HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY KYMBALL!!!

My baby girl is turning 1 Friday- June 3! I can't believe she has been a part of our family for a year already but I can't remember what we did before her. We all adore her and are so happy that she is here with us every day. She is almost walking, sings throughout the house and as she goes about playing all day every day. She loves to be held and snuggled but sometimes she crawls away into another room and just wants to play by herself. She is wrapping her daddy around her finger where the girls and I sit tightly wound. Ammon & Gabe are a little less amused but still light up when she smiles and coos at them. She is beginning to relax and not cringe away from everyone but Momma... in fact... to my dismay she is beginning to go to Daddy more than Mommy when given the choice. She is happy and beautiful and into everything. She is almost walking on her own but is still cautious. We love her to bits and pieces and can't wait to see what this next year brings! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!!!!

Busy, Naughty, Beautiful, Baby Girl!

Kymball only sits still to snuggle. If she is not snuggling then she is on the move and into everything. She crawls under beds with all of her toys. She will dump out and throw around food if she can find it then invite Ammon over to snack with her.

















She LOVES unrolling the toilet paper and there is no apology in her- she is having too much fun & knows how cute she is when she is being naughty. Reminds me of another little girl in the family I have heard stories about... naughty, too cute for her own good & into everything... couldn't be Aunt Tiffany could it?!?



















She happily screams, screeches and sings as she goes along but is all sweet, quiet and lovey the minute Daddy walks through the door. Yeah- she knows how to work it! Reminds me of someone else that I know... ???

Our resident Princess!

Kymball is getting closer and closer to being a year old! She is happy and funny and loves to smile and play. She has 4 teeth and is cutting 6 more- all at once. She loves food, music, her Daddy and being outside. She has to see what is going on at all times and must be snuggled on demand. She can say- 'Mama, Dada, Boble' and today she said APPLE for the first time and then clapped for herself, signaling to the rest of us to clap at her achievement. Now that is her favorite game. Her sisters spoil her to death and her brothers aren't sure what to do with her yet. Here are some of our favorite pictures of her that capture her personality. KYMBALL ELISE WILCOX- our little princess!

Sarah's 8th Grade Recognition

Sarah & I got to go dress, shoe & accessory shopping the night before recognition. It was a lot of fun to get to spend some time with just her. I am amazed at the good choices she makes & at the person she has already decided she wants to be. She would not even look at dresses that were immodest and that looked like the short slips all of the other girls her age are wearing. I am so proud of her and glad that she has a little more respect for herself than that. She found a lovely dress that looks a little too good on her- the pictures don't do her justice & we found some darling shoes and accessories. We even had time to go out to dinner- just the two of us. It was a REALLY fun night!
The night of Recognition we all packed up & headed over to the High School- it was PACKED! You could tell that all of the kids were trying very hard to look nice & they were all buzzing with excitement. The teachers spent over an hour passing out awards for stand out performances in each subject, in sports and in things like citizenship. I was very proud of Sarah for the awards that she won but I felt awful for the children who went completely unnoticed as the same 'popular' kids got award after award after award. I feel that when there are awards handed out based on personality and who you are, not on sporting or academic achievements, there should be awards given to everyone. I think everyone should be recognized & appreciated. It was kind of a painful hour watching the kids that were passed over time & time again.



Gabriel was not thrilled with the ceremony. He could not understand why they weren't giving all of the awards to Sarah. He was especially upset when she didn't get the reading and good citizenship awards- especially after the teachers explained what their qualifications were. He was upset and thought Sarah should have gotten them all.




Ammon was not excited about all of the cheering & clapping. He does not like loud noises of any kind. He places his hand over his heart, opens his eyes as wide as they will go & says 'CARED MOMMY!'. Which means 'scared Mommy.' He does it when the fire alarm goes off in our home, when the thunder claps, when dogs get barking, when horns honk & when loud trucks go by. IT is REALLY cute. He pretty much kept his hands over his ears all of Recognition.




Kymball sat really well in Rachel's lap for awhile. Then she bounced around in my lap for awhile but it just got too long for her so Daddy took her to walk around. She was upset when they went out into the foyer because she was missing all of the action so Daddy brought her back in & stood against the wall with her. She spent the rest of the time bouncing in his arms, laughing, pointing at all of the kids & clapping. I think she probably had a better time than anyone.

We are very proud of our Sarah. We are proud of her academic achievements but more importantly we are proud of the wonderful daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, friend and lady that she has chosen & that she chooses everyday to be. She is a delight to have around and we are very blessed to have her as our girl! Happy 8th Grade Graduation Sarah Bearah!

We are staying busy.

Rick just finished his second semester at Missouri Western in Saint Joseph. He passed all of his classes and we are now a year and a half closer to his goal of becoming an RN. He has somehow managed to work full time, go to school full time, study, be an attentive father and a great husband all at the same time. He is taking the summer off of school to spend some time with us and we are loving having him around more. He is pretty AWESOME!

Sarah is finishing out her 8th grade year in middle school and will enter high school next year. She is smart as can be and loves going to school. She is friendly to everyone- even the jerks that aren't very nice to her and she is a really good friend. She plays in the school band and LOVES playing sports. She is very into shopping and texting on her cell phone, she is a huge help around the house and with the babies. I have a lot of fun laughing and talking with her... I just wish it wasn't always after 10pm at night, which is when she seems to turn on and want to hang out.

