Snow Day!

Drew posing with Santa while the snow falls.


Our tree in front with lights & snow!


December snow in New Mexico! We love it!


Bryce & Drew playing in the snow this morning!


Casa de Crane with snow!

Well, it started snowing yesterday, and it didn't quit until late last night. School was cancelled & the kids were thrilled! (Northerners, quit laughing. They don't have plows here & the natives drive like maniacs on snow & ice. It's just better to shut everything down. Trust me.) The snow was basically gone by noon, so luckily we got outside to enjoy it right after breakfast. Now we're really in the mood for a Montana White Christmas!

Gettin' Christmasy

Bryce & Drew with our inflatable Santa in front of the house.


Drew, Karen & Bryce at the River of Lights.


Bryce posing as a gingerbread man.

Bryce was trying to force his brother to cooperate for pictures!

Train light sculpture.

Excavator (Drew is in front of it, but the flash couldn't handle that!)

Windup car sculpture.

December has been a whirlwind! At the beginning of this post you can see Bryce & Drew showing off some of our outside decorations. We started on those Thanksgiving weekend. We've also been busy shopping, wrapping, baking & attending the usual Christmas functions. The rest of the pictures in this post are from a great Albuquerque tradition, the River of Lights. Every year the Botanic Garden hosts this event, and they decorate their grounds with a ton of beautiful light sculptures. I've just posted a few of the boys' favorites, but there were many more! We had a great time checking them all out with Stu's parents. Note that the boys are in full winter mode, complete with hats, boots, mittens, etc. It really wasn't that cold, but they will take any opportunity to bust out the winter wear! Unfortunately, we've heard that it's currently sub-zero in Montana, so we may NEED all of those clothes next week! Hopefully it will get a little warmer by the time we get there!

Bryce also had his preschool Christmas program last week, in which he was a cloud & a tornado. His teachers always work their current unit of study into the program, and this year it's weather. The kids did a great job! Why no photos, you ask? Because I was in charge of the video camera for that event. My father-in-law took all of the stills. I need to get some from him. I may even get ambitious & try to post a short video of Bryce doing his lines. Stay tuned!

We hope that everyone reading this is staying warm, eating Christmas cookies & getting ready for Santa to visit. Happy Holidays & all the best of the season to you & yours!

Happy Thanksgiving...Happy Birthday!

Stu poses with the Thanksgiving table, set for action!


Bryce & Drew with their Thanksgiving morning cinnamon rolls at the kids' table.


Drew & Grandpa playing trains.


The big meal! Karen, Stu, Drew, and Dalon & Antonia.


Jamal, Bryce & Lamar. Drew refused to hold still for pictures!


Happy Birthday! Opening his new Curious George.


Drew thanks his "Bro-Bro" for his birthday gifts.


Showing off the new Big Wheel & Curious George.


Grandpa & Grandma got Drew this cool scooter!


Drew gets ready to make a wish & blow out the candle.



The masterpiece, created by my dear friend, Antonia. (It's Super Why, Drew's favorite character on PBS.)


Grandpa gets in on the fun.

Bryce liked the cake!

It was a big weekend here at the Crane house! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday, immediately followed by Drew's 2nd birthday on Friday! We also somehow managed to put up the Christmas tree, the outside decorations, do a little shopping...phew, I'm exhausted just remembering all of it! :)

Thanksgiving was a relaxed, peaceful day, shared with Stu's parents and our good friends, the Bynums. Dalon, Antonia, Lamar & Jamal came over to eat with us, and we had a great time. The boys all kept each other very entertained. We ate too much and had fun doing it!

On Friday we celebrated Drew's big day. He still doesn't really understand the concept of birthdays, but he does know about cake. For the past couple of months, if you asked him what he wanted for his birthday, you always got the same answer. An emphatic, "CAKE!!!" We obliged, and Antonia made him an awesome "Super Why" cake. He loved it! He was also very happy to receive a new Big Wheel, a scooter, some singing tools, cars, shoes, and many other great gifts. Thanks to all who remembered him on his special day!

We're now in full holiday mode! Tomorrow Bryce's preschool class visits a local grocery store to decorate a Christmas tree, and we've already got several holiday parties this week. We're excited to dive into the season head first! 'Tis the season! Enjoy!

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Concession Speech

Bryce & Drew were decked out in Bobcat gear!


Drew in his classic Lulay jersey.


Bryce added the Shrek hat on his own.


Look closely and you'll see a splotch of white in the middle of the picture...that's Jackie Chan!

OK, here it is, my 2008 concession speech. Well, not a speech, really, but still concessionary! The Griz beat the pants off us yesterday. That's it, no excuses, no whining. We weren't good. We had multiple chances to score and we didn't, plus we had too many turnovers. It was a sad day to be a Bobcat fan.

