Merry Christmas

Make a Smilebox greeting

colorflirt plum pucker + blonde hair w/overgrown dark roots = ?????

What do you get when you are bored and have a box of this??????

Answer.....PURPLE HAIR!!!!!
Good thing it comes out in 8-12 washes!
I sure don't look like the girl on the box!

Santa

"Ya.....I don't think so mom!!!!! This guy is creepy!"

Cameron is 3!

This is my cute little Cameron just a few months old in his blessing tux...his eyes have always been his defining feature and I know they'll take him far in life.

This is him now on his third Birthday, December 5

Yay for Birthdays!!!! Poor Cameron, by the time his comes around we've already gone through both of his sisters recent b-days, so I'm a little worn out. But he did get a football cake (gotta love that Pamp. chef batter bowl!) and I got some gals to meet us at a carl's jr. playland with there kids...fries on me! So I can consider myself a good mother cuz he had a fun day.

This is how we have been used to seeing him in his three short years of life...paci in mouth and blanky in tow. Big eyes looking up at me to give in whenever I tried to take them away. But recently we had a break through. We were in AZ for Thanksgiving and on the drive home he had been sucking on that thing for HOURS. so I thought it was time for a little break. I took the paci away and he screamed at me and cried for thirty min straight. I was loosing my mind, so I did something CRAZY!!!! I said, actually I screamed "see this paci....it's going out the window!!!!!!" I then threw it out the window!!!! VICTORY!!!! Of course the screaming got louder and longer, but we endured. for the last week whenever he asks for it I say, "sorry, it's out the window!" He saw it go, so what can he do??? (I just threw the others in the trash and let that one paci represent ALL paci's) He is CURED of his paci habit. There's probably a nicer and less scarring way to get rid of it....but this way works too. I'll pay for therapy when he's older.

A Twilight Thanksgiving!

During Thanksgiving this was my favorite picture that was taken the whole weekend. Brian read the book on Thursday, we went to the movie on Friday. That night my family had a great time coming up with some ideas for some good Twilight T-shirts.....

• My husbnd's sparklier than Edward
• And you thought Victoria was a B*$#@!
• My mini van is faster than Edwards Volvo
• I make a casserole even Edward would eat
• I want to be part of the Cullin-y....so Bite me!
• Hey Edward...Utah's cloudy! ps-leave Bella in Forks
• Forks sucks!
• Alice, what's the stock market gonna do tomorrow?
• I'll keep my bedroom window open for you Edward

At the time we thought we were hilarious....'Twilight' really brings a family together! Thanks Stephanie Meyer!

Alyssa is 5!

Alyssa turned 5 on the 24th. She had a great day full of Chucky Cheese fun, presents and cake! As I watch this video of her opening presents I can't help but remember the video we have from a few short Christmas' ago when she had zero interest in presents. Didn't want to touch them, pull the paper off, or want us to even be by her...just wanted to watch the same baby mozart on TV over and over....she's come such a long way and brings so much joy to our family. Happy Birthday Alyssa!

Coast Guard Academy 10-yr reunion.

About a month and a half ago Natalie and I went to Conn. to go to a Coast Guard Academy 10-yr reunion. We had a great time and I was able to see lots of old friends from my military days. I posted all my pics on my facebook page, But apparently this good friend and old roomy Katy, doesn't have facebook and got mad at me for not putting something on my blog about it. So this one's for you old roomy. This was the room we shared in Alpha company back in '95. Boy we had some good times buffing that floor! Love ya K-dawg!

This is the class of '98 about to walk on to the field before the football game. Ya, I used to wear that uniform!

While at the Academy we had a classmate, Kevin, pass away. The class was able to put together this memorial patio for him and we had a ribbon cutting ceremony with those classmates who made it out for the reunion...it was beautiful to be a part of. We miss you Kev.

After the weekend of fun and friends Natalie and I took a quick trip to NYC to visit another friend , while there we got to spend a couple short hours walking around the city. This is across the street from Ground zero and is a makeshift cross made from some of the rubble from Sept. 11. It is truly a sacred place in the middle of a busy city.

Isn't it about.......time?!

this and that

Haven't posted in a while...so here's the rundown:

Halloween was a success. The kids acquired lots of candy which I of course ate the next few days while they were at school.

