Christmas has come to our house

Finally... we got Christmas up at our house. Since most of you won't see our house for Christmas I thought I would share through my blog. As many of you know, I love Christmas. I love the lights and the decorations. I love the kindness I witness all around me. I love the reason we celebrate it. I have a village that takes all day to set up which has stretched into 24 houses and many accessories. Thanks to Nate, we got lights put up on the house. Thanks to Tradio, we got ourselves our first artificial tree for $25.00. We think it turned out quite nice and it sure was easier to decorate. This way I can leave it up until March if I want! If you read this share your favorite things about Christmas.

He's coming home

Our baby gets to come home today! He gets to come home without oxygen too! We are so grateful he is doing better! Kwinnae is doing a little better each day. It has really been a challenge trying to find some pain medication that she can take and not itch or get sick. Sorry Kwinnae for giving you that challenge! She also said Tyce opened his eyes for a few minutes last night which we have all been anxiously awaiting! Thank you everyone for the prayers.

Our newest additon

oday.

Tyce Zachary was born friday nov 21 at 10:01 am. He weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and was 19 inches long. He has given us quite a scare but seems to be doing better. He is just so tired out from everything he has been through that he just wants to sleep and not eat. So they are watching that close. He is sure beautiful. I just want to sit and hold him all day. I am so blessed. What a miracle life is.

Fall Brings on many changes

I have been so busy and I am not sure what I have been doing! I haven't posted for a month! Part of that is due to having my computer crash! Darn!
I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Grandchild #2. They told us it's a BOY! I don't care either way. Just as long as he is healthy.
Jeff is changing jobs at the site. He is moving to a different company, one that is supposed to be more stable. He will start working for Bechtel Bettis as of Dec. 8.
The leaves have changed and so must our lives but as each leaf falls a new one will take it's place!

Fall Pictures

On Thursday we noticed out trees had recognized the coming of fall and they were beautiful so I coaxed Kayloni to go out and let me take her picture. I think they turned out great!

Archery Camp 2008

We finally got to go camping last weekend. Jeff, Nate and my dad all went archery hunting. It rained a lot and they didn't have any luck but I had a marvelous time just hanging out in the trailer. I even scrapbooked 10 pages. I was very excited. Tiandra came and spent some time with me at camp. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

My Dad is 77 and still Archery Hunting!

My dilemna

I work 3 days a week in a dental office in Blackfoot Idaho. I have the perfect schedule, Monday - Wednesday 8:00 - 5:00. Doesn't get better than that. I am learning a lot of new things since my experience has been in the medical field prior to this. Kayloni is playing on the Blackfoot JV volleyball team and has matches every Tuesday and Thursday evenings and tournaments every other weekend. That pretty much sums it up. I have piles of pictures to do for scrapbooking but can't seem to get motivated again to work on them. I don't seem to find/make time to pay bills, talk to my familyon the phone, work in my yard, read my sunday lesson... the list goes on and on. I need some help. I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS! HOW CAN I GET MORE DONE IN A DAY and motivated to SCRAPBOOK?

California!

I got the awesome opportunity to go to California for Angela and Cesar's wedding. I went with my sister Chaunntel. It was such a great time. We were able to go to the Newport Beach Temple and the San Diego Temple. They are both so beautiful but my favorite was the San Diego Temple. It was fun to see where my Aunt Lorie lives and to see California. Talk about beautiful! Special thanks to Dave and Lorie for helping make our trip so much fun and definately and forever memory.

Crane Family Reunion at Lava

We spent the weekend in Lava for a get together for with Jeff's family. We had a good turnout considering we only planned it a couple of months ago. We missed Doug and his kids and Bob and Mom, Kris, Devin and Derek and Kristin and Breanna. But everyone else made it. At times we had over 30 people there. The kids had a wonderful time floating the Portneuf, jumping off the platforms, going down the slides and playing volleyball. They all voted to make this reunion an annual event and they want to do it in Lava again! Thanks to everyone that were able to arrange their schedules it turned out to be a great time for everyone.

My New Job

Well it has been 3 weeks at my new job and I am still feeling like I don't know anything. The dental field is a whole different world than what I am used to so I am able to learn so much. I am working an ideal mon, tues and wed from 8:00 to 5:30 and then I am done for the week. Can't beat that right! I work for Dr. Von Kunz in Blackfoot so if any of you are in need of a good dentist and want to come to Blackfoot, give me a call. Haha. Just can't wait for the day I feel like I am trained!!!

