Such a fun weekend!

 This weekend was so fun! (Although we missed Dallin while he was visiting Bryce Canyon with his friend Anson's family) we did some really fun activities and had a great time together!

 Friday night we went to our very 1st play at the brand new Hale Center Theater! It was beautiful and I felt like a star being treated to the 1st class family entertainment! We saw the play "Cash On Delivery" and laughed our guts out!!! It was hilarious!
(Also, Gavin got to invite a friend since Dallin was gone, so he invited Alex. :)

 We also ran into some friends of ours, the Burton's. It was such a fun family date night, (except that Kesslyn had to have a babysitter since she's not old enough to sit through the plays) but what makes me even more excited is that Clint bought our family season tickets to the Theater and so we will get to do this once a month for most of the year! Yay!

 Saturday was also a fun day too! We woke up bright and early to go to Gavin's basketball game, (where his team won and Gavin was responsible for half of their points! ;) then I took Kambriella and dropped her off at a friend's house to play for the afternoon, and then took Gavin and his friend Parker to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple!  

 These are 2 good friends and 2 good boys that decided to stay to do the service there even though it was a 2 hour wait. They decided what better place could they spend 2 hours just sitting? :)

 Kesslyn and I did some shopping while we waited for them, and then after they were done Gavin wanted to go to Sodalicious for a treat! So we did!

 Kesslyn had a sucker, but decided she didn't want it and so took my cookie...:)

Parker and Gavin had a soda, rice krispy, and cookie...and got out a little of their goofy side ;)

 Kesslyn snuggled up to Gavin...she LOVES her family!

 Then on Saturday night, we went as a family to go see the movie The Greatest Showman!

I loved the show, and was so happy that Kesslyn loved it too! She sat through the whole movie (most of the time on my lap ;) and only got restless once, but we never had to leave! She is getting so BIG!

Then on Sunday, we went to church and a TREK fireside, and Gavin and Kambriella decided they wanted to hang up Gavin's hammock that he got for Christmas and lay in it and listen to some conference talks! They borrowed my phone to listen to the talks, and apparently took a few photos too...:)

 I feel blessed as a mom to have such good kids and I love that THEY love our family and each other! They genuinely are best friends and care about each other...and although they still have their moments, I know that there is nowhere they would rather be than TOGETHER. :) And this makes my heart happy!!!

And HEY! There's no school for the next 2 days either so I hope that we will just get to continue on having fun!!! (I could take down Christmas today...but...nah! :)

Reflections Region 6 Awards Night

 Last night Clint and I went with Kambriella to the Region 6 Reflections awards night where Kambriella was honored as one of the 250 finalists out of the 50,000 entries made throughout the state of Utah!

And although she will not be moving on to the state level, she has so much to be proud of and WE are definitely proud of this sweet girl! :) Way to go Kambriella! Your dreams are within reach!!!

Just KEEP REACHING for the stars baby girl!!! YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!!!  :) XOXOXO

Good Kids!

A quick child update! :)

As we spend many of our evenings at Gavin's basketball games, we enjoy cheering him on and watching him grow and progress! Gavin is doing awesome in his basketball with last nights win 33-3!

(Kesslyn has a "ball" ;) at the games too helping to hold a baby of our friend that just had twins! :)

 Gavin is also loving getting to attend the temple! It is something that he looks forward to and makes a priority in his life. :) He and his brother Dallin are best buddies and have such a great time together. Dallin is such a good example to Gavin and they build each other up in every way, from going to the temple together, to writing encouraging notes to each other, to helping to pick out awesome outfits to look their best in as they go to school...their love for each other is strong and I love everything about it!

Dallin is also currently involved in the rehearsal and production of the school play Peter Pan! He has the part of John Darling and is LOVING acting! He is still taking acting lessons and had the unique opportunity to be filmed by the news station KSL yesterday as they will be doing a report on it in between general conference sessions during this upcoming general conference! (So be sure to watch for him on T.V. between conferences...) Pretty fun! :)

Also, tonight we will be attending another awards ceremony for the Reflections contest for the Jordan school district! We will see Kambriella's artwork displayed there and are so proud of her hard work and accomplishments! Way to go Kambriella! ;)

...And...I just had to share this cursive writing paper of Kambriella's! WOW!!! She is just learning how to write cursive and it is soooo beautiful!!! Did I say how proud I am of these sweet kids??? :)

So grateful they have a daddy who has taught them how to be EXTREMELY self confident...;) ;)

Happy Thursday!

Ready To Read

This sweet little girl waited all day to do her reading because she said that she wanted to read with me when it was time to go to bed. 

I told her that was great since our day was so full and packed with places to be...

So, sure enough, she didn't forget! As I was beginning to turn into a pumpkin, she came to me and said, "Mom, are you ready to read?" 