Congrats to the new first family, not my vote, but I support President-elect Obama as the man in charge. More importantly PROP 8 passed!

This last weekend I went to the Xango convention. It was tons of fun and Xango launched its new product Glimpse.


This is me and my partner in Xango crime Daniela...WE LOVE XANGO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

LAGOON...fun at any age!

We were able to go to Lagoon...Utah's version of Disneyland, the other night. Lindsay opted not to go cuz she's now 7 and is too cool for her family. She went to a friends Halloween party instead. Everyone else had a great time.
This is Alyssa dancing to some tunes playing at the entrance. She insisted on shaking her booty...so we let her...hilarious!!!!!

Protect marriage.....Yes to prop. 8

This is very disturbing to me....just wanted to get the word out, and I encourage all to do the same, escpecially if you live in California.

How did I get a 7-yr old?

Look at this cute little girl!!!!!

I Can't believe she is now 7 years old.Her dreams came true and she got an American Girl and went to Build A Bear for the big day!
Happy Birthday Lindsay Rose Ford
I love you!

The ring fits!!!!

See this ring, with diamonds that go up to my knuckle...this is my engagement/wedding ring.

I haven't been able to wear the whole set since I started having babies....almost seven years ago, why you may ask? The answer..... cuz kids make you FAT!!!! So for seven years I've just been wearing this skinny band. But as you can see, I can now fit the whole ring on my un-chubbified little finger.
How did I do this you may ask?

For about 8 weeks I've been trying so hard to loose weight with good old fashioned treadmill running, weight lifting, and trying to watch what I eat...But the problem...I'M JUST SO DANG HUNGRY! I had lost a total of five measly pounds. Then about a week or so I found this. It's Called Form and is a Polyacrylic Acid Hydrogel that is a filler used in things like geletin, frosty's, pharmaceuticals just to name a few. It's basically a bulking agent, you take two capsules of the stuff 40 min. before meals, it bulks in your tummy like this making you get the FULL feeling, so when you sit down to eat, portion control is easy....cuz you're NOT hungry!!!!! It stays in your system for a few hours and then returns to a liquid state and exits your body aka you pee it out. This is totally safe, doesn't absorb into your system, mess up you metabolism, it just makes you feel FULL, you eat LESS, and you loose weight. SIMPLE! That first week I lost SEVEN POUNDS!!!! Hence, the ring fits!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I know I'm always trying to push my good finds on people (aka Xango, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE and if you don't know what that one is, scroll to the bottom of my blog and find out :) But this one is truly a find! There's a promo going on right now (for another week or so) if you want to try it you can sign up to get it for cost without a fee, if you sign up for a monthly autoship.... you can cancel this the next day, It's only $36 +Taxes, S&H for a bottle!

(make sure you buy the Experience pack, which is 1 bottle of form and 1meal replacement mix (which is yummy!!! )

If you do want to try it go here and on the right upper side of the screen under "what's hot" you'll find the "sign up"

One more thing...tonight I went to a "skinny party." This company's spokesperson is Heather Hanson...from "the biggest looser" a couple years ago. She's from Utah and actually told her story at this meeting and told us why she picked this product (I guess she was approched by many, like nutrisystem) to be the face of. She showed a her biggest looser audition tape and it is HILARIOUS!!!!!

Feel free to call my cel if you have any Q's about this 801-390-9892. Rachel

halloween!

Someone's ready for Halloween!!!!


Lindsay even lost her first front tooth to complete the look!


"Ready, OK!.....Go, Deigo, Go!"

Boy

Look at this little boy.....

























He's ALL boy!

Sundance

When I was young and would go on family vacays, it was an inside joke for us kids to constantly try to get into one of my dad's snapshots. He would take pic after pic of scenery....and when we'd see the pics afterwards we were like "uh, why didn't you take any of us?!"

Well on Saturday the kids and I went to Sundance, Utah with some friends (Cheri and Diana from the mission) and we rode the skii lift and I could not help it. The veiw was soooo BREATHTAKING I couldn't help but take pic after pic of how BEAUTIFUL it was. The leaves were starting to change and the mountain ranges were SPECTACULAR! No wonder Robert Redford chose this place to be his home.
Dad-I guess I'm more like you than I thought.

