Where the adventures never end

Finishing 2011

2012-02-02T21:20:00.014-06:00

The Beams came up and joined us for Thanksgiving. Dick and Rhonda also came to our house for a change (they had just got back from Gram Cox's funeral). This was the kids table. Each of them made turkeys and they put what they were grateful for on the feathers.

This was the adult's table. No turkeys here! I finally got a new set of dishes and glasses that all match thanks to Rhonda (it was an early Christmas present... very needed).

We actually got a video of Bethany feeding Carmendy mashed potatoes. It was very cute, but unfortunately it ended in tears for Carmendy because Bethany just kept shoving in the bites even when she already had a full mouth.

Here's the spread!

Obviously, enjoying stuffing ourselves. I needed all the energy since Luddy and I went late night shopping at Wal-mart and rummaged through all the returns items that they weren't able to re-shelf yet. We felt like we were homeless looking through dumpsters, but we found a lot of great deals.

Carmendy also celebrated her 2nd b-day with us. The Elmo cake Luddy made was a big hit!

Two darling little girls!! Kim looks OK too :)

You can't help but smile...can you?

We also went and saw a model train exhibit at one of the malls here in Dallas. All the proceeds go to help the Ronald McDonald House, so even though it was a bit expensive it was worth it!

Bethany is definitely ready for Christmas. She was so excited when we were decorating the house. She actually squealed with delight when we brought the tree out!

At the beginning of December, Wesley spent 2 nights and 3 days at Sky Ranch (a 5th grade camp). If you know Wesley, you know he absolutely loved it and was completely in his element. Ken was also able to go as a chaperone.

Ken told me that he was actually kind of the ham of the group!

Still playing Peek-a-boo at age 10!

Eleven 5th grade boys all in one cabin. It's amazing anyone slept.

My cousin Kimberlie and I went to California to see a hormone specialist and we stayed with her mother-in-law. We were able to do a few other actual fun things while we were there. It was great to be with her and just chat.

We went to the LA temple and the new visitors center they have there.

We also got a personalized tour of Dream Works from my cousin Mark Walton. It was to see Mark and the tour was fascinating. Plus, we got a free lunch!

Bethany is enjoying her dancing class. Parents were able to visit their class right before Christmas to see how they are doing. They weren't the best dancers, but they were so dang cute!

This is her teacher, "Miss Lisa." She is actually in our stake and was in our stake back in Lewisville as well too. We were in the same ward at one time as well. She is so good with all the little girls.

We had a neighborhood Christmas party at our house where we ate, played games and had a fun white elephant exchange.

Christmas at Gram's house before we left for Utah!

When we got to Utah, we stayed at Jake and Camie's house first. The first night we got there, Ken's dad (Grandpa Crow) gave the kids their Christmas presents early. They sure were needed for the cold Utah weather that we are not used to anymore.

We celebrated Conner's b-day at Planet Play. All the kids had a great time!

We had a great time staying at Camie's house. We also got to stay with Craig and Angeli in their new home (which was really nice).

Carter loved the Vanholten's dog Tanner. We caught him loving on him several times. Luckily Tanner is a really mellow dog since he is pretty much bigger than two of our children.

We also went to visit BYU with David and Sara before they left for Texas. It was fun to see our old stomping grounds. The kids liked the Eyring Science Center the best!

Bethany got into Angeli's jewelry while we were staying there...doesn't she just look beautiful?

We also went and watched a BYU basketball game. We had nose bleed seats, but BYU won and that's all that matters if you have any Walton blood in you.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house. Here are all the Walton grandkids excited to let the festivities begin.

Of course, my dad had to have a treasure hunt. It lead to a big bag of dollar store items that we each divided up among ourselves.

Nanny and Papa got all the grandchildren new jammies. Don't they look so cute?

All the grandchildren drew names to exchange gifts, so we did that on Christmas Eve as well.

Bethany and Carmendy with their Christmas dresses on ready after church on Christmas morning.

Looking foward to a great 2012!

Family Pictures 2011

2011-11-21T22:29:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful for our family and wanted to share these with you (there are a lot so we won't feel bad if you don't look at all of them).

2011-11-21

All Over in October

2011-11-06T20:48:00.008-06:00

We went to a Hot Air Balloon Festival, but because it was so windy the balloons were not able to go up, so we enjoyed the rest of the festivities. The definite favorite was the petting zoo. And yes, these are llamas. I just had to post this picture because they look like they are posing so well.

Right after I took this picture the Llama actually grabbed the whole cup of food right out of Carter's hand. Then we noticed there were about 10 other empty cups in his pen. He's a sneaky one!

Wesley with a chicken. I never think of chickens as a nice cuddly animal to hold but he was quite enthralled with it!

There were lots of goats, bunnies, geese and guinea pigs and a pot bellied pig as well. All the animals were very nice to each other and because it was kind of cold and windy they were all intermixed just snuggly together.

Cameron and Carter were most interested in the little chicks. They spent most of the time chasing them and trying to grab them.

I had never seen a brown sheep before, but they had one and it was really soft. Bethy loved it!

They loved the rides!'

This was actually a pretty scary ride on a pirate ship. It went up and down really high, but Wesley survived!

There was a car show of old restored cars. This was the only car that you could even touch, let alone get in. It was restored by a 13 year old girl and it looked like the perfect size for our children.

All the cars were so neat, shiny and pristine. It was amazing! We liked them so much we decided to sell our mini van and buy this old 1923 Model T as our new family car. We thought it was a very practical move.

Here are our very tired children after a couple of hours of trick or treating...way too much candy. But all of our children were so willing to share with mom and dad our favorites. They gave me almost all their Twix and Kit-Kats and Ken got almost all their Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Snickers. What great kids :)

Here are the full costumes: Hiccup (from How to Train A Dragon), Pikachu (Cameron's favorite Pokemon), A Dragon (from How to Train a Dragon), and Cinderella (our little princess).

We went to the Dallas Arboretum with the Tayyari family and it was very beautiful with pumpkins everywhere!

Wesley was kind of rude to spew all this water from his mouth at the other guests.

There were lots of little houses and cottages there that were mostly made of pumpkins (you can't see them in this picture, but there are some pretty cute little kids peeking through the windows.

The wicked witch of the west was there and surprisingly Bethany and Carter were not afraid of her even when she cackled.

The whole fam in front of a cool water fall! There were actually two weddings there that day as well, so it seemed like we were seeing brides, grooms, bride maids and groomsmen all over the place. A beautiful place for a wedding!

We went to the pumpkin patch by our old stomping grounds in Flower Mound when the kids had a day off school. We took some of our new friends from Frisco and saw some of our old friends from Lewisville. Cameron and Lillian Lloyd were very excited to see each other!

Bethany riding the tractor--so feminine.

Carter continues to play his heart out at all his soccer games and scores and blocks goals all the time.

Here is a picture of his team. We have enjoyed all the wonderful families on this team!

Ken and I went to a dress up party at the Empey's house (we're nerds if you can't tell). Part of the party was going on a road rally/scavenger hunt type thing and one of the requirements was to hitchhike. Luckily no one picked us up!

Bethany is still enjoying dance and likes to stay in her dance outfit all day long!

Our cute little pumpkin!

Bethany loved being Cinderella and she got to go to the parade at JC Penney, the trunk or treat at church and trick or treating to get candy. She was fully loaded.

Cameron received his Wolf Badge at the last Pack Meeting. We are so proud of him!

He is now officially a Bear.

