"You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it."

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." --H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back." --Harvey MacKay

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." --Carl Sandberg

"Watches are so named as a reminder--if you don't watch carefully what you do with your time, it will slip away from you." --Drew Sirtors

"Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow." --Denis Waitely

"One must learn a different....sense of time, one that depends more on small amounts than big ones." --Sister Mary Paul

"This is a time and a season to make of your life a magnificent work of art. Is it not time to be about our Father's business?" ---Lance B. Wickman

"We give our lives to that which we give our time. We also have agency and may do what we will with our time." --William R. Bradford

"In our time there are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save." --Thomas S. Monson

Summer is over....

The weather is changing and the sun is setting earlier. I've neglected posting some summer pictures, so here they are!

Carrie had a great year on the YMCA summer swim team. She did fantastic in the all-city meet.

Carrie also REALLY enjoys when Uncle Paul comes over to mow our lawn. She loves to "help" him. (click on picture to see it bigger)We had lots of fun going to Melody & Paul's neighborhood pool! Here's Rachael posing. And Emma.... And Kaden..... And Amy....

We had a fun summer but are happy to be back in a routine.

Look what Daddy started at the pool.

Some giggles and squeals for your viewing pleasure...

School Days are here again!

Ah the excitement of the first day of school. Carrie got up extra early and got all of her stuff done, we read scriptures (which was nice because we slacked all summer) and off she went. 4th grade....


Rachael was so excited, she waited and waited and waited. Finally lunch time came and after we ate we went out front to wait for her bus. Rae has had separation issues before, and so I held my breath as the bus pulled up, with a man bus driver.....she smiled, got on the bus, and waved goodbye! I debated about following the bus to school, but had Amy, Kaden & Emma to get down for naps, plus I decided if she saw me at the school, the separation anxiety might set in after all. She LOVED her first day of Kindergarten! And then she got to ride the bus home with her big sister.


Here's Amy and I after our cuddly nap that we had while Rachael & Carrie were gone to school and while Kaden & Emma were napping....aahhhh the quiet!

Chop chop chop

I've done it....I cut my hair. Normally, it won't be in my face like that, but you know how hairdressers like to put your hair over your eyes....why is that? Amy came along to the hairdresser and sat in her stroller cooing the entire time. How'd I get so lucky? She's such a good baby!

Toes

Kris asked if she could take pictures of my baby's toes, and it just so happened I took this a few weeks ago....but YES, Kris, you take much better pictures than me!!!! So please, take a ton of pictures of her! ;o)

We HEART Watermelon

Ammon and Carrie cut into a watermelon last week and their love for the melon was shining through! I wonder if this is common? I've never seen a watermelon like that, but this one came that way!

Tummy Time

3 months old....time is going by so fast I can hardly stand it! Amy sure is fun to wake up to every day, and get these big huge smiles!

Rainbow Road

We went to a family reunion this weekend and after a grueling 3 hours in the car with Emma screaming the entire way, we arrived in a storm. We decided to stay in a hotel rather than camp. Little did we know that every hotel/motel in American Falls (all 3 of them) were completely full! Apparently it was American Falls Days and there was a big rodeo. So we headed toward Pocatello in the stormy weather......while driving along the freeway, this is what we saw....

We arrived in Pocatello shortly after that, to find that all 12 or 15 of their hotels/motels were completely booked as well. I called Heidi to have her find me a room on the internet as Ammon was running in and out of each hotel with no luck. She told me that Towne Place Suites had a room, but we had been inside and they said they didn't. So I told her to book it online, which she did, and we walked back in with a confirmation number, so they had to give us a room. The lady told us that this overbooked them by 2 rooms. But we had a wonderful room with 2 bedrooms, each with a king size bed, and a pullout couch. We loved it so much that we bagged camping all together and stayed there another night!

On the way there, Emma and Kaden were screaming so loud that I threatened to tape their mouths shut. Then it occurred to me that a big piece of sticky tape might provide some quiet entertainment, so I gave them each a piece. 2 seconds later I looked back to find this....

Ammon and Carrie had a good time with the water ballon toss.....it took Carrie at least 8 hours to dry off!

The kids also had a fabulous time getting sticky with candy and then running around in the dirt. When it was time for bed Saturday night, I was SO grateful for the BATHTUB in the HOTEL ROOM and counted my blessings that we weren't camping!!! You know those yummy powdered doughnuts with the raspberry filling? Emma took one bite and then said she didn't want to eat it because it was bleeding.

All in all, we had a great time! We're thanful we got to go, since we won't be going on another road trip for at least 4 years (according to Ammon!)

Saturday is a special day.....

It's the day we get ready for Sunday. Cleaning house, today! And I'm hoping I'll get it all done so that tomorrow is more peaceful and less chaotic!

