Careful and Not Casual

 Last night for Family Home Evening we had dinner in the basement, watched Bible Videos that supplemented the Come Follow Me curriculum for the week, and shared individual thoughts about things we learned during general conference. The kids all took turns sharing their posters that they took notes on during conference, and each of them taught us something about their testimony of the Savior and how it is being strengthened and growing...

I had the distinct thought as I was putting things away from conference...

"Don't put this away! Make each day a celebration!" So, that's what we did and it was fun for everyone. Sometimes just doing something different than usual or even in a different place (and adding some candle light ;) can make something seem special...so that was what our night felt like...SPECIAL.

Sister Becky Craven spoke during the Saturday session of general conference, and I remember her saying something about celebrating the gospel in every family setting...and THAT'S what I always try to do! 

I want to be CAREFUL and not CASUAL when it comes to strengthening my family in the gospel.

That same thought was reaffirmed to me multiple times today as I was out running in the morning and listened to the talks again, and also as I went to the temple. I KNOW that careful and deliberate planning of special time together as a family will not only strengthen my family relationships, but will also strengthen testimonies too...and ultimately THAT is what I want, so that we can be together as a family...FOREVER!

The Most Awesome Weekend EVER

 What an amazing fun filled, spirit filled, family filled weekend we have had!!! 

This weekend had so much good  packed into it, that I feel so extremely thankful and blessed for ALL the goodness that Heavenly Father has given and CONTINUES to give to me and my family.

 We had such a blast taking pictures in our employee and friend Zach's car for Dallin's SBO pictures!

We knew we wanted a cool picture in a cool car, but Zach went above and beyond for his good buddy Dallin. Not only did he let us get a picture in his car, but he did a nice burn out to make some amazing effects for the picture too!!! We definitely did NOT expect this, but Dallin was overwhelmed with awe, excitement, and gratitude!!! He was in LOVE with how these pictures turned out...but wouldn't you be too, if you were a 16 year old boy in this sick car?? ;) ;)

 Clint and Kesslyn enjoyed a daddy daughter date to the Jazz game and Kesslyn was so excited!  She wore her pink Jazz jersey and kept talking about her date with daddy all day long...and it did not disappoint! She even brought home a Jazz drawstring back pack from the prizes given out filled with little Jazz packs of Skittles!!!

She was in heaven!!! :)

 Then....my most favorite part of the weekend was General Conference! 

We look forward to this conference every 6 months with great joy and anticipation. We love the feeling in our home and in our everyday life from embracing the words, testimonies and counsel from our living prophet and other leaders of the church. I LOVE the spirit that permeates within the walls of our home...and I LOVE that my children are gaining that same love for these sacred and special things. 

 We even got to have my nephew Xaxton with us for the entire weekend and he loved it too. You know you are building strong family relationships when you can both PLAY together and PRAY together, right? Building strength within our family relationships spiritually is also one of the greatest blessings of the gospel. It brings families together, reminding me that what is bound on earth, is also bound in heaven...

I LOVE general conference.

It is also a fun tradition that we have to open up the "Conference Store" where the kids can spend their "Conference Cash" that they are handed out all throughout the sessions when they are being active in listening and participating...it's a win-win for everyone!

 Kesslyn especially this year being a little older to understand really loved what we were doing as a family, and I loved watching everyone helping her to understand what we were doing...we really are growing together as a family in every single way...

 Kambriella is such a good big sister too helping Kesslyn to sing, and even lead the music as we had the opportunity to do so with the choirs on T.V. 

It really warms my heart to see such simple acts of service bring so much love into our home.

 It's a real gift for a mom to see...

 ...but what can make my heart burst even more is to see a righteous and loving father set such a good example for our boys (and Xaxton too) by taking the time to make time for the important things, like taking these boys to the priesthood session together! (And dinner afterwards too of course...;)

 And while the boys were at the priesthood session, I took the little girls and we went to see the new movie Dumbo. :) It was a fun time together, but like always, we really don't care WHAT it is we are doing, as long as we are together! :)

 Also, in between sessions of general conference, we worked on making the posters for Dallin's running for SBO...

 And yep! They pretty much turned out to be the most amazing thing Dallin has ever seen...;)

 He rocked these posters and was so happy with how they turned out!

In the words of all the teenage boys..."They are SICK!" ;)

 Then, after conference was over, these kiddos went outside for a bit of fresh air and climbed up on "the roof." 

  Not only did they climb up on the roof, but they had a picnic up on the roof too!!!

Pretty ingenious if you ask me...a table AND chairs with food on it too...and NO spilling or falling!!! A small miracle indeed!! ;)

 We also finished up making some T-shirts for the SBO campaign...

 Dallin had a great idea, and we brought it to life. I am so thankful for all of these tools we have that help make a mom's job possible!

 And not only did it make my job possible (helping my son) but it made him so very happy and grateful. :)

"Be a Pal..Vote For Dal" sounds like a winning phrase to me! ;)

 And that's what Dallin is to everyone. A real Pal. That's why everyone counts Dallin as their friend. He genuinely cares about others and wants to help others feel happy, good about themselves, and to feel Heavenly Father's love through him. He does a great job trying, and the little siblings all see the good example too...it's awesome. I LOVE this feeling of love and unity in our home.

 We are all on the same team too...The Trickett Team! And Clint and I are the head coaches, along with our Heavenly Father who is the greatest coach of all...and we are all in training together.

 I can't think of a better team to be on. The winning team!

It's been an awesome weekend, and when we line up all of the good, we are more grateful and blessed than ever. We feel surrounded by Heavenly Father's goodness and love in so many ways and I often wonder how I will ever be able to repay Him...but then I remember that it is a life long process and I just need to take it one day at a time, and do the very beat that I can...and that's what I am doing...me and this awesome team!