Austin trip

2011-09-26T21:36:00.003-05:00

We went to Austin over a weekend to see the BYU/UT game even though BYU lost :( and visit some friends. It was so fun to see the Mons family. We are excited they are back in Texas and we get to see them more often. Yes, my children love mud. They definitely have a lot of their dad in them.

Logan peacefully floating with his football. You can tell he just loves that ball!

We were grateful we survived all the fires that are burning down Austin and had fun with our friends.

We went to the game and stayed with the Fluckiger family as well. We had so much fun catching up with them, eating their yummy and very nutritious food and attending church at their ward. We are so blessed to have such great friends!

Good times in September

2011-09-26T20:54:00.008-05:00

On Labor day, I met up with some great friends in Lewisville and we went and saw "The Help." It was a great movie and most of us were crying at some point. I read the book and loved it and I even loved the movie...which is saying a lot. We had lunch afterwards.

Bethany started dance with a lady that used to be in our ward in Lewisville and now lives over here in our stake. She does a great job with all the little girls and Bethany was so excited to start!

As you can tell, I am definitely used to being a boy mom. I put her leotard on backwards and I didn't even think to get here a tutu!

So thanks to Yunhi (a wonderful lady I visit teach) and her husband, they bought her a tutu and we were saved. I got her one too :)

Bethany is also participating in a play group co-op with a bunch of children her age in the ward. No, we don't just put them in jail during the play time. This is just a cool jungle gym the Combs have in their house for the kids to play on.

Cameron turned "9" and had a fun Harry Potter b-day party at our house. We started out with a Harry Potter quiz and some snacks like: Petrified witch fingers (pretzels), house elf brains (big marshmallows), Hedwig droppings (raisins), Buckbeak food (popcorn), Every flavor jelly beans and of course Butter Beer (Cream Soda). They also each had a Harry Potter character on their back and they had to ask yes or no questions to guess who they were.

Here is the whole group before they got sorted into their different houses.

Wesley's reaction when the sorting hat told him he was in Slytherin...ouch!

Cameron's reaction to being told he was in "Griffindor." We played games around our "womping willow" (weeping willow), a version of quidditch, cast spells on each other, and played hide and seek with and "invisibility cloak."

Then from youngest to oldest we hit the Dumbledore hat pinata.

Luckily, everyone got a turn and here is the mad rush to get the candy! They were actually pretty nice because I told them 15 pieces each.

We opened presents and Cameron scored with some really nice gifts...he has such generous friends.

Then he blew out his candles and we had brownies and ice cream. I am still finding stuck brownie pieces on hidden in random places on my tile floor. It was a great party :)

We had a little party at Gram's house the next day, so the celebrating continued.

One FHE night we started out with couch acrobats and caught some pretty cool pictures. Needless to say, it was a little hard to get them calmed back down for a lesson. Also, Bethany had a little cut on her ankle that started bleeding and so there was little drops of blood all over the floor and couch, so we all spent 15 minutes with wet rags scrubbing up the blood ( a fun FHE work project).

The Walker Wedding

2011-08-21T16:21:00.002-05:00

We were so happy to be a part of David and Sara's wedding. They looked so happy and everything went so well. Bethany was a darling little flower girl.

This is the exit out of the Dallas temple as the new Mr. and Mrs. Walker. We were all standing out in 100 degree weather for pictures..so fun!

We have pretty cute kids in our humble opinion :)

We are so grateful for our eternal family!

Bethany and the boys really boogied down with their aunt and cousins at the reception.

The boys also had a front row seat to watch the wedding video and to make various animals on the screen with their fingers.

Bethany was so cute carrying around her little basket of flower and the boys took all the gifts really well. Carter took it upon himself to be in charge of the pen for the guest book. He held it the whole time, gave it to the guest, watched them closely as they signed and took the pen right back. It was a wonderful day and we are so happy for David and Sara.

Houston and Carter's B-day

2011-08-18T21:15:00.003-05:00

We went to visit the Putnams and the Beams in Houston for a few days. This is our nice refreshing walk in the forest trails next to the Putnams house with the temperature in the high 90's and humidity just as high.

Here are all the Putnam, Crow, and Cheney children glued to the TV after a long afternoon of swimming.

It was fun to have the Cheneys over and catch up with them as well. They only live a few minutes away from the Putnams.

The former Lewisville chicks. Why are all my friends so tall?

Cameron enjoying posing for the camera (he is always ready for someone to take his picture :) on our forest walk.

The Beams only live about 5-10 minutes away from the temple so we went to the Houston temple grounds--they really are very beautiful!

They also live really close to this park that has the strangest little animals in their pond. They look like ROUS (rodents of unusual size) from the movie The Princess Bride. They are like a cross between a huge rat and a beaver and they are called Nutria (I had never heard of them before). Our boys were quite fascinated by them.

We loved seeing the Beams new home which is very nice and big and just enjoy being with family. We are so glad they live close enough that we can see them several times a year.

Carter turned 6 and got a new set of "War" cards from Nanny and Papa since the other set we have is almost completely worn out because he plays it so much.

Mom and Dad gave him a really cool Corvette remote control car. He is really into finding race cars on the road whenever we are driving. He recognizes all the different types and Corvettes are his favorite.

We gave Dad a Super Man shirt for Father's Day because he is really a super man to us as a husband and father. So, Carter wanted one to match his dad. Nanny and Pappa sent him one--don't they look cute?

And, of course, we had a fun b-day party at Gram's house where Rhonda made a "crocodile" cake (Carter's favorite animal) and gave him lots of crocodile related gifts. We were so lucky to have both Sarah and Whitney there for his birthday party!

More Summer Fun

2011-07-31T21:44:00.004-05:00

There is a new mini Lego land at one of the malls here in the Dallas area. The boys got to go a b-day party here and loved it. This is the Lego Buzz.

The boys also got out of the heat and did some ice skating. They were so surprised how much harder it is than roller skating or blading, but they still did a good job and had fun!

Bethany and I watched the boys ice skate for a while, but we also played at the mall play area and did some shopping.

When Wesley is bored or really thinking about something this is where he goes. We call it "his spot." He usually is looking out the window, but with the blinds open there was too much glare.

For FHE one night, we went to the Lewisville Lake "beach." They actually bring in real sand not just the clay that is native around here. We went with the Normans and had a picnic dinner, swam in the lake and had a lesson about the wise men and the foolish men building their houses. We were able to use real sand and rocks--the kids loved it!

We really are blessed with children that love each other and play really well together. This is just one evidence of that!

Carter lost his first tooth a few weeks ago and the permanent tooth was already almost fully grown in. He is growing up :) Kindergarten is just around the corner.

Can you guess what these boys are doing? Well since we just watched Tangled with Rapunzel and none of them have long hair they had to improvise. So, they got some of my scarves and reenacted the movie. Luckily, they didn't hurt themselves too badly and my scarves survived as well.

Cameron played on a basketball team that had a perfect DEFEATED record. Only one of the boys on the team had played before and it showed, but the boys didn't seem to mind and they had lots of fun. I think the parents were more frustrated than the team.

A week in East Texas

2011-07-19T21:38:00.010-05:00

Even though the lake is kind of greenish-gray and gross, we all had fun playing in it.

Bethany had perma-grin that she could float on her own...what a big girl.

Fishing and walking (well mostly exploring) on the many nature trails all around us.

The boys found lots of neat creatures and this one was one of their favorites...a tree frog!

Not the coolest sand castle, but when your dealing with Texas sand it's about the best you can do.

The result of Bethany getting into my mascara. Doesn't she look beautiful?