Ammon took Carrie on an overnight fishing trip last night, so it's just me and the little's this weekend. We're hanging out and singing a lot of the cleanup song. LOL.

Here's a picture of my sleeping beauties last time Daddy was out of town.

I got tagged.....

10 YEARS AGO.....I was in Seattle doing my first In-vitro cycle which resulted in my oldest, Carrie. We had a ton of fun. We went to the zoo, the aquarium, the pier, the underground tour, and found lots of fabulous places to eat.

5 YEARS AGO.....I was in the hospital getting a transfusion from my miscarriage. Rachael was a brand new baby.

5 MONTHS AGO.....I was preparing for the birth of my little baby Amy. Looking forward to it with great excitement and anticipation! I was also stressing about keeping my house clean all the time because it was up for sale. Luckily for me, it's off the market, now, for a little while. ;o)

5 THINGS I NEED TO DO TOMORROW.....Clean house, do laundry, pay bills, make dinner, clean house. ;o)

5 BAD HABITS.....Procrastinating, watching TV, eating too much, picking my teeth, yelling at my kids when I'm frustrated (although I'm working on that one, and doing much much better).

5 PLACES I'VE LIVED.....Burley, ID Pocatello, ID Twin Falls, ID Boise, ID Eagle, ID

5 THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME..... I'm shy, I pop my gum in my teeth, I love to eat King Crab legs, and I need to lose 40 lbs.

All About Me

Hi, I’m Crysty. I'm 34 years old. My real name is Crystal, but I’ve been going by Crysty since Jr. High. My parents divorced when I was 9 and my brother was 7, and each remarried. My mom has been married to my step dad for 24 years. He has 3 kids, 2 girls and a boy. My dad has given me 3 half sisters and 1 half brother since the divorce. I’m a SAHM of five kiddos. I’ve always wanted to be a mom, and now I am! ;o) My dh and I got married 2 months before I turned 21. We started trying to get pg after about 6 months, and nothing worked. After a few surgeries (for Endo) and 1 very expensive IVF cycle, we were pregnant with our first baby. Her name is Carrie, and she’s 9. I loved every minute of my pregnancy and was completely in awe of the miracle and wonder of it all. It took us 4 years to get her. She is my biggest helper, and I love spending time with her. She likes to sleep with me when dh is out of town. She’s good at everything she does. And she’ll be in the fourth grade this coming fall. She's quite a good swimmer and is currently doing her 5th year of Summer Swim Team at the YMCA

When she was about 18 months old, we started doing IVF cycles, again. We came up with negatives and 3 miscarriages.

When Carrie was 3 ½ we decided we wanted to adopt, and started the process in January. On April 15th a baby was born that we’d been matched with for 2 months. I flew to Nashville, TN and went straight to the hospital. She was a beautiful baby, and I held her in the nursery for about 15 minutes and then I wanted to go check into my hotel. I thought to myself, that’s NUTS, I should want to hold her all night long! I forced myself to stay there for an hour, and then I went to my hotel. The next day I got news that the baby’s mother had changed her mind. I was very upset, but when I went and met her for the first time, I told her it was okay, and that Heavenly Father didn’t mean for this baby to be with me. And I meant it. I felt it. About 2 weeks later we were matched with another pregnant mother, and I was determined NOT to do any traveling until rights had been relinquished because we’d lost quite a bit of money from the previous TN trip. But then on May 14th, I got a call in the middle of the night from the midwife and got to be on the phone for the last few pushes, and heard a baby cry….then I heard the words, “It’s a girl.” Well, by 6 a.m. I was at the airport and on my way to Pensacola, FL. I felt no anxiety whatsoever and was totally at peace the entire way there. I picked the baby up from the midwife (the birth mom had already gone home from the birthing center) and she was MY baby. It was different. That’s my Rachael. She’s gorgeous, and sweet, and my little African American princess. She's still very clingy to me for a 5 year old, and I worry how she'll do at Kindergarten this year. But she's a very sweet little spirit. She loves to dance and was born with the kind of rhythm that most people only dream about!

I was smack in the middle of an IVF cycle during Rachael’s adoption, and ended up pregnant with twins. I was on bed rest for the first 8 weeks of Rachael’s life, and I lost the babies when I was 11 ½ weeks along. It was a really rough miscarriage, and I had to be admitted to the hospital for a transfusion. We had 4 frozen embryos from that cycle, but I was DONE doing IVF, so we left them in the freezer….

When Rachael was 14 months old we decided to do foster care. Our first foster child was 19 months old, a boy named Aden, and then 1 month later we got our second foster child who was 18 months old. He was also a boy, named Sean. We had both of the boys for about 6 months, and then Aden went home, and Sean went to some friends of ours who became foster licensed and were going to adopt him. Over a year after Sean left our home, he drown in his adoptive family’s pool. It was only 1 day after his birth parents had relinquished their rights. It was heart breaking.