Sahara Cares Autism Carnival

This last weekend we went to a Autism Carnivial put on every year by Sahara Construction. The kids had so much fun playing the games for little prizes, jumping and sliding on the blow ups, eating lots of food, riding the train, and so much more....I even won a door prize! This is a fun, safe place for Autistic kids and their families to go and have fun without being judged for having a 'hard to handle' child. I'm so grateful for people that do a little extra to make these children feel extra special. Until next year.....

For all you dog owners.....

What do you do when you're too lazy at the end of the day to take your dog for a walk???? I just figured it out!!!!!!

Memories....

I stole this post from my awesome friend!!!!!

Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember....next, re-post these instructions on your blog and let people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty fun to see the responses. Let's hear them...

ps-if no one has any memories with me....I'll feel like a lay-hoo-ser! So please share!

Baby Laughs

Is there anything sweeter?!

mangosteen

This is a copy of the first page of the July Ensign!!!!!! Do you see what I've circled?! That's right...it's a mangosteen!!!!!! Even the Man Upstairs knows it's good for you!

Sister Hasler/Hoelscher!!!!!

This is me and my missionary trainer (1st comp) sister Hasler (the cute one in the blue-in the middle-dont' remember who the short girl is.) This little get up was worn as a dare. This is the day I was transferred to meet my new companion...and my first meeting with a lot of the other missionaries. The dare was that if I wear this flowery dress with a huge bow in my hair....and to make it more interesting she added....lead the music during the opening song of "Called to serve" at this HUGE transfer where about 1/3 of the missionaries from the mission were....then she'd name her first born after me. I know...we missionaries had to find ways to have fun. Well, as you can see I DID IT! Her first born was of course a girl and she is now 7 and her name is Alexis Rachel Hoelscher. Worth it all!!!!!

The point of the post is because I am so proud of her. Since that mission (10+ years ago) she has become accomplished at everything she does. She currently travels around and gives motivational LDS firesides to youth and adults. She is published with 5 talk tapes/CDs out. Her fifth just came out:

She has an amazing ability to help you to feel the spirit while laughing and crying at the same time. She inspires me to be better daily and to constantly work on my relationship with my Savior.

SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!

You know that line in the song

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

that goes:

And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.....

Now I totally get it!

New Slide Show

I have this new slide show on my Xango website....whether you are a fan of network marketing or not-or of miracle juice;)....you have to admit, this is pretty impressive!

http://rachelford.mymangosteen.com/@40841

My awesome I-phone knock off!

I LOVE THIS PHONE!!!!
This is my new phone, the Sprint Instinct. It is AWESOME!!!!! I can hold down a button and say "pizza" and it will tell me the closest pizza place to my location, give me the phone # and turn into a GPS and give my driving directions. I say to it "Call home" and it does....I say "do my dishes"....and wammo! LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Hula Hoopin'

Lindsay has been asking for a hula hoop for a long time, so we finally splurged and spent the $4 to get her one....she's actually really good at it!!!!

Alyssa tried it and couldn't quite figure it out....so she got a little frustrated!

But she did a great job trying to hula hoop with these frisbies and really has some great hip action going!

Follow the Money

What more can I say? Just follow the money! If you're looking for some more interesting reading...I found this on a blog I frequently visit. (it's the same blog I stole this very interesting youtube video from!)

THIS IS THE PLACE!!!!!!

I spent pioneer day at the perfect place this year....This is the place pioneer park. I had two of my sisters and mom and dad in town and we had a fun day learning about Utahs heratige. This statue is of Brigham looking over the SLC valley and proclaiming...."This is the right place!!!!" I'm sure those words were sweet to those walking and walking and walking with him! Happy Pioneer Day!


cousins


pony rides


Cute new train around the pond.


Can't imagine fitting all my family's crap in this one little handcart! How did they do it?


grandma and Cameron

Pioneers and ZCMI...a Utah heratige


A statue of Brigham Young along with some pioneer wives!!!!!! Maybe he wouldn't notice if I joined in on the 'sister-wife' fun!!!!