That said, the Griz wore what have to be the UGLIEST throw-back uniforms I have ever seen! The copper (orange) & gold needs to be buried FOREVER. It wasn't even cool in the 70's. And way to not match the 20,000 fans that showed up to cheer you on. Dorks.

Luckily, our school colors: A) don't change with the season & B) are actually attractive. As demonstrated by Bryce & Drew, everyone looks good in blue & gold! :) They boys had fun dressing up for the game, even if they had to stay home. They did have two of the coolest baby-sitters on earth, though (they even come equipped with their own toys!) so it was ok.

The other picture I posted was of Jackie Chan filming his new movie The Spy Next Door in our neighborhood! Our development is only about a year old, and we have an entire street of model homes that can be toured. The film crew is using the model home street as a set for the next few weeks. We've been checking out the action, and we were able to see them filming a scene in the back yard of one of the models last week. The picture isn't that impressive, but it was neat to see the filming in action! We're keeping our eyes open for our chance to break into show business as extras! :)

Preschool Halloween Hijinks

Bryce & his partner in crime, Duncan, get into the winter spirit.


Bryce gets ready for the Halloween feast at preschool.


Bryce!


Bryce & his preschool friends.


Mrs. Lindsey (referee) rounds up the ghosts & goblins.

Ok, I admit that we were having so much fun on Halloween night that we didn't actually remember to take any pictures!!! I know, no "Mom of the Year" award for me! We did have a great time, though. Our new neighborhood is awesome. The kids had the run of the street after we blocked it off, and most of the families were out in their driveways with candy & decorations.

This morning Bryce & his good buddy, Duncan, decided it was time to dress up in winter outfits, even though it's not very cold here. They crack me up.

Happy Halloween!

Bryce hangs out while Stu carves our Jack-o-lantern.


Drew was excited to "help" with the carving. Note that he only had a plastic spoon!


Stu works hard on the pumpkin.


Bryce (Red Power Ranger) & Drew (Frog) had a fun Halloween party with some friends earlier this week.


Drew at the party.


Bryce & Drew hit the road.


Jim & Stu took Bryce fishing in the Jemez Mountains last week. They stopped off for some photos along the way.


Jim helps Bryce try to reel in the "Big One!"


Bryce poses by the Jemez River.


We helped Grandpa Jim celebrate his birthday on the 20th.

Just playing with our new camera. How cute is this model???

So, no actual Halloween pics yet, but I wanted to catch up on a few others before the big night tonight! Bryce is VERY excited! We're headed to his preschool Halloween party this afternoon, and then our neighborhood is getting all geared up for Trick or Treating tonight. We're planning to block off traffic on our loop & just let the kids have at it! We'll post an update on that later this weekend.

This morning we got the festivities started by carving our Jack-o-Lantern and baking pumpkin muffins. The boys can't wait to put their costumes on later, and even Drew knows that this evening = CANDY!!! It's much harder to conceal that fact from the second child! I'm sure we'll have lots of fun.

Earlier this week we attended a Pre-Halloween party with some of Bryce's old playgroup buddies. It's hard to believe that they're all turning 5 now! We had a great time. Last week, Stu & Jim took Bryce on his first-ever fishing trip in the Jemez (hem-ez) Mountains. They had a blast! They explored some tunnels, red cliffs, the river, and a fish hatchery. They had a few nibbles but weren't lucky enough to catch anything. Bryce loved the experience, though, and seems enthusiastic to try it again sometime soon!

We hope everyone has a fun, safe, SPOOKTACULAR Halloween! BOO! :)

Fun on the Farm!

Bryce all loaded up for a ride on the "Cow Train."


Bryce & Drew checking out Bunnytown.


Bryce loved feeding the sheep & goats.


Drew's turn to feed the animals.


Drew pets a goat. Is it just me, or does the goat look kind of annoyed???


Bryce had a blast on the pedal-cart track!


Drew & Stu on the "Bouncing Pillow." He loved bouncing with all of the big kids (Daddy included!)


Here's a shot of the "Bouncing Pillow." It was huge!


The boys on the Haystack Pyramid. Drew had reached his limit at this point & thought the photo session should be over!


He recovered after we promised him chicken nuggets on the way home!

Yesterday we took the boys to Moriarty, NM, to visit a pumpkin patch. We've been with Bryce before, but it was Drew's first visit. We had an unusually stormy day, but we decided to brave the weather anyway. It was very windy at the farm, but not too cold. The boys had a blast! We were having so much fun at the main area that we didn't even make it out to the pumpkin patch to choose pumpkins. The boys were much more interested in petting & feeding animals, riding pedal-carts, jumping on a HUGE pillow bouncer, sliding on burlap sacks, and playing in a sandbox filled with dried corn kernels. Good, old-fashioned fun on the farm! Just because we don't live in Montana doesn't mean that we can't get the boys back to their roots! It was a great way to spend a Saturday in October, even if it meant that Stu missed seeing the Texas/Oklahoma game! What a trooper! :)