Christmas 2020

 

I'm finally getting around to one of my lasts posts from 2020, and this one is a special one...Christmas!!!

On Christmas Eve we hosted my sister Tiffany's family and we had a yummy fancy dinner with turkey and salmon, salads, sides, veggies, and appetizers...

Although we were missing some of our favorite people, we were grateful to share with who was there.

Holidays and celebrations really wouldn't be the same if you didn't have people you love to share them with!

And I love these people.

We bring out the best in each other.

And just look at the excitement in the eyes of little Kesslyn and Kambriella!!! Christmas Eve is so magical, especially for children!

After eating our yummy dinner we cleared off the tables and watched Kesslyn put on a little puppet show, and played games until we couldn't hold the long blinks back any longer.

Carew was with Kara's family, and it's Kierra and Riley's year to spend Christmas with his family, so we missed them, and were happy Maicen was here all the way from Wisconsin!

Sweet Kambriella took it upon herself to make a homemade stocking for Peve too! She made a pattern, cut up an old t-shirt, sewed some hand made pom-pom's, added some glitter and voila!  A stocking for Peve!

I thought it was sweet and selfless (we encourage ANYTHING that is selfless!) of her to think of doing that for their kitty. And lucky for Peve, Santa actually left him a few things in it! :)

The Christmas tree always looks so beautiful lit up and full of gifts underneath.

And this is the sweet letter that Kambriella wrote for Santa. :) So sweet!

On Christmas morning Carew was finally the first one awake and so he went through the house waking everyone up. It was around 9:00, which I LOVE. Our kids have never really been early risers on Christmas and I have always enjoyed that. :) Getting a little extra "sympathy sleep" for Santa!

After we had family prayer and brushed our teeth, I made the kids take a few pictures in their Christmas jammies. :)

And it's somehow always been a tradition to take a picture sitting on the stairs, oldest to youngest before going to see the presents!

And their faces say it all!!! :) :) :)

Santa is always so good to my kids. I hope they always are grateful...

It was actually so cute too that Peve curled up in the little manger with baby Jesus and watched the kids open all their gifts! He was reminding them of whose day it really was. ;)

Everyone got new robes and long boards (except Kesslyn who instead got a light up scooter.)

They loved them. They are SO cool. ;)

Kesslyn was thrilled with all of her gifts, but especially her princess Barbie's! Every little girl's dream come true!

But this gift was my favorite one of all...

I ordered for each of my children their favorite temple that was made into a night light and a music box!

They each have one of their favorite songs personalized to play with their temple. Such a special gift, and something I hope they will cherish for years to come.

It was a wonderful Christmas in a year when life was a little different, but yet where our family still had SO MUCH GOOD prevail. But I think that also has a lot to do with the fact that we try our best to also let GOD PREVAIL in our lives. When we do that, things always work out. 

On Christmas night, as one of the last things we did, we all took our Coke's from Japan that Uncle Chad and Aunt Mayumi sent us, and we pulled the tabs into the Christmas ribbon that they were made for, and drank them up! I love thinking of life like that...each day a gift! Each meal and drink and gathering a celebration of all the good that God gave us that day...

Merry Christmas 2020 from the Trickett family!

Tubing and a Christmas Star

Before we get too far into the New Year, I have a couple of posts to catch up on from Christmas! 

Like this awesome one! Tubing at Woodward! :)

Santa just knows how much fun we all have doing these winter activities together, and so he sent us to Park City to the tubing place that we love!

There were tons of people there that day, and it was actually so warm!

It was the perfect weather for sledding!

A few of us shed our coats because we were getting so hot, but it was SO nice to NOT be freezing! :)

This place is so awesome because you get to ride a "moving sidewalk" with your tube up the mountain, and just enjoy the ride both ways!

We would talk and visit going up the mountain, and then cheer and scream and laugh the whole way down. It was SO much fun!

This was also the day of the winter solstice and the Christmas star that hasn't been seen in over 400 years! I'm sad to say I don't have any pictures of it, but we did enjoy sitting in my back yard around the campfire looking at it up in the sky!

After we finished up tubing we drove to Mod Pizza and had a late lunch/early dinner. We were still warm enough that we ate our pizza outside on the patio! :)

After we finished eating we drove to my house where we watched for the star...it was actually the 2 planets of Jupiter and Saturn that were so close together that they appeared to form one bright star. It was a neat "gift" to us for Christmas after a year of craziness during a pandemic.

It was actually a beautiful and wonderous sight...

..and this day like so many other days left my heart feeling full of gratitude for all of the good in my life, because there is SO much good.

I am so grateful for my health, my family, and ALL of the gifts of time, togetherness, beauty, family, traditions, and memories that help me remember and feel God's love in my life.

 

Well Rounded

On Saturday our primary president Sister Williams came to our house with a special delivery for Kambriella!

She brought her her very own pepperoni pizza and a letter that said that she hoped that primary helped to make her "well-rounded"...as she moves on to young womens!

It certainly has, and I think she is very ready for what lies ahead. :)

On Sunday we had Gavin ordained to the office of a Priest, and he and Kambriella both received their temple recommends (Dallin already got his:), but it is Kambriella's first one and she is so excited to use it as soon as the temples open again. 

We can't wait!

We also said goodbye to our good friend and neighbor Rhett (Elder Butler) as he headed off today to the Texas McAllen mission! 

Until we meet again!

Ringing In 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This year we decided to spend New Year's Eve doing something fun that we have never done before, and we took a drive up to Honeyville Utah to the Crystal Springs Hot Springs!

It was such a fun night and SO relaxing soaking in the natural hot springs that were sooooo warm!!! 

They said that the high temperature of the water ranges there anywhere from120 to 134 degrees!!!

It felt SO nice and warm!

There were quite a few people with the same good idea as us and it was quite a happening place to be!

There was a big and bright full moon out, and the air was cold and crisp, but the water was just sooooo nice and warm! I loved it so much!

One of our favorite parts of the hot springs was behind a curtain waterfall where it felt like we were secluded in some far off exotic paradise like Jamaica or something, :) I tried to get a picture but the visibility behind the waterfall was minimal...soooo foggy from all of the steam!

There were also some fun waterslides that the kids kept going on, and after soaking there for a couple of hours we drove back home for games, treats, and lots of late night fun.

Midnight came before we knew it, and so of course we had to ring in the New Year with a New Year's kiss! I love my sweetie so much and look forward to what 2021 will bring to us and our family!

We stayed up playing until about 3:00 in the morning and then crashed at Tiffany's house for the night. This sweet little angel tucked herself into her sleeping bag though just a little after midnight. 

It was a fun celebration, and I felt so grateful to be able to spend it with some of these special people that I love so much!

Happy 2021! I'm certain it's going to be a good one! :)