3 Generations

I have 50 things to post and no time to do it. I am trying to get caught up after a few family sessions, camping with my family and cleaning poop off of everything that Kai spread it on...AGAIN! Disinfectant here I come!

A few weeks ago when my Mom was in town we had a few pictures taken by my friend and fellow photographer Molly of Luminaire Images. Kai was a bit more than a handful and LA traffic proved to be a formiable challenge, so we ended up in a random little church somewhere by UCLA. Molly proved her talent, yet again.

Last Post

I have decided to merge the 2 blogs into 1, so this will be the last post on this blog. We had a family blog and a photography blog, but now it will all be at one place. The new blog is www.katwillcoxphotography.blogspot.com

Please drop by and say Hi :)

Today marks a Year

Today gives me so many more reasons to be gr8phul but also to be sad. Today is the 1st Anniversary of Alese Coco's passing. She fought a long and hard battle with Hodgkin's disease. Alese used her life in such a powerful way, that a year after her death, she is still able to motivate, encourage and inspire. She and her family have touched people in such a deep way, that you feel the touch of God through them I really mean that). They have started the Fight 2 Win Organization, to help raise money and awareness for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, also known as Hodgkin's disease. They have worked so hard to put this organization together and I have never heard them complain about it. Here is the website, www.fight2win.org/private.

Cathy Coco is one of the most remarkable women that I have known in my lifetime. When I first met her I knew that she had just lost her daughter and my heart ached for her, for her family, and for their loss. I have loved and lost someone, but I can't imagine loosing a child. Everytime that I have had the priviledge to talk with Cathy, I walk away so encouraged and lifted up. Cathy and her family are so gr8phul, even in the face of such a huge loss. Gr8phul! They exude gr8phulness and that amazes me. Not fakey grattitude, but deep and sincere grattitude. That is a hard choice for a heart to make when hurting so bad.

If you have a moment today, please pray for them. Pray for the Fight 2 Win organization and God's plan and purpose through it all. Also, please treat yourself to Alese's Blog/Journal. She fought her battle bravely and with intense faith, and honesty, I for one, and humbled by her amazing spirit and I have such hope that God's purpose will be fullfilled.

Taaaaa Daaaaaa

I am SO excited for this day to have arrived and for the new blog to be rolled out there and launched. I think that it is incredible what Maddie from Better in Pink was able to do. She reached right into my head and got the direction that I wanted, then the next time I saw the design ,my jaw was on the floor. She is so talented and she really understood the look and feel that I was hoping for. Well, she exceeded my wildest expectations!! She blew me right out of the water. Plus she is just a dream to work with. She is FUN and CREATIVE and PATIENT and an EXCELLENT LISTENER!! I can't think of a negative thing to say about the world.

It is 1 in the morning and I am kinda out of it but I wanted to see it launched!! Can I get a little whoot whoot!

A New Look

The 1 stop shop blog for the Willcox family and business has had a MAJOR face lift. You should drop over there and see it fo your self :) You are definitely invited :) We are pretty excited about it.

www.KatWillcoxPhotography.blogspot.com

Happy Easter

Sorry about that! I up and disappeared. Travis and I decided to merge the family blog with my photography blog, it was just getting to be to much to maintain, and my business is something that I take pretty personally so it seemed like a logical step... plus it was to much for Travis to edit 2 blogs. I am horrible at grammar and spelling and punctuation and all that, so he looks over it for me. What a sweet heart!

Here is the new address http://www.katwillcoxphotography.blogspot.com/ We will hope to see you there :)

My new favorite song is the Itsy Bitsy spider, because he gets soooo excited!

Ok, I have become one of those Mom's who can go on and on and on and on about her kid. So in an effort to restrain myself from "sharing" every story and gushing about how AWESOME, AMAZING and ADORABLE I think that he is, I am going to share some funny videos from this week and let them speak for themselves. Kai has had us overwhelmed with laughter lately, his personality is really starting to come out and he is a TRIP! He gets this *literal* twinkle in his eye and I think that when it happens that the world should stop and notice, well, maybe just me because I am the one who has to chase him and clean up after him. ;)



Listen and watch for him to throw his "shaka" sign, it is only approriate, he IS pillow surfing.



Travis loves to play the drum as much as Kai.

I have a few more videos but I am having a hard time loading them, so they will have to wait for another day. I have to go think happy thoughts after watching Rendition with Reese Witherspoon... it was disturbing. The movie wasn't that great but the documentary in the special features section made renting it worth its while. My heart breaks when I hear of injustices like that. I am so gr8phul for my freedom and I believe that God knows every persons struggles and cries of their heart, I pray he be with all the broken hearted people affected by injustices.

Settlling back into the Groove--kinda!