In about 15-20 years she is headed to Wimbledon (and then secure our retirement :)

We had microwave smores one night and it was a delicious mess.

We all tried out archery and were surprisingly pleased with our performance. Of course, if we had to actually hit a moving target like animals to eat for survival, we would probably end up to be basically vegetarians.

We each got a turn on a canoe and paddle boats. The boys were convinced that we would see and alligator, but no such luck...phew!

Some other favorite animal that we saw everyday was woodpeckers and deer. The woodpeckers were actually very beautiful and we were able to get really pretty close to the deer.

The boys had taken over 10 pictures of all different kinds of bugs that they found from spiders to dragonflys to potato bugs. I chose this picture to represent all of them because it was cool how the green caterpillar really stood out on the red railing.

They also had a swimming pool which always brings a good time.

The Normans (along with David--Sara's fiance) came out one night and we celebrated Grandpa's birthday. The cabin we stayed in was only 2 hours east of Dallas..so the drive was nice, but we still felt away from everything!

Just a cute picture I had to add :)

"Showers" of Pictures for April

2011-05-22T16:50:00.007-05:00

Nanny and Papa and the Beams came for a visit in April. We are always so grateful to be able to be with family when we can.

The boys went fishing and each of them caught at least two fish (although we threw them all back). They were so excited and a very successful fishing trip in my opinion...because we didn't have to deal with cleaning and/or cooking the fish.

The little girl cousins are starting to play together more and more. I took them to our ward play at the park.

The Putnams came up to see a doctor here in Frisco and we went to a farm for the day.
They also came with us to our ward camp out--it is always fun to have them come for a visit.

This is one of my young women...who is graduating soon :( at our ward camp out. She has a niece that is the same age as Bethany and they are good friends.

Coloring eggs at Gram's house on Easter.

Bethany and Whitney in their Easter dresses.

Both Wesley and Cameron had a great time at the Pinewood Derby. Their cars did really well, but not quite well enough to place (they are both convinced however that they were 4th and 5th).

One of the soccer moms made an amazing cake for the end of the year soccer party. Each players soccer jersey was on the cake in frosting.

We also rented a bounce house for the party--they had a blast!

Cameron got to take "Chocolate Chip" home (his classroom monkey) for the week. He got to come to the dentist with us and here are some things we did with him.

March Happenings

2011-04-07T21:03:00.004-05:00

Yes, our two year old knows how to use Ken's IPod touch and loves playing all the games. Watch her have fun...

We had not been to the temple grounds for a while so we took a Friday night and went down to feel the spirit of the temple grounds. We weren't the most reverent family as the children were running around with all their excitement, but they did enjoy themselves. I think God understands!

The Putnams came to visit over Spring Break. We always have a great time playing and catching up with them. Bethany couldn't keep away from Ben. She like to snuggle with him any chance she got. Ben was really good with her!

This is Bethany in nursery surrounded by bubbles...she loves it!

Bethany's B-day

2011-03-06T20:43:00.005-06:00

This is our crazy little girl in one of the boy's bike helmets and mommy's shoes. She loves to try on anyone's hats (or helmets) and shoes.

This is Carter's 2nd season of soccer and he is continuing to make us proud with his aggressive play. We took lots of pictures but this is the only one that really turned out well. More to come later!

This is my favorite way to do Bethany's hair (well I don't actually like doing it cuz it takes a long time and she squirms around a lot) but it just turns out so cute.

On President's day the Beams were in town and we got to go to a free session of jumping and sliding at "Pump it Up." These are our sweaty but happy kids after the playing.

We went to the BYU-TCU basketball game to see Jimmer and the Cougars famous team this year. They did not disapoint us!

This is Bethany's Birthday cookie that Gram got for her. We all enjoyed gobbling it up!

When you ask Bethany how old she is, she doesn't answer until she can get her two fingers up (which at first took 30 seconds or more). But once she gets it, she holds it up proudly with a big smile and says, "two!"

We all had to help Bethie blow out the candles, she pretty much just spit on them :( Luckily the cake was just for our family.

Carter was quite the big boy to light the candles!

She got a puppy named Violet that sings and talks to her and even knows her name...I think I like it more than she does, it's darling!

One night, Beth opened her hair accessories drawer (yes, we have one of those in our kitchen) and one by one excitedly brought over each bow. She would give it to me and then point to a spot on her head where she wanted me to put it. I would put it in her hair and she would exclaim,"Yeah, bow!" and go get the next one. This is the adorable finished project. Maybe we will try it for church next time!

January Happenings

2011-02-02T20:47:00.010-06:00

Wesley got his Bear, several arrow points and his Religious Square Knot at Pack Meeting this month. He is now inWebelos.

We had a b-day party for Wesley at Main Event where he, his brothers and friends got to do lots of fun boys things.

They ate pizza...

Sang Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs...

Rode on virtual rides and played video games...

Played laser tag. Wesley is definitely ready for fight.

They also conquered a obstacle course that was 10 ft. off the ground.

Bethany followed Nathan (our next door neighbor) around the whole night saying, "Nathan, Nathan!" I think it is her first crush. Boy are we in trouble!

Hanging out with daddy. She loves her daddy so much. Whenever he is around she is right next to him or in his arms!

Bethany spent most of the month fighting a cold and of course this was the worst. I just couldn't resist taking the picture. Sorry if it makes you sick! Doesn't she just look sweet?

This is our static girl! The weather is so dry and cold (temps in the teens for highs and ice everywhere--the kids were out of school for two days going on three) that her hair just went crazy.

Christmas at the Crows

2011-01-09T22:46:00.000-06:00

Click here to see our Christmas:

December 2010

"New" Home

2010-11-02T22:10:00.001-05:00

Now that we have been here for 6 months you can
finally see our home. Click below!

Lots of things plus Halloween

2010-11-02T21:43:00.005-05:00

2010-07-28T01:38:00.001-05:00

Summer 2010

Moving to Frisco

2010-06-16T23:15:00.002-05:00

Click on the link below to see what the Crows have been up to:

June 2010

Spring Pictures...

2010-04-21T22:18:00.002-05:00

Click on the picture for more...

Snow...lots of Snow!

2010-02-21T21:13:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago, it snowed all day on Thursday from midnight to midnight. The boys didn't have to go to school for two days because Texas is not well equipped for snow. We got between 8-10 inches of snow.

The boys had a blast playing in the snow and didn't mind getting super wet and cold. Ken liked the snow too! Mom and Beth decided to enjoy the snow from the warm house.

They kept wiping the car off every time more snow would pile up on the windows. They have a little bit of my mom in them.

This is the snow fort they made for having snowball fights and they also ended up making about 6 different snowmen. The snow didn't fully melt until almost a week later. A record for around here!

Bethany turned 1 year old a few weeks ago and we celebrated at Gram's house.

She ate a whole piece of cake and really enjoyed it. It took her a while to get into it and then she was still pretty dainty about it (at least more so than our boys).

She takes one step now and then, but she does like to stand on her own. She gets so proud of herself!

We can not believe that our baby is 1 year old already. She is such a sweet addition to our family. We can't imagine life without her. In our humble opinion, we think she is just getting cuter every day.

This is one of her favorite places to take a nap. I know it is kind of sad, but hey she sleeps the longest in her highchair and she looks pretty comfortable.

Carter and Bethany are great buddies! They are starting to play with each other really well. Carter takes care of her and can make her laugh more than anyone else.

