This one's for you Coil!

I know nobody reads this...and why should they? It's been almost a year since this baby has gotten any action. Call me a slacker! I'm okay with that. Just thought I'd update my blog about my life for the one person who will read this (and you know who you are)!

This last year I spent transforming a lot of things about myself. I decided last fall that I wanted to join the Coast Guard reserves! I know, pretty random. So I lost a ton of weight, made it through the drama that is MEPS, interviewed in Alameda, CA. AND...didn't get in. No biggy, I'll try again next year. So in the meantime I decided to do something that I NEVER thought I'd ever do and that is to run a marathon. I've been training for the last few months and will run the Long Beach Marathon Oct. 9. I think I'm ready! I had a 21 mile run a few weeks ago and I DID IT! So what's 5 more...I got this! I've also been feeling like I need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I feel that I'm done having kids (cross my fingers)! So I guess that's the next step. I enjoy my children and love the rare moments here and there when they all get along....of course those moments are followed by long moments of fighting, yelling, and whining. Such is life.

Hmm.....anything else interesting? Well, Sydney, my now 1 1/2 year old broke her little arm yesterday by falling off the Tramp...poor little thing. Cameron, my 5 year old started Kindergarten and is in the same Chinese immersion program that Alyssa is in. It's fun to see them use Chinese words back and forth. And here I am with just 2 kids home and only one in diapers....WOW, what to do with all the free time!!!!!

The wrinkles are coming in fast and furious along with the gray hairs and life just keeps on ticking by whether I blog about it or not! Hope all is well with my few friends in cyberspace who may read this. OUT!

I was messing around the other day and thought I'd learn how to do this....this is what I came up with.

Family

I have become a crappy-ola blogger. I rarely get on the computer these days. Having five kids takes some getting used to...I think the trickiest part is just having a newborn. Little Sydney is settling into the family nicely, today is her three month birthday, where does the time go? She is awake more, smiles a ton, and even had her fist little chuckle the other day, love her. Brian had his birthday on Valentine's day and we had fun celebrating him. He is an awesome dad and a wonderful partner in life. He make me laugh more than anyone I've ever known. This picture was taken that day with our timer on the camera. I think it turned out pretty well minus my overtired looking self. Sometimes the stars align and all the kids do something we ask at the right time. They are all gifts and I feel so blessed to have a wonderful husband and fabulous kids! The dog I could do without....kidding Prince, love ya too!

I'm BACK!!!

Soooooo Look who decided to come back to the blogging world!!!!! A lot has happened in the last few months and as you can see I've taken my time getting back to the world. We've had some birthdays (Alyssa, Cameron, and mine) and a birth day!!!

Here is Sydney Katharine Ford the day she was born...Dec 17, 2009 She weighed 7 lbs 2oz. and was 21 inches long...She is now two months old. She's an amazing addition to the family and we all love her so much and just can't get enough of her

She's ready for Easter!!!

This is the kids on Christmas morning for our annual Christmas stair picture!
They were all 'relatively' good this year so Santa dropped a generous load!

Alyssa ready for her Chinese New year program. What a cute little China Doll!

Halloween partay

Our church had a Halloween party and Brian was in charge of the 'donut on a string' game. As you can see, he had more fun than Cameron when his turn came! Cameron didn't care though, he laughed the whole way through and got a donut in the end...everyone wins!

8 is GREAT!!!!

Lindsay had a Bday and turned the BIG 8!!!! she had a great time at chucky cheese (why do they like that place so much???) With a few friends and of course the highlight of turning 8 is that she was able to be baptized by her dad on Halloween! Her birthday was lots of fun and she made it through the whole day with smiles (which is rare!) and her baptism was a really special day although she woke up that morning with a fever and couldn't go trick or treating later. I can't believe she in now 'accountable' and growing so fast!!! She is a fun and responsible big sis and we all love her so much!

Alyssa knows Chinese!

warning....infomercial

Everytime I'd see this infomercial for the Touch 'N Brush all I could think was.....BRILLIANT!!!!! I have the problem of kids spreading their toothpaste from one side of the sink to the other. The other day while at Target I found the 'as seen on TV' section. Thinking to myself, " if they had that toothpaste one I'd buy it!!" Low and behold, there it was, and I couldn't resist! This thing does two great jobs: 1) NO MORE MESS and 2) the kids think it's super FUN to brush their teeth!

How dreamy of a product is that, and all for the small price of $19.99!

Popcorn...but better!

I need a new post on this baby. So I'll talk all about the yummy caramel popcorn I made the other night. The recipe is soooooo easy and from one of my new fave blogs I even became facebook friends with the two gals that run the blog cuz I think they are so witty and clever. The recipe has only three ingredients....well four, if you count the popcorn, but it's ALL done in the microwave and can be made in minutes!

That's my kind of treat!

Autism Carnival

Every year Sahara Construction has a free Carnival for Autistic kids and their families. My kids look forward to it every year and have such a GREAT time playing games, jumping in the bouncy houses, eating lots of food, and the "best" part is coming home with lots of plastic little prizes for them to scatter all over the house. There are always lots of tables set up from groups in the Salt Lake area that offer services and great info for autism. It really is a great service Sahara does for these kids and there families - to provide a fun day with no judgements from ANYONE about your "difficult" child.

contest

click on the picture and check out this site....super cool bike and if you click to the link it'll put me in a drawing to win one. It's a long shot, but worth a try.

The Power of Communication

Although Natalie can only say a handful of words, she can sign many. Here is a sample of a few. It's amazing the things she can tell me without saying anything at all.

