Silly Kids!

One evening before bed, I was cuddling with Dallin and listening to him do his reading. He had just gotten his new scriptures and was reading about when Nephi had to go back to Jerusalem to get Ishmael and his family. We started talking about how Ishmael had all these daughters that would one day be wives for Nephi and his brothers and then they would be able to have families too. Well, you know, the story goes on and on, but our conversation went on and on too and pretty soon I could just see the wheels turning inside of Dallin's little head. So, I asked Dallin, " What do you think would have happened if Nephi wouldn't have listened to Heavenly Father and gone back for Ishmael and his daughters? What do you think would have happened to their families?" Then Dallin very confidently replied, "Well mom, if there weren't any moms to have babies, then there wouldn't be any kids! -And if there were never any kids, then life would be NO FUN!" I began laughing out loud and had a big smile on my face the rest of the night after that! He is certainly right!!! If there weren't any kids to hug us around our knees and make us laugh and smile and appreciate the little things in life, life would really be NO FUN! My kids give me perspective and a great example to follow. They know how to be kind, loving, confident, forgiving, make friends in an instant, not to be judgemental, Christlike, sweet, sincere, and honest! Oh, and did I say mischievous? ;) Here are just a handful of moments captured on film that prove Dallin's theory of - "NO KIDS = NO FUN!"














Kambriella at Family Home Evening! A.K.A. Little Miss Piggy!













The rest of the bunch following her lead! (I think the lesson we must have learned that night was probably to laugh and be flexible!;)

Kambriella modeling Grandma Panter's shoes and her birthday suit!

I was concentrating on putting on my make-up when I looked over and saw this! "MINE pitty yipstik!"

Dallin saw his sweet little brother Gavin sound asleep in his bed when he decided it would be funny to make him into a pirate! With PERMANENT marker! So this is what we all woke up to!!!

Kambriella is a funny little girl! Here she has made her own little "pooping corner!" Every time she needs to go, she backs herself into a corner and pulls benches, chairs, toys, etc. around her! I think it makes her feel like she's got her own "space" and maybe a little bit of "privacy!" (That is until mom comes on over with the camera!;)

I love this little line up of short legs! Kambriella, Gavin, and their little cousin Brier are all trying to "chill, and relax!" Just putting their feet up like Dad!

One morning I went in to get Kambriella out of bed to find her reading her books to her dear friend barbie who was "hanging out" in Kambriella's french braids! (Don't ask me HOW she managed that one!)

Kambriella also likes to put on her "pitty yipstik" with marker while she is coloring!

I wish I had room to put ALL of the silly things that my kids have done! Dallin wearing Kierra's tutus, Kambriella wearing flip flops in between her little toes instead of her big toes, muscle poses and funny faces...Life is definitely more fun with these little ones around! I love that Clint and these kids help me to have a great perspective on life and what is really most important. These truly are happy days and happy times that remind me to "becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love..."

Once again I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude at the opportunity to be a mother. I give thanks to my Heavenly Father for my sweet husband whom I am sure is the one that is the greatest example of teaching our children how to have fun - for SURE he is a kid at heart!

Gavin Ryker Trickett - Preschool Graduate!

Well, my baby boy has managed to pull out of me almost every emotion possible in just a short little hour and a half window of time! My heart has melted, felt proud, been nervous and excited - I've been all choked up, been amazed and laughed out loud - ALL- at "Preschool Graduation!" Gavin had a fabulous year of preschool where he was able to learn and play and make new friends, all while in the company of his little neighborhood "Fab 5" circle of friends. It's been a lot of fun to carpool with this little bunch of friends and hear all of the highlights of the 5 year old life! Everything from their favorite snack at school -to- who gets to ride home sitting by Kambriella!
Gavin is such a sweet little boy, always looking out for others and always trying to please the mom. I love it most when he tells me, "Mom, I just can't tell a lie so I have to tell the truth..." He is always the one I can count on when Carew and Dallin don't want to fess up to "who did it!" Gavin is always so happy and always helpful and so very quick to forgive and forget. You would never know that he was my saddest baby and that he cried for the first 8 months straight of his life! - Now, he is the sunshine every morning and my sweet (big) baby boy!;) I love you buddy!






















Here they are! The "Fab 5!" Parker, Natalee, Alex, Ashton, and Gavin!

Celebrating Easter!

It is a fun family tradition to go to Grandma and Grandpa Trickett's house on the Saturday before Easter for a fun Easter egg hunt with all of the little cousins. There are plenty of filled eggs hidden in the back yard and they each seem so excited to see how quickly they can try to find them all. Some are filled with sweet treats while others are filled with money!

Here we are! Our family of 7! I love you all and am amazed at how big you are all getting!















Kierra had a ball helping Kambriella find all of her Easter eggs! She would squeal with excitement with each one that she would find!















