she never forgot. We got her a Strider bike that doesn’t have peddles. It is awesome!!! (If you have never seen one go watch some videos on YouTube) We had asked her previously what color she wanted and she picked yellow. That morning I was the one who couldn’t wait to see her open it. She knew it was her bike as soon as she saw the box, the little smarty pants. As you can see from the pictures she enjoyed riding it around the house and later outside.

Nanna and Papa (my parents) were here for Hallie’s actual birthday.  For months my mom has wanted to get Hallie a kitchen but we kept telling her we didn’t have room in our house. However for Hallie’s birthday my mom said she wasn’t asking permission this time. lol

Hallie loves her little kitchen and spends hours playing with it. Thanks mom and dad it was the perfect gift you were right! 🙂 (P.s. Love the morning hair Hallie is sporting in this photo. I call her my little rooster.)

THE CAKE:

Hallie was obsessed with buses a couple months ago. Our car rides would be spent looking for buses and then as soon as she would see one the search would be on for another. Her obsession has since mellowed out but I had already been planning the cake and told her about it. Ohhh the look on her face when she saw the cake was worth all the time I put into that silly thing. Actually it was worth WAY more. She loved it! (p.s. the cake was huge! I used three cake mixes and ended up throwing half of the cake away after the party-I would have eaten it all otherwise!)

THE PARTY:

Since my parents were in town and Kyle was still a newborn I didn’t want to have a big party. I invited me and Hallie’s three closest friends and boy did we have fun. It was simple: Eat cake and ice cream, open presents and play with balloons. Gotta love being a kid. Thanks, Stella, Lindsey, Nicolette and families for coming. We sure love you guys!

I can’t believe my little lover is 2 years old. She is seriously my best friend and I can’t get over how much I love her. My love grows every day as I watch her grow up. She really is the perfect little girl: smart (she can count to 11 on her own without help), athletic, energetic, polite, super cute, very talkative, friendly and caring. She hates when people get hurt she gets so concerned about them. And plus finally she is a great sleeper!

If I love her this much now I can’t imagine how much I will love her when she’s a teenager. (I’m sure I’m going to need it! lol)