Ho! Ho! Ho! It was my lucky day!

Hey everyone, guess what? I won a raffle at work today!! I never win anything!!!

Every year O.C. Tanner purchases two trees from the “Festival of Trees”. They have the trees set up at work for everyone to enjoy through December. During the week of Christmas, they let employees buy raffle tickets for $10 each to win the trees.

So, today was the last day to enter the raffle and around 12:30 I went upstairs and bought two raffle tickets. One for each tree. I really didn’t think I would win anything, but around 2:00 p.m. the ladies from HR came and told me that I WON one of the trees!!! I couldn’t believe it. I actually felt kind of guilty because so many people wanted the trees and donated lots of money to win and I only donated $20. It was just my lucky day!!

The tree is decorated with elves,books, candy and is absolutely JOLLY! I get the entire tree and the additional decorations that come with it. One of the decorations is an actual TV stand that has a small electric fireplace in it. (you can see it in the picture). Rondo and I are just laughing about the whole thing because it is such a big win. All of the pieces are probably worth a few thousands dollars. I am not sure how much O.C. Tanner paid for the tree but I do know that HR earned $1800 just in raffle money. All of the money will be donated to Primary Children’s Hospital.


This is me standing by the tree.


A cute little elf reading a book.


The TV stand with fireplace.


Another darling elf...


The head elf sitting on top of the ladder.

Yes, it comes with all of the pieces, even the candy, books and little elves! So, what will we do with this jovial tree and and all the trimmings, you ask? We think it will be a wonderful gift for Crystal and our future grandchildren to enjoy for years to come!!
(once we find a place to store everything!)
Thanks for letting me brag a little.. it just was such a fun thing to win!!

Hangin Out at the Zoo!

Hi Everyone,

We had our first Zoo Adventure of the year and brought along a bunch of really cute, smart little ones to make it the best day ever!!

Meet Aaliaya, Trevan, Macey and Hayden! Four of the great-grandkids on Rondo's side of the family. They all call Idaho their home, but Uncle Rondo and Aunt Cindy have the best place to stay in Utah!

Aaliaya and Trevan waiting to ride the train.

Hayden needs to be in the picture also!

Meet the beautiful Brittany and rambunctious little Kylan. aka energizer bunny. He seriously never stops! Kylan is also a great-grandkid.

Meet Jordan, Danika and Emma. (Emma is also a great-grandbaby)

Everyone loved the girrafes and there very long necks!

Heydan loved sitting on Uncle Rondo's lap and getting a free ride!

Have you ever seen a girrafe pick his nose with his tongue?

Rondo and Heydan checking out the girrafe.

Mr. Girrafe sitting down for a little R&R.

Uncle Rondo, Macey, Trevan and Aaliaya giving us a stylin' pose!

One more shot!

Meet Zuri, the main reason we all came to the zoo. We all wanted to see the BABY ELEPHANT!

Zuri hiding behind his mom!

The elephants were thirsty so they went for a drink.

Sitting on the elephants trunk can be so much fun! Especially when the elephant makes really loud noises!

Hayden did not think this was a good idea!

Aunt Brittany Crane with Macey riding on the carousel.

Danika and Aaliaya having a great time on the carousel.

The Crane boys trying to be 'cool' while riding on the carousel...

Here they are again, all riding in the wagon. Good thing Uncle Kyle has strong arms so he could pull them around the zoo.

We had the BEST time ever and want to do this again another year. After the zoo everyone came back to our house and we had taco's and rootbeer floats! We had the best sleep party ever, with 6 adults and 6 little ones all hanging out at the Poole Bed & Breakfast!

Thanks for coming everyone, we can't wait to have you come again sometime!!

Baby Elvis came to visit!!

It was Halloween night and Rondo and I were passing out candy to all the cute little tikes when the doorbell rang! It was a cute little "Elvis Presley Family" at our door! Wahoo!! There was Elvis, Pricilla and little Elvis Jr. What a fun Treat!!

Rondo had lots of fun holding Elvis Jr.

What a cute family!!!

Thanks for stopping by and saying "hi"! It was so fun to see all of you!!