Kayloni makes Blackfoot JV Volleyball Team

After three grueling days of 2 a day practices the teams were chosen and the list was revealed. Kayloni who will be a Freshman this year made the JV Volleyball team. She is the only Freshman to be advanced to JV. She is very excited and we are very proud of her. All the hard work, the club volleyball and team camps are paying off. Good Job, Kayloni

Nate Leaves for CEU

I gave my last hug to Nate for awhile. He left Blackfoot today and is heading to Price to start school. It is so hard to see them grow up. Where did the time go? It seems just like last year we were doing Little League 5 nights a week! He is nervous about being so far from home but we will keep praying that he will love it. He will be playing baseball and that will keep him very busy. Thank you to everyone and your prayers and advice in helping him make this very important decision. We really appreciate all the help in getting him raised!

Bear Lake takes 4rth at American Legion State Tournament

We just had a good and emotional weekend watching Nate play his last baseball games with the Bear Lake team in Boise at the American Legion A State Tourney. It was very rewarding to see this young team make it to State again. They know how to win. Unfortunately that didn't take them all the way but we are very proud of them. Nate was a very important part of that team. He just doesn't realize how talented he is. He could really be an asset to any team if he would choose to do so. But I am learning that parents are there to watch your kids choose for themselves. It is very difficult for me to do that. I am not so hip on the idea of free agency before the age of 25! But as I told Nate, I will always love you but somedays I don't like you or your choices. I know, pretty harsh. I definately need some work in that department also. Thanks to all of you and your help in raising my kids. Pretty obvious we need all the help we can get!

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Glacier National Park

We had the best vacation ever! We loved every minute of it and wished it would have lasted forever. Jeff and I went with our friends, Michelle and Tracy Kofoed to Glacier and spent a week. We survived no showers, no flushable toilets, no electricity and an encounter with a grizzly. You heard me right! Tuesday morning I got up about 6:30 and woke up Jeff to make the trip out to the outhouse. I was just coming out and I saw Jeff and his eyes were as wide as saucers and he had his finger up to his mouth telling me to be quiet and then pointed and 25 yards or less from where I was standing was a Grizzly Bear! Oh my! It was looking right at me. It started walking towards me and Jeff hollered and it then saw Jeff and so he stopped and looked at Jeff and then turned and walked away. Oh yah! It was so cool! But a little scary. After that we didn't go to the outhouse alone. The next day we had just set up our tent and was having lunch and we had a black bear come right off the mountain and into our camp! After my experience at girls camp and now this, everyone started calling me a bear magnet. We saw numerous white tail deer, a big horn sheep, a mountain goat which crossed the road in front of us and a cow and calf moose came right behind our car in the campground and stood behind our tent for 30 minutes. Not to mention the beautiful waterfalls and mountain peaks. I would recommend everyone going to Glacier National Park. It was such a witness to me that God lives and his hand in creating such a beautiful masterpiece.

We're off to Glacier National Park

Hey everyone,
We leave Monday morning for our week long vacation to Glacier National Park. Jeff and I are going without kids! Hard to believe. This is will the first vacation we have taken alone in many years! Yeah! Look forward to some incredible pictures when we get back. Love you all

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Sparks Family Reunion 2008

Justin was in charge of our reunion this year and his vision was to go camping the way our mom and dad used to do it. We went to the Caribou Ranger Station on McCoy Creek Rd. He was very successful. We definately did "rough" camping. No running water or electricity. No cell phone service, yeah! But lot's of mosquitoes! Of course, I had my nice trailer which I was very grateful for. We battled mosquites that would bite through anything. I know we went through at least 12 cans of mosquito spray. Some of the little kids got eaten alive. We also had some challenges of our own. The fuel pump went our on our truck after we got up to camp so we had to impose on our family to help pull our trailer back to Blackfoot and then had Kennon come up with a truck and trailer and haul our truck back home. It ended up being very expensive.

But we really enjoyed shooting trap and watching everyone jump off the bridge at Palisades Reservoir. This definately will be a reunion that will be remembered! But all in all it was great to spend time together as a family. Thanks everyone for your efforts to come and recognizing the importance of family! I love you all!!

A tribute to Kayloni...