I turned and saw her carrying her scriptures and about melted into a puddle on the floor...I quickly followed her to her room where she began reading to me out loud. I LOVE that Kambriella has a sincere desire to do what's right and to be good...but I also LOVE that her older siblings have been such a great example to her on this. Personal scripture study is such an important habit to have, and lucky for me, my children are already learning that and it makes me so happy! 

Life is hard and if we can each learn where to turn for peace and answers, we will be so much better off in this life!

Kambriella, THANK YOU for your good example to me! And Kierra, Carew, Dallin, and Gavin...

thank YOU for being such good examples to her! I am one lucky mama to have you sweet kids to share this journey with! XOXOXO

I LOVE you!!! 

New Year's Cards :)

 Christmas seemed to FLY by this year and with it so did my time! So, my Christmas cards have turned into New Year's cards! :) But that's Ok, I am still so happy to share the highlights of our family's year with the people that we don't get to see very much! 

2017 was an amazing year for our entire family! :)

 I summed up the moments in a month by month highlighted review in a letter, and added our most current family picture...the one from Kierra and Riley's wedding.

I LOVE that we are ALL together!!! I LOVE this family of mine!!!

 I added a little personal note to some of our closest friends and put them all in this Thomas Kincaid card. His artwork is so nostalgic and beautiful to me..it brings all of the familiar feelings of Christmas to mind with the cozy scenes, the glitter, and the light...I LOVE his work! Both romantic AND magical! :)

I'm excited once again to see what our new year will bring...hopefully more of all of the good stuff, right? ;)

No matter the year, it seems to me that Heavenly Father is continually involved in the details of our lives, and so I am just going to once again leave those details up to Him! 

(I of course will do some planning with His help in mind, but the things that will matter most I think will be on His agenda, and so I will try to align my will with His, have a prayer and gratitude in my heart, and HOLD ON for the ride!!! ;)

Welcome 2018! :)

Cake With Kate :)

The first week of the new year has been full of service for me...and it has continued to bring an added measure of peace and gratitude into my life...but in my need to fulfill my calling, I too had to call upon help in order for me to be available to help others. So, I called Kate! :)

Kate came and babysat Kesslyn for me so that I could go and serve others. She was a hero for me, and what makes it even better...Kesslyn LOVES Kate. :)

 Can you see it in her eyes??? Kesslyn LOVES Kate! And Cake! ;) But the cutest thing ever is that Kesslyn calls Kate "Kake!" It is so cute!!!

NOW you can really see it in her eyes...she's saying, "I LOVE Cake!" :)

 ...or is it...I LOVE "Kake?" :)

 I'm pretty sure it's both!!! :) Kesslyn is saying, "I LOVE having cake with Kake!" ;)

 But really, Kate was so kind to come and spend her morning with Kesslyn so that I could be available to fulfill my calling and help others who needed me...as soon as I got home I took these 2 cute girls to Zupa's for lunch, just because I thought it would be fun, AND because I wanted to say thank you to Kate for helping me out! And we got cake! :) What a good sport! Kate with cake! ;)

 After our lunch we stopped back by the house just in time for the other kids to see Kate, which probably wasn't the best idea because no one wanted her to leave. ;) 

Kambriella and Kesslyn both walked her to her car and said their goodbyes...but she will be back! We love Kake and she loves us too! :) (But mostly Carew ;) and we think that's pretty awesome! :)

Happy New Year!

One of the last fun things we did to ring in the New Year was Clint and I sent the children to my sister's house for a night, and then we spent a night celebrating each other by being together. That is really our main gift to each other for Christmas each year is to go somewhere and have a night with just the 2 of us. It's the BEST thing that a husband and wife can give each other...their TIME! 

Although we did not do much we had a blast just being together, and giving each other our 100% undivided attention with NO interruptions from little ones! It was heavenly! ;)

We met at his work, went to dinner at The Habit, went to see the new STAR WARS movie The Last Jedi, took a long hot bath, stayed up late, slept in, and savored every quiet minute we had together.

We also spent a lot of time talking (which is what we always do) and looking back on the last year that has been AMAZING for our family! Soooo much good came about and we are in utter disbelief and complete shock as to where the time went and just HOW it got to be 2018 already!?!?

In fact, as I sit here this morning, it is the 5th of January...the 1st week of the year already FLOWN by...

All I can say is, we MUST enjoy this journey! We can't ever wait for the moment to come that will "make" us happy, we have to get up every morning and "choose" to be happy! Finding the good all around us makes each day of this mortal journey a gift and an experience that we can take with us when we make our way "back home." Just as our beloved prophet President Thomas S. Monson did just a few days ago...

here are a few of my favorite quotes from him:

As we begin a new year my only resolution is to be a little better today than I was the day before! In a world where being "perfect" is the goal, I feel like this goal fits me perfectly!

 ~ And in the words of President Monson:

I figured that even on the days that don't go "perfectly" there is always a new day to try again! That's kind of  pretty much what the gospel and Atonement of Jesus Christ is all about!

I know that with it as my guide my 2018 will be as bright as my faith!

Happy New Year!