This week was an adventure.

Actually, I should rephrase that. This weekend was an adventure.

It all started on Thursday afternoon. When I got home from work the kids were already buckled in their car-seats. I ran into the house and changed my clothes and then ran out. And we were on the road, just like that. I have to say, it was a get-away in record time for us. We then drove for the next seven hours until we got to Grandma and Grandpa Hazard's house (my parents).

Our ultimate destination was Salt Lake city for Shannon's (Rachel's Sister's) wedding. The event takes place next weekend, but Rachel will spend the week here in Salt Lake. I will fly back to our house to work next week, and then catch a return flight to Salt Lake to make it in time for the wedding. Anyway, my parents are in Rexburg, Idaho and on this trip their house made for a very convenient stepping stone on our way down to Utah.

We got to Rexburg at about 1:00 in the morning. Our kids had done pretty well sleeping on the drive and we thought it would be easy to just put them in the beds that my mom had ready for them and hit the sack. Well, that was a great plan. Sometimes, however, even the best laid plans can go wrong.

It wasn't long after we had gone to bed that we started hearing noises from the kid's room. Rachel went out to investigate. As it turns out, Adalie and Jackson both chose this night to debut their new talent of climbing out of their cribs. Now I have a theory that they have been able to do this for a long time, but that they were waiting for the most opportune moment to let us in on their secret. 1:00 in the morning, a long drive, a new house, and a planned early-morning departure seemed to fit their criteria of "opportune moment."

Rachel fought them hard and she fought them well, but together they presented too great a force. Every time she put one kid back in bed, he/she would climb out while she was chasing the other. She even tried laying siege to the bedroom by sleeping by the door- the theory was to allow them to be up as long as they stayed in their room and eventually they would tire out and have to go to sleep. Their response to this, however, was to start taking stuff out of drawers, exploring the attached storage room, and trying to break anything that seemed vulnerable to small hands and a determined mind. It was no use. They had us trapped. What could we do?

I have to make a confession here. For an hour Rachel waged this war alone while I pretended to be asleep. My justification was that Rachel got to sleep in the car on the way down, and I was going to drive in the morning, so this was obviously her responsibility. Well, at the end of that first hour she came in the room in tears and asked if I could help. Neither of us really knew what to do, but she figured that the two of us should be able to come up with something.

And then I had a vision that was probably induced either by sheer desperation or by sleep deprivation- or both. In my mind's eye I saw a very clear diagram from my youth. It looked something like this:

As a kid I had caught many birds and squirrels with such a contraption. The concept is that you put bait under the box and then pull the string from a hiding place when the unsuspecting animal is distracted.

With this picture in mind I turned Jackson's crib upside-down. Then I went and found Jackson and stole his stuffed dog from him. And then I ran. He chased me. I threw the dog under the crib, and when he dove in after it I closed it down and put a large stuffed animal on top to make sure he was trapped. It took a while for him to realize what had happened, but when he did he was NOT a happy camper. Just know that there was much yelling and screaming and gnashing of teeth. But in the end he was caught. No matter how hard he tried he could not get out. I had out-smarted a two-year-old. Yeah baby!

We did the same thing with Addie and then left them there while we went to bed. They cried for a while, but finally settled down and went to sleep. The last time I looked at the clock before falling asleep it read 4:05.

I woke up at 6:00. It's just what my body does. Usually I consider this a blessing. Not today.

That morning we drove the rest of the way to Salt Lake. As soon as we arrived I ran in the house, changed my clothes, and got back in the car to drive up to Heber City. I am getting good at making quick get-aways.

In Heber I attended a fantastic dental course spanning Friday-Saturday in which I got to surgically place my first implant. Since most of the people who read this blog aren't dentists I won't bother you with details, but just know that it was a big deal for me. I am pretty sure that Implant dentistry will be a defining aspect of my career and this was a huge step in that direction. I am stoked.

After I finished the course I got back and hung out with friends and family who were also down for Shannon's wedding. It has been a while since I saw some of these people and it was fun to catch up with them. It has been a great weekend.

Tomorrow I fly back to Spokane. Rachel stays here. Next week is Shannon's wedding. We close on our new home the week after that. Life is moving forward at breakneck speed and it couldn't be any better!

This week in church we made it all the way through Sacrament meeting without ever having to leave the room. Now, I haven't been keeping track so I could be wrong here, but I am pretty sure that is the first time that ever happened since Addy and Jack were born.

This week was one of those weeks that was just good but not necessarily spectacular. We didn't do anything super special. We didn't have any scary experiences. We just lived life and watched the time go by. It's nice to have a week like that every once in a while. If I ever have more than a few of them in a row, however, I start getting bored.

Well, Rachel doesn't want me to write about the topic I have chosen for today. See, for the past four years we have crafted the blog to depict an elaborate illusion that our family is perfect. Well, I am about to ruin all of that. Right now I am super frustrated at our 3-year-old. And I think that is okay. I am a good dad who loves his children very much (see last week's blog), but who also gets very very annoyed at times by their behavior.