After that we had several foster kids in and out (we’ve had 27 in all) but shortly before Aden went home, we got a 5 week old baby boy. His name was Keidon, but I didn’t like the name because we also had Aden, so I just called him baby boy. We had him until he was 7 months old, and then he went home to his mom. She still let me baby sit him and we really liked her and our family was a huge support to her. 3 months later we got a brand new born from the hospital. Her name was Emma and she was 3 days old. When Emma was 1 month old, we got Keidon back. So we had these 2 kids that were 10 months apart. We got to adopt Kaden (changed the spelling) when he was just shy of 3 years old (he’s 3 ½ now) and we’re in the process of adopting Emma….although last year we were VERY fearful that she’d go home, but it all worked out in our favor. Emma was born with a polycystic kidney and had her bad kidney removed in March of this year. She’s doing great with her one kidney, and is expected to be just fine. Kaden is growing into a little boy, and he's so much fun. He loves to line up his cars, and talks and talks and talks. Potty training is slow going, but going, I guess! Emma is a cutie, but she is a trouble maker! She's always into something. Unlike any other 2 yo I've ever had! Good thing she's cute as a button. She also says sweet things, like "Mommy, you're my friend." Kaden and Emma will both start preschool this fall.

In May of 2007 I was telling dh that I was about ready to get another baby….not immediately, but maybe by Spring of 2008. We were discussing adopting another African American baby, or taking another foster baby. We decided to use a Surrogate and try to use our 4 frozen embryos since we felt I could truly not carry another baby. We cycled in late June, and found out in July that it didn’t work. We were not surprised, nor were we disappointed. In fact, we were relieved to be able to NEVER go to the fertility doctor again, and to close that chapter in our life. September 3rd or so I started feeling sick. It occurred to me I may be pregnant, but Ammon and I both laughed it off. On September 11th, I called Heidi (my sister in law) to have her talk me out of wasting money on a pregnancy test….and she did the opposite and talked me into it. I took the test in the Wal-mart bathroom, and it was positive. The line was so light, I thought it was incorrect, so I went about my business…..Heidi kept texting me telling me that I was pregnant. She was harassing me, really. ;o) So I went back to Wal-mart, and got another test, and it was positive, too. I went straight to the doctor for a blood draw. My numbers were really high, so they had me come right back for an ultra sound. They saw nothing, and told me I would most likely miscarry. (This was my fertility doctor). I went directly across the street to my OB and made him do another u/s. There was a sac, and a blip, and a blinking heart beat. She was born on April 28th, 2008 and her name is Amy. She’s amazing. Every day when I look at her I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and I love her so much I feel as if I’ll burst, so it helps me realize how much He must love me!

So, that was really really long just to explain my kids, but my road to motherhood is such a part of who I am.

Like I said, I am a SAHM, but in my previous life (pre-kids) I was an EMT in the Air National Guard. I also was a phlebotomist and worked at a hospital for quite a few years (while TTC)….little did I know I could’ve FINISHED school before I had kids…hind sight is 20/20. LOL. I used to want to be a nurse, but after my hospital experience, I do not want to do that any longer. If I ever go back to school, I’d like to be an editor. I don’t know how to go about that, but I’m sure I’ll find out if the time ever comes. ;o)

My dh….we met in HS. 9th grade. We “dated” in HS, not really dated (we were under 16), but we got together the fall after HS and were married 2 years later. We were sealed in the temple 1 year after that. We’ve been married for almost 14 years. Due to some struggles the last year, we’ve grown closer than ever, and we’ve each grown closer to the Lord. I’m grateful for the struggles, because here we are on the other side, stronger for them, and closer. He is an entrepreneur. We’ve owned a paintball business, a sprinkler/landscape business, a saltwater fish store, a construction company, and right now we’re working on a public Aquarium for Boise. Check out the web site It’s a non profit org, and hopefully once it’s open, will be our career for the rest of our lives. The construction market has tanked, and we’ve been through this twice….and we’re done. ;o) Ammon is doing side sprinkler jobs to support us right now, until the Aquarium gets going.

I used to like to read, quilt, scrap book, and craft. I’m sure I’ll enjoy those things again when my kids are all in school all day? LOL. I do enjoy baking.

I am a member of the LDS church. I’ve served in primary most of my life, except once I was YW Secretary. I am currently enjoying being calling free until Amy is a little older. I've been active in the church most of my life, but had an inactive stint during my teen years...from about 14 to 19. Thank goodness I came back, because my testimony of the Gospel is what helps me make it through difficult times, and what brings me joy every day of my life. I truly know that my Savior died for me. And over the past year have finally realized that I don't have to achieve perfection on my own....that the Atonement truly applies to me, today, right where I am. I cannot overcome my weaknesses on my own, only through Him.

