Laughing again.......and a 700 lb Spider on Rollerskates

I CANNOT believe it has been one year since I posted on this blog.  Life has been busy of course, but really?  
The good news is, we are still in Stillwater, OK.  The bad news is, we MOVED again! 
I guess it's not really bad news, but moving is hard! 
Anyway, we were going to move this summer, to a little bit bigger home, since we have 5 kids, 4 of which are still home, but the contract fell through.  So we were good with that, stay where we were, in a smaller home, with all our stuff being stored in 7 different places! Yes, that is correct, 7 different places. But still, trusting, God's timing, not ours.  Well, we started the school year and all that it brings.  We had Jesse's football schedule, Ruth's cross country schedule, Esther's volleyball schedule, and Anna's cross country schedule to work around.  Joshua asked if he could sign up for flag football, and my answer was "Heck No!!"  (His time is coming!) So, packing up the trailer and heading out every weekend to somewhere in Kansas for football, plus throwing a xc meet or VB game in there, sometimes we would be in 3 different cities, 2 different states in a matter of 24 hours!! 

Right in the middle of this, the people who owned the house we had put a contract on over the summer, came back to us and offered us a deal we couldn't refuse, so after praying and signing the paperwork, we had to close in 2 weeks.  All of a sudden, in the midst of an already crazy schedule, we were moving across town!! 

This was exciting and exhausting all at the same time, because you know, the Ray Ford Family does not pay movers!! We do it ourselves. Ha! So we spent the next few weeks, slowly but surely trickling things over to the new home.  But as we got to the end of the month, Ray said he was not paying another month in storage, so we HAD to get the storage stuff over to the new home by Friday.  Well, that was fine, except, we had a XC meet in Arkansas, and a football game in KS, along with 2 volleyball games that week, both an hour drive away!  The boxes were not the difficult part, and we were able to get that over in about 5 trips, but the RV, oh baby, that was a different story!  You see, we have a large separate garage/workshop/RV storage at our new home.  I call it the barn. Anyway, it is great, but the people before us didn't have an RV/5th wheel, so they built a loft type structure, to use as storage.  It was right in the spot were the back half of the 5th wheel needed to go in the barn, so we had to take that out.  Well, Ray wasn't about to waste that great storage, so instead of dismantling it, he wanted to MOVE it.  Now this thing probably weighed 700+ lbs.  It was attached to the side of the wall, but had 4 large beams that supported it, like legs.  Ray decided that we could just cut it away from the wall and move it over on wheels.  After we propped it up on skate boards, furniture dollies and the like, and tried to move it a few feet, we rethought! So the next day, while the kids were at school, Ray and I attempted to move this thing.  He attached casters to the 4 legs and we began to push.  It was sooooo exciting, the thing was moving, we were so proud of ourselves, we were gonna have this thing moved and secured to the other side of the barn in a matter of 30 minutes.  

Well, pride cometh before the fall.......... we ran into a little finagling around the garage door and while Ray was trying to figure out how to manuver it, the thing started to fall!! We could hear wood cracking, and I was supporting one leg, Ray ran over to support the other, and we were huffin' and puffin' like to old fat people, sweat beads pouring from our faces.  We couldn't move, yet, we had to get something under this thing or it was coming down!! About that time we look up and here comes 2 Jehovah Witnesses!! They asked if they could have a few minutes of our time!!! What?! Can you not see we are in dyer need of some assistance?! Ray said "No! We are a little busy at the moment, but you can help us if you want!" They declined, but then asked if they could leave some reading material for us?! You have got to be kidding! No! 

After they left, Ray said, "Ok, I am gonna step away and grab the ladder, and try to prop it up underneath, if it starts to fall on you, just run away!!" Oh my gosh, how do I get myself into these situations with this guy??  Well, he was able to get the ladder under the structure before it fell on top of me, and we stepped away for a moment.  He decided we would use the tractor, and lift the weight up off the legs, while we moved it, then secure it into place before we moved the tractor.  Long story short, 10 hours later, after we started this project, we had the stucture moved and secured into place.  A friend stopped by while we were in the process and gave alot of support and encouragement, but like she said, it looked like a 700 lb spider on roller skates!!