I Love Lucy!

Yesterday was Kambriella's 4th grade Wax Museum! 

This has been a fun project that Kambriella had to do where she chose a famous person, read their biography, wrote a report on them, and then got to dress up like them and pose as a "wax figure" while all of the parents and other people got to walk around and admire them. :) Kambriella chose to do Lucille Ball or "Lucy" as in "I Love Lucy."

This girl nailed it!

 We found an awesome outfit from the D.I. and thank heavens that Kambriella has a mom that is also a cosmetologist!!! I really wondered HOW we were going to pull off Lucy's hair (especially since Kambriella doesn't have bangs!) but we did it!!!

It made me feel so good and so happy to see how pleased Kambriella was with her character after she was all done...she said to me...

"Mom! You are SO good. Do you know any other moms that could do this hair do???"

I laughed and smiled and said, "Nope!" :) I guess she's the lucky one! ;) ;)

I loved standing back in the classroom and hearing everyone ooo and awe over "Lucy!" Everyone thought she looked JUST like her! Minus the red hair of course...but Lucy was originally a blonde so Kambriella was totally fine. ;) ;)

 Kambriella also fit the character perfectly because she, like Lucy, has quite the funny personality! Always trying to make people laugh and always thinking that EVERYTHING is funny!

But hey, that's not a bad thing! If she can learn to laugh and enjoy life now, then she will be that much better off in the future, I say.

 Great job Lucille! I mean Lucy!!!...;) ;)

I really do LOVE Lucy!!!

Birthday Kisses EVERYDAY~4 Times a Day!

Clint and I have a simple but sweet tradition that I  LOVE!!!

We celebrate "our birthdays" everyday - 4 times a day!

That's right.

EVERYDAY, 4 TIMES A DAY! :)

Clint was the one that started this...but it has stuck with us ever since...October 29th (Clint's birthday) and September 22nd (my birthday) are represented on the clock as 10:29 and 9:22. Soooo...everyday at those times, both a.m and p.m. (thus making it 4 times a day;) we smooch away for the entire minute until our birthdays have "passed." 

I LOVE that even when we are not together we still call or text, or snap a picture like this to send ;)  ;)...

...and we stay more and more in love with each other every single day because of it. Plus, I know how completely busy and needed by everyone else in the world my husband is, and so when I get stopped for my kiss or text, or phone call on "my birthday" it literally means sooo much to me. It brightens my whole day just knowing that he is thinking of me and that no matter how busy he is with life, or work, or other people....I will ALWAYS be his favorite and his #1 priority!

So, my advice to you??

Embrace fun and loving traditions such as these into your life and always let the people you love most know just how much you care and how much they mean to you!!!

Now...I gotta go...it's almost Clint's birthday! ;) ;)

So Happy For Him

 Talking to Anziano Trickett on his p days has been so much fun...:)

Getting to not only read his updates, but also being able to hear and see the expressions on his face and in his voice have been so very satisfying. :)

 I believe he has been happy on his mission, but it is very evident in the things he says, the way he interacts with the people around him, and the look in his eyes that this is very true and I KNOW he is happy on his mission...he is constantly telling me that he is having the time of his life! 

 He will say, "Mom, I don't know what I did to deserve to be here in Italy right now at this time, but one thing is for sure, I am so so so so so grateful! These are moments that are going to stay with me forever!"

And I couldn't be happier for him! :)

An Irish Daddy Daughter Date

 For Activity Days in March, Kambriella invited her Dad to the Daddy Daughter Date celebrating St. Patrick's Day!

 They dressed in green, ate yummy food, played some fun games to see how well they knew each other, and even got their pictures taken with a real live leprechaun! (I'm still waiting to get those pictures back :)

 I love what good sports these dad's are, and how much their little girls admire them. :) I also love all of the time and dedication that their leaders put in to providing these special experiences and sweet opportunities to make memorable and meaningful experiences for these girls. I just love them!

I also thought it was very cute that Kambriella wanted to set a trap to catch a leprechaun at our house too!

 She had a great idea for trying to lure him in! But, in the morning when she woke up, all she found in the trap was some gold foil wrapped Rollo's...but no leprechaun! ;) 

The Jazz Bear, Cousins, and Crab! Oh my!

 The weekend was great! Full of fun and family like always... :)

Clint and I got a large bucket of popcorn tossed over our heads by the Jazz Bear...;)

Clint and I also made an early morning temple trip on Saturday. This is always one of my very favorite things to do with my sweetie...I feel an amazing amount of peace and clarity when I am in the temple!

Also the boys went to the temple with their friends on Saturday morning. :)

 Kambriella had a cousin sleepover with Madyson. I went to tuck them in bed around 1:30 in the morning and found them both snuggled in together...they stayed that way the whole night! And although they wished they had more time to spend together they are learning to be grateful for whatever time they can get!

 After volleyball and basketball games, we also took the family to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner! This was the promise that Clint ha made to Dallin since he was out of town ON Dallin's birthday...

 I LOVE that my entire family has now learned to love seafood too! We can actually go to a nice restaurant and get something other than chicken and fries! ;)  ;) Plus, seafood is so good for you, and it brings out the little Eskimo girl in me too, since I grew up in Alaska. I have so many good memories that seem to come whenever I go and eat seafood...especially salmon! I grew up catching those fish straight from the river!! 

 Eating at Joe's is such a fun time...fun atmosphere, great food, and smiles all around! We just missed having Kierra and Riley with us this time!  Oh...and Bella too. ;)  ;)