Say hello to my little friend…

We went back to San Angelo to pick up the newest member of the family and her name is Blue Bell.  She is a 7 week old Blue Lacy.  My uncle has a dog that he had bred so we took one of the puppies off his hands.  The sire was named Little Boy Blue and the mother is Clara Bell, so we ended up with Blue Bell. 

Dalton playing with Clarabell and her puppies

Picking one out

The ride home

Super Dog!

I love my puppy

Just Chillin

Nap time

Grandpa Franco

For everyone who has blessed us with their prayers for my grandfather over the last month or so, this is a great picture.  He came over to my parents house this weekend and was doing great.  This is him in the center next to Dalton enjoying a hot dog with the family.

Going for a swim

Fearless

This is our parent-of-the-year award photo.  Please note the lack of adults.

(Ok I was taking the picture and ready to go in just in case.) 

Come on Blue Belle

All tuckered out

We sure are looking forward to years and years of enjoyment with our newest family member.  Right now we’re just trying to decided who’s room she’s going to sleep in.

Capital of Texas Triathlon

Crystal completed the Capital of Texas Triathlon this morning.  She did an amazing time of 3:35! 

CapTx Swim

The swim was in Lady Bird Lake and was supposed to be 1.5K.  Based on the Garmins that some people were wearing, it turned out to be a 1.8k.

Starting the bike

Riding hard

Run

The run was supposed to be 10k (6.2 miles) and ended up being a little longer at 6.6 miles.

Finish line

3:35 Finisher

Rockin R Tri

In preparation for the upcoming Cap-Tex Triathlon next weekend, Crystal did the Rockin R Tri in Gruene, near New Braunfels. This was another "sprint" triathlon which means it is a shorter distance than the upcoming olympic-distance Cap Tex Tri. The upside with the shorter distance is that you can go full-out the whole time and not run out of gas at the end.

Since this was in Gruene, the swim was held in the Comal River. With all the rain we've had lately, the river was really flowing.

River swim. Water is flowin.

Pre-race transition area.

Battling the current back up the river.

Coming out of the water.

Rockin the cycling.

Faster Faster!

Crystal did awesome and ranked 9^th in her age group with a finish time of 1:31.

In case you were wondering…

In case you were ever wondering, I figured out how the dinosaurs went extinct this weekend.  But first, I’ll tell you about the Austin Steam Train. 

This past Sunday we took the kids up to Round Rock to ride the Austin Steam Train with some friends from church. 

It’s a little touristy train that goes from Cedar Park to Bertram, about 20 miles away. 

 

Even though the name is Austin Steam Train, it’s a diesel.  When we got to Bertram, they pulled the engine around and hooked it up to the last car to go back.  This just happened to be our car.

Oh yeah so about the dinosaurs…  Dalton had taken a little blue plastic dinosaur with him on the train.  You know, the kind you spend $20 in tokens for at Chucky Cheese and end up buying because you only got 15 tickets.  So Dalton and his friends were playing “toss the dinosaur” after several warnings that they might lose it.   Dalton tried to toss it to his friend and it went right out the window.  He quickly tried to relay the story to us and while he was talking, you could see the expression on his face change as it sank it what really just happened.  He was bawling that he would never see his dinosaur again.  He even asked if we could walk back and get it after the train stopped.  Poor kid. 

So if you were ever curious how the dinosaurs died, they just went out the window. 

A Visit from Great-Grandma Franco

This past Thursday the kids got an extra-special treat: a visit from their Great-Grandma Franco!   She was on her way back to San Angelo from Houston and got a spend a few hours with us.

We had a great time catching up with Grandma and she and Addie spent an hour putting shoes on the dolls.  They both had a blast.  Later, grandma Judy came over and we all shared a great dinner together.  It was great to get to spend some time with them and we can’t wait to go to Angelo and see them again.

Happy Birthday!

Addie turned 2 on May 1st!  Our little girl is growing up. :-(  

Her mom specializes in making amazing cakes for the kids birthdays.  This year she decided Addie should have a bee hive cake.  She make the yellow cake and while it was still hot, covered it in icing so that it would both get sucked in and make the cake super-moist, but also give it a smooth surface.  Then, she gave it one more coat just for good measure.  Next, she make “bees” out of Twix bars and cookies.  She sure is talented.  We had some friends over that night to celebrate.

Both sets of grandparents came to see Addie on her birthday.  She was so excited to see everyone!  She opened presents and got some great gifts.

SHOES!!!!!

Tinkerbell

Today, Triathlon. Tomorrow, Iron Man.

Over the weekend Crystal competed in a super-sprint triathlon.  It’s shorter than an Olympic tri and this one is geared for “freshmen.”  It’s a 200 yard swim, 10-mile ride, and 2 mile run.  She’s just warming up for her olympic tri on Memorial Day in Austin.  By next year who knows, maybe an Iron Man…

Pre Race

Lined up for the swim

In the Water

Starting the bike section

Ride Fast

Successful finish

Pre-Race Nap

We had to get a there a little early so the kids “squeezed” in a little nap…