Hello San Francisco!

We finally got away for a little anniversary celebration! Rondo and I headed to San Francisco last weekend to celebrate our 18 years of wonderful bliss!! We had such a good time, we decided we needed to 'escape' from reality every few months!! Well see how that works out, but it is fun to dream anyway!

Here we are in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. We had a taxi drop us off as close as possible. It was a beautiful sunny day!



We took a boat ride out into the bay. We went under the bridge. This is the view of the city from inside the boat.

We stayed in the Union Square area and walked around the city checking out all the cool stores and cars! Here is one of Rondo's favorite cars... a Ferrari..



We walked to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 and Ghirradeli Square. Yes, we bought chocolate for our favorite friends and family!

There were lots and lots of steep roads around the town. Rondo really got a good workout!

Poole Family B&B - Sept 2009 - Family fun with the Finn's

Aunt Pam, Uncle Rob and Cousin Shelbie came up for a visit this last weekend. Shelbie was participating in the State 4H Horse competition at the South Jordan Equestrian Park. She did an awesome job and we had SO MUCH FUN watching her run the barrels, go around the poles, go through the key hole and compete in Western Pleasure. (Aunt Pam took lots of pictures and video, so check them out on the Finn Family blog).



We love you guys and had so much fun having you stay with us! Come again!!
PS - we have your reservation confirmed for next September!

Dear Sister Degen

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.



You are assigned to labor in the Brazil Manuas Mission.



You should report to the Brazil Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, September 16th 2009. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Portuguese language.


After weeks of anticipation, Crystal finally received her mission call. Yes, we are just as surprised and shocked as all of you! This definitely was the last place we could have imagined she would be going! We are so excited and happy that she will have this opportunity to serve the people in the jungles of northern Brazil. (Amazon, Rainforest, snakes, bugs).

Crystal's two roommates, Morgan & Steph, drove all the way from Logan to surprise her when she opened her call! They are the best friends!!


Here is some info on Manaus we found on Wikipedia....

Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and is a popular ecotourism destination. Manaus belongs to mesoregion Center Amazonense and microregion Manaus. It is located in northern Brazil, 1,932 kilometers from the federal capital, Brasília.


It is the second largest metropolitan area in the Northern Brazil and the twelfth in all of Brazil, with 2,006,870 inhabitants (IBGE/2008).The population at 2008 was of 1.71 million people and it is the eighth most populous city of Brazil.



We also found this exciting news on the church website!!

Manaus Brazil Temple

Announcement 23 May 2007

Groundbreaking 20 June 2008



We are pretty sure Crystal will be there during the open house and dedication. What an awesome experience she will have.

Graduation Celebration

It is hard to put into words how a mom feels when her one and only daughter graduates from college. My heart is full of joy and awe as I look to the past and remember my little redhead running around full of hyperness and spunk... and now look at you, all grown up and strong. You never fail to amaze me with your spirit, strength and beauty both inside and out. I thank the Lord everyday for the privilege to be your mom!

Crystal received so many nice graduation cards, I thought I would share some of the quotes and thoughts from some of them with all of you. (Please don't tell Hallmark)


For the Graduate, the future begins today, in your dreams, your actions, and your heart. Never forget how much you have to offer the world.


World's Best Grad - Congratulations, Graduate, on your outstanding achievement.

Congratulations, you should really celebrate! You've worked hard.. and you've done great!

Congratulations on achieving your dreams. See new places. Find new Heights. Meet new faces. Set your sights. Dream all you can, and then some more. Take every road, and every door.

the stars have written your name across the sky...and all we have to do is look up in amazement. Congratulations!

Graduate, Every victory empowers your heart to shape your destiny. Your graduation will open up a whole new world of endless possibilities to you! Congratulations!

Crystal had to wear the bling-bling shoes all day long. It's the look that counts..right?

You have you own gifts to offer the world, and there's no one exactly like you...God blessed you with talents and wonderful dreams for the things that you're hoping to do.....So, if you have faith and the courage to dare, all your dreams will be sure to come true!
Crystal, thanks for being you!