Check out this site

So my husbands sister, aka my sister-in-law, is quite the talented one and has a great blog for those trying to get tips here and there on this and that. It seems as if she knows how to do a little bit of everything and I think EVERYONE should check out her blog to see if she has provided any life-changing tips just for you!!!! Here's the link in case you didn't catch that you should click on the word 'blog!'

http://damselindisdress.wordpress.com/

Drum Roll Please!!!!!!

Here she is!!!!!!!

Making her debut appearance on the Fordever Family blog

FORD BABY #5!!!!!

I love that you can even see her little hand up next to her face. Unfortunately for her, It looks as if she may have inherited my nose. All my other kids have gotten their daddy's nose, hers might change....She's still got a few more months to cook! Isn't it amazing that at just 24 weeks along she's already a little person with every part she needs?!

1st day of school

Every one needs a first day of school post......so here's mine!

Lindsay just started 2ND grade and Alyssa is now an official Kindergartner!

...this is them ready to go!

I can't believe Lindsay is a 2ND grader, how does time go so slow....yet soooooooo fast?!


Waiting outside the school for the flag raising and the anticipated bell. Alyssa immediately found a friend and left my side....she'll have no problem in Kindergarten!

This year at our school they are beginning a new Chinese Immersion program which I am very excited for Alyssa to be in. It begins with the Kindergartners this year and they'll stay with it through sixth grade. For her it's an extended day and she'll spend the whole morning with some cute teachers hired from China. Only Mandarin Chinese will be spoken and they'll learn all lessons in Chinese. They stay for lunch then afterward they get an hour and a half with an english kindergarten teacher. Through the years they will do half the day in all chinese: math lessons, reading, writing and everything totally immersed in chinese and the second half the lessons in english. What an amazing opportunity it'll be for her to know the chinese language, which is a language spoken by millions or billions (I don't know the stats). She will certainly have a leg up when she is older! I know she'll excel in this program, because although she is still considered 'special needs' she has a brilliant mind and picks up quickly on things like this.

I had to throw one in of Cameron...he doesn't get enough exposure on this blog! As you can see I try to inundate him with boy things and brain wash him to like spider man. He'll be so surrounded with sisters his whole life....like I was, So I need to try my hardest to 'boy' him up! Any suggestions are welcome...especially when it comes to potty training this little guy...he is so stubborn and just won't do it!!!

My new fave show!

The beginning of this summer I watched a great new show on Fox called "Glee" it's basically a weekly High School Musical fix. I LOVED it! I have found myself singing this song all summer long and can't wait for it to start up this fall(they just previewed one show, so if you missed it you can go to fox.com and watch it!)

I thought I'd put this on my blog so I can watch it anytime I want. Hope ya'll enjoy it too.

If the video isn't working go to this link to watch it....it's awesome! http://www.viddler.com/explore/Fragua/videos/1/

ps

IT'S A GIRL!

Announcement

Lindsay's worry is that this will "be so much more work" for her! She's right!!! The joys of being the oldest!

RIP Katie-you'll be missed

Brian's younger sister passed away last Thursday. It's been a crazy and emotional week for the family. Brian's sister Margot wrote this beautiful obit and I thought it was a perfect tribute to her along with this touching slideshow of Katie that another sister, Shauna, put together.

Katharine Rose Ford 1979 ~ 2009

Katharine Rose Ford passed from this life into her Heavenly Father's arms on July 23, 2009, surrounded by her loving family.Katie was born November 5, 1979 in Richland, Washington, youngest of the nine children of Rodney and Marcia Ford. Soon thereafter the family moved to Utah, where Katie lived the rest of her life. Katie was a beautiful and brilliant child. Her sparkling personality made her a joy to be around. She loved music and performing, and her keen mind eagerly drank in what the world had to teach her. At age 13 she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and her life took a different path than the one she'd expected. Although her physical difficulties grew with each passing year, her spirit remained beautiful and pure. Toward the end of her life, her humble acceptance of the Lord's will for her was an inspiration to all that knew her. Katie was exceptionally compassionate and loving to friends, family, and strangers alike. She loved everyone. She had an unwavering knowledge of Jesus Christ's love for her. Katie is survived by her parents, grandmother Verla Zesiger, siblings Margot Hovley (Art), Cheryl Ann Jensen (Ray), Shauna Christensen (Cory), Michael Ford (Melissa) Janis Reeves (Brad), Brian Ford (Rachel), and Carol Lee (Gilbert). She was preceded in death by grandparents Hugh and Rosalia Ford, Lloyd Zesiger, and brother Rodney John Ford. Funeral services will be held at the Bountiful 54th Ward, 540 N. 1200 E., Friday, July 31 at 11:00 a.m. Friends and family may visit Thursday evening at Russon Brothers Funeral Home, 295 North Main in Bountiful, from 6-8:00 p.m., or one hour prior to the services at the church on Friday. Interment will be at the Bountiful City Cemetery. Online guest book at www.russonmortuary.com The family suggests donations to the LDS Missionary or Perpetual Education funds in lieu of flowers, and wishes to express heartfelt gratitude to all the many people who have served and loved Katie throughout her life.

Centerville.....the 101st best place to live!

Have you seen the most current MONEY MAGAZINE?

It's feature article is covering the 100 best places to live in the U.S.

Check it out and see if your town made the list.

As it turns out, Farmington, Utah (which is just north of my town) is number 14

And Bountiful, Utah (which is just south of my town) is numer 71

I truely do live in CENTERVILLE!

It may not be one of the 100 best places, but if I'm just between two that are...it must be pretty good!