Are we there yet?!?

So, many of you have probably been wondering what the Crows have been up to lately: We have a lot of ground to cover, so here we go. Speaking of ground covering:

More snow! That's right - we had three snow storms here this winter (I for one blame George Bush and global warming!). There was just enough snow to make a tiny snow man (lower right in front of the truck).

Once the ground thawed out, Ken raced in the St. Patrick’s Day Triathlon on March 17th in Keller, Tx which is about 30 minutes west from us. He trained really well for it and had a lot of fun. There were about 320 racers involved and Ken came in 90^th overall. He was 13^th overall in the swimming portion of the race. His hard work paid off and his biggest fan now wants to be just like dad.

In March, we went and visited the Rolfsons down in Houston. We all had a great time, and were especially blessed to have some quality time with Erin before she passed away. The drive down wasn’t too exciting (see Carter’s lack of excitement, although he did point out every cow by yelling “moo!”), but once we got there we had a blast:

The first couple of days, Cameron and Wesley just played and played with their cousins Sam and Alex – they had a ton of fun in “the jungle” in their backyard, cleaning out the leaves in the swimming pool, and riding bikes around in the cul-de-sac.

Then it was off to Galveston, with a slight detour to an alligator park just south of Houston. We saw quite a few alligators, and had one close encounter when one climbed up so close to the trail we could not pass. Wesley freaked out, so we said a prayer and Ken threw rocks and sticks at it from a distance (much to the dismay of his wife) until it finally went back in the water. It worked and we were able to get past. As soon as we were a safe distance down the path, the alligator started heading back up on the trail. We were very grateful that none of our children become alligator food.

Notice how this 9-foot 'gator looks like it's waiting for our kids to walk by the trail so he can have a snack - how rude!

The boys loved the beach in Galveston. Digging a pit in the sand seemed to be the preferred activity. All passers by were quite impressed with our work. When asked what he was digging for, Wesley promptly responded, “Gold”. After digging for an hour or so Cameron declared, “This is hard work digging to China”. Carter loved the birds and would run after them saying, “Caw! Caw!”. Even now, whenever he sees a bird he calls it a “caw, caw.”

We also got to drive our car onto a ferry boat and sail to a nearby island. It was a nice little ride especially since it was free and we saw a dolphin swimming in the water.

Unfortunately, we had to make a second trip down to Houston to attend Erin Rolfson’s funeral. She passed away only 1 week and two days after giving birth to Kennedy Erin Rolfson and only two weeks from when we had been visiting them in Houston. It was quite shocking for us.

The funeral was beautiful and full of the spirit. We were reminded of the eternal nature of our spirits and comforted in knowing that Erin’s spirit is still alive. We are so grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. We know we will see Erin again and that she will be reunited with her family again. It was, of course, nice to see family and feel the support and love from everyone.

Ken raaced in another triathlon on May 5 at the University of North Texas in Denton, Tx only about 20 minutes north of our home. A friend of ours in the ward, Ryan Stimpson, raced along with Ken. Wendy and Tina (Ryan’s wife) went to the race to support and cheer their husbands to a victory.

About 175 participants were in the race. Ken took 51^st overall and was 3^rd overall in the swimming portion of the race. He is steadily improving and plans to continue to train and race until he can successfully compete in an Iron Man distance triathlon. This will take a year or so, but he is on the right track.