Hello. It's me.

What the two years later? This blog has been put on the back, back, back burner for a really long time. I decided I need to be better about keeping our family journal and get on top of this thing. Sooooooo much has happened in two years. New baby, new home, new city, two new cars. Our lives have been richly blessed. So here's a little update on the Cranes.

Danny- Still working at TEKSystems. He is now an Account Manager and he primarily works with the LDS Church fulfilling their IT staffing demands. He is such a hard worker and is still thoroughly enjoying eating out every day. Lately he's been really into yard work, painting, and gardening, but that could be because of our new house.

Melinda- I'm living the dream. I love being at home with my kiddos and doing the mom thing. Still love to read, cook, and watch my many shows. The end of Downton Abbey has really rocked my world!

Ellie- our little whimsical princess. She turned 4 in January and is really good at playing the drama queen. She loves to dress up in all her princess dresses and spends many a good afternoon curled up with about 30 books. She loves to learn and has been doing school at home with me. Ellie is a show fanatic like her mama. She loves Sofia the First, Max & Ruby, Peppa Pig, and the Tinker Bell movies. She is in dance classes (tap and ballet) twice a week and loves it. She'll be going to a princess dance camp and swimming lessons later this summer. So she's very busy. She is a wonderful big sister and takes very good care of her little brothers.  We love this little girl and all her spunky sweetness.

Ellie had an ice cream birthday party when she turned 4.

She got to go to Build a Bear on her birthday. So excited!

The lion came right up next to us at the zoo. Good thing the glass was there.

She's been really into puzzles and is super fast at putting them together.

Beautiful Easter dress.

She found this hideous jacket and was instantly in love. Of course.

Anna and Ariel. Aniel. Or Arna.

Caleb- the Jedi master. Caleb turned 2 in January and has developed a deep love for Star Wars. He is always finding light sabers (usually sticks or hangers) and creates his own battle sequences. He is OBSESSED with cars, trucks, trains, etc. If it has wheels, he's a major fan. He is very particular about everything and hates getting his hands wet or sticky. He still puts things in his mouth (he put Ellie's band aid in his mouth the other day. Gross!). We really have to watch him. He has to have about 20 different stuffed animals and toys in his bed before he can fall asleep. He is always busy busy and so "helpful". He cracks us up every day with his silliness.

Nice basket hat.

He loves his cars.

More cars.

Such a handsome boy. And our new bench for the entryway.

We had a nasty bout of pink eye run through our family.

Caleb was definitely hit the hardest.

Poor guy. But we're all good now.

Back to normal!

Mason- our newest addition! Mason was born March 4, 2016. He is a perfect baby. He has spent most of his life eating and is on a good schedule for sleeping. He has been "talking" for a couple weeks now and it just melts my heart. We have lots of good conversations. My favorite time with him is in the morning before the other 2 kids wake up. He is the most smiley and talkative then and I just love it. He loves baths and being swaddled. He finally has started liking his car seat. We're so grateful for this precious boy!

Where's Mason?

Blessing Day

2 months!

He is OBSESSED with his hands and gets really

frustrated when he can't fit the whole thing in his mouth.

It's so weird to see him in the same clothes Caleb wore. Major deja vu.

Our family moved to a new home a week before Mason was born (cray cray I know). We fell in love with a home in Saratoga Springs and were lucky enough to be the first ones to put an offer on it. Things fell miraculously into place and we are so grateful to be here. We've discovered that there was a lot to be done on the house, especially our back yard. We are completely redoing the whole thing. We had 13 truckfuls of top soil dumped to fill in our yard and make it flat. We had a lot of family here for Mason's blessing and they all helped us lay sod and put up with our miscellaneous projects we gave them. Things are starting to look really good and I'm so excited to have a yard where I can just open the back door and throw my kids out there to play (I won't really throw them).

There was a fire pit in our backyard when we first moved in.

Would have been cool if this little boy didn't love getting dirty in it.

A before picture of our yard.

Another before picture. It was so bad! Never buy a home

when your yard is covered with snow. It hides so many problems!

And that's pretty much what's up with us now. Fingers crossed I will stick with my goal of staying up to date with this! Here's some more pictures.

Caleb's birthday! He loved that cake. Obviously.

These guys went on lots of adventures when Mason first came home. Zootopia!

A liger!

Free ice cream for being in the No Cavities club!

This picture just cracks me up. Serious egg hunters.

"Mommy, I stuck!"

We sold all our kitchen furniture before we moved.

Ellie had fun eating at her special table.

Free zoo day!

All my babes when they were each 1 month old.

Crazy kids.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Danny making Mother's Day dinner.

After signing the papers for our house. We did it!

Ellie's birthday dinner at Pizza Pie Café.