P-Days With Elder Trickett

Every Monday is Dallin's p-day in Brazil, and it's so fun to talk to him, see his happy face, and catch a little glimpse of his mission life. Yesterday him and his companion were walking to the barber to get haircuts, and Dallin stopped at a machine he had never seen before...

It was a cotton candy machine! :)

He chose his flavor, paid the couple of bucks, and watched the machine work it's magic and dispense this perfectly round and colorful cotton candy cloud!

I was there to watch it all, and smile with Dallin over such a simple pleasure.

I am so happy that Dallin is loving his mission in Brazil and finding joy everywhere, from teaching and finding people, to being a good companion and leader, to even the simple things, like a cotton candy machine! :)

 

Primary Activity Days & a Baptism Preview for Kesslyn

On Friday, January 6th, Kesslyn went to her very first primary activity days!

She was so excited about it and kept asking me throughout the week, "When is it time for me to go to activity days?"

This first activity was at Julie Garlick's house. Julie, Stephanie Blaylock, and Angela Nelsen are all her leaders, and we couldn't have asked for a nicer bunch of women to do the job!

They played get to know you  games and had a great time. She is already asking when her next activity is. :)

This weekend we also decided to take a drive up to Honeyville (up by Brigham City) and go to Crystal Hot Springs! This was our 3rd time here, and I have really enjoyed it every time we have gone.

We stopped and ate dinner on the way up, and even brought the girls' friends Chloe and Gabriella Brown. We also met up with Tiffany and Colby and had a fun and relaxing night.

We stayed in the hot springs for about 3 hours! The warmest pool felt almost HOT probably around 104 degrees, so we just went pool hopping to the different pools that were different temperatures. It was a fun night, but we didn't get those poor girls home until almost midnight!

We missed having Gavin with us though because him and his friends decided to go skiing. 

The kids have really enjoyed doing that this winter and I think they will be doing a lot more of it...as soon as they go to work and earn some more money to help pay for it. ;)

Sunday evening we also went to the church for Kesslyn's baptismal preview!

They told us everything we need to know to prepare her for her special day...September 9, 2023.

When we got home Kesslyn opened her bag of goodies that they gave her at the church and found some really fun things...her own goal setting book, some treats, and her favorite...a ring!

Not just any ring either. This is a special ring with the temple on it...an emblem of her belonging.

This is a special time for her in her life, and I love how much she is ready and excited for this next step in her life. She loves her family, she loves Jesus, and she loves doing good.

She is amazing!

What a great year this is going to be for you Kesslyn! I love you baby girl!

 

One on One

Yesterday I checked Kambriella out of school to take her on a lunch date, and you would have thought that I had given her the world! She was so happy! (And so was I because she chose to go to Pizzeria Limone. ;)

But that is why we love trying to take our kids out on individuals dates, because it doesn't take much for them to realize and know how much they are loved. :)

Kambriella did not want to go back to school, but she finally went willingly after we picked up a box of CRUMBLE cookies to take home too. I'm going to try my best to get these dates with these kids! I love them SO MUCH and they are so precious to me. Every single one of them.

(And yes, they think I am Super MOM!)

And I will just let them. :)

Also, can I just say how much I LOVE that my family loves reading the blog entries that I do? When Kambriella saw that I was back at it, she sat right down and stayed there for a long time reading all about our family and what we have been busy doing and how we are making our memories together...

Trying to bring the Spirit into our home in any way I can is part of my life long goals and objectives, and I truly believe that this blog is also like a journal where I record some of my most important thoughts, all of which have to do with my family.

These posts are full of love, laughter, memories, and yes the Spirit. The spirit of love, light, and truth, that THIS family is forever!

 

Time to Put It Away

I love how cozy our home feels at Christmas! But I also love the fresh feeling of getting it all put away and getting our home clean and organized for the start of a new year. I usually leave Christmas up to enjoy for a while after the holiday is gone, but after the way the holidays went last year with Clint's mom's battle with cancer, I feel like it's time to take it all down.

One of my favorite things is our wall of Christmas cards! I LOVE checking the mail in December and seeing the faces of family and friends, that we most of the time don't hear from the rest of the year...people that we used to live by, or grew up with, or touched our lives for a particular moment in time, never to be forgotten...

Their smiles and friendship are a warm reminder of what is most important at Christmas...people!

I take down the cards and put most of them into a scrap book. Friendships and relationships are so important to me and I am so grateful for all of the people that have touched my life over the years and helped me to feel of God's love.

 

Theresa and Clarence

Last night Clint and I were able to attend the Payson temple for the sealing of a dear old friend to her husband, Theresa and Clarence Spencer.