Needless to say, we were exhausted after working ALL DAY on this short quick little job, and we were supposed to get on the road that night and head to Fayetteville, AR for Ruth's XC meet the next day.  Well, I thought we were going in to clean up, when I heard the chain saw roar to life! What now?  The 5th wheel was still at the storage facility, but we had to renew the lease the next day if we didn't get it out of there by the weekend.  We were taking the 5th wheel to AR and then to KS, but when we came back home on Sunday, Ray wanted to be able to put it into the barn, soooo, we had lots of tree limbs that hung across the driveway.  Ray had to clear those so he could bring the 5th wheel in once we returned on Sunday.  So all of us went out and as Ray cut a limb, we dragged it into the front yard.  I wanted to take them all to the back behind the barn, but the sun was going down, we were supposed to get on the road, and we just didn't have time.  I was embarrassed because our neighbors all have very well kept yards, and here we come, just moving in, and trashing the place!!  Well, as we worked into the night, Ray cut, and we dragged!  Finally, after he had cut his last limb, the idea of getting on the road was out of the question!! To say we were tired was an understatement! We decided to crash, and just get up early the next morning and head out.  

The next morning, Ray headed over to get the 5th wheel, then come to pick us up and head out.  He called and said to come outside and load up, but as we walked outside, with overnight bag in hand, we see Ray unloading stuff out of the 5th wheel onto the front lawn.  We had several kayaks in the back of the 5th wheel, and to have room for the kids to sleep in the back, we had to unload them.  At this point, we are cutting it close to make it to Ruth's race, so we just start chunking kayaks and all the gear into the front yard, along with piles of tree limbs! About that time, our new neighbors cautiously walked over and asked if we need any help.  What was your first clue?! Yes we need help, but I think it goes deeper than just unloading our crud out of the trailer!!  We graciously declined, and assured them we were not the Clampets, and we would have this all cleaned up eventually!! Ray hollered for everyone to load up, and we flew out of there, dust and leaves off the tree limbs flying behind us!

Well, several hours later, we were cruising toward Fayetteville, when we realized we had missed our exit! That was fight number one on this trip! We only had to go 30 miles out of the way, because we were on a toll road, and there are no exits!!

After getting back in the right direction, and apologizes and forgiveness were given, we were cruising again.  We made it to the meet, and only had to park 2 miles from the course!! Ha!  Thank goodness they had a bus that shuttled back and forth.  We ran up to the start, saw Ruth run with 600+ other high school girls, it was crazy 22 minute race, then loaded back up to head up through Missouri, and over into central Kansas for Jesse's game.  Whew!

7 miles out from the meet, Ray asks where his phone is!! I don't know!! We have find my friends on our phones, so I can see his phone is on the side of the road, back where we pulled onto the highway from the meet.  Ray wheels the big rig around, and we head back to get it! As we are approaching were it showed it was, it begins to MOVE!! What? Someone has picked it up.  We started calling it, multiple times, but no answer! So, what do we do......... We follow it!! 2 miles down the road, it stops in a Lowe's parking lot.  Ray instructs the kids to stay in the car, while we walk around in the parking lot, my phone in hand, tracking where his phone is.  We look like a couple of creepers, and it's a miracle someone didn't call the police.  We had narrowed it down to 2 cars, so as we were looking through the windows of the cars, and getting lots of stares, a shady looking guy comes out towards Ray and asked if we were looking for an iPhone.  Not sure if he had good intentions initially, since he hadn't answered when we had called, but needless to say, we got the phone back!! Miracle!!

Well, that put us 30 minutes later on the road than we had planned, so we headed out again, 5 hours away from where Jesse was playing.  2.5 hours down the road, Ray and I could NOT keep our eyes open, we were so worn out, not only from the last 24 hours, but the last few weeks of moving and kids' athletic schedules.  We pulled the truck over, gave our phones to Joshua and Anna, and all crawled into the trailer.  We set the timer for 20 minutes, told them to play games, and not wake us up until the alarm went off, and we crawled up in the bed and CRASHED, dead to the world, as soon as our heads hit the pillow.  20 minutes later, we were off and running again!

We arrived at Jesse's game, at the end of the 2nd quarter, after dark, in an unfamiliar stadium.  Fight number 2 happened after I tried to coach Ray on where to park!! Ha! Eventually, we made it into the game, reconciled and exhausted, but thankful we had made it, finally.  

After the game, we camped in the trailer and slept in a little the next morning, before we headed back to Stillwater.  When we pulled in, it was bitter sweet.  We were so thankful to be home, yet looking at the piles of stuff in our driveway and yard, it was a little hard not to get overwhelmed.  Ray announced that no one was released until we got this trailer into the barn.  So we all worked together, cutting the limbs up into small enough pieces, so that we could drag them out of the way.  We cleared all boxes out of the way in the barn, and made sure the path was clear for Ray to back that baby in.  It was the moment of truth, and excitement as we had all worked so hard, the weekend was so exhausting, but this would be balm for the soul, and make it all worth it.  You know what I am about to say..........  The trailer AC unit was TOO TALL!! by about 6 inches!!

