~No Faces

This picture says so much about my kids and my life!  First of all, look at their shoes.  They are all slip on shoes.  No laces!  Sami LOVES her cowboy boots!  She crosses her legs and wears rubber bands around her wrists.  Sami is getting long legs.  She is getting tall and confident.  Alex will always be the middle kid.  He is kind and generous.  His little arms are crossed and his hand are gently place on his knees.  Not perfect, not even, just sitting their relaxed the way they need to be.  He runs and plays balls in those shoes.  He goes to cub scouts in those shoes. His legs are almost as long as Sami's, almost.  He has his own adventures to look forward too.  Then there is little Zach, and he will always be the baby.  There are burs all over his pant legs from some random adventure.  His legs just dangle off the bench. They are a lot farther from the ground then his siblings.  He is trying to figure out exactly what to do with his fingers.   His hands are almost clasped, but not quite.  
They sit side by side on the bench.  They are all uniquely different and yet the same blood courses through them... They sit side by side on this bench, as I hope they will be side by side for the rest of their lives!

Colors, smell, leaves, people~

My kids and my friend Sarah Bunkers kids after a hike up Neffs Canyon!

Family photo up Neffs Canyon!

Bunker kids up Neffs Canyon



Sarah and her cute kids up Neffs Canyon!




Sami and Chad on the Little Willow Hike!



Chad and kids hiking up to Little Willow Lake!

Little Willow Lake~

Picture of some friends/girl at Little Willow Lake

Boys at Little Willow Lake~

Group shot of all the kids at Little Willow Lake!

Little Willow  Lake

I am  just going to talk about my senses when I hike.  I usually go slow because I am with Zach.  He is a great little hiker, but not fast.  So, I really have time to enjoy hiking.  My favorite hike is up to Little Willow Lake.  It is not quite a mile one way.  You walk through a ton of Aspen trees.  We hiked there one fall and it was "snowing" leaves.  It was so magical.  The kids and I just stopped hiking.  We stood still and it was like the world stood still with all these orange and yellow leaves floating in the air.   There were hundreds of them.  It was so special.  When I hike breath deep.  When I hike I notice the beauty and can feel the silence.  I embrace the silence.  
We did a couple of family hikes and some with great friends.  I am so thankful for the change of seasons.  For how beautiful and exciting it can be.  For the way I work and breath and move to get where I am going.  And most of all, for the awe and spirituality I feel, when I see this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me!

~Mitochondrial Disease~ What is it?~

What is Mitochondrial Disease?

Mitochondrial diseases result from failures of the mitochondria, specialized compartments present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised. The disease primarily affects children, but adult onset is becoming more and more common.

Diseases of the mitochondria appear to cause the most damage to cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidney and the endocrine and respiratory systems.

Depending on which cells are affected, symptoms may include loss of motor control, muscle weakness and pain, gastro-intestinal disorders and swallowing difficulties, poor growth, cardiac disease, liver disease, diabetes, respiratory complications, seizures, visual/hearing problems, lactic acidosis, developmental delays and susceptibility to infection

I had the opportunity to join my family in the "Energy 4 Life" walk.  It supports and raises money for children with Mitochondrial disease.  There was a great turn out this year.  It was at Liberty Park.  Sami and I were there.  Chad and the boys had a stake father/son campout.  So, they missed it.  One of my bests friends, Sarah, came and brought her four kids.  My folks came down the night before and stayed at my house.  My mom just had her knee operated on, so she was in a wheel chair.    They had a poster for Torri.  It was so sweet!

 

I also have a couple of cousins whose children have the same disease and have even died of this disease.  It is really hard, sad and something they deal with on a daily basis. This disease has taken a toll on the "Crane" side of my family.  There was so much great family support there.  It is amazing to see cousins and aunts and uncles you haven't seen for a while.  You hug and cry and sometimes laugh.  I come from a big, supportive, awesome family.   So here are a couple of shots from the walk this year.  It was an honor to wear the color Red in honor of Team Tobes. 

 

Tanner and Sami at the fishing pond!

Brad and Cathy in front on Torri's poster.  They are truly amazing.  The fact that they are still "living" after all the heartache they have been through!

My mom, Sami, Lincoln, Charlotte and Afton at the walk!

Here is a group shot of "Team Tobes."  Brad and Cathy had great friend and family support.  We all wore red, but there were other family members there honoring their loved ones in blue, yellow and pink!

 

Things I should blog about but don't~

We had some friends and a fire one evening.  The kids played on the trampoline and ate hot  dogs.  We enjoyed our evenings outside tihs summer.

This was a cold Saturday.  The kids formed their own band!  Awesome!

We took Zach and Chase to Wheeler Farm.  We fed the ducks and played in the little play houses.  It was a great afternoon.

The sign says it all..  This is one thing I could of blogged about for 8 years.  This was Chad's 8th year doing this ride.  206 miles.. 3 states... 1 day.. I could tell you about the year that it snowed and Chad had to sit in an ambulance because of hypothermia.  Out of 1000 riders, 300 finished that year, and Chad was one of them.  I could tell you about the year some guy from New York offered me $300 to do support for his buddy.  I could tell you about the year that Chad came up Salt River pass and there was a rider completely unconcious laying in the road, and that bikers were riding around him like it was no big deal. I could tell you about all the men I have seen peeing by the side of the road and the crazy husbands yelling at their wives at feed zone.   I could tell you about the year Chad did so good he stood on the podium.  I could tell about the thorns in the tires and the man that died this year.  This is such an interesting and fun bike race/ride.   We have done it enought (like how I say we) that it usually goes as we plan.  He trains for this and rides all summer to be ready for this ride.  I wish I was savy enough to pull up some of my pictures from other years, but this is all I got today...

Chad on his way to the finish!

Chad and part of his team "chatting" it up after!

Usually, I leave the kids at my mom's house in Montpelier. but this year Alex was my "wing" man.  We had such a good day together.  The sun was warm.  The leaves were  changing colors.  We ate treats and sang songs.  Here is Alex at the finish.  We were both tired. 

Sami had this picture of her Girl Scout troop published in the "Girl Scout" magazine.  Sami is in the orange with the crazy hair.

Also, this week, Sami, had her picture in the Deseret News.  It is a weird angle.  She is "high fiving" teachers on the first day of school.  (our little claim to fame)

Some of the kids in the neighborhood decided to ride their bikes to school. 

Sami at Girl Scout camp, apparently she wore the "orange" shirt in all the pictures...

Here is a picture of the girls and leaders that went to camp.  She has really enjoyed girls scouts and LOVES girl scout camp!

Last, but not least, a picture of me and my achievement day girls.  We "tried" to make glitter pumpkins!