We are back from vacation/working wedding in Kauai and the laundry is mostly done and the house doesn't look like a bomb went off. Well at least it doesn't look like we were ground zero. And now Trav's parents are in town. So our days have been filled with park visits, marveling over Kai, eatting and more eatting and the occassional game of Go Fish.
We also have some of our favorites friends in the area in from Georgia so we have been driving back and forth to San Clemte to hang out with them. It is good to have a life full of friends but it definitely makes for a busy life. It has been really cool to see the Hall family and Rena's Mom Lee. I just wish that we lived closer. Here are a few pictures from my little P&S camera that I have been meaning to upload for a while.

The pictures of Kelly & Lee's (A.K.A-- Grandma and Grandpa) visit will have to go up later, I am tired and heading to bed. :) Sweet Dreams!

One picture from Hawaii that I wanted to share. It was fun to be with good friends and enjoy "girl time!" The girls are Lissa, Liv, Stacy and then Me all enjoying being on the beach.



This is Zach and Liv in the "rain forest" of Kauai doing their best impression of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden--having to cover their naughty bit.



Once we were back in CA we enjoyed some time with our friends Luke and Kristen, and as you can see the boys were enjoying playing in the box.



On Valentine's Day Kai got a new stuffed animal from his super sweet Grandma is NC and he loved it from the minute he laid eyes on it (and mouth on it--it is a great teething toy--monkey's nose)





Hanging with the Halls! :) Here is Rena with her ADORABLE son Noah.



Grandma Lee is sooooo adorable. She loves every fiber of Baby Noah and it is so fun to watch her interact with him. The joy and loves she gets from him is contagious.



Noah post bath..playing in a towel being even cuter that thought possible.



Noah the future Heart breaker.



I hope you liked ALL the pictures, sorry it was so long. This was a bit of a catch up post...

Last night our plane touched down at LAX and so we are officially home from Kauai. Travis and I are very happy to have that flight behind us, Kai was a screaming wiggle worm and we will be telling him stories from that flight for years to come.
I am starting to edit the pictures from the wedding and I thought I would share a couple :) Sarah was a STUNNING bride and Tyler was so taken with her. It was a beautiful Hawaiian wedding and I am looking forward to going through all the pictures.

Another Beautiful and Fun filled day!

As soon as the sun came out, I have been to busy playing to post anything. We have been playing in the sun, swimming in the ocean and just soaking up all the goodness from Ksusi. Well, tomorrow is the BIG day that Tyler and Sarah get married, so I thought that I would do one last post from Kauai. Because tomorrow night I doubt I will have any energy left to put anything up.

This is Zach and Liv cuddling oceanside, they are such an AWESOME couple. They are so much fun to be around and so fun apart and even better together!



Stacy and Liv have been so much fun to be around. They have had me laughing non-stop!



Of course I have to share a picture of Kai oceanside! Je actually went all the way in today.



Trav and Kai checking out the waves and playing at the beach.


Have I mentioned how beautiful Kauai is?





Just taking it all step by step, day by day! It is sooo nice to relax and hang out with friends in such an amazing place!

Day Two was pretty much a Ben Stiller movie, where he is the underdog and everything goes pretty wrong for him. We are just hoping that today is the beginning of the REST of the story that ends with a happy ending. Here are a few examples; Zach threw up in the ocean, Kat got punched (by accident) in the nose, everyone ended up at a beach that was beyond questionable with some really shady characters, Zach tripped and fell through the sliding screen door, Stacey and Liv got hit on by a few 15 year old boys and then ended up in a crack addicts bathroom, Kai tried to throw himself from his highchair, and the whole time Trav was surfing.
After being grumpy Zach and Liv and I went for a drive to try to blow off some steam and that was definitely where the highlights of the day happened.




The scenery is gorgeous and we are gr8phul to be here with some gr8 friends but today we are going in search of some SUNSHINE :)

Were here and we are LOVING it! Fun! Fun! and a little rain and more Fun!

It's Not About Me

It's Not About Me, It's Not About Me, It's Not about Me... I could have copied and pasted that but instead I NEEDED to type it out. I actually should type it out about a hundred more times. To think about every letter and hope that the message would make it's way to the deepest places in my heart that need to be reminded of that.

It's about HIM. It's about God, My Sovereign and Mighty God who for some reason allows me to be a part of HIS plan. I am such a "Jacob" or a "Peter" (but in the girl form) I screw up over and over and am forgiven OVER and OVER and yet I still can't remember my lessons from one time to the next. Oh Yeah--I could be a Travis too :) (He is sitting here smiling as I type that saying that he can relate) because we both know that God is AWESOME and we are so gr8phul for his FAITHFULNESS and his FORGIVENESS!! It is not about us it is about YOU and what God is doing in the lives of ALL those around us.

