Happy Birthday Emmett

Today is Emmett's birthday and so we invited the whole neighborhood over to play.  There are so many great kids here.  Here is a picture taken during the event.  Emmett didn't even wake up from his nap until it was almost over.  We are all so glad he is in our family.  We love the fun and joy he brings to us.  WOW and he is 3 years old now.

Work Day

Here is Cameron and Aaron working together to get the deck ready so we can sale the house. Sooo cute!

Hulls in Elko, NV

We all went out to spend time with Ethan, Stephanie, Zachary, Scott, Cheyenne, and Hailey. We all loved loved it and love love them. Here are some last minute pictures.

New Home...Bryan, Texas

We left our Woodruff home Friday morning and drove to Elko, Nevada to drop off the four boys with Ethan and Stephanie. All eight kids were so exited to be together for the next 8 days. Just after putting our four to bed we drove away. We flew out of Salt Lake City early the next morning so we slept at Chad and Jessica's that night. We flew into the Houston, Texas airport and drove north about 1 1/2 to arrive in College Station, Texas Saturday evening. So we traveled from Friday morning until Saturday evening just to house hunt for our new home.

Here is the house we found and I LOVE it.

It sits on 1/3 of an acre. The inside of the house is 1700 sq ft. It has 3 huge bedrooms, 2 large bathrooms, a huge living room that includes 10 foot ceilings, a fireplace, built in bookshelves, master bedroom walk in closet, formal dinning room, large kitchen, laundry room, 2 car garage, separate entry way, and can lighting. The back yard has a pretty dog yard with a wooden fence, 7 trees, and flower and vegetable garden beds that are pretty. Out front we have a cemented in basketball hoop and an endless amount of sidewalks through the neighborhood. In the neighborhood there are 2 parks, tennis courts, sand volleyball, basketball, and a pool. The elementary school is ranked 2nd best in the county and is in walking distance. The neighborhood as a whole has a real sense of community feel and pride.

What a great trip. Every time we stepped outside we were amazed at how much we loved the weather. One day I went running in the morning and swam in the pool that night.
Thursday morning we drove to Houston's airport and then on to Elko to pick up boys and then one to our house Saturday. Arriving home Saturday night. I miss Texas already. Moving date is now June 15th.

3 Days Left!!!

This last weekend we all NEEDED to find the sun. Salt Lake was suppose to be 70 degrees so we headed down for a family fun weekend in the sun. And it was great. Salt Lake City Center was having their Grand Opening, so we went to it. I loved the crowds.

We had our faces painted.

This is Emmett helping Aaron pack the car.

Aaron and I have always loved going to city events, store events, free events, church events, festivals, outside events, sport events, parades, rodeos, concerts, plays, family reunions, musicals, parties and what ever else that's there are crowds of people having fun. I can remember a few different times, when living in Salt Lake City, Aaron and I stopped the car when driving past a outside public party. One time it was a Presbyterian Party and we helped decorated around a maypole.

We are exited to live so close to Texas A&M because of all the events happening. We will also be so close to San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. Each with lots and lots of events to go to.
There is only 3 days left until I get to go pick out my new house. It's hard for me to even believe I will be living in a place that can grow palm trees and I can go swimming in warm ocean water the Atlantic water/Gulf of Mexico. I am so exited.

8 Days Left

Pine Wood Derby and Cameron's Best Friend

Tonight was Pack Night and it was Pine Wood Derby. Woodruff has a great Cub Scouting program, thanks to the Den Leaders. Tonight was really exiting because Cameron's first race was against his best friend, Samuel Mitchell. After racing 5 times against each and doing Paper Rock Sissors over who gets what side of the track, Cameron won. Samuel then raced everyone on the looser's bracket and Cameron raced everyone on the winners bracket and then met up with each other again. They had to race again. It was kind of like a prove it race. Which ever one of them won was in 1st and the other was in 2nd place. Here is a picture of one of the 10 races.
Cameron's car is gold in color and Samuel's is blue.
Those best friends LOVED winning together. I snapped a shot of them replaying the event to each other. Cameron is really going to miss his best friend when we move to Texas.
These two boys have rode their bikes together for thousands of hours, shot beebee guns, learned to ride rip sticks, swam at Bear Lake, snowboarding, many hours on the wii, sledding, drove dirt bikes and four wheelers, soccer, basketball, and all the games they play during recess.