My cousin Kimberlie came to visit her sister Kiersten (also my cousin) in Oklahoma City (only about 3 hours from Dallas). She flew in and out of Dallas and so I got to meet them half way in Ardmore, OK and have lunch, see the sweet little Lyla and have a nice visit with my cousins.

Kimberlie than came home with me and spent the night. I took her to the airport in the morning. It was so fun to have her for a visit. I wish we lived closer!

Gram Cox (Rhonda's mom and Ken's grandma) came to visit for about a month. It was great to get to see and visit with her. She always had some special treat or little present for the kids when we came over.

Here are the four generations!

The boys always ask for popcorn at Gram's house and now Bethany is in on the action as well. Look at that girl stuff her mouth. She knows how to eat just like her mom.

Finally...The Holidays

2010-01-21T22:15:00.002-06:00

We have not posted in forever, so these are pictures of:

1. Visiting my sister for Conner's b-day, see her new baby girl blessed and visit with my mom.
2. Visit the Putnams in Houston just because we like them :)
3. Christmas Eve at the Normans with the Castanedas.
4. Christmas at the Normans.
5. Wesley's B-day party at Petland.
6. Getting a Be-Be Gun
7. Birthday date with mom and dad at Medieval Times.

Christmas 2009/Wesley's B-day 2010

Things we are thankful for...

2009-11-29T21:57:00.005-06:00

We are thankful for Wesley and what a great job he did at soccer this year. He was the goalie most of the time this year and really did an amazing job! He is a natural and now has his own goalie gloves. We are also thankful for his excitement for learning and his love for animals. This is a picture of him with a bird on his shoulder at a science center we visited one day.

We are also thankful that Wesley has done such a great job at becoming a wolf in cub scouts.

We are thankful for Cameron and how sweet and kind he is to everyone. He especially loves to take care of and play with his baby sister.

We are thankful for Carter and how well he is adjusting to preschool. He sang some Thanksgiving songs at a concert at his school and did a great job!

And, of course, we are thankful for our Bethany who keeps us all happy. She is now crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything.

We are thankful that Sara was able to come home for Thanksgiving and spend time with us.

We are thankful that we live close to Gram , Grandpa and Whitney and that we were able to spend a delicious Thanksgiving with them. We are truly blessed.

Halloween

2009-11-04T20:58:00.009-06:00

Well, here is the whole gang! We have the Peter Pan/Star Wars/Spider Man theme going. We were at the Hundens (friends from Wesley's soccer team) home for a Halloween Party on Friday night. Bethany won the best kid's costume and we all loved the Haunted House that they made in their garage. Well, Cameron actually cried and Carter wouldn't go in :)

We made this jell-o and used whipped cream to make a spider web and then put a plastic spider on it. We also made "ghost" cookies out of Nutter Butters and "witch's hats" with cookies, hershey's kisses and frosting to take to the party.

On Saturday, we went to the Library where they were having Harry Potter activities. We did a Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt, played a Quidditch game and attended a potions class. Then we went trick or treating in Gram's neighborhood. They had so much candy because we had also gone to a trunk or treat at our school the night before that someone in our ward had organized. I think they actually had more fun after trick or treating watching for trick or treaters and giving out candy. A great lesson that it is more important to give than to receive.

Bethany in Ken's Captain Hook wig with adoring brothers. Luckily this wasn't her real costume.

Another cute Halloween outfit, but not the real costume!

I know I am biased, but isn't she just the cutest Tinkerbell ever? She is about the happiest as well. No wonder she won the costume contest. We like to call her TinkerBeth!

She actually fell asleep about half way through both the Trunk or Treat and Trick or Treating!

Earlier this month at Carter's preschool, they had Western Days where they got to dress up and do all kinds of cowboy activities. He wore Wesley's old Woody costume and it worked out perfect. Doesn't he look like he is having a blast?

Cameron wanted me to take these pictures of him next to Jesus so that we could post it on our blog. He said, "Then everyone will be able to know about Jesus." He often prays, "please bless that everyone in the world will know about Jesus and have the spirit with them." What a great missionary! He also invited his whole 1st grade class including his teacher to our Primary Presentation in Sacrament Meeting just a few weeks ago.

He also took this picture of the temple that Ken and I got married in so that "everyone will know that it is important to get married in the temple." What a sweet boy!

He also took this picture of his feet which I thought was kind of funny and about 30 other random pictures of our house that I decided not to post :)

A few weeks back, I had all 4 kiddos home sick from Mon-Thurs. with lots of breathing treatments, couch potating (shown by Wesley), fever checking, medicine giving, and germ cleaning going on. It was fun to have them around for the first two days, but by Thursday we were all stir crazy and driving each other nuts!

Daddy and his "moo." When Bethany was first born, I kept accidentally calling her "buddy" since I was so used to boys. Finally, I started calling her Missy and then Missy Moo. Well, Ken has to shorten everything and so he now calls her "Moo." At first, I resisted. But, now I am used to it and even find myself calling her "Moo."

Beffers snuggling up in our bed after her bath. Notice how much hair she is getting now. I can't put the headband bows on her head anymore because her hair just goes crazy.

We can actually get a pretty good mohawk going on her. We call it her "Moo"hawk.

The last couple of weeks I've been putting a pig tail on the top of her head, well today I had to put two little pig tails because her hair is getting so long. It looks kind of funny, but cute.

Bethany is such a happy smily baby! We get comments from everyone wherever we go about how they can't believe how happy and smily she is. Honestly, you can't help but be happy when you are around her. Almost everyday, one of the three boys is either crying or mad about something and they can't stay sad or mad when I bring Bethany around them. She just smiles and coos and claps for them and within seconds they are smiling again. We are so blessed to have such a darling peacemaker in our family!

Fun at Gram's

2009-10-19T20:56:00.004-05:00

Every Sunday, we go over to Dick and Rhonda's house for dinner. The boys call it "Gram's house." We are so blessed to have them live close and that we get a wonderfully home cooked meal every week. The boys love to jump on the trampoline, collect acorns, look for caterpillars and lizards, watch movies (with popcorn), play games, and of course get lots of fun treats from Gram.

Whitney (Ken's littlest sister--17) got hold of the camera and took 162 pictures of the kiddos. Here are about 60 of them.

Enjoy some of our moments at "Gram's house."

September 2009

Fall Updates

2009-10-12T16:14:00.007-05:00

She is already starting to pose for the camera--what a model!

She started sitting and clapping at about 6 1/2 months!

And is getting close to crawling!

But I still like to hold her alot!

So remember how we told you that Ken got poison ivy from taking family pictures. Here is a shot of what it looked like. This was before it got real bad and this was on several places of his body. Doesn't it look fun?

Carter had a hard time letting go of Mommy when dropping him off at his new preschool (mommy did too). So, I bribed him. If he didn't cry when I dropped him off, I would get him a McDonald's ice cream cone. He did it on the third day of preschool and now he really enjoys going and is learning a lot.

Yes, it is true after seven years of living here and planning on moving in less than a year we finally had someone come and do our landscaping. I should have taken a picture of before and after because then you would realize why I am thinking this is the best landscaping job around. I guess I appreciate it more because I waited so long to get it. I will definitely be looking for a house that already has a nice landscaped yard when we start house hunting.

We also got a new bedspread set since the kids destroyed the last one and we have new rules about children getting on our bed--like they don't!

Cameron had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese (despite his parents trying to get him to do it somewhere else--oh well, it is fairly inexpensive). He really enjoyed his cake as you can tell and he got lots of Pokemon toys from his friends.

