Reflecting on 2008

So, I'm just sitting here reflecting on 2008. I can't believe another year has come and gone. I hope and pray that 2009 will be a much better year than this past year. This year has brought many happy times and many times of sorrow and tears. The year started off in sorrow as my dad was recovering from getting a pacemaker (I'm glad he made it through!). Around the same time I lost my grandma here in Kansas City and 2 weeks later I lost my grandma in Louisiana. I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined that I would have to bury both of my sweet grandmas within 2 weeks of each other. Towards the end of this year I lost a cousin (who was more of an uncle to me) and my mom's best friend (who was more of an aunt to me). You know, things happen in life sometimes that we don't quite understand but I know that God always has a reason behind things. And we have to remind ourselves of that.
This year has also brought many laughs, much needed vacations, lots of memories, hanging out with friends...and family, and laughing until we couldn't laugh anymore. I was able to see several of my very best friends whom I hadn't seen in a while...and I treasure those every moments. A few of the greatest trips I got to take this year brings lots of good memories, such as Memphis to the singles conference (Memphis will never be the same lol)...Janelle, Raemi, Sarah, and Shannon...can I get a witness? lol, going to Maryville Tennessee to visit one of my best friends Jennifer, her husband Brady and their sweet baby Bradyn...and also getting to hang out with Shannon....great times! He still hasn't talked me into getting in the lake water next time! LOL I got to visit Los Angeles and stay with Debbie and Steve Saiz....fun times (LA will never be the same either!)!!! Seeing one of my best friends, Lori, while I was in Louisiana for Thanksgiving...There have been so many fun times...its hard to name them all!

Overall, among the sadness of losing my sweet loved ones, it's been a pretty good year. I can't complain. I still have a job, I have a roof over my head, I have an amazing church and Pastor, amazing friends who I know will always be there for me, sweet family, and the list could go on and on.

I do, however, look forward to starting a new year. I trust this year will be different...better...possibly change...who knows what will happen. My prayer is that God will continue to bless us all and give us all the desires of our hearts.

I love you all and thank you for everything that you've done for me. You're the greatest!

Love, Kris

A Moment of Silence for....Yahtzee...

So our family has always loved the game of Yahtzee. In fact, I think we have had this particular game of Yahtzee since before we were born. lol Last night when my sister Robyn and I were out shopping we saw that Yahtzee was on sale so we bought our dad another game. So, on this sad December day, we had to have a moment of silence as we laid the old game to rest. What a sad day in the Ford household. LOL
This is Dad and Ashlyn having a moment of silence. LOL

This is Todd, Darla, Katelyn, and Jeff saying a prayer. LOL

This is Todd and Darla crying that we were burying Yahtzee. LOL

Things you see at Target...

So, tonight my sister Robyn and I were out shopping at Target seeing what kind of deals we could find. lol When we were leaving, I looked up and was like "what in the world?" lol The ENTIRE dashboard was completely FILLED with McDonald's toys! haha We laughed so hard and just had to take a picture! LOL

Happy Birthday, Bubba!

Happy Birthday, Bubs!!! My nephew Todd turned 11 today!! He is getting so grown up! We've been having a blast hanging out this week! I love you Bubs!

Adopt-a-Family 2008

This year C-Squared decided that we wanted to adopt a family for the Holidays! We all pitched in some money as as previously posted we went on a Wednesday night during Life Night to purchase and wrap the gifts that we got. A couple of us went on Tuesday night (Christmas Eve Eve lol) to deliver the gifts to our family. When we got to their house we were welcomed with big smiling faces! They were SO excited and SO grateful that we came! We told them MERRY CHRISTMAS!! And the mom (Julie) kept telling us over and over how thankful she was. She told us, "We usually put the tree up every year, but we never are able to have any presents under it." I wanted to cry but at the same time I was so excited because it felt so good to know that we were helping this family out in their time of need!

Merry Christmas!!!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone!!!!! I hope you all have a very merry christmas and are enjoying your family and friends!!! Hope Santa was good to you! LOL I have enjoyed having a WHITE Christmas this year! Although it's only partially white! haha But we still have SNOW on this wonderful Christmas day! LOL This year we only did presents for the kids, but it was so much fun to watch them open the presents. Dad fixed french toast for breakfast, then the kids opened the presents. This year we had a non-traditional Christmas dinner. We had stuffed cheesy meatloaf, manicotti, twice baked potatoes, beanie weenies, cheesy rotel corn, salad, rolls, mixed veggies, and strawberry nut salad. For dessert we had coconut pie, banana pie, peanut butter balls, fudge, and blackberry cake. We usually have like Turkey and ham. But it was SOOO good. Anyways, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day! Love you all!

Happy Birthday, Bethany!!

Happy Birthday, Bethany!!! Yesterday on Christmas Eve was Bethany's 18th birthday! We all went out for dinner at Buca di Beppo's on The Plaza! It was so good! Bethany, you are very special to me and I can't wait to see how your life continues to unfold! Love you bunches!!

Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the NYC Rockettes!!

Last Friday, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular was in Kansas City, featuring The Rockettes!!! Venita, Sarah, and I went to the Sprint Center and saw them!!! It was sooo much fun and they were amazing!!! It really set me in the Christmas spirit and it was amazing how in sync they were with their dances. It was awesome! They changed into about 13 different outfits and they had so many cool backgrounds and stuff. It was amazing!!

Well...

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the Sanders moving. The time has come and they leave in the morning for Minnesota. I won't give much details, but lets just say it has been VERY emotional this entire weekend. I've been helping them alot doing whatever I can, but mostly watching Declynn. I am going to miss them SOOOO much. It's bittersweet. I am excited for them, but at the same time, I don't want them to leave. On that note, I'll be living at their house indefinitely. Anyways, hope everyone had a good weekend...I'll blog more later...

The Season of GIVING!!

This year C-Squared (College and Career Ministry) decided to adopt a family. We’ve been talking about doing this for quite some time but we actual took the step and adopted a family this year, through the Don Bosco Center. When I called and told them that we wanted a family of 4 or 5, she was SO excited because she had a family of 5 that still needed to be adopted for the Holidays. Our family is a single parent home with four children. The mom, Julie, is going to school full time and working through a temp agency. There are four children; one girl, Carhmah-Age 3 and three boys; Wallace-Age 6, Wallace-Age 8, and Wallace-age 15. I have been very excited about this but at the same time just a little unsure, since I've never done anything like this before. This past Wednesday for Life Group, Ragen and I were trying to figure out a way for everyone in C-Squared to be involved. We decided that we were going to load up and head to Wal-Mart. I was nervous how everyone would respond, but everyone was SO excited about getting presents for our "family"!!! We all loaded up and headed out to WalMart to find gifts! Everyone was scurrying around the place all excited about trying to find things! It warmed my heart and made me feel so good that people were excited about GIVING to others!! After we finished at WalMart, we headed back to the church and we wrapped the gifts!

Last night, I called Julie (the mom of our "family"). I was nervous at first because I didn't know what to say and I was secretly hoping that it would be a family that would be grateful. I told her who I was and that I was with The Life Church and that we had adopted her family for the Holidays. She instantly was SOOO estatic!!!!!! She kept telling me over and over and over how excited and thankful she was that we adopted them!! She kept telling me that times were just tough and she couldn't do it. I knew from the moment I spoke to her how grateful she was.

I can't explain to you what that did to my heart. It felt so GOOD!!! It felt so amazing that we were helping someone that was in NEED. Sometimes we forget all the real importance in life. It's not about the things we receive but its about helping others. Helping others that have greater needs than ourselves.

I know this is getting to be a long post, but we will be delivering the gifts to Julie's home the first part of next week! Stay tuned!

My Birthday!

Well, today is my 28th birthday! Wow!! Only 2 years until the big 3-0!! Yikes!! I love birthdays, tho!! It makes you thankful to be alive yet another year. You're reminded just how many people really do love you and think of you on your special day. I woke up on this cold winter day, with the windchill below 0! I looked out the window to see that it was SNOWING!!!! It is absolutely beautiful!!!!! I LOVE having white birthdays!!!! I have gotten several cards, phone calls, lots of emails, texts, and comments on facebook and myspace, and my sister and neices and nephew called and sang Happy Birthday to me this morning!!! I am so thankful for so many AMAZING friends and family!!! You all are SO wonderful to me!!!! I love you all SO much!!! Thank You for making my day very special and very memorable for me!!! :)

One Cold Winter Day

I woke up this morning to -13 degree windchill!!! BRRRRR!!!!! Even though it's FREEZING outside, I can't imagine being in the Christmas season and not having cold winter and snowy season. We are supposed to get more snow tonight, so we'll see if it happens or not. lol I got to work this morning, and we are having treats this week. Everyday they are doing something different. This morning we had a pancake and sausage breakfast!!! It was so yummy! This company that does it, will flip your pancakes to you and you have to catch them! LOL It's pretty hilarious! Here is a video off of youtube about Chris Cakes!

After we ate breakfast our work surprised us and brought in Professional Christmas Carolers! They were SO good! Their dress (they looked like real carolers), the choriograph, and everything was awesome!

Now, I'm all cozy in a big ole sweatshirt, in a big cozy/fuzzy blanket, and about to go enjoy the lights on the Christmas tree! :) Good Night!

Another Loved One...