Rachel has been doing school at home due to her health and she quite enjoys it. She gets to walk across the field to my Aunts house every Monday afternoon for a social studies/storytime class and she loves going. She enjoys being home and spends a lot of her time snuggling the babies. Kymball will reach for her sometimes before she will come to me. Rachie just loves that! She and Gabriel fight more than any of the kids and the two of them enjoy pushing one anothers buttons. Rachel is very into 'fashion' and takes longer to get dressed than anyone. She is lots of fun to have around and I love having her here during the day to talk to, cook with and laugh with.

Gabriel is 5 now and is going to Kindergarten this fall. He wants to go to school so badly that he asked me to sign him up for the local summer school program. He will be riding the bus to and from school everyday this June. Sarah does not want him riding alone on the school bus with all of the 'bullies' so she has decided to also go to summer school. He is very excited to go and has been practicing his writing and letters. Gabriel is a superstar at the Wii and at games on my iphone. He loves playing anything with a screen and buttons- and he's pretty good at any that he tries. He likes to go outside as long as he does not get sticky or dirty or sweaty. I think he may be the 'work behind a desk' kind of guy. His cousin and best friend recently moved away so he has been kind of bummed out but I am hoping summer school will help cheer him up.

Ammon is almost 2years old and he is a pistol! He is into everything, climbs on everything and does not like to listen very often. At the same time he is my most helpful child, he is super loving and snuggly. He loves to be outside and wants to be outside all of the time. He loves going places in the car and doesn't really care where we go as long as we go somewhere. He picks on Gabriel and is a bit of a bull in a china closet when it comes to Kymball- even though he tries very hard to be loving. He is funny and keeps us all on our toes. He enjoys music and dancing and loves 'giving 5'. We love him to pieces and can not remember what we ever did before him.

Kymball is almost 1 year old and she is the resident princess. Gabriel calls her Kymbie, Sarah calls her Bootiful, Rachel calls her Baby Girl, and Ammon calls her Key-key. She is hardly ever set down and her favorite place to be is in Rachels bed with her all snuggled under blankets with her. Kymball likes going for walks in the stroller and LOVES to eat. She was almost walking when she took a fall, hit her face on the concrete and chipped her little front tooth. She has not been as eager to walk and get around on her own since the fall. She is a very happy baby and smiles at everyone and everything. She LOVES music and sings her way around the house all of the time. She even sings the ladies at church under the table. She is lots of fun and we ALL adore her.

I'm just plugging away, enjoying all of my sweethearts and doing Mommy things. I get to help my church in the compassionate service area and there are some days that my calling keeps me very busy. I miss my parents serving a mission in Russia and wish my family were closer but I love my home and my little life and am quite content where I sit. We are all looking forward to summer and warmer weather and hope for fun things to come.

Heat has hit Missouri!

My favorites!!!

WE ARE BACK!!!!

We are up and running once again. So much has gone on and changed that there is no way to catch up with all of it so we will just start where we are. The kids are beautiful and growing like weeds. Sarah is about to enter High School and ALL of the boys are noticing her. YES- she has a blue streak in her hair. YES- I approve & YES- I dyed it for her. I don't have a problem with self expression I have a problem with rebellion. Rachel is getting taller every time that I look at her. She has had a hard time with her health this year and has been home schooling. She LOVES being home and playing with her siblings. She is an awesome big sister and I do not know what I would do without her. Gabriel is 5 now and is getting ready to go to Kindergarten. The local schools here have a Summer School program that he has decided he wants to go to. He is very excited and has been practicing his writing for weeks. He is an expert at the Wii & has beat more levels than any of us on 'Angry Birds' on my phone. Ammon is almost 2 and he keeps us busy. He is darling and sweet and funny and dramatic but he is also a HOLY TERROR! The kid goes non-stop and is into everything... ALL of the time! He is constantly bruised and broken because he goes full tilt and never looks where he is going. He swallowed a refrigerator magnet a few weeks ago and was literally choking to death in my arms. After some serious panicking and some real work on my part I was able to dislodge the magnet and get him breathing again. He keeps things exciting to say the least. Kymball will be a year old in a few weeks and we all call her our 'Little Princess'. She is a sweetheart and is super smiley. She was almost walking on her own 2 weeks ago but she took a good fall and chipped her front tooth. Ever since then she has been very cautious and wont walk unless she is holding onto something or someone. She LOVES to sing and will outsing the Relief Society Women at church. They think she is cute. The are right! Richard just finished his 2nd semester at Missouri Western University and we are very proud of him. He works as a CNA for the Missouri Veterans Home & is planning to pursue a career as a RN. He decided to take the summer off from school to make some family memories and work on his 'Hunny Do' list (which is very long). I am loving having him home and we are all excited for the summer. I have spent the last few summers pregnant, which means sick & puking, or with a new born so we have not been able to do much. We have LOTS of plans and can't wait to see how many of them we can do. My parents are serving another mission in Russia and have been gone for over a month. We miss them terribly but are very proud of them. Before they left we did some remodeling and now have another bathroom, a Tv room, a dining room, an entryway and a 2 car garage! We are living large! My Grandmother and Uncle are coming to visit this month and we are really excited to see them. That is about all that I have time for right now if I want to get pictures added. I will 'blog' again soon! Hope everyone is well and enjoying the Spring!