My other ride is an RV!

A definite "must-see" event of the summer: the annual "WHITE TRASH BBQ" at Bywater Park. It seems every year the attendance grows exponentially....it could be due to all the white trash "hotties" that show up, or perhaps the fantastic activities that you can participate in: trash bag slip n slide, mashed potato wrestling, or my all time favorite, hot tubbing (a truck bed filled with hose water). Whatever it is that draws such individuals to Bywater Park in August every summer, I'm overjoyed that it happens for this BBQ is definitely on my top 5 "Best Things About Summer" list!

Just a sidenote: One of my friends in charge of the BBQ, Ty Perry of 2News, got his crew to come and get us on Channel 2 this year...i'll let you know when we are going to be on!!!

Just another sidenote: No, I don't get punched, Yes, the tatoos are fake, (25 cent special) and No, i'm not with child.....it's all part of the getup!

Ford Family Tri!

I decided that I was going to get as many members of my family as I could to participate in the Idaho Spudman triathlon this year! I was successful in coordinating with Taylor, Mom, Walker, and Matthew! Unfortunately conflicts arose for some of us.....Taylor and Nikki got to venture to Australia, and my matthew ended up going to Lake Powell with his family instead....but fortunately we found some fantastic substitutes: Amy (Nikki's sister) and cousin Jacob!

Our drive down was quick and easy, due to several HEROES Season 1 episodes. 

Luckily we had a free place to stay once we arrived in Idaho which couldn't of consisted of better company: Nikki's wonderful family and friends! 

I have only barely touched on this whole triathlon lifestyle; completing my first sprint triathlon at Yuba lake last summer, but I am enjoying it completely! Spudman was going to be a bigger challenge for me for it was an Olympic distance (twice the distance of a sprint triathlon), especially since I was 0% motivated to train, of which I have to blame my training partner, matthew, who chose Lake Powell over his dear wifey.

During the triathlon my goggles didn't break, i got my wetsuit off in seconds as opposed to minutes, i didn't crash my bike, and I thankfully didn't run an extra mile; so i definitely see this one as a success! I even completed the triathlon in sprint mode and ended with a somersault! I have run into several random people since that recognize me and instantly approach to congratulate me, the "Somersault girl!"

Mom did not get to participate in the swimming section due to an unfortunate drowning accident....however, she had a fantastic time as well, and also completed the triathlon with a energetic sprint!

Walker of course did the best of all of us, followed by Jacob, me and then momma! I am so proud of all of us for completing the race with amazing times in each of our age groups! Jacob and I are making a goal to knock 15 minutes off of our bike section next year! I've also got to pick up my run as well, but honestly I did pretty amazing for not training at all! Maybe training is overrated after all.....especially since I don't really ever see myself running 6 minute miles for hours just to win.....definitely not that crazy....thanks to all who participated with me! I loved every minute of it and can't wait to do it next year! And special thanks to Papa, Pace, Jamison, Liz and Nikki's family, for they came and supported us the whole way!

If you are going to sign up you need to be on the ball, for the registration only lasted a few minutes due to its popularity! (registration is clear the heck in January, so get ready!)

Never assume that you are safe...

...from a family photo opp. We thought we were heading out to Jordanelle Reservoir for a fantastic wave-runner escapade.....we thought. We arrived, finished unloading the jeep, observed inquisitively as the inflatable canoe was hoisted by mom and papa ford onto the top of the jeep, and thats when the props came out. Enough lifeguard shirts to clothe a small army, lifeguard wife beaters (couldn't wait to see who was to wear those) a red/white striped lifeguard towel, a plush lifesaving ring, and don't forget the lifeguard fanny pack, yep, one fabulous red lifeguard fanny pack. I knew this was going to be exciting!

How mom slipped those props into the car without pace, lincoln, or kylee noticing is the next question.

Ford family photos always turn into an exciting adventure; never a dull moment.

Two years or so ago we took a family picture on the beach with snorkel gear; and might i add, swimsuits of course. My mother individually decided that this picture was going to be our Christmas card that year. Upon arrival at my parents house I noticed my mom packing the Christmas cards and I quickly snatched one up and discovered the surprising photo within. I can't say I would of ever chose that photo myself, but I'm sure all our friends, family, and neighbors got a kick out of that one. Some of us may think twice before participating in a family swimsuit shot in the future.......but hey, you gotta love the humor in it, right? At least our family isn't boring.

The Jordanelle photo experience completely topped all my expectations! The family positioning revolved around the spare wheel cover.(which had just been painted by mother with a beautiful Laguna Beach sketch) It sounded easy, but turned out to be far from....and of course a Ford family photo experience wouldn't be complete without a famous Lincoln tantrum. I don't know what to blame the majority of the frustration on; Lincoln's wailing, dear kylee's lack of positioning correctly, or the lack of cooperativeness coming from the spare wheel.
(George dog outperformed Lincoln competely, as well as most the rest of us)

And yes, daddy looked fabulous of course in his lifeguard wife-beater.
In the end I know we'll all look back and be thankful for such fantastic memories! (especially Linc)

Gone to the dogs

This is my baby George. We got him on February 8th of this year, so as you can see he was all ready for the Superbowl! I thought dogs were impossible to potty train, but apparently  the dogs my family purchase are simply all retarded, for it is the easiest thing in the world! We caught him relieving himself one time and it was all over from there. Maybe he's just a genius. I'd like to think so.

08...not only my favorite number, but a great year to come!

I really need to figure out how to put pictures on this blog thing....

so it's 2008....that truly is so strange to say....it seems not very long ago I was riding the shuttles to an Olympic awards ceremony. where did those 6 years scamper off too.....

So we finally took our Christmas tree down today, which was quite the endeavor. Apparently the temperature in our house is not saavy to pine trees, so he got angry and dried up. It was kind of sad by the end actually.

We had a fantastic first married Christmas! My christmas turned into a North Face Christmas, but i'm definitely not complaining. Matthew got Guitar Hero from Pace, which was definitely the highlight gift of the year! We aren't professional yet (well, Lincoln is) but we're getting there! we finally beat the medium career last night!! (and if you are not familiar with the game, that is pretty good for beginners)

I was hoping that we could get a puppy for christmas, but I did have to finally agree with my matthew. It truly would be torture to the puppy to be alone all day when we were both at work....he says I can get one when I quit. Now that's incentive.

For New Years my matthew and I had quite an adventure. We planned to be with our cousins Taylor, Nikki, and her sister Amy. However, their ideas of what we would be doing were clearly going to be very different indeed.

What was suppossed to be a quick yoga class, was instead a strange interpretive, flowing, tribal dance class. No instruction was necessarily given either, you simply had to be "creative." We were encouraged to find and explore our "inner fire." I never thought I'd ever get to see matthew or taylor move in such a way. I have to say that I enjoyed it thoroughly. If only I had a video camera. At the end the instructor made us sit in a meditation circle, touching both people on either side of us. (matthew refused to touch the "unique" man to his left). I won't tell. Then she had us make some "AAAAAHM" sound for what seemed like 30 minutes, all the way through even the new years countdown...no new years kisses here :(

It all started with taylor "AAAAAHM"ing in different pitches, continued with Matthew "mooing" in place of "aaaaahm"ing, and ended with an instructor one inch from my face threatening me to be silent or I must leave the class. I'm sorry, but i couldn't help myself...and taylor and nikki were laughing too, i just got apprehended. i was probably a little more disruptive because i was sneezing as well. Regardless, I guess there's no better way to ring in the new year then with some tribal dancing...