I can't believe my baby is going to be a Freshman. She has grown into a beautiful young woman. She is a great kid to raise. She keeps her room spotless, cleans her own bathroom every week and helps me around the house without being asked. She is funny(she acts like her dad) and has lots of friends. She had a 3.87 grade point average at the end of the year and was given the MVP award for Volleyball at the awards ceremony the last day of school which she was very excited about. I am very grateful I had her even though it was kind of tough getting her here it has definately been worth it. I want her to know how much I love her and hope that teenageitis never hits. I would be perfectly happy to remain best friends everyday forever. Love you Kayloni!

Nate came and left...

Well Nate arrived on Sunday with his car full of all of his clothes and possessions. He decorated his room with his football jersey, medals and trophy's and some 15 hats! We bought him a new comforter that was more masculine. We had a job all lined up for him doing construction.

Monday morning he came to me and said I can't stay here, I have to go back to Bear Lake. He wouldn't even give it a try. So he got on the phone and after a couple of days found a job in Bear Lake. He left last night and took all his stuff. We were so excited to have him with us for a couple months. As a mother, I must admit I've cried a few tears. It's very hard to realize your children are grown up and that they can choose their own path. I am learning we do not have control of them once they turn 18. If the truth were known we don't have much control years before that. I have pondered what my Heavenly Father must go through as he watches us practice our right to free agency disregarding his help and those around us. I can imagine him shaking his head just as I did when Nate drove out of our driveway. I know how it hurts. Raising children has endless rewards but also it's own set of heartaches.

Nate did it! A Graduated Senior!

Nate graduated from Bear Lake High School on May 29, 2008.

Just want to thank all of you for the gifts and money you sent him. Now life will really show him what it has to offer. I guess it is good to have such optimism!

Jeff, Cam and Nate Go to Denver

The boys got a great opportunity this past weekend. Each year after the high school baseball season is over Coach Culver takes his team to Denver to watch the Colorado Rockies play baseball. This year Jeff got to go as a driver and they had the time of their lives. At the last minute there was an extra ticket so Coach Culver offered it to Cameron. So Jeff and his boys got to go together. They had a wonderful time. They left Thursday night, drove to Laramie then onto Denver the next morning, watched the Rockies go 13 innings against the New York Mets and win. Saturday they went to another game. Due to seminary graduation on Sunday night, Jeff, Cameron, Nate, Corby Dixon and Jon Homer came home a day early but they said it was definately worth it.

KAYLONI CELESTE & TIA

That's my Girls!

Bear Lake Takes 2nd at State

Just wanted to finish the story. Bear Lake lost to Fruitland in their journey to capture their third state championship. Fruitland was a very good team. We just couldn't get our offense going. Nate hit another home run in the game but with no one on base it didn't change the outcome of the game. But we are still very proud of them. They are a great group of talented boys. Nate isn't done! He will be playing American Legion this summer and then heading off to play at College of Eastern Utah. So we will still be watching ball games.

Bears Win Again

We are on our way to the Championship game for the third year in a row. We are very excited. We play saturday afternoon at 4:00 against a very tough Fruitland team. We beat Payette 11-4. Spencer pitched his best game of the year. I am very nervous about todays game. Fruitland looks very tough and we will have to play our best to beat them.

Bears Win First Game at State

Just quick update for everyone! Bears won their first game at State against Bonners Ferry with a score 15-1. Nate pitched and was awesome but also had 4 doubles in the game with several RBI's. The weather is beautiful and we all got sunburned. We play today at 4:00 against Payette. Wish us luck!

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Blackfoot Volleyball Takes 2nd at Regionals

Kayloni and her club volleyball team went to Regionals in Salt Lake city this past weekend. They took 2nd in their division. They did very well and it was great to see such huge improvement from the beginning to the end of the season. She played with girls that were older than her and was every bit as competitive. Her love is volleyball so we will be changing gears from baseball to volleyball.

Bear Lake Baseball Wins District... Repeat State 3 years in a row!

They did it again! Bear Lake beat Snake River 14-11 in a very intense ball game yesterday. Snake River is a very good ball team and they were not about to give up. They started out ahead but we had a great inning and scored 6 runs due to 2 home runs. They changed pitchers and that slowed things up but we hung in there. We would score then they would score back and forth. Then Nate came up and hit a home run and scored 3 and that gave us the lead we needed. We will be going to Ontario, Oregon next week for state. This is the last time, the last hurrah for Bear Lake High School Baseball. I can't believe they grew up so fast.