Ken was the best man for his good friend Frank James' wedding. He got to wear a tux, be in charge of the rings (luckily he didn't lose them) and give the first speech/toast at their reception (with his glass of water).

It was a fun night and the first time we left all the children to go out since Bethany was born.

They had a traditional wedding cake, but Ken and I really liked this one they had made. Frank is from Canada and Erica is from the United States. It tasted really good too!

Family pictures 2009

2009-09-12T20:37:00.003-05:00

Here is a link to our latest family pictures. It has been a while since we have had them taken as a whole family. Ciera Boyd (one of my former seminary students) took our pictures and she did a great job...we love them. A few crazy things happened however.

We took the pictures by a little stream in the woods and Wesley, of course, fell in. He also could not stop throwing things and managed to throw a rotten horse apple into the water right by all of us. Yes, Wesley is our oldest child! My new WHITE jacket (that I spent a lot of money on--way more than I ever do for clothes) got rotten horse apple stains. It went through the dry cleaning process 4 times and there are still small stains that you can barely see...thankfully. Ken and Ciera also got horse apple on them.

Second, Ken and Wesley picked up poison ivy. Ken got it so bad that one of his arms was twice the size of his other and he has been on oral steroids for almost two weeks. He had to bathe twice a day and put several ointments on and we got to do laundry non-stop, washing everything he wore or touched for over a week. Gratefully, Wesley's wasn't quite so bad, but he did have a spot on his face that everyone at school asked about constantly.

Good thing we like the pictures :)

Family_Pics_2009

Utah Trip

2009-09-06T20:25:00.002-05:00

We had a great time spending two weeks in Utah with family and friends. Enjoy the pictures:

Utah 2009

Mons and More

2009-08-30T22:01:00.010-05:00

So, we went to Iowa so Cameron could visit his betrothed. Not really, but aren't they cute together and we wouldn't be sad if it happened. It was so good to see our great friends--the Mons family! Thanks for letting us stay at the Mons B&B. The food and accomodations were great!

Although, it didn't get much over 70 degrees the whole time we were there, we had a great time making a campfire and cooking smores and hot dogs. Here is some of our firewood:

Do you think he got enough?

Playing at the beach...

We slid down a cool rocket slide (you can't see the rocket--it is at the top)!

We went to a minor league baseball game (where our two older boys got scared of the fireworks at the end of the game--yes I did say the OLDER boys).

Then a trip to the zoo (isn't that cute)...

Yes, Wesley is letting the fish suck on his fingers. That's our boy!

The grand finale of the visit was the rock band party with costumes and everything...

And we oohed and aahed at our cute little Beth:

On our way home, in true Crow tradition we had to make a trip to the ER in Tulsa, OK. It was for daddy this time and he had food poisoning. Some missionaries and members of the church were there and gave Ken a blessing. It is so nice to have church members anywhere you go. He did survive and we rolled back into Dallas a day late and only a few hours before his third interview with JC Penney. Despite his sickly look, he must have passed the interview because he got the job. We feel so blessed! He was only out of job for 1 week.

Braxton, our nephew (Camie's oldest child), came to stay with Rhonda this summer. We had fun getting to know him better and the boys had a blast wrestling and fishing with Braxie. I know he doesn't look related since he can actually get a tan.

The Putnams also came to visit to celebrate Carter's birthday (we have a big 4 year old now). Carter really wanted his buddy Erick to come to his birthday party, so they came up and we played for a few days. We are glad that they are still fairly close and we can visit a few times a year! Thanks for coming Putnams.

The boys finally got new P.J's (Mario Kart Wii--which they loved) since their old ones were developing holes and paper thin.

And Carter is sporting a new hair style...the pull up look!

Bethany is starting to eat veggies now. One day, I put this cute bib on and I couldn't resist taking a picture of our little flower. The bib is so cute I decided to take it off and use it for looks only. It would surely get stained with gobs or bright orange veggies.

Nauvoo

2009-08-01T17:24:00.005-05:00

We all had a great time at Nauvoo. There is such a peaceful and wonderful spirit in Nauvoo. Even Bethany had lots of fun--listen to her brothers make her laugh.

The boys got to make a rope...

Played pioneer games...

And even dressed up like pioneers. Aren't they cute?

Even though it was 90 degrees with lots of humidity, Cameron kept his pioneer costume on for about a half hour. We thought he was crazy, but he would have been a great pioneer.

Mom, Dad and Bethany even joined in the festivities!

We all took a ride on a horse drawn carriage and got a tour of Nauvoo. We were in awe of how much they worked and worked each day just to provide the basic needs of survival let alone their faith and dedication to God and the church. We are honored and grateful to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints with such amazing pioneers that started it all for us.

Statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith--martyrs of the Savior and His church.

It was so neat to see this beautiful temple. Last time I was in Nauvoo was over 15 years ago and I remember just seeing the few lone stones that remained from the original temple. We were able to see the Nauvoo Pageant (which was very inspiring and well done) and at the end it was dark and they lit up the temple while a recording of President Hinckley very poetically spoke of how this magnificient Nauvoo temple which was Joseph's temple faced west and over 1,000 miles away another amazing temple, the SLC temple, Brigham's temple stood facing east. Both temples served as book ends where volumes of sacrifices and events have taken place.

It was very emotional for me to hear President Hinckley's voice, see the Nauvoo temple and hear his spirt-filled words. The spirit was strong and I know that re-buiding this temple was inspired. When we first pulled into Nauvoo, you turn a bend and you immediately see the temple. When we saw it Wesley said, "It's even more beautiful than in the picture." And Carter pointed it out to us every time he saw it, which was quite a bit since Nauvoo is fairly small. I am thankful we were able to have this time and experience at Nauvoo.

St. Louis

2009-07-24T21:51:00.015-05:00

On our way to Nauvoo, we stopped and stayed in St. Louis for a few days. Some of our friends from our ward (Ryan and Shauna Hinckley) recently moved to St. Louis for orthodontic school and graciously allowed us to stay at their home for a few days. It was so fun to visit with them.

Our children especially had lots of fun just running, swinging and playing super heroes with Nathan and Aerin in their backyard.

After Family Home Evening the kids had a pretty intensely crazy game of Twister. Luckily, there were no injuries.

We also went to Grant's Farm (where Ulysses S. Grant grew up) and had a nice train ride of the property, saw lots of animals, fed goats and watched a bird show. The best part was that it was all free. St. Louis actually has quite a few activities for families that are free! Thanks Hinckleys for a great time (and good food).

Here is Carter snuggling with Wesley. It is cute now, but we hope he grows out of this before his mission.

We also visited with one of my friends that I grew up with in SLC (Matt Lyman and his family) since they live in St. Louis as well (duh-we forgot to take pictures). Actually, they were leaving the next day to vacation in Utah and then move to Ohio. The last time we were able to visit them was about 5 years ago when they lived here in Ft.Worth, Texas and the next day they were moving to Michigan. The funniest part is that we had no idea they were moving both times. If we ever go on a trip to Ohio, I'm sure they will move the next day! We had a nice visit with Matt and Rosemary and the kids had lots of fun climbing trees and playing in a stream (really dirty but lots of fun).

Me and My Kids

2009-07-01T11:56:00.005-05:00

So, it is happening whether I like it or not. My children are losing their cute little teeth and will go through the how many years of awkward big teeth until they grow into them. But with a space it is still pretty cute.

And Wesley is really trying to be grown up. See the cut above his lip? It is a shower shaving accident.

I just realized that I didn't have very many pictures of me (even though I am the typical woman and don't like my picture taken) with my children, so here are a few:

We were trying to take a picture of ourselves, so we didn't quite get the right angle.