9 Days Left

Outside The House

I can't wait until I live where I can go outside as much as I want. Ok Ok I guess I can go outside all I want right now, but what I mean where it is warm enough to enjoy going outside. We are going to buy our first patio set. How great is that! We will need furniture to go outside, because we will be hanging out outside. I just love saying the word outside. I want to live outside. I have lived inside my house enough for a whole life time. Once a week I would dress the babies and myself and get in the car and drive to Playgroup. There has been many many times, countless even, when I did not leave my house until playgroup. Week after week. I remember those first few years when Taylor was the only one going to school and nobody did any sports. I went week after week never leaving the house.

Here is a picture from today in Woodruff. We had wonderful warm weather. I even saw buds on a tree in Randolph. I LOVE beautiful weather. We cleaned up the yard and everyone loved being OUTSIDE.

Anyone want any sweaters. I have a whole lot of size large sweaters that I will not need or want. I will be spending my allowance on shorts and sandals. I'm so very glad. .

12 Days Left

Family Fun with the Taylor's

We are going to miss the family we are leaving in Utah. That includes those that are blood related and those that are not. BUT we hope to find more family in Texas and have our family grow bigger and bigger. AND someday when Aaron and I serve a mission together we hope to create even more family outside of the USA. I LOVE and am SO grateful for Facebook and Blogs, so I can easily keep in touch. And take lots of trips together.

Today Chad, Jessica, Jozie, and Haven drove up to our house in Woodruff. They came just for fun. Which we are always so impressed when anyone makes the drive to our house. It was a lot of fun today. Good food, good company, good times. We really hope to have many more good times, even though we are moving to Texas. It will just be longer drives or a plane ride to get together.

Here is a picture of the cousins all helping me make cookies. There was more chocolate chips then cookies, so they tasted great.

14 Days Left

I do love the freedom my boys and I have enjoyed living in this Woodruff neighborhood. It's so worry free. There is no way I could have had 5 children without the freedom Woodruff gives. I am so exited to have a different kind of freedom in our new Texas neighborhood. Things will be so close by. I'll be able to get to schools, play grounds, stores, friends, other neighborhoods, pools, tennis courts, church, clothing stores, biking trails, tracks and bleachers, lakes to boat in, basketball games, soccer fields, horse shoe games, doctors, restraints, pool halls, dance halls, movie theaters, grocery stores, Lowes, University productions, and more and more. A endless amount of activities all 10 minutes or less away.

Taylor says, I like South Rich Elementary "because I only have to be friends with like 5 friends and at a big school you have to be friends and take care of like a thousand people."

Cameron says, "What I like most about living in Woodruff is being able to ride my bike anywhere I want."

Mason says, "yeah like going into anybodies house and playing with all their toys, 'cause our house is never fun. Ben thinks our house is the most fun and I think texas's house are the most fun."

16 Days Left

Today is a crappy stupid winter day. I'm depressed today, so I called my friend Andrea. I invited myself to her house and she reminded me that summer is on it's way. She is right.

As I think about it...
It's not going to just be summer in Woodruff with mosquitoes or wind. It's going to be summer in Texas. I'm going to be SO HOT that we will looking for water to play in. We have all loved going to Bear Lake each year, but the truth is, it's kind of cold. I could never jump right in. I always had to lay in the sun for a while to get really warm, before I had the desire to go swimming. Which I always did. I love being able to drive head first into Bear Lake and wash off winter. I never felt out of winter until I was able to go swimming outside.

So I am starting a count down to Texas. I don't know when we are moving or where exactly, but on March 29th Aaron and I are leaving to go find a house. Which is only 16 days away.

A Little Baby O and Little Em-n-Em

Not much happens around here in the winter. It's been a warm winter and that has been nice! My little brother Joshua and his wife Melissa came up last weekend and went to lunch with Taylor, Cameron, and Mason at school. It was great and they are SO fun to be with. Melissa worked on my neck and Joshua lifted the boys to the ceiling and helped them walk around on the front room ceiling. I'm glad I can claim then as family.

Here are a few cute pictures of Emmett drinking his milk. He drinks milk for all three meals a day. And Olivia she LOVES her walker. She can crews across the floor and run into anyone she wants.

Emmett is so stinking cute!!!

Check out those boots.

Woodruff Home

We lived in this Woodruff Home from June 2004 to June 2012, eight years. Mason, Emmett, and Olivia were all brought home from the hospital in this home. Because I had to clean the whole house to get it ready to sale I thought I would take a few pictures to remember it by. This house has been such a perfect home for us. Aaron tiled the downstairs bathroom in one night and built a closet door the next. He is amazing. He designed and installed the kitchen and bathrooms too.