I love going to movies and love watching TV. I like most reality shows, Big Brother, Survivor, SYTYCD. I also like ER, Friday Night Lights, and a handful of others that I can’t think of because they’re not on right now. I watch too much TV, but love the invention of TIVO because it makes my TV viewing more productive. I only watch my shows, and I skip commercials.

I am not an outdoorsy . I grew up as one, and am not sure when I changed…maybe when I had kids. I do not enjoy camping. I will go to a cabin, though. ;o) We are going camping in August with all the kids, though, so that should be interesting.

DH and I try to go on a date weekly. We go to a movie, usually. MY favorite part of date night is a good dinner, his favorite part is the movie. Somehow, we go to just a movie quite a bit. But I occasionally force him to go to a good sit down dinner. He likes drive-thru. LOL.




This is me shortly before pregnancy.....



















This is me shortly after pregnancy......



















Hopefully I can return to my pre pregnancy look by next summer. ;o)

Rachael, Rachael, Rachael

I made a rice casserole the other night for dinner. When Rachael tasted it, she said "This is the best dinner of my life experience." Where in the WORLD does she come up with this stuff?

Toothfairy

She hasn't even started Kindergarten yet! Carrie didn't lose any teeth until the 1st grade! And her new tooth is coming up right behind! She's so excited! Carrie helped her type up a letter for the tooth fairy, and she got TWO dollars! The toothfairy also left a note that said she could tell that this tooth wasn't brushed EVERY single morning and EVERY single night, so try harder to remember from now on!

Sweet Stuff

Rachael went with me to the grocery store last night. I passed the hostess stand, and grabbed a package of cupcakes. I selfishly tried to hide it from her in the cart, but when we got to the checkout, she said "What's that, mom?" So I told her it was for us to share. You know, in the car, before we got home. She said "You and me can split one, and we can save the other big one for Carrie." What a little sweet heart, huh??? Well, then, as we're splitting our one cup cake, she tasted it and said, "Hmmm, that's not half bad!"

Cabin Fun

Last weekend we went to these AMAZING fraction cabins in McCall that our friend owns/develops. Timber Crest. They're INCREDIBLE! And we got to stay there. Flat screen TV's, 3 fireplaces, if I were an experienced blogger, I would've taken pictures of the cabin (see link), but I only got a few of the kids. We invited our friends up, also, Todd & Brandee. Their daughter Riley is Carrie's best friend. They have four kids and are SUPER fun to hang out with!

.

Amy sitting up at only 6 weeks old! The couch is just right so that she can pretend she is big.

We didn't see Kaden much, he was outside riding his "bike" the entire time!

After all that riding, he was thoroughly exhausted!


We hope to go back there, soon! We had such a great time! And next time I'll take more pictures!

Father's Day

I asked Daddy to hold the baby while I got dinner in the oven before we left for church, and this is what I came up to find.

Here's the little angel smiling/almost laughing!

We had a nice Father's Day. We tried to get Daddy breakfast in bed, but you have to get up pretty early to do that, so we had to send him back to bed at 7:30 for his breakfast. We all went to church, and then came home to a nice dinner with Ammon's parents. We missed all the other Dad's in our lives, though. We got to talk to them on the phone, but wished we could see them in person.

Somehow I did not get pictures of all five kids with Daddy. Shame on me. Here's a cute one of Rachael with her pa pa, though.

I'm so grateful for all of the fathers in my life. Especially the father of my children, and the wonderful man that he is. But also my own Dad, my second Dad......my Step-Dad, Grandpa, and my third Dad.....my Father In Law. I'm indeed blessed with all the wonderful fathers I have.

Am I a blogger?

I keep telling Heidi that I can't blog because I have nothing to write about. She said just write about what I do, and then I'll find myself doing things just so that I can blog about them.

Well, summer has begun. Carrie has swim team every day, and the littles have summer preschool M-W-F to save my sanity. Amy and I are going to get our exercise by walking around the park on those days while Carrie swims. I'd like to start tomorrow, but I have my 6 week doctors appt...which I'm not really looking forward to due to having to step foot on a scale, but oh well.

For summer fun so far, we've gone to my sister's graduation. Here is Emma riding a bike at Grandpa Jensen's house. She was pretty pleased to find he had bikes and toys!

Kaden was pretty happy to find bikes, as well. And no, he doesn't care what color it is!

Carrie is doing her favorite thing...holding her little sister, Amy, who is 5 weeks old in this photo!

And here is my litte Rachael (Rae Rae) looking just as sweet as ever! Notice her hair! I had a lady do it right before I had the baby, and it'll last til AUGUST! SWEET! I've done braids on her before, but I'm not as good, mine only last 1-2 months.