This is my birthday celebration at the Normans and all three of the boys blew my candles out for me before I even got a chance to blow. I hope they made a good wish for me!

Then me and my girl:

This is one of my favorite outfits for Bethany. Doesn't she just look like the cutest little package? Yes, the bow is a gift bow (made out of material) that I converted into a hair bow.

Her brothers sure do love her!

Bethany has recently started eating rice cereal and she can not resist putting her hands in her mouth everytime I put a bite in and so this is the result. She is mommy's little piggy!

Starting Summer

2009-06-14T22:34:00.009-05:00

Wesley as our happy and then sinister pirate man. He, Ken and Cameron had their first swim meet last Saturday and Wesley wanted to paint a mustache on (I think he saw one of the other kids on his team with one?). Wesley got 2nd in Breast Stroke, and 4th in Freestyle and Backstroke. Cameron's team got 3rd in his relay and Ken got 1st in all three of his races (Breast, Free, and Butterfly). It was a good day and only stifling hot the last hour.

Cameron "graduated" from Kindergarten on June 5th. This was his teacher Mrs. Diane Kenyon. Wesley had her as his Kindergarten teacher too. We love her! Cameron is wearing a first place ribbon for reading the most books in all of the Kindergarten classes (665 books). He read about half of them and I read the other half to him. He is really getting to be a great reader. Best of all, he loves to read the scriptures and the scripture readers the church puts out. It is so rewarding to see him loving to read.

Here is Cameron with a bunch of his friends in his class. Notice that almost all of them are girls. Yes, he is still a ladies man!

Look at our very own Superman! He is not super muscly, but he sure is cute.

Carter and I were playing around with "Floam." I love the elephant.

We finished Carter's co-op preschool the last week at our house. We are missing Erick Putnam in this picture. He moved to Houston about a month before preschool ended :( They are the best group and play together so well. I think they are all pretty easy because they all have older brothers and sisters and are used to going with the flow.

Bethany and I watching the preschool kids play in the water. She won't be content to just watch for much longer.

Bethany holding some silk flowers that I used to make a diaper cake for Lori Beard's baby shower. The boys thought it was so cute that she was holding these huge flowers. They took this picture of her.

Just hanging out on the couch.

Cute girl after a bath (I mean Bethany--I'm not quite as cute right after a bath).

We had a really scary thunderstorm/tornado hit our area this past week. Ken, Cameron and Carter were at Going Bonkers and had to hide in the restrooms for 45 mninutes. Wesley, Bethany and I hunkered down in our laundry room once the tornado sirens went off, the wind was blowing and the sky was a freaky green color. Wes was really scared (Bethany was just nursing). So, we said a prayer and just sat in the dark (the power went out for 6 hours) trying to have faith. After the storm, we drove around to assess the damage. Lots of people in our neighborhood and neighborhoods close by lost trees! It was quite a mess. We lost the top of our chimney--good thing we hardly ever use our fireplace!

A Memorable Memorial Day

2009-05-29T19:40:00.012-05:00

We went down to Houston (Kingwood specifically) to visit our dear friends the Putnams, see their new home, and to visit my sister and her family. We loved the Putnam's home, the beautiful forests (with lots of fun trails) all around their neighborhood, and of course their pool. This is Ken throwing Cameron into the pool. They all had their turn to be thrown into the pool, but this is the only picture that wasn't just a splash.

A darling picture of Erick just cheesing it in the pool.

As you can tell Bethany had a lot of fun too!

We got there about 9:00 p.m. on Thursday night and so all of the children did not get to bed until about 11:30 p.m. and then Wesley, Cameron and Ben were up at about 5:00 a.m. So by 5:30 p.m. Wesley and Cameron crashed and slept through the whole BBQ that we had with the Schaffer family (I was in the Elementary Education Program with Andrea Schaffer at BYU and she now lives in Kingwood). It was fun to see them and their 4 children. Last time we saw them we were both newly married. Their family has been great at welcoming the Putnams to Kingwood.

On Saturday Ken, Don, Emma, Ben, Wesley and Cameron went to the NASA Space Center just Southeast of Houston. They all enjoyed it but I think the two dads liked it the best! This is the engine for an Atlas 5 (that is the rocket that went to the moon). Each one of these engines makes 1 1/2 million pounds of thrust and each rocket has five of these engines.

This is the replica of the Lunar Lander that actually landed on the moon.

The museum had a whole George Lucas section (I guess since he is really into making movies that have to do with space) the kids really enjoyed.

What a cute little astronaut!

This is the rocket that they are currently developing that will take us back to the moon and eventually to Mars by 2030 (the projected date).

This is Jill holding Bethany. I have a habit of cutting off the adults when taking pictures and just getting the baby! I'm sure that Jill has a beautiful smile thinking I am taking a picture of her too.

Jill and I enjoying each others company. This is in her dining room right after church. We loved their ward...they seem like they will take good care of our friends.

The Putnam's neighborhood had a Crawfish Boil. Yes, they bring big buckets of live crawfish, rinse them off and throw them in seasoned boiling water. I thought it was kind of sad, but obviously my boys thought it was cool!

They just dump the crawfish on the table and...

Everyone steps up to the trough (oh I mean table) and crack the crawfish and suck out the meat. I found this scene quite hilarious. What was even more funny is that everyone was surprised that we had never been to a Crawfish Boil before.

Jill tried one and...

so did Ken!

Wesley helped rinse, pour and stir the crawfish. He tried eating one and said, "I don't like them yet, maybe when I am older." We can only hope. Ben is trying to listen to see if he can hear the crawfish scream as they are thrown into the boiling water. Of course, both Wesley and Ben are convinced they heard them scream.

We drove all the way over to Spring (another suburb of Houston) to see the temple only to find the gates locked :(

That didn't stop Wesley and Carter from getting in! The Houston temple is very beautiful--it kind of looks like a castle.

This is Erick and Carter saying good-bye! They love each other and play so well together. We will have to visit again soon. Thanks Putnams for a great weekend!

On the way home, we stopped in College Station, stayed in a hotel and spent the Memorial Day with the Beams (my sister's family). Wesley had some good bonding time with Cougar.

Conner was "reading" a book to Carter. He had the book memorized. Carter was so lucky to see two of his bestest buddies in one weekend.

Laughing with Luddy (my sister's nickname).

Bethany gave lots of smiles for the Beams!

We went swimming in the pool at our hotel. This was Bethany's first time swimming and she loved it.

Nikolas and Bethany getting acquainted. We really enjoyed seeing Nikolas so happy and healthy.

This picture just speaks for itself. So sweet!

Kim made us an amazing dinner and then we got ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Cameron's whole body really enjoyed this ice cream.

We got all the cousins to sit still for a second on the couch (Bethany was asleep). We are so glad that we live close enough to visit more than just once a year.

Our friends, the Hinckleys, took us out on their parents boat. They were taking it for a final spin before they move to St. Louis (yes almost all of our friends seem to be moving). We went during the day on a school day, so we only took Bethany and Carter. Carter was in awe of the whole experience.

Here is my hunk of husband water skiing. Doesn't he look great?

And me just trying to stay up!

Swimming in the nice grayish/green water in Lewisville Lake. This is where our drinking water comes from...scary!

Trying to keep Miss Beth out of the sun. She seemed to be soothed by the movement of the boat. She was happy and quiet the whole time! Thanks Hinckleys!

