I know it's been a while since I posted on here and I am sure that all of my loyal readers are just dying to get their weekly Logan-and-Rachel fix. I know- it's a rough life.

However...

I am currently on a lovely vacation in Mexico.

Keep waiting, dear readers. Keep waiting.

Adios!

Happy Father's Day!

As a father's day present to myself I am not going to spend the time to write our blog this week. After all, what could possibly compare with these pictures?

I am the luckiest dad in the world!

The sun is glimmering on a warm breezy Fourth of July in Simi Valley California. My dad came out with the kite and a full size American flag so that we could 'fly' the red, white, and blue. The four of us very carefully helped Dad attach the flag to our six foot kite, and all of us very carefully spread out the flag to lift it gracefully in the air without letting any part of it touch the ground. I remember watching that flag and thinking about how cool my family was. I also remember all of us running around like crazy people when we brought the kite/flag down. The good news? The flag never touched the ground, and none of the kids had any major collisions.

Why the kite story? Because this week Logan and I took our kids out with my family and our kites. As the story illustrates, my family does not fly kites like normal families. We still have our favorite six foot kite (it is definitely much smaller than I remember) along with 50 foot streamers that we attach to the back. My favorite kite 'toy' is our homemade parachutes. All you need is a paper clip, bandana, heavy string, and a weight (my family always used spare metal nuts because they already have holes and are easy to attach). Find the center of the bandana and attach the paperclip. Then, tie equal lengths of string to each corner of the bandana. Finally, tie the weight where all four strings meet. Then the fun begins.

Our kite has more string than any kite I have ever seen. This is important for this next part. Now, you take the parachute and attach the paper clip to the string (the paperclip needs to be bent to an upside down V so that it can easily detach itself from the string). Then you walk or run the parachute down the string. Run as far as you want. Stop. Let go. Have the kite flier flick the string. Watch and laugh as your three very small children run in circles like crazy people to catch the parachute. I think my parents created parachutes to entertain their children for hours and to provide even better entertainment for themselves.

Also, our kite flying adventures almost always ended with searching frantically to find something we lost. In this case it was the treasured kite. Yes. The kite detached itself from the string and flew off into the neighborhoods beyond our sight. The good news? Brandon, Wesley and Marissa hunted it down and rescued it. That kite still has many more adventures left.

This week started out in Utah with our impromptu vacation extension. Evelyn, Jack and Addy had a lot of much anticipated one-on-one time with Grandma Wendy. Logan and I also had a great double date with Marissa and Wesley. We went bowling and had a fun time. We played 'skittle' bowling where the color you choose corresponds with how you bowl that frame. Then we went to Yogurt Planet to the frozen yogurt bar (I am now addicted to these places!).

On Tuesday morning we packed up our kids and drove to Rexburg. This was the point that I realized how thankful I really am that Grandma and Grandpa Hazard took our three kids on an airplane so that we did not have to drive across the country with them. It would have been a looong trip...

This week we went to the Rexburg splash park. I recognized something that I haven't quite been able to put my finger on. Adalie has absolutely no fear when she is somewhere that she is familiar with (this probably means stitches or broken bones sometime soon), and Jackson is an adventurer in new situations. He took off giggling and bouncing with his arms going crazy as soon as we put him down. Adalie took tiny tip toe steps over to the edge, then she stood there with a very worried expression and her arms flapping like a nervous bird. Completely different than her normal 'no fear' self. It is so important to not label kids (I recognize that this post goes against that logic, but bear with me). I think it is impossible to not recognize eccentricities and personality traits, but it is important to let these labels be flexible so kids have room to grow, develop and change.

Jackson loves dirt. We planted the garden this week at the Hazard home. Jackson loved weeding, digging, moving dirt, stomping in the dirt, and organizing the plants. All of us got into the action and had a great time planting and playing in the dirt.

Logan and I also took the opportunity to go on a date. We went to see Water for Elephants, then we took a 1.5 hour walk around Rexburg together. We ended our walk at Twizlberry (a frozen yogurt bar of course!). It was a pretty perfect date.

Yesterday we had a great end of the week party at the zoo. For the past 3 weeks Evelyn has been praying that we could go to the zoo, and she has been thanking God for the zoo. Hooray for the Boonshoft pass because the Idaho Falls Zoo was free and we had a wonderful time. Thanks for the encouragement Evelyn.

Time goes by so fast. This week we began a trip down memory lane. We have started the process of writing our first edition of The Hazard Chronicles. We are chronicling our dating, engagement, wedding, and first two years of married life. We decided to create a new blog where we could post these stories. We will be updating frequently for those who are interested. Our blog address is http://www.thehazardstory.blogspot.com/

Isn't this boy cute??? Too bad he doesn't EVER sit still long enough to get a good picture. Many people have followed him around and tried. I mentioned this to Logan and he said 'watch,' and this was the first picture he took. I still maintain that it was easier because he was buckled in place!

Evelyn loves the flamingos. This was the highlight of her trip.

These were some pictures of our gardening adventures. All of the kids were great workers. I think Evelyn was trying to grow a rootbeer tree in the last picture!

My birthday was on May 18th and I was on the road with Logan. We decided to celebrate my birthday with the kids. The kids had no idea what day it was anyway! We had a great time, and I got a lot of presents from the kids that make me think of them (a card with a dog on it from Jack that he refused to put down, a container of three balls from Adalie, and a bright pink purse and a pink flamingo from Evelyn).

Jackson got his first haircut at a real salon because the attachment to our clippers has been temporarily misplaced with the move...

As many of you know, we have been using this blog to create a hardbound book every year titled "The Hazard Chronicles." We created this blog in 2007 and we have hardbound copies of 2008, 2009, and 2010. Logan ordered our 2007 book yesterday. Today we have begun the process of creating a book titled "The Hazard Chronicles: Our Story." This one will be a little bit different. We are looking back and writing about ourselves before marriage, when we met, our dates, our wedding, and the first two years of marriage. We have created a new blog for these stories where we will probably update pretty frequently. Here is the new address

www.thehazardstory.blogspot.com