We are humbled and can just hope that tommorow we will be able to live out the lessons of today.

Spinal Tapped

Man, challenges, challenges, challenges. I am writing this lying flat on back (well not totally flat-but pretty close) I have been a sicky for WEEKS now and after my NOT-SO-FUN ER visit last Friday I have what is called a spinal headache after the Spinal Tap. That translates to me being really grumpy and pretty whinny. I am trying to take Dr.'s orders and (More importantly) my sister-in-law's orders to lay down and just rest.

Being sick is the pits but it reminds me of all the things that I have to be gr8phul for. I beleieve that God has a plan for me in this and I am going to try to hang in there and see what it is. :) It's amazing that even in times of trials God is still such a source of JOY. The hope I have in him is eternal and that ROCKS!! So that take "Spinal Tap Satan" and know that the joy of the LORD is what will bring us through.

Ok--So a picture, hmmmm let me see what I have....it is one from Baja, Mexico. I just always like to add a picture to a post. :) I hope that all is well with you and that you are managing to enjoy today, no matter what the circumstances are.

I have been sick for a while and that is why I haven't been blogging as much. I have been in "hunker down mode" just wanting to get through my days and also REALLY wondering what is going on with me. But no matter how I feel God is still moving in our lives and giving up plenty to be thankful for. So, today and every day... Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to his People on earth!

Here are a few pictures from a wedding this summer that I never got around to blogging. That is one thing to be said for being sick, I have finally gotten caught up on my projects around the house.

Resolutions

I made some resolutions this year and some promises to myself to actually keep them. I am happy to report that they are being ACCOMPLISHED!! {Yipppeeeeee} Maybe that will help me to stay on it and keep working on them. That and God has hooked me up with some awesome friends who inspire me to keep working on my look, my weight, and my heart!

My first reolution was to loose weight--well I have lost 4 pounds!! {Woo Hoo} That is WAY COOL!! And I will be hitting the gym again on Monday and trying to work off a few more. As I write this my husband is making a pizza, oh what I would do to have a metabolism of a man.

Also, one of my resolutions was to not look like a frumpy Mommy. Well God sent me an angel and her name is Anna A.K.A Fashion Extrordinare!! She rocks! Over the past week she has helped me cut 11 1/2 inches off my hair and get some New, Fun clothes that are going to be fun to wear.

I would show a picture or the transformation, but I am not going to post a picture until the transformation is complete :)

Till Then, here are a few pictures of our New Climbing Wall in our Garage!! Trav made it and it is WAY cool!! I think we might go climb around on it tonight once the kiddo is in bed. My husband amazes me with the projects he comes up with :)



We had some friends over to play... Jaime and Cole and they both took a try at the wall.






And then we headed over to the park to play some soccer and hit up the playground equipment.

Something New for Me

The voice you hear on the video is Anna Tomlinson because I needed some support and encouragement. Plus she has the cutest hair on the planet, so I figured with her directing the shots (cuts) I couldn't go wrong :) It was fun and I am donating the hair to Pantene Pro-V and they will make a wig for someone who is fighting cancer. Now I just have to figure out what to do with my new haircut, I know nothing about short hair.

How is it the middle of January already?

Life is not just flying by me, I feel like it is flying past me. I feel like the hour glass broke and the sand is just dripping through my fingers. Man, I have realized that is a constant and I have to be able to "cope" with that. I need to: Smile in the face of adversary, somehow not be burdened by my growing to do list and all the while not complain. This is where I admit that I am not perfect and I am constantly trying to get it right, and I always get humbled.

Can you tell I am a bit grumpy and that I have been sick off and on for 5 weeks. Yup, since December 6th there has been some form of sickness at our house. So, today I decided to fight back, I bought all the antioxidant teas and immune defense juices that I could think of, as well as that stuff Airborne and a bunch of veggies...so hopefully the next time I write, it will be a healthy me again. I always remain hopeful :) and God always gives me a reason to hope! Now it is time to head to bed and try to get a good nigths sleep :)

Happy New Year!!

What a FUN trip!!! We just rolled back into town and while Trav is unpacking :) I thought I would catch up on blogging. j/k We had a gr*8 time. Chad and Leslie were SUPER Fun and chill. We hung out, playered poker (more on that later), surfed, ate a ton of yummy food and enjoyed the tranquillo lifestyle. It was a true vacation! :)

Travis got attacked by a baby and I think the baby won!

Look at Leslie tearing it up and her biggest fan cheering her on! They are such a loving couple, it was gr*8 to spend time with them and a little on their romance inspired us to be sweeter to each other.

This is for Kai's Grandmas :)

And of course I had to snap a few pictures of the local culture and architecture!


For more pictures from the trip visit
http://www.katwillcoxphotography.blogspot.com