The itchy letter

"Mom, let's sing the song about the itchy letter."

"The song abot WHAT??"

"That song we sing about the itchy letter!  .... oh, yeah, I remember now... b-i- ITCHY- o, b-i- ITCHY- o, b-i- ITCHY- o, and Bingo was his name-o!"

I love the mind of a 3 year old!  

Cotillion

For six weeks each January Jacob and Aubree are tortured with "Cotillion". 

Classes to teach them manners and dancing.  

Jake insisted he didn't need such a class.

I insisted he did.

Aubree was heads above the rest of her class.  Literally.

-Aubree and good pal Kyle Stearns-

Although Jake and Alex (Stearns) were surrounded by lovely girls...

...here is how they preferred to spend their evening.

With a little coaxing (mingled with a few threats and bribes)

Jake asked a girl to dance with him.

"Enough with the camera, Mom!"

(oh, if looks could kill!)

Maybe it's not so bad....

Jake even busted a few moves!

On this graduation night, parents were invited to attend the dance.

These kids have some moves! 

 

I'm so proud to call them mine!  

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.

"A scout is clean"

Scout Law:

"A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, 

obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent."

(scout leader and good friend, Tom Miller)

There are moments that make a mother proud.

And then there are moments that leave a mother speechless.

I bet "A scout is CLEAN" was added 
by a group of speechless mothers when their sons came back 
after  one week at scout camp looking like my son.

P.S. The new tooth brush I sent with Jacob came back a week later

still in the package. 

Yeah. 

Speechless.

a GENEROUS 12

Aubree is good.  She just came that way.  

I'd would love to take credit, but I'm afraid God would strike me dead 

for stealing His glory.

For Aubree's 12th Birthday she wanted to plan something fun.  

Something different.  Something meaningful.

Here is what she came up with...

***********

It’s going to be a farm-tastic birthday party!

February 24^th-25^th

6pm-10am

(Sleep over!)

Come dressed as a farm animal!

5770 Dynasty Ridge Court 80918

RSVP 260-6365

Wouldn’t it be fun to buy a cow, a pig, or a llama for a needy family in a Third World Country?!?!?

(go to www. heifer.org for more information)

If you would be willing to donate money for this cause

rather than buying a birthday gift,

please enclose your donation in the attached envelope.

(It doesn't have to be much.)

***********

The night of the party 13 energetic girls gathered together.  

They cleverly decorated these cupcakes and barn to enhance the party theme.

Then they wrote a song to the tune of "Old McDonald" 

asking for donations for "Hefer International".

The neighbors loved their caroling and kindly donated 

(whether is was for the good of the cause

Or to make them stop sining, I'm still not sure.)

They counted up their money and decided what to buy for a needy family in Honduras:

1 pig

1 goat

1 flock of chickens

1 flock of geese

seeds for a garden

3 fruit trees

2 bee hives

  Happy Birthday Aubree!

You are an amazing girl, Aubree.

Always kind.

Always thinking of others.

Always full of light.

Always BEAUTIFUL.

Well.... almost always beautiful!

What a great group of girls!!!

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.