Welcome to McDonough!

After spending 5 months in Florida, the Ford family now resides in McDonough, Georgia. It is a nice little town about 20 minutes southeast of Atlanta.

Note from Kelly:  In the midst of transferring photos from my camera to the computer, the (very old) digital camera was running out of battery power.  The photos were all uploaded to the computer, but some of the files were damaged, causing weird lines and colors to appear on the pictures.  I was frustrated, but I decided to take the problem and work with it.  I got creative, editing the photos on Picasa and experimenting with unusual cropping and finishes.  The result, I think, was pretty successful.  That's why I am calling this photo collection  my "60's period".  Hope you enjoy the story they tell.

We left Kissimmee, Florida on May 31st.  It took about 8 hours to make the drive north to McDonough, Georgia.  Our faithful old Subaru dragged the U-haul containing the small portion of our possessions not in storage.  One of our fuel stops was at an old-fashioned gas station featuring antiquated pumps.

When we arrived in McDonough in the early afternoon, we had no place to live.  We did a whirlwind tour of 4 apartment complexes, finally settling on the one with the biggest kitchen, to Kelly's delight.  Then we headed to the town Square to run around and explore.  In the middle of the small, park-like square is a veteran's memorial.  This shot with Jordan gives you a glimpse of the Confederate history of Georgia.

The next day after eating at Cracker Barrel (Kelly's favorite breakfast spot), we headed to Heritage Park.  It is a large, beautiful park with a playground, veteran's memorial, community garden, and historic old buildings arranged like an outdoor museum.  Ian loved the swings and the real old train parked on the grounds.

Just a week later, we celebrated Kelly's 27th birthday.  Jordan arranged dinner at the Season's Bistro near the Square.  Afterwards, mommy and daddy got to have brownie sundaes, just the two of them.  It wasn't that Ian wasn't invited...he just had to go to bed.  Don't worry, he got some ice cream later.  (Kelly's note:  I included an un-edited pic to show you how messed up most of the photos got!  Moral of the story:  make sure your camera has fresh batteries before you upload photos!)

Since those few first days in McDonough, we have found lots of fun things to do:  berry picking at Southern Belle Farms, Noah's Ark zoo, and many different parks.  We hope all our loved ones will get a chance to come see our new home and share some of these fun things.  Our home is always open to you!

The Ford's Christmas Newsletter...Online Edition!

Given everything that is going on--graduating, moving 2,000 miles away (oh, didn't we tell you? We are moving to Florida.), and all the general Christmas hubbub--you will not be receiving a card from us in the mail. However, you will be getting something better...okay, almost as good! The traditional newsletter/card/greeting in blog form! Hurray!

2011 saw many milestones and made many memories (say that 3 times fast). Let's start with the most popular member of our family: Ian. He turned the big 0-1 this year and has grown in leaps and bounds physically, mentally, spiritually, and playfully. He learns a new word every day, loves cars (Duplo and toys from the movie "Cars"), blocks and bricks, running around, eating raisins and peas, seeing temples (he can say "temple" and "Moroni"), watching "Signing Time", and makes everyone around him happy. He started going to nursery at church in November! Wahoo! We can't wait to see what he will do next!

Jordan is officially done with school in December. It has been a long road...Associate's at BYU-I, four years at BYU in Provo, lots of projects and presentations and hours. But it has been worth every minute. Jordan got an internship at Tupperware in Orlando and we will be there from January to June of 2012. That means he is also leaving his job at the MTC which he has held and loved for 2 years. Jordan has tons of fun being a dad, especially since he gets to play Duplo and cars with Ian.

Kelly ADORES being a domestic engineer, even though her boss can be a little demanding. Well, that's to be expected from a rambunctious toddler. Kelly is so grateful to Jordan for supporting the family so she can devote her time to raising Ian. On the side, she cooks and tries new recipes, gets crafty here and there, and reads a few books. She has enjoyed her church calling as substitute Sunday School teacher. She considers herself a life-long teacher and, more importantly, a life-long learner.

That's the Fords' year in a nutshell!

We wish you the best Christmas ever. Remember to keep Christ at the center of your celebrations. He is the reason for the season. He is our Savior and Friend. We know He lives and loves each and every one of us. May His light shine in your homes this winter.

Love,

Jordan, Kelly, Ian

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Everywhere

We had so much fun on Halloween, we had to split it up into two separate posts. This first one is all about our holiday pumpkin encounters.

