O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree

There are some tree-mendous benefits

to living in the great state of Colorado.

We spent a few pleasant hours hiking through

the beautiful mountains and warm sunshine of Colorado

to find the perfect Christmas tree.

Is there anything more symbolic

than seeing freshly cut trees atop cars full of families

to herald the beginning of the Christmas Season?

They always look smaller in the forrest!

Ice storm beauty

I love photography

(meaning, "I love that other people know how

to take beautiful pictures.")

I, on the other hand,

don't know how to capture beautiful pictures

but sometimes the beauty of God

placed before us in nature

can't help but be captured-

even by an amateur like me!

Sacred Milestones

On November 1, 2009 our family had two milestone events

occur upon the same sacred day.

Our oldest child

Jacob Bryan Wilcox

was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood

&

our youngest Child

Eve Isabelle Wilcox

was given a name and a blessing.

What a beautiful day!

(Thank you dear friend Becki- beckimadsenphotography.blogspot.com-

for helping us capture the sweet spirits of our children!)

Happy Halloween!

Nothing scary about this crew!

Aunt Laura came for a visit and made

crayon costumes for Aubree and herself! Adorable!

Seth was Darth Vadar, naturally.

Amelia wore the clown costume the my Mom made

for my little brother (who is now 28!)

And Eve and I were the perfect Farmer & Pea-in-a-pod duo.

Fleeting Moments

Eve is my sixth baby.

I've learned a few things during my years as a mother.

Well... maybe only two things.

But these two thing alone are worth learning.

#1 The sleepless nights don't last forever.

#2 The sweet newborn phase doesn't last forever either.

They grow much too quickly.

The moments are fleeting.

Luckily a Mothers Heart captures these moments,

...where they are planted,

...and they become even more sweet

with time.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Last Fall (I'm obviously doing some catch up blogging)

we spent a great day working together.

We keep our trailer (our Poor-Mans Cabin)

in a beautiful spot called "Trout Haven."

Conversations usually go like this:

Parents: "Let's go spend the weekend at Trout Haven, Kids!"

Kids: *whining* "But there are no electronic devices up there

in which we can rot our minds!"

It takes two deep breaths of mountain air for the kids to

change their minds and begin working on their reasons for

never leaving Trout Haven.

This weekend we put up a couple of swings in the trees.

It's amazing how much fun a kid can have when you put them to work!

(aka: putting a sharp ax in their hands!)

"Guess what, Mom?!"

I was going to wash off the lip gloss before heading to the store,

but on second thought...

the generously applied lip gloss may be just the thing necessary

to draw the attention from

her shorts (it's FREEZING outside),

her loud socks

and her shoes on the wrong feet-

all of which she refuses to change.

Amelia is so stubborn.

Amelia makes me so tired.

But she's a smart cookie:

Whenever she hears me sigh

(typically as a result of her actions)

she promptly says,

"Guess what, Mom?!"

*another tired sigh*

"What, Amelia?"

"I LOVE YOU!!!"

Amelia also makes me so happy!