Happy Birthday Evan!!

Guess who is 6 years old on Wednesday!! Have a happy, happy birthday Evan!! We love you!

Happy Birthday, Shannen!

Shannen will be 18 years old on Friday!

Happy Birthday, Shannen!!!

We love you!!

Lila Rosalie Crane's First Birthday!

Lila is one year old today!!

Monday is a Very Important Day!!

Monday is:
Talk like a Pirate Day!!
Check out the above link to get ready for this very important holiday!!!

Back from Alaska!!

Wow, what a wonderful trip!! I think I will break this down into a few posts starting at the beginning (a very good place to start).
We left the house at some extremely early hour like 4:45 am or something. We had set the alarm clocks but of course we were both so excited that we didn't need them and got up even earlier than we needed to. Paul had arranged for a towncar to pick us up instead of the van so we had a straight shot to LAX.

The plane trip up was non stop and so smooth that we would forget we were even on a plane. I got to sit in the window seat and although there were a few places that were covered with clouds over all I had great views of the trip. It is like looking at the ultimate map when looking down and you know how much I love maps! Next trip we take I think I will bring a map along with me to double check where I am.

The picture above is of the first views we had of Alaska from the plane. What a cold looking area! We were wondering what we got ourselves into!!! Luckily that isn't what the rest of Alaska looked like in September.

We landed, got our rental car and headed out of Anchorage to Wasilla. I can tell you, coming from weather in the 90's to upper 50's it seemed cold!! We kept trying to remember it was still summer and wasn't really winter already!

What surprised Paul was all the trees. He wasn't expecting anything like that. For me it reminded me a lot of New Hampshire where I grew up. Lots of birch trees and some spruce. It is beautiful. Another thing that we hadn't thought of was that we got to see the fall colors! We got two trips in one this way. The trees in Archorage/Wasilla area were just starting to turn colors. The birch and aspen a golden yellow. Not much of any reds as they didn't have the maples etc. but the yellows were wonderful.

We stopped in Anchorage and got Birds of Alaska by Armstrong http://www.globecorner.com/t/t34/17050.php so we could ID any of the birds we saw. I figured that way I wouldn't be trying to ID something as a bird that never ever gets up to Alaska!! It would limit the amount of mistakes I could make. I will be posting the bird list on http://plymouthgardens.blogspot.com/ soon. (Hopefully!)

Our cabin in Wasilla was great. We were a little surprised that it was right off a main road as the web site had it looking like it was out in the woods more but the traffic wasn't anything like the freeway we have here at home. It was set back from the road with trees between so wasn't bad at all. I guess everything looks like it is in the woods as there are woods everywhere!
The cabin had everything we needed with a kitchen, bathroom and what we really needed that night.... a bed!! We called the kids, told them we would see them in the morning and sacked out for a long winters night nap (in the summer). If we thought the added evening daylight would bother us we were wrong!!! It didn't get dark until 9:30 while we were there but we were fast asleep long before that.

More later.

Off to Alaska Soon

Thought I would share all the places we are planning on staying while we are up in Alaska.
As you know we are leaving on Thursday, September 1st and coming home on the 10th. We just can't wait to see everything!

We will be flying into the Anchorage airport. We have a nonstop on the way to Alaska. We will be renting a car for the whole time we are there so we will be able to get around to see all the great spots.

We hope to be able to do a little birding while we are there also! One of the birds on my list is the Rusty Blackbird. I was reading that were lots around right now so it should be easy to get! I have a couple of others on the list but nothing real "special" just regular types that we don't get down here.

The first 5 nights we are staying in cabins right near Paul Jr and family in Wasilla. Check out how nice the cabins look! http://www.alaskalogcabins.com/ .
We will be spending lots of time with the family here and also doing a bunch of side trips around the area. I know they want to show us how beautiful there home is! It is such a different place from Southern California! One of the places that we want to go is the Matanuska Glacier outside Palmer. http://www.matanuskaglacier.com/ Palmer is the town next to Wasilla. Paul is very interested in walking out on the glacier.

After those wonderful 5 days we are heading up to Denali National Park http://www.nps.gov/dena/. They don't allow cars into the park so we have booked a tour package for our three nights there. It is run by Denali Backcountry Lodge and is called the Denali Backcountry Safari. http://denalilodge.com/newtrip.html

We get to go to the end of the road and then spend the night at the Lodge there. We go out to Wonder Lake that late afternoon. http://www.wildnatureimages.com/DNP%20Wonder%20Lake%201.htm They talk about the pink "alpenglow" evening light on Mt. McKinley. It sounds wonderful!

On Friday we will be driving back down to Anchorage to spend the night before a Saturday morning flight back to the "real world"!

We should be coming back with many, many pictures and lots and lots of great memories!
This is the biggest trip that Paul and I have taken together. It is the first time we will go on a plane together. We should have a great time! We will let everyone know when we get home safe and sound and happy.

Noey's Birthday today!!

Guess who is SIX years old today!!!!!



Happy Birthday,

Noey.

We love you!!

Shannen and Jared's Visit

On Friday Jared brought Shannen down so she could spend the night with us. Unfortunately he had to go to work the next day and couldn't stay but it was good spending some time with him. I didn't think to get any pictures while they were here so you could see Jared's nice black hair. Maybe he can post one for all of us to see!!
Shannen spent the night and then went up to Ventura to her Uncle Denny's beach party on Saturday. It was so neat having them here again as it has been awhile.
On Sunday Shannen and her mom started driving back to Utah so Shannen could move into her new dorm at BYU. I'm sure she will be posting pictures of the dorm very soon.

Heather and Boys

Last week Heather and the boys stopped by to see us for a few hours. It was great to see them again as it had been a year since the last visit.

Shannen In Hawaii

This is a picture we just received from Shannen. She went over to Hawaii with her mom for her High School Graduation present.
I'm sure she will have lots to tell about her vacation when she visits us on Friday.

The beginning

I will start this blog out and let everyone jump in as they have the time and interest. I'm setting this up for all the Crane Sr. Family. I will put the Links for the other blogs I have posted also if you are interested in any of them.
Hope to see all of you here soon.