Mama scooped out the guts and Daddy carved. It was Ian's first experience with the versatile gourds. He tried to help, but soon got bored and went to bed to dream about them.

The jack-o-lantern on the left depicts the Ford family as--what else?--pumpkins. Jordan did an awesome job (he modified a design he found in a carving book). The one on the right belongs to the Brenning Bunch.

Kudos to the carvers!

On Halloween morning, Kelly made pancakes shaped like pumpkins, with jack-o-lantern faces squirted on with chocolate syrup. Here is Jordan's best impression of a jack-o-lantern.

Ian can't wait to dig into one of his favorite foods.

And Kelly is pretty proud of her handiwork.

Thanks for the fun Halloween decorations, Mom!

A Very Harry Halloween

It's the moment you have all been waiting for since November 1, 2010--to see what the Fords would be for Halloween 2011! And the theme is...(drum roll, please)...Harry Potter! As you can obviously see, Kelly is Professor Trelawney, Ian is Dobby the House Elf, and Jordan is Professor Lupin. Don't know who the heck those people are, you say? Well, you obviously need to get reading. Prof. Trelawney teaches "Divination" at Hogwarts (basically she is the fortune-telling type). Dobby is the mistreated servant in a wizard household. The only item of clothing he wears is a pillowcase. And Prof. Remus Lupin teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He always looks a bit shabby because he has a spooky secret! I won't give it away if you've never read the books, but let's just say we were going to tuck some fake fur into his sleeves, but, alas, didn't have any.

Isn't Ian the cutest Dobby you've ever seen? And it was an exceptionally easy and cheap costume: pillowcase, $1 at DI. Kelly would've made ears, but ran out of time, and anyway, Ian would have pulled them off.

We attended the third annual Halloween party at the Collier's apartment with Julie and Kurt. Why do they look so goofy? One word: Muggles. And the most annoying kind of Muggles: perky Hawaiian tourists.

Amy and Steve dressed up as Hogwarts students (Steve makes an excellent Tom Riddle). As you can see, they thought it appropriate to have some Halloween fun with the Muggles.

We had a blast! Tune in next year to see what we come up with next.

A Hobby Passed Down Through the Generations

The image below is of my great-grandfather Marcellus Clark. Above his right shoulder is his son John Clark who is my grandfather. The little blond boy in front is John's son and my father, John Dean Clark. As that blond boy grew up he went shooting and hunting with his dad and granddad.

The next photo is him as a man with 2 of his boys in the early 1980's. Jason holding the gun and Jaren checking out what the dog was sniffing. The shotgun seen here once belonged to Marcellus and then John Clark.

Today we carry on the hobby with the same gun, now in its 4th and 5th generation. Tyler went with us and we all had a great time. Of course Dad, being the most experienced, out-shot us all.

It was a real treat for me to see Dad pulverize the clay pigeons. I hope to go again soon.

Jaren taught taught Tyler how to shoot a hand gun and we finished the activity with a little glass shattering competition... Jaren won hands down since he picked up some skills at the police academy.

Mount Timpanogos - Under My Feet

For years I had hoped to hike Mount Timpanogos and it finally happened last Saturday morning. My friend, Bryce, and I started on the 14 plus mile hike at 2am. We reached the summit just before sunrise at 7 and finished around 11am. We had to cross a snow field in the dark and spent some time wondering back and forth until a fellow hiker found the trail with his GPS device. It was long, high, and rewarding. Spending time at the top of a mountain can be a very inspiring and spiritual occasion but the 2 dozen people at the summit inhibited the solemnity I desired. I hope to scale the great mount again when few will be there, perhaps in the winter time.

View of Utah valley from the summit.

Last stretch of the trail seen from the summit.

Bryce and I.

Headed South down the West side of the ridge.

Looking back on the ridge and shack(summit) from the South.

Looking back on the ridge and shack from the Southeast.

Ridge and shack from the snow field that feeds Emerald Lake.

Using rocks and friction to control speed and avoid danger.

The snow field that feeds Emerald Lake.

Looking up at the shack from the lake.

IT WAS TRULY A GREAT ADVENTURE.

Books and Bricks

Books: Ian can read left to right, right to left, right side up and upside down.

Bricks: Not heavy stone bricks.... Duplo Bricks. He has carried them around for several months and has stacked a few of them before, but now he is capable of stacking the size and color he wants.

The question is, can you guess where these two influences come from?