It has been a very busy time for us. Well...for me, specifically. Last week, I did not each lunch at all at work, just because I was seeing patients that whole time. In the evenings we have had Christmas presentations and concerts from all the kids, and the weekends have been busy shuttling cars to/from various destinations. It's been wild, and is finally showing signs of slowing down. Here is a brief highlight list of our last little while.

1) Gingerbread contest. Whoville won by a landslide. It wasn't even close. Good job to everyone, but especially to team Whoville.

2) My knee is finally feeling better. I mentioned it a little bit in the last blog, and I was originally more worried than I let on. It's taken a couple of weeks, and it's still a little sore, but I skied yesterday and I'm back to full-on leg days in the gym. A week from now I think I'll be a hundred percent again.

3) The kids have all been annoyingly under-the-weather. Not like super sick or anything. Just coughing. A LOT. Our house sounds like a hospital. 

4) Lindsey choir concert. This was an outdoor concert at the Post Falls Winter Festival at city hall.

5) Church potluck and chili cookoff. Rachel defended her title from last year and came away a second time with the winning dish. 

6) Skiing with friends. 

We forgot forks. No problem.

Addy and Jace

Evelyn and Josh

7) High school band concert. Both girls did great.

9) Unpagent. It is a Sunday devoted to a reenactment of the nativity. Lindsey was a wise gal. Addy played in the ensemble. 

10) Maren Voice recital. She did great. I am always a little bit surprised at how big her voice is when she sings. 

First things first. Gingerbread house contest. We do this every year. At first, it wasn't competitive at all- it was just a thing that Rachel and I did for fun. Then we started doing it with extended family. Then kids got involved. And now, Rach and I stand aside pretty much completely and just watch in on the action. It's a fun tradition.

Not everyone. We had around 20 people working on houses this year. This is just the beginning.

We do need some judges though, and that is where, if you are reading this, I will ask that you let us know your vote. Leave a comment, send a text, call us up...whatever. 

Here are the contenders:

 This creation features a vibrant coral reef teeming with life. Colorful, candy-coated rocks form the base, while intricate sugar-spun seaweed sways in the current. A school of gummy fish swim among the coral, enjoying their underwater habitat.

Here we have Whoville, from the Grinch who stole Christmas. Classic. The Whos are standing outside of their whimsical houses, holding hands around the tree. The Grinch (and Max) look down on the scene from the top of Mt. Crumpet as their hearts begin to grow.

The Banana farm, with banana trees and bananas everywhere.  A playful shark family makes their home here, and their peculiar appetite for bananas adds a quirky twist to this sweet and sunny creation

The candy shelter. This one is a little bit sad. There were big plans to do a ski resort. They tried real hard and had many committee meetings along the way. It didn't really work out in the end, so they just cut their losses, made a teepee, and stuffed it with all the candy they wanted to eat later on. It's not a bad strategy. In the foreground, the skeletal remains of a parking lot serve as a poignant reminder of the dream that once was.

The bowling alley. This was a side project, but I promised I would put it on.

So...Which one wins? Let me know!

*****

Next up: Thanksgiving. To be honest, the day itself was a little "meh." We sat around the house, watched some football, made some food, and sat around the house some more. I think there were people who really appreciated the laid-back day. I'm not great at sitting around, so the other days of the vacation were a bit better for me.

Of course we went skiing as part of the break. I was hoping to get a full four days in over the course of the week, but an ugly fall and tweaked knee forced me to take a couple of rest days. Nothing serious except for a damaged ego, and I'm already looking forward to being back on the slopes next weekend. We have had an amazing start to the season.

Also, Rach and I took an overnight getaway to the Wallace house and completely finished the next phase of the attic project. So far we have the subfloor, walls, and ceiling all the way finished. Windows are scheduled for installation later this month. Carpet and lighting will be done in January, and we are already discussing furniture and décor. We'll for sure have a little electric fireplace and are aiming for a cozy nook with maybe some bedding options. It is exciting to see things actually happening here and will make our little vacation house that much more versatile. 

Since it gets dark so early we are usually able to enjoy some spectacular sunsets before going back down to reality.

*****

There have been a few performances that we should mention. The first is Maren's showcase for a drama class she has been in. She got a central role in the play (a fairy-tale mash-up where she was the blue fairy), and she did a great job.

