First day of school 2012-2013

First day of school

2012-2013

Farmington Jr. High, here we come!

Feeling a little bit nervous....

....and a little bit excited....

....and exceptionally cool. Yo.

 What a good-lookin' crew!

 I hope their teachers are ready for this much awesomeness!!!

Amelia's first day of Kindergarten!

 It's hard to be happy about this day when I've been dreading it for five years now.

Amelia has consumed my life.  Sometimes that has been frustrating.  But somehow in those frustrating moments I fell entirely in love.  She has been my shadow, my helper, my company, my singing partner, my comic relief, my friend.

Oh, how I love this little angel.

Have a happy day, sweet girl.

Seth's Baptism

April 28, 2012

A day to be recorded in the life of 

Seth Joseph Wilcox.

 Seth was Baptized and confirmed by his Dad.

He was surrounded by family and friends who support his decision and adore his sweet spirit...

 Grandma and Grandpa McConkie

Uncle Brandon and favorite cousin Ian 

(along with the other BK Wilcox cousins)

Aunts Marianne and Laura

 ...who got a little too generous with their kisses for Seth's liking!

A picture with the whole family and both grandparents. Too bad we all look like such goofs!

 Baptism days are wonderful days.  

But Seth's story of commitment to the covenants he made through his baptism 

began long before this day.

 January of 2011 we began to focus on a new family theme: "Feast upon the Words of Christ".

We asked the kids to set a goal for scripture reading...

10 minutes each night, 2 pages... it was their decision.  

Seth, 6 1/2 years old at the time, set the lofty goal to finish the Book of Mormon on his own 

before he was baptized.

 I was proud of his enthusiastic goal and his initial dedication the first few weeks, 

but I was certain that his progress would come to a screeching halt somewhere around 

the middle of second Nephi.

But this sweet boy stole my heart and proved me wrong!  

 Early mornings found him sitting on the couch 

reading as consistently as the sun did rise: day after day, month after month.

It was his book of choice.

I love this picture because it reminds me of the many times I found him in an unexpected place reading with awe-inspiring focus.

(This was snapped while on an airplane.)

I'm not sure how much a seven year old retains when reading ancient records, 

but if watching him read this book makes his Heavenly Father 

half as happy as it makes his earthly momma, 

then he is bound to spend a lot of time walking in the good grace of God.

We love you Sethy boy! 

"They want to love us." -Aubree

I knew that the children we would meet would have a great need to be loved.

After all, love is a basic need.

But I was taken aback when these sweet children taught me that they had an equally basic need 

to GIVE love.

We were lucky and humbled to be the recipients of the love from their over flowing hearts.

This precious little guy discovered that Bryan was willing to play "1-2-3, JUMP!" for hours.  

He spent the rest of the afternoon rubbing Bryan's whiskered chin.

He had not only found his way onto Bryan's shoulders....

...but also found a cozy place in his heart.

He walked us to the bus, rubbing Bryan's hand until the very last second.  

Such a sweet little boy.

"We can't speak their language but the kids still like to play with us" ~Hayden

Within 2 hours of our arrival in Cuenca, Ecuador we were on a bus headed to an orphanage. The bus driver had his two children on the bus with him, a young boy and girl.  Our youngest two kids, Hayden and Seth climbed onto the benches nearest them.  I wondered if their shy nature would overpower the situation.  Within 30 seconds the four of them, unable to communicate in any other way, made eye contact, offered smiles, spoke their own names, then began to PLAY!  

Rock, Paper, Scissors.  Thumb Wars.  Crazy Faces.  

It is a universal desire for children to just PLAY together.

We found this to continue to be true everywhere we went.

  

“Play is the language of children”

~Making friends with the bus driver's children~

~Soccer at the orphanages~

~"1,2,3.... JUMP!"~

~Fist bumps~

~Shoulder Rides~

~Coloring~

~Gathering rocks on a walk~

~Girl Talk & Snuggling~

~Sticky-Frog on a bald head is funny in ANY language!~

~This little girl had such a cute sense of humor!

She would keep her eyes open when we said "Uno! Dos!", then quickly close them when we said "Tres!"

Such a tease!~

~Climbing into an empty lap for some play time~

~Swinging~

~Baket ball and Soccer in the Amazon Rain Forest.  

The kids were so happy to have visitors playing with them~

~Back of the bus shenanigans~

~Swimming~

~More Soccer!  Our favorite pass time with the kids at the OSSO orphanage.

These kids played soccer long and hard!~

~These kids loved being pushed in their chairs,
but sometimes they just wanted to play goalie without any assistance!
So inspiring!~

~

~We played SO MUCH SOCCER that we popped the ball!

We brought the kids a new ball the next day.... GAME ON!!!~

~Being a kid and playing so hard is exhausting work~