T-Ball and Bethany

2009-05-20T21:48:00.003-05:00

Surprised by the flash! Look at those big eyes. Luckily her small little eyelashes fell out and have been replaced by beautiful long eyelashes like her brothers.

Flirting with daddy...

Just a plain sweet look.

Cameron is playing T-ball this season instead of soccer and even though he has never played before he is doing really well, plus he looks really cute. His coach (Chris Delamarter) also coached his soccer team so several of his soccer teammates are on his team. Chris is a big fan of Notre Dame hence the Irish mascot for the team. Cameron told us that if he grows up to be a T-ball coach someday, his team will be BYU.

Cameron warming up with a big throw.

Lots of Stuff

2009-05-02T21:07:00.008-05:00

Bethany got so many clothes from friend's giving me hand-me-downs and from our baby shower, I have hardly bought her anything. But, when I saw this darling little dress at the store, I couldn't resist. Also, I tried putting it on without the onesie under it but is just wasn't modest. I know it's kind of crazy, but I had to keep the shirt on. If I didn't, my boys would probably would have called me on it and said, "Mom, that is not modest."

Doesn't she look happy? See, she like the dress just as much as I do.

Mr. Wesley playing soccer. He missed a few games this year because of his asthma, but when he did play he did really well.

Cameron reading a book (I think it is Frog and Toad Together) at Wesley's soccer game. Kind of a strange place, but I love to see my children read.

We had Wesley's end of season soccer party at Peter Piper Pizza along with every other soccer team in the league it seemed (it was crowded). This was Kent Loney's last season to coach. We had all the kids on the team sign a soccer ball and Carrie (one of the moms) got a nice box to display it in. Julie (another mom) made amazing scrapbooks for the coaches. Julie also made soccer pillowcases with a picture of the team on them and had each of the players sign them as well. They were very impressive! If any of you want to purchase some for your children's team let me know and I will give you her information.

And of course, the highlight for Wesley (besides playing all the video games) getting his trophy.

Carter is really becoming a popular guy with two birthday parties in one day. First, he went to a "Space" party for Michael Fluckiger (a little boy in his Sunbeam class at church). They each got "jet packs" (made by Michael's mom Sarah) and got in the "space shuttle" (also made my Sarah) ready for blast off. They were watching a video of when the space shuttle first blasted off and they were all so excited.

Notice Carter's rocket ship shirt. That was supposed to be Michael's b-day present, but Carter just had to put it on. He told us, "I can share it with Michael. I will wear it one day and then give it to Michael the next day." Good idea Carter, but we decided to go back to the store to get Michael his own shirt instead.

They flew to the "moon" and had to collect "moon rocks" and put them in their "jet packs." The moon rocks were little toys and candy wrapped up in balls of tin foil.

Then he went to Isabelle Embry's party at Main Event to go bowling. Isabelle is in Carter's preschool as well as in his Sunbeam class at church. Carter helped me pick out Isabelle's present. It was between a dress and some jammies. He couldn't decide and actually had a break down in the store because he wanted to give her both. We finally decided on the jammies. I'm glad he is not a girl, the drama would probably be worse. This is Carter after throwing (well I should say, slowly pushing) his bowling ball down the lane. He was actually really good!

More of Miss Bethany whether you like it or not!

Yes, Mama and Bethany like to stick out our tongues at each other.

Bethany with Gram and her famous hat.

Sarah got home from BYU. We are all so happy to have her back in Texas as you can tell by Cameron's big grin.

And...our dear, dear friends the Putnams moved to Houston today. We are happy for them since they have a great job, a beautiful house in a wonderful location with exemplary schools, but we will miss them so much. They lived around the corner from us and we either saw each other or talked almost every day. We are especially sad for Erik and Carter because they are bestest friends. They just love each other and play so well. The Putnams spent almost every day this week at our house because their house was being packed and the new family moved in. It was so fun to have them here this week. We wish them the best in their new adventure and look forward to visiting them later this month in their new house.

Blessing and Binky

2009-04-14T22:05:00.012-05:00

Let me just tell you about Easter Sunday (the day Bethany was blessed) and you will understand why we never got any pictures of Bethany in her blessing dress with anyone else in the family. It all starts at about midnight Easter morning...

Wesley wakes up with an asthmatic coughing attack while Bethany is screaming (I have still not gone to bed yet). I take him into the bathroom turn on the shower to get him steam, feed Bethany, get Wesley back into bed, feed Bethany again, walk around bouncing her and trying every position to try and get her quiet. I feed her again and finally get to sleep around 2:00 a.m.

At 5:30 a.m. the boys all come into our bedroom because they are awakened by a thunderstorm. I try to go back to sleep, but it doesn't work and I get up and get ready so that I can make it to ward council at 7:00 a.m. After ward council, I get Bethany all dressed up in her blessing outfit (my mom made the dress and bonnet for Bethany--we love it and it is even more special knowing it was made by Nanny) and set up the Primary Room with a Easter Egg hunt for Primary and then Sacrament Meeting starts at 9:00 a.m. and my primary secretary gets released :(

Ken gives Bethany a wonderful blessing and she doesn't cry at all. Yeah! Dick Norman (grandpa), Don Putnam, Bishop Hopkin, Joseph Fluckiger, and Tyler Petersen are all in the circle. Right after the sacrament I have to go to the mother's room and feed Bethany and so I miss all the beautiful musical numbers :(

I am then in charge of conducting Primary, doing Sharing Time, and getting the Valiant Classes to sing a song in Relief Society. Of course, Bethany wants to cry and so a few sweet teachers try to hold her and settle her down...she doesn't. They try and find Ken, but he has taken Carter to my mother-in-law's house because Carter accidentally urinated on his pants while going to the bathroom.

Well, we are finally on our way home with Bethany screaming the whole way. When we get home, I feed her and fall asleep for 4 hours. When I awaken, Ken and the boys have gone over to Gram's house already for dinner and Easter egg hunts. Bethany and I hurry and get ready and get over there just as Ken and the boys are packing up in the van. It was a nice two minute visit at my in-laws.

This is where we got this picture. We just draped the dress on top of her, but I think she looks like a cute little doll:

We get home, color some eggs and then Ken falls asleep on the couch. So, I get the boys in bed and it is just Bethany and I at around 9:00 p.m. I put her dress back on and try and take some pictures, but this is the best I can get:

Finally, after a few feedings and lots of trying to console her, we fall asleep at midnight. What a day! Even though it was crazy and exhausting, it is worth it. This life is a time for trials and testing right? Opposition in all things. It made my Monday and Tuesday seem even better :)

Some cute girly pictures. I know the bow is kind of over the top, but I just can't help it!

And of course, Carter has to be in the pictures too! Yes, Wesley and Cameron are still in our family and we love them.. I will post some pictures of them next time.

Bethany was 9lbs. 12 oz. at her two month appointment and 22 inches long. She has grown 3 inched in two months. She is 25 % for head and weight and 40% for length. I am posting this picture because I think that most of the pictures I take of her don't look like what she really looks like in person, but this one does:

Last night Bethany finally took a binky!!! Ken and I just about started singing the Hallelujah Chorus at the top of our lungs. She is quite a fussy baby and we have been trying to give her a binky almost every day for the past two months. The binky did calm her down and she has used it several times today as well. Maybe when she is three and still sucking the binky I might think differently, but right now we are loving the binky!!

More of Miss Beth

2009-04-06T22:20:00.006-05:00

She always wiggles so much that she manages to get her hat over her eyes. Well, it doesn't seem to bother her. Maybe she will wear a sleeping mask when she gets older.