Kwinnae and Tiandra

Kwinnae and Tia are getting settled in our home. We love having them with us just wish the circumstances were different. Kwinnae went for a job interview yesterday at a salon here. She liked the salon but is going to look at other options so she gets a feel for what is available. We'll let you all know where she lands so if you need a makeover you'll know where to find her. Thank you everyone for your love and support. We can feel the prayers in our behalf.

Great News for Nate

We got some great news this week! Nate got awarded a full ride scholarship to CEU
(College of Eastern Utah) His grade point average got him his tuition and his baseball scholarship will pay for his books and lodging for the year. We are very excited. It finally gives him a direction and a plan for after graduation. He is going to come to Blackfoot for the summer and work and play Legion when he can. We are very grateful and know it is an answer to prayer. When life seem so bleak remember there is always a rainbow somewhere.

Go Forward With Faith

I had a neighbor send me a card with that quote at the bottom. She will never know how it has touched my life. At least 10 times a day I think of those words "Go forward with Faith". The past couple of weeks have been very tough, probably the toughest of my life and at times I have felt I was close to breaking but there have been so many friends and family who have been there to pick us up at the those moments. This post is dedicated to all of you, who have been there for us. The simple acts of service might have seemed very small, but to me they were as if you had moved a mountain. Thank you all for your love and support. That's all that is important when it comes right down to it - Our Family and Friends!

Bears beat American Falls

Nate pitched against American Falls last night and did a great job. He is sick with a sore throat and head cold so I know he wasn't feeling his best but he went out on the mound and took care of business. The Bears won in 7 innings 7-3. It was very cold and I am anxiously waiting for some warmer weather.

Bear Lake Wins at Buhl Tournament

This weekend, the Bear Lake Boys Baseball team looked more like the team we knew they could be. They swept the tournament beating Teton, Shelley, and Buhl by more than 10 runs each. The championship game was against a team from Nevada who were a very good team. Thank heavens we went out and got a lead in the first inning because they did their best to catch up. But we came out on top with a win 9-6. Nathan hit a grand slam, a home run and 2 more hits right to the fence. He had two colleges talk to him and Coach Culver, Albertson's College in Boise and Treasure Valley. So we will keep our fingers crossed and hope for what's best for Nate.

What you say is what you get....

I knew I was in trouble. I thought it and then said it out loud and thats all it took.
I haven't been sick since we moved to Blackfoot. I haven't gotten the cold, flu...been healthy as a horse. But I said it out loud and sure enough I got what I was asking for. Who says the SECRET doesn't work. I got hit with an inner ear infection and it has been a doozy! I didn't get out of bed for 2 days and finally went to the Dr. today. So take it from me...positive thoughts ALWAYS!

I took a walk....

How lucky I am to be so close to such a perfect example of God's love. My backyard is on the Snake River. Last week the ice broke up and the river is flowing free. It is such a beautiful site. I decided that I was really missing out by not taking advantage of living so close to such a beautiful place. I went for a walk down by the river and what did I see...ducks, geese, a woodpecker, a squirrel, lots of trees and the winding river. I felt so close to my Heavenly Father. What a wonderful way to release some stress. I decided to share it with all of you. I took some pictures of things on my walk and put it on my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

This Week's Schedule

I am looking forward to a slower week. Kayloni has volleyball practice 3 nights this week and we have a planning meeting for the ward activities committee tomorrow night. The big event will be in Twin Falls on Friday and Saturday. It is the Buhl Baseball Tourney. Our games are at 12:00 and 3:00 on Friday. We have 2 more on Saturday but I don't know the times yet. We will go to Twin Falls Friday morning. Cameron and Taryn are planning on coming with us. Kayloni has a volleyball tournament in Idaho Falls on Saturday so she will probably stay and go to that. I'll let you all know how Bear Lake does. Stay tuned!

Busy Week

We've had a very busy week. Kayloni and I went to Bear Lake on Tuesday afternoon. We went to a Beuticontrol Spa hosted by Kwinnae and presented by Arvilla. They have some awesome products and I think I am going to sign up so we can get the products for wholesale.

Wednesday we went to Preston where Bear Lake played Preston. Jordan Crane pitched. Nate hit a stand up triple and 2 doubles. We beat them 15-1 in 5 innings.