Here is Dallin reaching an egg for Gavin that he found but was too short too reach!














Carew found some eggs hidden at the top of the slide!














Here is the gang with all their buckets full!














Kierra and Kambriella on Easter Sunday. What sweet sisters!














Here we are! All of daddy's cute girls!














All dressed up in our Easter Best! What a happy, special day!














Our Easter Sunday is a happy day, but our family has a tradition of enjoying the Easter celebration all week long! Starting on the Sunday before Easter, we plan special activities for each day of the week that help us to remember the significant events that happened in the Savior's life before he died. We enjoy an Easter walk where we find symbols of his death and resurrection, activities, games, stories, and even a night where we have a "Jerusalem dinner." We turn out all the lights and eat a dinner of foods that would have been eaten during Jesus' time. We sit on pillows on the floor by candlelight and talk about significant things and try to teach the children something that they may have not already known. It has become one of our families favorite traditions and it has also helped us to remember why we celebrate Easter after all. We are so thankful for our Savior, for His life, for His death, and for His resurrection, and most of all, that He lives!

At the Car Wash

When you look at this picture, what do you see? Do you see bright red, robotic, mechanical eyes or dark, scary shadows in the background? Or, do you see the windshield wipers poised and ready at the bottom of the windshield ready to wipe away the haziness and blur?















While sitting patiently in my car waiting for the wash to be completed, I turned and looked at Kambriella because I wondered what she was doing. Was she asleep? It was so quiet, I didn't hear a sound. I was so surprised to find this...














I couldn't help myself - I had to giggle at what she may have been thinking... "You can do this, you can do this. Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts. It's not a monster..."














"Is it over yet?"















It may have been just a car wash, but to a little baby girl who is just beginning to experience the world around her, it was something that she was very unsure of and maybe a little scary. I was very proud of her for not screaming or freaking out, but rather quietly trying to figure things out, trying to be big and brave. It's a cute little comical moment in the day of the life of a mother, but it is once again a reminder to me that the world will become in the eyes of our children what we will help them to see. After I was done capturing the moment with my camera I pleasantly explained to Kambriella that this was such a silly car wash and it was making our car clean! She saw me smile and giggle and realized that this was OK! I hope that when life presents it's moments, opportunities, and situations to each of us, that we will laugh and giggle and "be not afraid," but realize that everything will be OK! :)

Our Vacation to Lego Land

There are a few reasons why I love going on vacation so much:
1) I don't have to clean, do laundry, or make beds.
2) I am reminded of the 6 most important people in my life and how I should treasure every minute I have with them.
3) I have so many fond memories of family time when I was a little girl and I want my children to have the same, because it is our memories and relationships that will remain with us when this life is over.
This was a short but sweet trip that we all loved, with everything from long conversations in the car, to admiring the view of the sunset and the beautiful ocean, (which Kambriella saw for the 1st time), and of course the kids favorite, LEGOLAND! Here are just a few pictures and highlights of the fun...
Dallin, in heaven, the Mr. Collector of rocks on a rocky beach!















Big sister Kierra and little Kambriella "ooo-ing and ahh-ing" at the lego made nursery rhyme characters on the "princess boat!"















This cute little choo choo train took the kids for a short little ride around the little playground. "Hi Mom!"














Kambriella was feeling "so big and brave" as she watched the other little kids admiring her bravery as she posed in the gaping jaws of the ferocious lion! (Made completely out of legos mind you...)














This ride was one of the older kids favorites! This mechanical arm would whisk you around in every direction while spinning and tipping you upside down! Hold on dad!














All my sweet kids around the King's noble throne! (Of course you can see who takes the seat!;)























This was at Pirate's cove, a little water area where the kids played and cooled down from the heat of the sun.














This ride had water bombs that the people watching could set off and try to get the people on the ride wet. Of course Clint came off dry, hmmm...















Most everything at Lego Land is made out of lego's, including this C3PO!















Here Carew is getting his driver's licence at the lego land driving school. Kierra and Dallin both got theirs too! Watch out!

Finally at the end of the 3rd day of our vacation, (the day before we had to come home) the little princess Kambriella finally gave in and collapsed in a mushy puddle of tiredness and surrendered to a nap! She did not want to miss a beat!

Once again I am grateful to be a mother and a wife and to have opportunities to do fun things with my family both far away and at home. I consider myself one lucky girl to be surrounded by all of these special people, and one hot daddy;) I love you guys to the moon and back!

I love the "light" in my life...

