Brayle, Beautiful and Brawny

She doesn't sing, dance or the piano play. But has great talents in another way. Can dead lift 275 pounds, hip, hurray! Will she be Homecoming Queen? Vote yes, today.

I was too plain and shy to try out for any school beauty contest. Brayle, was one of the six finalists. For her talent she dead lifted 225 pounds, then tried upping it to 275 and made it, her personal best!! She excels in sports, softball, volleyball and basketball because of her height, 5'8". Playing for years in front of crowds has given her courage to perform and not fear.

In a group shot modeling their gowns with the others, Brayle was the most modest and showed her true colors of standing out. She has always tried to be an example and stand for the right. You go girl!!

Colorful, Cool Canyon

An lovely ride in the canyon, on the Alpine Loop. In my arms the brilliant colors I wish to scoop. Or march around snapping photos like a scout troop. Very soon the cold & storms will make them droop. Good bye, Oh Poop!

Last year we went too late to see the autumn leaves and missed them. Even though it is still summer, the storms and cold will beat the color out of them. Splashes of bright red, scarlet, burgundy, orange, rust, yellow, tan and green hues dotted the mountain slopes.

Then a storm rolled in a few days later stealing away the best ones. Who knows what happened or it looks like now.

Kayaking, Cause It Was Cool

We were pooped, but the kayak was at the lake. So we took a nap, had some sup & a break. It was heavy, far to carry & my hand did ache, We slipped it in the water and took turns paddling. Cake!

Silver Lake Flats, above Granite Flats in American Fork Canyon is up a bumpy, winding road. The water is very low and it has just been enlarged to double its usual size. We had to carry the kayak from the road about 1/4 mile to reach the water. It was a killer for me, the wimp.

Oh, but I really wanted to give it a spin on this remote lake. Even though we had just completed a five mile hike, I talked Allan into having a nap and give kayaking a whirl. So we did. The water was so calm as we veered away from the many fisherman along the shore. I think we will really like this kind of boating. Our new kayak even has places for fishing gear. Yeah!!

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A Crane's Journey of 130 Miles

Allan had a job in East Carbon yesterday. We left at 6, because it’s 130 miles away. Got to Spanish Fork summit by 7 a.m. Hurray! Road construction on Highway 6. It’s a small delay.

‘Passed’ the Port of Entry & truck was ‘A’ okay! Entered Castle Country and had a lovely day. Found the East Carbon turn-off sign pointing the way. Crane & man was at the job. Let’s set up and stay.

Allan invited me to go with him to do a crane job in East Carbon, while he took materials off of a newly completed church roof. While driving up Spanish Fork Canyon, I decided to document the trip. It is fun to share what we did as we journeyed to Carbon County. Neither of us knew this tiny town existed. We arrived on the job at 8:30 a.m. and Allan got right to work. Total time craning was about two hours, including securing the load he was bringing home and retracting the crane. I took a mile walk on their paved trail. Here's a few photos of the town hall and park.

Go to 'thecrankycrane.blogspot.com Blog to see the crane in action and hear the rest of the story.

Finally Feet Up, It's a First

It's the last busy day for weeks and he's glad. Finally time to put his feet up. Is that bad? Happy, hugs, friends, family, fun, and sometimes mad. Take a sip and ponder about things. He's a lad!

The last night of their visit Alicia and family stopped for a few last minute trampoline jumps, hugs, family fun or fights. Then they needed a drink or treat. Josh wanted milk. He slipped into the zero gravity chair on the deck and I snapped this cute photo of him relaxing. We will miss you little buddy.

Scones Success

When the grandkids come to town, they make this request: "Grams, will you make scones for breakfast? They’re the best!" I say, "Sure, come on over and be my guest" It’s the only food I make which passes the ‘kid’s’ test.

I make few things the grand children will eat. Scones! Every time they come town, they ask me to make scones. A good deal of what I make ends up in the trash, except these golden brown puffs. Scones Makes 10-12 1 cup warm water 1 Tablespoon Sugar 1 Teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon oil Mix and add ½ Tbl Yeast Stir in 3 cups flour, One cup at time. You will have to hand mix in the last cup. Let rest 20 minutes. Roll onto cutting board to about 10” x 12 ‘. Use a pizza cutter to cut. Heat oil til a bit of dough sizzles. Drop each piece into oil, turn over when golden brown. Drain on paper towels Eat with honey or sugar.

Reunion & River Running

It was our annual family outing. Almost everyone came and no pouting. Floated the Provo River with laughter and shouting, Splashing, smiles and some master scouting.

As your family gets older with teens of their own, it becomes much harder to get together, especially if three families live out of state. No amount of planning will make it succeed until everyone is on board. We had the perfect spot at Vivian Park in Provo Canyon, right next to the play land, river and lots of shade trees. How lucky is that. We could look up the river to see if our raft had made it down. Amongst the millions of tubes, it was pretty tricky. Parking was at a premium. Three runs later we were hot, tired and ready to go home.

We met at 9am, sharing a scone and French toast breakfast with fruit, etc. Then headed out with a lunch in tow. The six man raft was rented from BYU which included oars, life jackets and a pump for $80. What a deal! Tubes rent for $15 each trip at the river. With our three trips it calculated out to be about $5. The most fun of all was being together, laughing, splashing and having a great time. Little Max even ran the rapids.