That was it, we were done, Ray put that baby in park, and we left it there, all week, half in half out!
Our poor neighbors.

We either had to laugh or cry, so we laughed.  We had already cried a little that weekend.  It's all good, right? This is a first world problem, it's not eternal!

Well, I am happy to say, 3 weeks later, Ray Ford, who is a risk taker, and not afraid to attempt something I would NEVER do, took a chain saw, and cut a notch above the garage door, and got that sucker in there!!   No, it's not that pretty at the moment, but even our neighbors were impressed.  I think it is what makes Ray a good surgeon, he is not afraid to cut something open, fix it, and make it work.

And I am happy to say, we have moved all piles and items out of our front yard and around to the back.  Also, things are calming down, thus, the ability to do this blog entry.  Ruth qualified and ran in the State Championship XC meet this past weekend.  Esther finished up a good season of VB a few weeks ago.  Anna had her last meet 2 weeks ago, and we only have 2 more Sterling Football games.  We finally were back in town for church on Sunday after 6 weeks of missing in action from being on the road for football games.  I think things are calming down!! Now to unpacking boxes! 

Have a wonderful week,
JJ

Wanna "Taco" bout Jesus??

Doing what Ray does, he is like the mailman, come rain, sleet, snow, or hail, those babies will not wait!  Last night we were handing out candy with the kids, and Ray got called in.  I made him go in his costume.  He said the nurses had gotten a laugh and posted it on Facebook before he could even take it off as he went in to see his first patient!!

Another night this month (no picture), we had a bad storm blowing in.  It had just started hailing when he got paged and had and emergency he had to leave for immediately.  He was running around putting his shoes on and asking me for an umbrella since it was hailing.  I told him they were all outside in the cars, of course!! So, the next thing I know, here he comes running from the garage with Joshua's batting helmet on!!  I asked, "What in the world are you doing?"  He said, "It's hailing and I can't get knocked out running from the car to the hospital!!"

Always an adventure being married to Ray!!

A few more pics of the kids from last night.

Anna with a friend, she was a Jawa from Starwars.

Ruth, Esther, Moses and a friend. 50's girls, Nancy Drew, and a chihuahua.

Joshua the Baylor Bear.

Esther and Moses braving the cold to hand out candy.

Happy Fall Ya'll,

JJ

Unexpected Adventure/Vacation

It has been awhile since I have blogged, but I had to share this story from our summer.
In July we had another Ford Family Adventure (aka vacation).  After going over the schedule of all our kids, and Ray's work, we found we only had 1 week this summer that all of us could pull away for a family vacation.  We were pulled in opposite directions on where to go, wanting to head Northeast, towards Ray's sister's house, whom we had never been up to visit since they moved there, and also wanting to go West to my parent's cabin in Red River, New Mexico.  Feeling like this would be the LAST time we would have this opportunity with all five kids, we decided to do both!!

 Sure, why not?! 3000 miles, 45 hours of driving time (not including bathroom stops), with 7 people in one car....... sounds like a BLAST!! Ha!

Well,  we headed out just as soon as Ray got his last baby delivered Monday morning, after being up 4 nights in a row, delivering 7 babies over the weekend!! So he was a little exhausted, but hey, that is our life, we've gotten used to it, so we headed out. Everyone was ready to go, and our first goal for that night was to reach St. Louis, Mo, where we were going to stay with some friends from Baylor.

Usually when we start any trip, I pray for safety on the road, safe travels, and good memories and a safe return home.  After reading a book this year called the Papa Prayer, I was encouraged to ask for whatever God wanted to bring into our lives this trip to draw us closer to Him, good or bad, that was not the point, but to just draw us closer to Him, and feel His presence more in our lives.

We had tried to plug in fun activities and stops along the way so to break up the monotony of riding in the car.  We stopped at Lamberts in Springfield  MO "Home of the Throwed Rolls!" So fun, but we were stuffed by the time we rolled out of their parking lot!

 Well, after several stops, and miles under our belt, we made it to the Kerckoff's house, just in time for Ray, Jesse, and Esther to go Frog Gigging!!! Even though I married a Louisiana boy, he had never gotten to experience this first hand, so, they headed out to the pond behind the mulit-million dollar school where Andy taught, and went hunting for frogs.  Ray said it was just like when Jace and Willie (Duck Dynasty) did the same thing at the fancy country club in Monroe.  They had a blast, but they were filthy when they got home!! What a great experience!!