Another beautiful, still morning has come, and yet another inspiring experience has accompanied me on my morning run. I started out down the road thinking to myself which route I might take today. Within just a few moments the road split and I quickly chose to turn left, knowing that I would be passing the view of the temple. I just love to see the temple! It is a symbol of love and peace in my life. As I was running down the road I decided to turn on my headphones to a conference talk given just days ago by Elder David A. Bednar. His talk was comparing personal revelation to how light enters our lives. At times the light enters immediately, like when we turn the light on in a dark room. Other times, the light enters gradually, like the sun rising over the skyline in the morning. So it is with personal revelation. Sometimes things come into our minds immediately of things that we learn or things that we should do. But more often times, things come to us little by little until we are led to know of gospel truths. As my mind was reflecting on these teachings, I came upon the view of the temple and my mind immediately saw the stark contrast of this magnificent building of light against the black canvas of the night sky. I then thought to myself how this holy temple is just that. A beacon of light in a world that often times can seem dark and confusing. The light of the gospel shines constantly whether in the light of noon day or the darkness of night. At this point in my run, I had to cross a busy road and the only way to do so was to go up an elevated sky bridge that will get you safely to the other side. As I ran up the switch backs and reached the highest point, the illuminated temple was even clearer to my view because I was above everything else. While there are many spiritual applications to this scenario, the next thing I saw made me feel overcome with gratitude for the time and place in which we live. Standing on the top of this bridge, I turned in a circle to see the view around me, when to my pleasant surprise, I could see yet another, and then another bright beautiful temple lit up against the night sky! 3 temples in my view from just one simple place! I tried to take a picture of what I saw, but the temples were too far away and the light didn’t carry to my camera. Then I thought to myself, “I guess this is just like life. If you want to be able to see the light, you have to be standing in the right place. Someone can’t carry the light for you and give it to you, but you have to go and see it for yourself.” Next, as I decided to turn around and follow the same route back home, I kept on listening to the conference talk. As I did so, I kept on listening and learning simple little truths. I felt so happy and good inside when suddenly I had to jolt quickly out of the way of a broken tree branch that was hanging down from a tree next to the side walk. It was still very dark at this point and I did not see the branch at first but I could almost feel it as I quickly approached it. I got out of the way just in time and quickly got back on course without getting hit by the branch. Then just a few short steps later, yet another branch was in my path and so I quickly got out of the way. This time I noticed the branch a little sooner so I didn’t feel as threatened. After this brief little experience I thought to myself, “Having the gospel light inside of me and the gift of the Holy Ghost to warn me, I was able to see the danger ahead of me, even in the darkness of night.” I continued running home noticing anything with light that I passed. –Headlights on cars, streetlights on the road, and porch lights on houses. They were all giving off light, and all the while, the sky was beginning to get lighter, little by little – just like how my mind had been receiving spiritual light while I had been out on my run. Then, as I came around my last corner which brought me back to the road that my house was on, I had one more important thought enter my mind about light. I passed a tree that was right next to a street light and as I passed the light and then the tree, I found myself running through a shadow of tree branches where the light had been broken up and cast itself into many places. My mind immediately thought of a prism and how when light enters a prism it disperses the light into many different places and can reflect an even more beautiful light both in darkness and in a room that is already completely filled with light. Then I thought to myself, “We are like those prisms. We have the light inside of us and when we share that light, it can go to many different places and reflect an even more beautiful light that can be shed on all those around us.” Then, with my mind full of personal thoughts and revelation, I had the distinct thought to go inside and write it down so that I truly might be like that prism and share this light with others. I don’t ever want to forget these wonderful thoughts and impressions of light because that is what they give to me…light, and the ability to see things more clearly.

She's my "pot of gold"

We were out driving in a rainstorm the other day when a beautiful rainbow appeared. Although the picture isn't very bright, it was magnificent to see the contrast of the vibrant colors against the dark, stormy sky. The reason why this is so relevant to me right now is because I have a deep love for the beauty of all of God's creations AND I have a sweet and loving daughter who is an inspiration to me in my life AND if you ask her what her favorite color is, she will say...the rainbow. Kierra has been blessed with many talents and a sweet disposition, and lucky for me, a very similar love for the beauties of the world. So, when we woke up the other morning to a beautiful, white, winter wonderland...in APRIL!- we were both so excited to see it! We knew this day was going to be a special day for so many reasons. Not only was it conference weekend, and we had been enjoying an added measure of the spirit in our home and with our family, but Kierra, Clint, and I had all been fasting together for Kierra as she was going to receive her patriarchal blessing on this seemingly crisp, frosty day! I couldn't help but think that Heavenly Father had sprinkled the snow down for us to enjoy and to remind us of the purity and celestial nature of the events unfolding in our weekend. So, to my sweet Kierra who is an angel in my life, I want to say thank you for your appreciation of beautiful things and thank you for bringing so much happiness into my life! I am a lucky mother and you are truly my "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow. I am so proud of you for living a life that resonates color like the rainbow, and peace and purity like this beautiful snow! I love you!