We received a call this morning that yet another loved one has passed away. She has gone to meet Jesus. One of my mom's best friends, we call her Aunt Ellen. This woman has gone through so much in her life, but she was a fighter. She was a STRONG woman! Of course, we all loved her dearly. I won't go into any detail about what this lady has gone through in her life, but I will say that she did not deserve all that she did go through. Several years ago, she came down with Parkinson's disease. It has been so sad to see this disease take over her body. My mom was priveledged to get to see her just a couple of weeks ago, which I am so grateful for.
Although I don't really understand why we have had so many deaths of loved ones that have been so near and dear to our hearts this year, I am so thankful that Aunt Ellen has been in our life. Aunt Ellen, we miss you and love you.

Happy Birthday Jen!!

I didn't get to blog this yesterday. But yesterday was one of my best friends' birthday!!! She is a wonderful person and has a wonderful family!! We met several years ago through some mutual friends and we clicked right away! We hung out as much as we could when she still lived in Missouri! It was a sad day when she moved back to Tennessee, but I am so happy for her. Jen, you have been and are such a wonderful friend to me, and I thank God for you! God placed you in my life for a very special reason and I wouldn't trade your friendship for anything in the world! I love you so much!! I'm glad you had a wonderful birthday!! :) Love ya!!!
(This picture is of Jen and her baby boy, Bradyn!)

Snow!!

So, it has snowed hard core all day today!!! It was so beautiful coming down. Winter is definitely here, and I just am not ready for it yet. lol But it is here, nonetheless. lol It is FREEZING outside!!! Yesterday it warmed up to 55. Today it was 22 with a windchill of 12!!! Go figure! lol It was so intense driving home tonight, it took me over an hour to get home when it usually only takes 25-30 minutes. But the roads were pretty slick and there were lots of cars in the ditch! Anyways, just glad to have made it home safe and sound! :) Our neighbor is wonderful though. He is outside right now snow blowing everyone's driveways. He always mows our yard and stuff too when he needs it. He just enjoys doing it! What a blessing! I am listening to him snow blow right now, in fact. lol Ok, I'm rambling, so I'll be done! Have a good night!

It's a sad day...

It's a sad day for me today. A day full of tears. I found out this weekend (and Pastor also announced it at church today) that Tim and Trish Sanders are moving to Minnesota in a few weeks. I am SO very excited for them to see what God is doing, but yet I am SO sad they are leaving. :( I have adopted them as my family, as they have me to them, and I just don't want to see them go. It's not like we'll never see each other again, because we WILL but I want to be selfish and keep them here. They have taken a church as Pastor in Minnesota and I am excited to hear what God is doing there.
Tim, Trish, Owen, & Declynn: I will miss you SOOOOO much, but rest assured, you'll have some company before long! :) haha Love you guys so much!!

So Blessed...

Dear Friends: So, I'm sitting here trying to work and I keep thinking of how blessed I am to have you as a friend. I was just showing my coworker some pictures from when Lori and Jessy came to see me at Thanksgiving...as I always show them pictures from every time I go somewhere. So my coworkers know who you ALL are! :) And she made the statement, "Krista, you have a lot of GOOD friends." I responded with, "I am very BLESSED." I just wanted to tell yall how thankful I am for your friendship. Life may get busy and I know I don't express myself as often as I should. Although miles may separate some of us, I know that yall will be forever in my life. We have shared so many good times, so many memories, laughs, heart to heart talks, cries, we've been there for each other, and I am so thankful. When I think about all the good times we share, I just have to smile and thank God for every moment he has blessed me with to be with yall. I thank God that he has blessed me more than abundantly to have a friend like you! I love you all!!!!!
Forever, Kris

Thanksgiving-Louisiana 2008

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving week!!!! As in an earlier post, I ended up leaving a day earlier so that I could be at the funeral for my uncle (actually my cousin). We had a great time being with family and I think I met a gazillion more cousins (3rds and 4ths) that I didn't know existed. lol But it was great fun getting to meet them all! The church that the family dinner was at for the funeral put on a HUGE spread. I've never seen so much food at one place. Seriously. They had at least 4 LONG tables packed FULL of food and they had about 25 different desserts. It was crazy! But it was sooo good...you can't beat that good ole southern cookin'! Thanksgiving day was wonderful with the food and being with family. We usually have 60+ people there but we only had about 40 this year. Not everyone was able to make it in. All the cousins that were there pulled out an intense game of SPOONS!!! It was SO much fun!!! On Friday morning, I was able to go to Shreveport and copy one of my Mammaw's cookbooks. That meant so much to me. It was wierd with Mammaw not being with us this Thanksgiving. At breakfast on Thanksgiving morning, I had pictured her sitting in her recliner chair sipping on her cup of hot tea, asking us if we needed anything or if we wanted some orange juice. It was SO vivid in my mind I thought she was there. It made me sad when I realized she wasn't there. I was also able to meet up with a few cousins for lunch on Friday afternoon, from my Mom's side of the family. Friday evening, one of my best friends, Lori and her husband Jessy came to see me from New Orleans!!! I was SO excited that they came up to see me!!! We had a blast together!!!!