The next is just when Ev and I played at church last week. It's not the first time we've played together, but it was probably the best for me so far. There was a magical moment when the band was totally in flow together, and the congregation was obviously connecting with the music, and we all just looked at each other, smiled, and nodded, then kept going like, yeah, this is pretty sweet. I think it's really cool and rewarding that Ev and I get to share this music thing.

*****

Finally, a few more photos of the gingerbread contest. Don't let the teams sway your opinion.

The festive season between Halloween and New Years, for many people, is full of traditions. Foods, activities, decorations, maybe travel. All the things. And our family is no different, though as we grow up the traditions tend to change a little bit. Put all together, meshed with all the years past, these little habits and rituals weave their way into a strong and lasting family narrative. They become part of us. Who we are.

Over the last few years, there is an additional holiday for our family that has become every bit as import and ritualized for us as Christmas or Thanksgiving. Opening Day. Just saying it out loud makes my heart skip a little. It has a feel to it. There are certain smells and tastes and sounds that go along with the day. Certain customs. But first, the lead-up...

Here we are, two months before, checking our gear and making sure we have our passes. A month- checking our clothing. Two weeks- make sure the cars are ready. A week- try everything on, last minute checks, go into emergency mode over lost or damaged items. A day- fill up with gas. Charge our phones and Bluetooth helmets. Pack our bags. And then we are loading up the car and pulling out of the driveway. It's snowing.

We drive up to Wallace where we start the fireplace and turn the lights down low. We bake pizza and play games as a family while music plays in the background. And then we are heading up to watch The Movie. "Better Off Dead-" a ridiculous little tradition, but we can still quote every word and laugh at every punchline. We have dessert, and then we are laying out our clothes and trying to get some sleep, which is difficult because of the excitement. 

Let's interject here to make one thing clear. All of this is not simply about one day. It's not even about skiing. Rather, it's about an entire season. It's about road trips, and frozen faces, and hotel stays, and chair lift rides and eating lunch together. It's about challenging ourselves, and getting lost, and having hard days and doing hard things. It's about being completely absorbed in a single moment, whether that moment be joyful, or proud, or congenial, or scary, or somewhere in between. And really, in a lot of ways, Opening Day feels like it's a celebration of us- as in capital "U" Us- the Hazard Family, being together and being ourselves and having both of those things balance in a way that seems to work better in these settings than almost any other. 

Morning of- we make a nice breakfast and eat while at the same time putting on layers. It is controlled chaos for a while, but we each take a few quiet moments for ourselves to watch the large snowflakes floating lazily onto the streets and rooftops below. We sip warm beverages. It's going to be a good day.

The drive from our house only takes a few minutes, and then we are walking to the gondola. The falling snow, the music in the village, the outdoor fireplaces, and the people milling about in clunky boots all seem warmly familiar. Welcoming. We give little nods of recognition and acknowledgement to people we remember from last year. It's here.

We do the first run as a family. A groomer. That is also part of the tradition. We wait at each pitch and check in on each other before going all the way down. And then we are off into small groups. From all over the mountain you can hear woops of unrestrained glee. Something about the movement makes you into a kid again, and you can see it not just in yourself, but in the people around you as well. Lunchtime is jovial, and you eat cosmic brownies while replaying the highs and lows of the day. And then back for more. 

And the next day... And the week after that... And the week after that...

It's going to be a great year and we couldn't have asked for a better start. We had to wait until January last year for conditions like this. On this Thanksgiving season I am so glad and thankful for that November day back in 2017 when we were going stir crazy with small kids in a small house and we only had 12 hours of cold daylight and we decided to go to a ski-swap just so we would have something to do to pass the time. We spent like a hundred bucks that day and outfitted the whole family with janky gear. And the rest is history. 

This is what started it all

Look at this ragtag bunch!

Happy Opening Day! 

Last minute adjustments

The excitement is real

Have a good week!

It's been a couple of weeks since I got on here. Though there haven't been any major events, we have still been our normal active selves. Silver Mountain opens this weekend and we are all excited to begin the season. This also means that we will probably have at least one ski picture every week for the next several months. It's just what we do. Until then though, here is a recap of what we have been up to.

Campus tour: We went down to University of Idaho in Moscow and walked around the campus. We went into most of the buildings, looked at the bulletin boards, peaked into classrooms and laboratories. We took a walk down Greek row, through the on-campus dorms, over to the campus bookstore, and then to a pizza place where we watched a football game on tv (UI happened to be playing). We imagined what life might be like for some of the kids if they were going to school here- where they would live, what buildings they might spend time in, and what things they would do for fun. It was a neat day, but kind of crazy to think about. Ev will be a senior next year and college isn't that far in our future. We'll try, over the next year or so, to visit several campuses so that when the time comes there will be some idea of what to expect.