Theresa and I met years ago when our children were little, and we served together in the Primary presidency in our ward in Roy. We became lifelong friends. :)

Life doesn't always go quite as WE plan, and after some rough years for Theresa, I was SO happy to be with her and Clarence in the temple! The spirit was so strong and tears rolled down our cheeks as they were sealed together for time and all eternity.

My testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ was strengthened as a result of being there, and knowing for myself that second chances are always a part of Heavenly Father's plan. Theresa and I also recommitted to being better at getting together more often! Friendships and relationships are so precious and we NEED them and we NEED each other, especially to get through hard things together! (And boy do we need those good times to laugh together too!)

New Year ~ Good Old Habits

It's a new year, and I have some new running shoes! Gratefully I can say that even though it's a new year, and new shoes, these are old habits that I plan to keep for a long long time!

I went to go and buy me a new pair of Brooks Levitate running shoes because they are my favorite, and when I got to the store I was SO EXCITED to see that not only did they have my favorite shoes, but they made them in a special holiday edition with silver and gold threaded snowflakes!!! Whhaaatt??

Susette has cute AND comfortable shoes??

This might be a first. ;)

Also, I was super happy and grateful that Carew and Kara gave me a New Testament scripture set with journal tabs to go along with our Come Follow Me studies for the year.

I have a Book of Mormon scripture journal that I use everyday as well, but this makes me excited to have a little more serious study of the New Testament too.

They also gave me these stickers for the scriptures too, so we will see if I can learn how to implement them too. 

We talked with our kids during family home evening about helping them to accomplish their goals of getting better at their individual scripture study. We have a few incentives in mind to help keep them motivated, but especially to help them learn to fit it in with better time management.

It's a constant, and we'll never be perfect at it, but we are sure going to give it a try!

Happy New Year! It's 2023!

Happy New Year!!! 

I can hardly believe that we are in January 2023. Time continues to race past me, and I realize I cannot get it back, so we need to make the most of what we are given. Every day is a gift.

I truly believe that!

We now have church at 12:00! It was nice for sleeping in a little after we spent New Year's Eve with the Trickett family at Ginger's house. :)

After church (and before) we spent so much time shoveling the snow! It kept on coming and coming! Then we drove to Tiffany and Colby's house and made dinner, played some games together, and stayed the night there at their house.

Early Monday morning Gavin and Kambriella went snowboarding with cousins Desiree, Josh, and Blaze at Nordic Valley in Ogden. That was the main reason we stayed the night at Tiffany's house too, because the snow kept coming down and we didn't want to have to worry about the kids driving themselves. They had a blast staying on the mountain ALL DAY!

Gavin and Kambriella both said they are "naturals" and that they want to go back as much as possible!

While the kids were on the mountain, Clint, Kesslyn, Tiffany, Colby, and I all went and sat in the hot tub while the snow softly came down. It was the perfect time to be in the hot tub!

We played lots of games, went to lunch, and watched the Rose Bowl football game.

My favorite missionary also called me from the top of the mountain in Brazil too!

(Although his mountain views looked drastically different than Gavin and Kambriella! ;)

This kid is SO happy. He received his new sunglasses in the mail that we ordered him for Christmas, and he had so many cute pictures of him wearing them. :)

(This one of him at the temple is my favorite!)

Our stake has also asked if we could have Dallin make a short video that they can share in stake conference coming up next month. He sent it to us today, and I was literally so proud of him. He is such a ray of sunshine in so many ways, and I know he is going to be successful in life because he knows how to work hard, and how to include Jesus Christ in all of his plans. If people can learn that early in life, they will be so much further ahead. He is not perfect, but he is definitely on his way to understanding what life is all about. I love how missions do that to people! Shape us, and help us to be the best that we can be, all while serving and helping bring others to Christ.

Tiffany and I also had a ball playing games with Kesslyn today. :)

We played Chutes and Ladders, Toy Story Operation, Memory Matching Game, and of course Skull King. :) Kesslyn won most of the time, and I wasn't surprised! She is so smart.

After all the fun was over, we went and picked up Gavin and Kambriella, and headed home. 

Our Christmas break has come to an end, and we are tucking our children into bed so that they can wake up early in the morning and get back to school.

I LOVE having the breaks with my kids and all of the time we get to spend together.

I want to hold onto all of these precious moments, and let these little memories be recorded here, so that our family can always look back and remember that we have a special family that loves the Savior, and tries hard to live as He would want us to live, loving each other all along the way in everything we do.

Good luck this week everyone!

Bring on 2023!