The next morning we headed out towards Cincinatti, Oh, where Ray's sister lives with her husband and kids.  That was a special visit, and the cousins enjoyed getting caught up with one another, as well as the adults.

After our visit there, we headed out towards Red River, but our first stop was going to be Kansas City.  We had decided we would stay there for the night, then take the kids to Schlitterbaun the next day, before we piled back in the car for another 5-6 hours that evening.  We were trying to break up the driving a little bit, and do some fun things along the way.  We also had a white water rafting trip planned 2 days later, to give us another break from driving, and put a little adventure in the mix.
Well, we sure had everything planned out, but God changed it up!
The kids were getting a little irritable with each other, being our 3rd day in a row driving, but overall they were ok, just a few fights here and there! We stopped to get gas, and headed out again, only about 5 miles out of Columbia, MO, when our Excursion started making a funny sound, Ray looked down and noticed the temp gauge quickly rising, and before we knew it, we were burning up! We immediately pulled off the highway, with cars flying past us at 80+ miles an hour, and were on a shoulder about the size of my foot!
Right behind us, a white 15 passenger van pulled off.  Ray ordered us to stay in the car until he could figure out what was going on and see what this van needed as well.
Unbelievably, the man that pulled off behind us saw we were in trouble and pulled off to help us.
Our Excursion had some line cut, and we had sprayed some fluid all over the road (sorry, not a car person) anyway, this man had noticed us because the fluid had sprayed all over his windshield! He pulled off to see if we needed help.
He was alone, in a 15 passenger van.  If anyone else had pulled off with any passengers at all, we would not have all been able to fit, really an angel sent by the Lord we believe.  After Ray realized what exactly had happened, he ordered us all into the van with the stranger, who did finally give us his name after we were a few miles down the road.  He made sure we had a connection to our insurance and tow company, and then took us to a rental place, where he was returning the van from a business trip.  We had the car towed to the local Ford Dealership, and then went about trying to rent a car.  Since it was 4th of July weekend coming up, of course they were out of any size car that would fit our family, let alone all our luggage.  We were thinking we would have to rent 2 cars, and a uhaul just to get around!  The same guy that picked us up then suggested that we take his van he was returning!! Amazing, it was the only car left that could fit us AND our luggage and it was available.

We decided that we would go ahead and try to make it to Kansas City where our hotel reservations were for that night, and use our tickets we had already purchased to Schlitterbahn the next day while we waited to get word on repairs for the car.
So grateful, we all piled in the van, with plenty of room to stretch out.  The kids thought it was great. Almost everybody had their own row!!

We were overwhelmed with thankful hearts as we expressed to Him how He had provided in the middle of a crisis and kept us safe, and provided a way on to Kansas City.  We felt He painted this beautiful sunset as we drove this last stretch into KC to remind us of His love and tender mercies toward us.

Well, because we had been delayed for awhile, it put us getting into Kansas City very late.  It was dark and KC is much bigger than we realized.  As I am trying to read off directions from my iphone, the kids start arguing in the back.  I kindly remind them to have 
grateful hearts, "remember all that God has done for us today, children!!" While I was trying to deal with them, Ray almost missed the exit, I corrected him in the nick of time, then more arguing comes from the back, WAY back in the back of the 15 passenger van.  I begin to feel myself changing, from the loving grateful mother/navigator for my husband, to something that would star in a horror film.  I quickly handed my iphone to Jesse who was sitting in the first row, and said "tell your dad where to go!", I then became soooo flexible, it reminded me of cheerleading days in high school.  Somehow, in a matter of a few seconds, I had hurdled over 3 rows of bench seats in the van to the back row, where Joshua and Anna were going at it!! I began to vomit out all kinds of stuff about how they were going to ruin the trip, etc. and by the time I was done, I felt like a louse, they were both crying, and Ray, Jesse and Ruth were in the front trying to quietly get us to the hotel so I didn't repeat the same tongue lashing on them!!
Low moment of the trip! Needless to say, about 20 minutes later the Holy Spirit had done His work on me, and I asked for forgiveness from the entire family.  That was worse than breaking down on the side of the road!!!
Anyway, we made it to the hotel, and by the grace of God, had a blast at Schlitterbahn the next day.  

We got word that the car would not be fixed for a few days, so we backed up and punted.  We decided that The Lord was redirecting our vacation, and we would calm down and stay in KC for a few days, have fun there, then go pick up our car on Saturday and just drive home.  We had to cancel the rest of our planned out vacation, white water rafting and time in Red River with my family, but again, we were believing that God had other plans, better than what we had planned and decided to go with it.
We ended up getting to spend the 4th at Worlds of Fun, and yes it was FUN.  Such a neat new experience.......we had no idea there was so much to do in KC.