College Station, Texas

I was checking out College Station and these are the things they are on the top 100 list for...
What hit me the most was that we are moving to a very young and educated place. "I butter go get myself sckooled" and a face lift too.

For those that don't know me. I am just kidding. Aaron and I are very exited and know we will fit right in and love our new home.

College Station on our top lists:

• #1 on the list of "Top 100 cities with highest percentage of college students (pop. 50,000+)"
• #1 on the list of "Top 100 cities with youngest residents (pop. 50,000+)"
• #5 on the list of "Top 100 cities with shortest commuting times (pop. 50,000+)"
• #15 on the list of "Top 100 cities with highest percentage of renters (pop. 50,000+)"
• #26 on the list of "Top 100 best educated cities (highest percentage of bachelor degree holding residents) (pop. 50,000+)"
• #27 on the list of "Top 100 cities with the largest percentage of males (pop. 50,000+)"
• #28 on the list of "Top 100 cities with strongest arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services industries (pop. 50,000+)"
• #39 on the list of "Top 100 cities with highest ratio of median house value to median household income (pop. 50,000+)"
• #55 on the list of "Top 100 cities with newest houses (pop. 50,000+)"
• #57 on the list of "Top 100 fastest growing cities from 2000 to 2008 (pop. 50,000+)"
• #63 on the list of "Top 100 cities with smallest houses (pop. 50,000+)"

• #19 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest percentage of residents relocating from foreign countries between 2005 and 2006"
• #31 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the largest number of children under 18 without health insurance coverage in 2000 (pop. 50,000+)"
• #45 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the highest percentage of residents relocating to other counties in 2006 (pop. 50,000+)"
• #69 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the largest increase in the number of births per 1000 residents 1990-1999 to 2000-2003 (pop 50,000+)"
• #70 on the list of "Top 101 counties with the largest number of people without health insurance coverage in 2000 (pop. 50,000+)"

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/College-Station-Texas.html#ixzz1lowmOqE4

Dear Woodruff Friends,

Everything has finally caught up to me.

Will we be loved like we are in Woodruff? Will there be other moms in Texas that will love my sons, like SO many of you do!? Will there be a priesthood leader to guild Taylor when he turns 12? Will Cameron find a friend that treats him good. Will Mason's teacher help him like Linda Cornia would? Is anyone going to be personally invest in our friendship? Will we relate to anyone there?

I remember the first year living in Woodruff, Aaron and I would laugh at how slow everyone talked. We both remember how we had to purposely talk slow so we could communicate better with the friends here in Woodruff. Well last night I called the bishop's wife, of one of the wards in College Station, and she was talking so fast I had a hard time talking. The same thing happened with the next women I called that lived in College Station. Do you think they would mind if I asked them to slow down and relax a little when they talk to me? At least for the first year.

I love you all and will miss you VERY much.
Love, Crystalyn

Professional Mothers

I consider myself a professional mother. I also consider myself a professional Home Maker and Tailor. Being a mother is my first responsibility so I use most of the hours in a day doing it. Just as a lawyer or teacher is a professional person but had to do a number of years of research and study to become one, a professional Mother does too. There is 2 years of baby research then 3 years of toddler research, before the mother can claim to be a professional Mother of the Early Years. The same pattern continues for Elementary years, adolescent or Argumentative stage, and Self Expression or High School stage. With each child the professional person has, it gives them a compound amount of years. For example if the professional mother had two kids and they both are out of the Early stage then she has 10 years, but always subtract the first 5 years as the research and study time needed to become the professional. Leaving her 5 years of being a professional Mother, the Early Years. Like all professions the mother must be doing it full time or 8 hours a day. Also remember there are ones that do it better or worse then others. Depending on the results they were going after.

I have a group of friends here in Woodruff that I also consider professional Mothers and use them as a resource of information. They are out in the field actively researching and practicing. Each week we meet and report to each other our findings. We also address our own research projects and hope to get some insights on how to handle the project. The projects are usually Mothering questions , but sometimes are Home Makers situation.

I love having these meeting and get great information. I also find a lot of info from posting research questions on Facebook. The project for this week is Potty Training. I would like to know from any professional Mother what their number one thing they do while Potty Training?

The Woodruff research group members are as follows...
myself Crystalyn professional Mother, the Early Years -12 yrs

Katherine professional Mother, the Early Years - 7 yrs

Andrea professional Mother, the Early Years - 12 yrs

Casey professional Mother, the Early Years - 9 yrs

Lynne professional Mother, the Early Years - 24 yrs
Michelle professional Mother, the Early Years - 20 yrs
Lisa professional Mother, the Early Years - 25 yrs