Here's our smily little girl!

And here is our crying girl. I was just about ready to take her out of this dress for the day, so this is the only picture I could get of her, but the dress was so cute and she might grow out of it before I can get another picture!

We thought she looked like a cute little strawberry shortcake doll and so we couldn't help ourselves and we took lots of pictures of her...enjoy!

The Kids

2009-03-28T21:34:00.006-05:00

Bethany continues to grow quickly, and is getting quite the personality. She is beginning to smile and even laugh - it never ceases to amaze us as we watch our children grow and develop.

She likes to make funny faces and stick her tongue out at us.

Another common theme is Carter is either in or nearby in almost all of our pictures of Bethany - he continues to hover and be ever-vigilant of all things Bethany.

As you can see, Bethany is not the only one growing - Wesley has taken his cues from Barry Bonds and Jose Conseco, and is developing his pecs quite rapidly.

Carter with some of his preschool friends - as you can tell, he loves it!

2009-03-10T21:54:00.006-05:00

My parents came to visit and this is my dad holding Bethany and singing and rocking her.

This is Bethany's little hand next to my mom's hand (I was ordered not to take any pictures of her, but she allowed her hand to be photographed). Actually Bethany's hands are quite long!

Wesley got baptized and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost on February 28th at 10:00 a.m. at our Coppell Building by Ken. It was beautiful baptism and we were happy to have both my parents and sister and Ken's parents and sister there with us as well as other good friends. Hayden Woodall was baptized the same day as well. My dad gave the talk on th Holy Ghost, Whitney and Brianna Boyd sang a beautiful arrangement of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives", I bore my testimony, and Rhonda gave the closing prayer. Leslie played the piano for the baptism.

Afterwards, we went and celebrated with both families. Cameron's highlight was getting to eat ice cream twice in one day!

Here are some updated pictures of our little princess. Every day she is changing so much!

Bethany Jane Crow

2009-02-21T13:52:00.006-06:00

Monday, February 9th at 11:50 p.m. , Rhonda (Ken's mom) came over to our house to watch the boys and Ken and Wendy were off to Lewisville Medical Center to have the baby.

On February 10th, at 3:20 a.m. out she popped with only 3 pushes and a great epidural! She was 6 lbs. 7 oz. and 19 inches long. Our little girl is our littlest baby (girls are supposed to be small and petite...right?)

Does she look like Ken or what? Don't you just love the bow the nurses put on the hat so she looks more like a girl?

After school the boys came to visit and they each beamed as they held their new sister!

The whole family together! I can't believe I have four children now...AHHHHH!

Going home...

Carter is sooooo into his baby sister! He loves to hug her, kiss her, touch her, hold her, and is very helpful by bringing me diapers and wipes, throwing away diapers, picking out clothes (he loves all the girl clothes), giving her a binky, helping with her bath, and telling me what she needs when she cries.

Some of his favorite things to say to her are, "Ohhhhh, baby!" and "Oh, he's just so cute!!" (we are working on the he/she thing), and "It's O.K. baby!"

Sometimes he loves her a little too much, but I am glad that he is involved in helping me care for her and not acting jealous at all...yet :)

Here are some more cute pictures of her. She changes so much everyday and gets more and more personality with each day. She likes to squeak a lot and it sounds like either an angry cat or a miniature car peeling out.

It has been so fun to put her in all the girly stuff and when she cries and makes noises it really does sound more feminine than the boys did. She has already been such a blessing. We are so grateful that she is a healthy happy little girl!

Pinewood Derby and Pregnant Moments

2009-02-08T21:26:00.008-06:00

Wesley has officially started Cub Scouts with our ward and his second week was the Pinewood Derby.

The boys had lots of fun watching the all the cars race.

Wesley didn't place (although he is convinced that he took 4th place), but he got the award for the "Most Futuristic Car."

Here is the fruit baby that Denise Blue (my friend and counselor in Primary Presidency) made for my baby shower. Isn't she cute? She tasted good too!

Here are some pictures from my shower at Jill Putnam's house! We had lots of great food, fun games, wonderful company, and I got so many presents I almost felt guilty. Thanks everyone for such a great celebration!

It was an extra treat to have Ken's grandma visiting in Texas from Utah.

Wesley just had to take a picture of me from the side...pretty scary!

This last picture is Wendy a few months ago when she went into Wesley's classroom and did a presentation on the Mormon Pioneers. Wesley's class was learning about different groups of people in America in the 1800's who came from the east to settle the west. I told his teacher that our early church members made a huge trek of thousands of people from Illinois to Utah and that I would love to come in and share with her class about this pioneer expedition. I dressed up in Whitney's (my sister-in-law) pioneer trek clothing and had a great time with the children. I had lots of pictures, showed them the expedition on a map, told some pioneer stories, and we even sang "Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked" all together. The children and the teacher had lots of questions. Every member of the staff that saw me that day in the school of course stopped me to ask me what in the world I was doing? It was a great missionary opportunity. If the people of Vickery Elementary School ever wondered if the Crows were LDS, there are no doubts now!

The 12 Days of Christmas

2009-01-28T07:46:00.011-06:00

Since Ken is such a great husband he surprised me and did the 12 days of Christmas for me this year! I am finally getting around to posting his very creative ideas. Here is what he did:

"On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me a mango in a pine tree." This is mango lotion and pine smelling soap from Bath and Body Works. Very nice!

"On the second day of Christmas the six geese a laying showed up early, so I decided to use their eggs and make you breakfast." It was a Sunday and I was at ward council and when I got home a nice omelet, bacon, fresh strawberries and orange juice were waiting for me. It was wonderful!

"On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Three French Vanilla Hot Cocoas." He ordered this brand of Hot Chocolate from Utah and had it shipped. It is so much better than any other Hot Chocolate we have ever had. Yum! Yum!

When Ken got home from work, he and each of the boys took turns calling me on our home phone from his cell phone and told me how much they loved me. Then I heard a ring I didn't recognize coming from my purse. I went and looked and found a new cell phone (I was in desperate need of an update) and when I answered it, they all sang, "On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me four calling Crows."

"On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five onion rings." He also got me a gift card to Sam Moon's (a jewelry store) so that I could go and buy my own real rings and earrings.
I was able to get two necklaces, and five pairs of earrings.

"On the sixth day of Christmas the turtle doves finally showed up and they had multiplied." This candy was so good and lasted me for about a month (I did share too).

"On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven songs for singing (instead of swans a swimming)." He made a CD for me of some of my favorite Christmas songs from now and when I was young. He also bought the Osmond's Christmas CD. We listen to our CD's sometimes from our DVD player that is why you see a picture of the TV.

"On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me some of the famous frozen custard from the eight maids a milking." Culver's frozen custard is the best. We just discovered here a few months ago!

"On the ninth day of Christmas the nine ladies dancing were dancing all day for so long that they needed a massage." So, I got a massage from my Kenny boy who happens to know how to give really good massages.

"On the tenth day of Christmas, the Lords a leaping were leaping so hard that we now need new floors in two of our bathrooms." Ken took me to Home Depot and we picked out some new tile floors and he is installing them as I type.

"On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eleven painters painting." He finished painting our living room (a project we started in November).

I haven't found out yet what the twelfth day of Christmas is going to bring. But with everything else I got, I am completely satisfied and very grateful for a loving and creative husband that did the 11 days of Christmas for me!

Isn't he great?

Happy New Year!

2008-12-27T22:17:00.003-06:00

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!! Happy 2009!
Click on the link for: Christmas 2008 pictures