When we arrived back in Columbia to pick up the car on Saturday, the dealership told us they had repaired the car, and it should get us home, but we were looking at thousands of dollars in repairs once we arrived back in Ponca.  Not what we wanted to hear.  But then they said that they actually had another Excursion, exactly like ours on the lot, with less miles, and it would be an EVEN trade if we wanted it!

Well, after praying and asking for quick wisdom, as we were standing in the dealership parking lot with luggage everywhere, and kids playing football in between cars, we felt this was the Lord's provision and we unloaded everything from one car to another, signed the papers, and headed home!! Wow, is all we could say.

So we left with one car and thought we knew what we were doing for our vacation, and we came home in a different car doing and experiencing new things that we had not planned at all!!
Usually I am such a detailed planner, that when anything goes wrong, out of the scheduled plan, I am not ok with it.  This was the Lord chipping away at me once again, and showing me His plan is best.  He truly did answer my prayer, asking for His presence to be felt in a deeper way and to draw us closer to Him on this trip.  He did keep us safe, and we did feel His loving arms around us, our trip just turned out completely different than what I had planned. 
Isn't it crazy how we think we are in such control and can plan everything out, then God reminds us He is really the One in charge.  It is His show and I am thankful He loves us enough to not go with our flow, but to flood us with His grace.
God is good,
JJ

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Well, can you believe we have been here for over 9 months?! I CANNOT believe it! We made it through school, Hallelujah!! We made it through 5 sports! We made it through our first winter up here!  We are still together as a family! :) 
I am grateful for God seeing us through this past year, this move, the transition.  So much has happened since we arrived up here in Northern Oklahoma.  I will share the next step for our family on the next post, but for now, I wanted to share with you some of my "favorites" up here.  Yes, there are many things I miss about home in Texas, but the Lord has shown me some really neat things up here to appreciate and enjoy.  Hope these pictures give you a little glimpse of some of them.

1. The Fall Colors

They were absolutely beautiful!! What a treat to have a REAL Fall.

2.  The cool temperatures.

Another benefit of having a real Fall.  We so enjoyed wearing jackets from September through November, and getting to visit a real pumpkin patch in Kansas.  So fun!!

3.  The Snow!!! 

Yehaw!! We had so much fun sledding, right out in our back yard, and it was beautiful!!

And so fun that we had snow shovels, salt, and ice/snow shoe tractions in EVERY store!

4. The Eagles!!  

We got to see so many eagles this Winter.  They winter here, making a home out at Kaw Lake, Lake Ponca, and even in Ponca proper.  We actually had one fly right outside our kitchen window!! That was one of my favorites!!

5.  The colors of our school.  

I LOVE the navy and red.  Makes for a great uniform!!

6.  The Spring flowers.  

Amazing how the colors just started popping up everywhere.  I actually even have some in my yard, and I usually kill everything, but things just seem to grow easier up here.

7.  All the neighborhood kids.  

My kids walk outside and there is always someone ready to play or hang out with them.  So fun! They are usually out until the sun goes down, then I call them in with my whistle!

And yes!!! That is a baby raccoon that Esther found one day while riding her horse!!

8.  The beautiful historic buildings and homes.  

From the Marland Mansion, to the museums, to the lovely homes along the red brick streets, I am always seeing something worth looking at every day in Ponca.

9.  The friends that have welcomed us into their lives.  

Football guys, lunch buddies, volleyball girls, and neighbors.  They have made us feel right at home.

10.  The hometown parades.  

Makes you feel like your in Mayberry and the whole town comes to watch.

11.  Prom.  

Sounds like a funny thing to love about Ponca, but it's a big deal up here, and thanks to the Wilsons, we were able to save our spot for the Grand March, and come out with all the town to watch the kids parade around the grounds to the Marland Mansion.

The Wilsons came out to stake our claim the week before the Grand March and Prom. Each tarp represents a family's area to sit.

Jesse and his date, Hannah.

Walking around the grounds in the Grand March.

Look at all the people. They estimate several thousand come out to watch.

God's glory is revealed in all this, in the faces of people that have welcomed us in, in the nature that reflects His beauty, and the majesty of watching an eagle fly or seeing the snow fall so softly. I am grateful He has allowed us to experience all this here in Ponca.

Next time I will post on some changes that are happening and where the Lord is leading us next.

In His grace,
JJ Ford