I came back to Blackfoot Thursday evening after having worked at the office Wed and Thursday. Friday Jeff and I went to Logan to watch Nate pitch against Logan. They were a good team. Nate pitched really well with 6 strike outs but our defense still had some problems and we lost 3-1. This was the first loss Nate has had when he was on the mound in his high school career. Needless to say he didn't take it well. They really could have beaten them.

Saturday found us on our way to Rigby for a volleyball tournament. Kayloni is playing on the club volleyball team for Blackfoot. We started at 9:00. They played 4 teams with 2 games each. They won 5 matches out of 8. We were thrilled to see their improvement. We made it back home at 5:00 and we were so tired of running we curled up in blankets and watched a movie. What a week! This weekend will find us in Twin Falls for the Buhl Tournament. We love going to this tournament.

Our Weekend!

Just wanted to update you on our weekend. We were in Ontario Oregon for a baseball tournament. It was Bear Lake's first time on a field for the season and they were ecstatic. Of course, they have some things to work on but they did well. Nathan pitched really well against Weiser, Id. He had 9 strikeouts and 1 hit on him in the game which resulted in a 12-1 score. Bear Lake won. We lost our other two games due to some errors but I have high hopes for the team. Here are the scoresz:
Ontario 4 Bear Lake 3
Bear Lake 12 Weiser 1
Fife Wash 9 Bear Lake 5
We had a good time and are looking forward to many more games.

Baseball officially starts

Baseball season starts this week! Nate and the baseball team from Bear Lake will be playing in Ontario, Oregon this weekend. It will be a two day tournament. We can't wait! Cameron, Taryn, Jeff, Kayloni and myself will be leaving at 4:00 am friday morning and traveling to Ontario in time for the first game at 10:00am. Cameron has to work until 10:00 pm thursday night so we are going to save money on a hotel and just leave early friday morning. We will be home late Saturday night! I'll post the game scores for anyone who is interested!

We had a great weekend!

Hey everyone! We spent the weekend in Salt Lake at the IVA(intermountain Volleyball Assoc complex) with Kayloni. She played with her team from Blackfoot. She's the youngest on the team but is becoming a very important part of the team. She plays middle hitter. They played 4 games (9 matches) on Friday and then started again at 8 am on Sat and played another 4 games in pool play. They then went into the tournament bracket and just kept winning. They ended up playing 7 games! They sure were exhausted. They took the Championship in their bracket. Once they got into the tournament, they came up against teams with about the same skill level and it was really fun to watch them. We saw so much improvement from them over the weekend! It was really fun!
Sorry to all of you in Utah we didn't get to see. We were disappointed we didn't get to see all of you. We just spent all our time at watching volleyball. Hope you all understand! Have a great day!

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Priceless

Nathan actually agreed to a picture with Tiandra and Kayloni at the prom.

It couldn't have been any cuter!

Sugar and Spice?

This is a great picture. Tiandra is always trying to be as cool as Kayloni. They are two of a kind.

Taryn gets through first cut...

Just want everyone to know that Taryn made it through the first elimination for getting into the Hygiene Program at ISU. On March 7th, she participated in a workshop where she had to mold a tooth, demonstrate her dexterity and write an essay among other things. There were approx. 150 applicants and only 70 made it through the first cut and only 27 will be invited for the next class. Pretty tough competition but we have faith she will do just fine. She is very smart and works very hard. Go Taryn and Good Luck.

This Weeks Schedule

We will be traveling to Salt Lake this weekend for UVA Volleyball Tournament. Kayloni will be playing with a team from Blackfoot. She is the youngest on the team and is really doing well. We are looking forward to seeing our family in Utah while we are down there.

Nate.s Prom Night

Believe it or not, Nate went on a date!

He asked Lindsay Gunderson to the Prom.

They seemed to have a great time. They spread the date over two days. On Friday several of them went to Pocatello and beat each other up with paint balls. You should have seen the bruises. Then they went to Lava and went swimming and wall climbing. On Saturday, a group of them went to Austin Nielsen's house where his mom, Rhea and myself put on a dinner of steak, potatoes, salad and brownies, fudge and icecream. But the highlight of the night was getting dressed up for the dance. They made a cute couple. We were amazed at how good Nate looked! Pretty Handsome. See for yourself!