Attic project: We are getting close with the attic in Wallace. We have gone up once as a family, and a couple of times with just Rach and me to work on it. Spending the night up there still feels like a vacation every time and we always have fun. We will probably finish the walls and ceiling next time we go up and will be ready to install carpet. It's actually very exciting. One kind-of unexpected turn of events is when we showed up one day to find one of our attic windows broken out. We put a board over it and got an estimate for a new one. This was just before we left to NYC last month. Well, that little detour turned out in the best way possible with us getting new big picture windows for very little cost due to some kind of energy-efficient-rebate-by-the-state-of-Idaho sort of deal. Neat! We are planning a nice reading nook around these windows, as they have a great view over Wallace and the Silver Valley.

The last two things were our last two weekends.

Other things that seem sort of significant(ish): Trampoline park. Ev/Addy band trip to Pullman (WSU). Maren choir concert. Car repairs. New oven. Fun new clothes for Rach and me. Getting ready for ski season. Playing in church with Ev. Rachel ordained a Deacon. Dad/Maren date to makeup tutorial. Addy/Ev super busy with band stuff. We never see Ev anymore because she is always either busy with school or going to concerts. Movie date with Rachel. It's always cold and dark and wet and gloomy but also a little bit cozy. 

Have a good week!

Halloween Night. Maren was gone at a sleepover. Ev was in CDA with friends. Jack, Addy, and Lindsey were out in various parts of town, each with separate groups of friends. Rach and I looked at each other- what do grown-ups do on Halloween? This is the first time in a very long time that we had no kids around on this night. There was no rush to assemble costumes or end-of-the-night candy exchange. Our family is growing up. We handed out candy and had a good night, but it was a little odd, and Lindsey was the only other person in the house when we finally went to bed.

The kids all had a good time. Ev poked some holes in a shirt in a weak attempt at creating a zombie costume, but really spent the majority of the night just hanging out at friends' houses. The others did dress up, but were all pretty much on their own with the costume thing.

Here are some photos:

These photos were taken a week before up in Kellogg. Addy is "The Night." Her best friend is a vampire, who can only exist in "the night," so that's kind of cute. Lindsey is a...Skeleton queen...or something?

Maren is a ghost. So was her friend, so that went together. Jackson is an anime character named Himiko Toga. He is NOT SAILOR MOON! SAILOR MOON DOESN'T CARRY A KNIFE- OBVIOUSLY!!! He worked really hard to make this costume himself, and was super proud of it. Also, it takes a very secure guy to hang out all night with your friends while wearing a skirt.

Besides Halloween night we have been pretty quiet around here- maybe recovering a little from our amazing trip to New York. 

Well- as I say that, I realize that Rachel traveled to Seattle for work, and interpreted a Halloween play that was the result of a flurry of activity on her part. Her and I also went out to see a play at the Civic Theater, and the whole family plus one friend saw the Broadway tour of Come From Away. We went to Kellogg for a Halloween celebration up in the Silver Valley, Jack and I got a ton of stuff done around the house to get things ready for winter, and Addy and Evelyn are missing school tomorrow for a big Jazz band competition that has caused no small amount of stress. 

So, yeah- relatively quiet.

Have a good week!

Are we overdoing the theater thing? Between us all, we have seen SEVEN shows in the last two weeks. This was the third time I have seen Come From Away, but I still love the show because it validates my own worldview that people are essentially good and will come together in times of crisis. "A candle's in the window and the kettle's always on" seems like a much more positive way to live than "stock up on ammo, hunker down, and don't tread too closely." Maybe I've always been a Newfoundlander at heart and I just feel defensive because I live in North Idaho.

An Enemy of the People- classic Arthur Miller.

Macbeth in all its Shakespearian glory. Rachel had a friend in this, and really, the actors did a great job. Especially as they tried to put some life into the archaic language of the play. Bravo. However- I think I'll share out loud the popular opinion that nobody will actually say in polite company- I don't love Shakespeare. I have tried. I have read all of his most acclaimed works- a few of them multiple times. I have seen the plays performed, and I have taken university-level classes devoted to both his poetry and his prose. And yet, as foundational as it is, I still think it is outdated and, to be frank, a little boring.