Evelyn- do you ever stop talking? Ever? Seriously, you will talk and talk and talk. And that is totally fine EXCEPT for the fact that you expect us to listen to you all the time. I simply can't do that. It is impossible. Believe it or not I have other things to do in my life besides listening to you and I cannot give you 100% of my time 100% of the time. And when those times come when it isn't your turn to talk it is NOT ACCEPTABLE to sit at the top of the stairs bawling, or in the back seat of the car screaming, or tugging on my hand whining and causing a scene.

But how do I teach you this? I have tried ignoring you thinking that you would learn not to get your way by crying. But you don't learn. You will literally cry for hours at a time. I know this because I have let you cry that long. You aren't "getting it." But the problem is that you won't just go away and do this in your room. Oh no. You follow me around the house forcing me to listen to every agonizing scream and whine until I am at the utter brink of insanity. And just know that while I am pretending to ignore you, I'm not. I can't. It is impossible to focus on anything while you are like that. But I don't want to "give in," as easy as that would be, and let you think that it was the constant barrage of whining that did it. And so I keep ignoring you and you keep crying yourself to sleep and then I keep going up and giving you hugs in your sleep while totally feeling like a bad dad for putting you through all that. Please, Evelyn, just learn to be considerate of other people. Please, for all of our sakes, be just a little bit less annoying.

Okay. Rant over. I hope she goes back and reads that some time in the future and realizes what a pill she could be.

And if that is the case, then I also want you to know, Evelyn, that yesterday I went on a fantastic date with you. We started by going to the "rock climbing park" with Mom and Addy and Jack. After the park just you and I went to Jack-in-the-Box for lunch and ate at a real restaurant. You thought that was very cool and grown up.

After our lunch we went to Tubbs hill and you led the way and we hiked all the way to the top. While we hiked I told you a story about how Mudgy Moose and Millie Mouse became friends. You liked that story a lot. You kept saying that I was like Mudgy and that you were like Millie because we were good friends too. Then you told me a story about an elephant, a giraffe, a horse, and a zebra. Your story had absolutely no plot, but it was fun to see your imagination working and I liked it anyway. The whole time we were out there we also collected several sparkly rocks to bring home and show to Mom. At the end of the day you looked at me and said "Daddy, that was a good date." That totally made my day.

Anyway, I need to go and make dinner. And while I am doing that I am trying to control my frustration level. Sometimes it would be so easy to just turn into a monster and start screaming. But I won't. Instead, I'll just write about it. It's therapeutic. Sorry Rach.

This week we made oatmeal cookie dough. It never made it to the oven.

Very cool, Addy. Very cool. I see you are trying to make up for the cookie-dough picture.

Here's Evelyn at the "rock climbing park." This wall is about 12 feet tall and overhanging. I am so proud of my girl for climbing to the top without any help and without getting scared. She is my monkey.

Rachel wanted me to put this picture up. It is of her at this stage of her pregnancy. I'm not exactly sure what stage that is. She is due in February. You do the math. (17 weeks)

I want to share a thought that I had last night. First, we need some context though. Addy and Jackson are two years old now and we decided that it was time to ditch the pacifiers. They have been life savers on several occasions, but the time has come for them to kick the habit. So Rachel and I made the bold and committing move of taking all of our pacifiers and throwing them right into the garbage, never to be seen again. I suppose this is sort of like when people cut up their credit cards or sell a gaming system. It forces you to follow through.

Anyway, Addy and Jack obviously had a rough night. They pretty much screamed for the better part of two full hours before falling asleep. And since we didn't want to subject Evelyn to the totality of their misery we allowed her to fall asleep in our bed. Later, after Rachel and I finished cleaning the house and watching a movie, I carried our sweet girl into her own bed and kissed her goodnight. I also went around to each of the kids, as I do every night, and told them I would always love them and gave them each kisses.

This is when I had my thought. I don't know why it came to me on this night, of all nights, but it did and it hit me hard. Are you ready for it? Here it is- I LOVE BEING A DADDY! I love the stage each one of my kids are in. I love the little talks I have with Evelyn and her surprising depth and insight into life that comes out at the most random times. I love laying on my belly with Adalie laying next to me and reading books and looking for "hidden pictures." I love watching Jackson giggle as he makes new discoveries about his world that force me to see things in a totally new and different way. I love playing with each of them at a park, or giving them high fives, or even just watching them as they interact with each other. My kids are so amazing right now and I just want to hold on to every second and not let it go.

And then I had the bittersweet thought that one day it will all come to an end. I could suddenly see Jackson heading off for a mission, or Evelyn getting married, and I realized that the very special relationship I have with them will evolve into something much deeper, but at the same time something very different than what I have now. Basically, I realized that they are growing up and that I could do nothing to stop that.

Don't get me wrong- there are days when it seems that this can't happen soon enough. And I am excited to watch them as they become more and more independent. But on that night I just wanted them to stay exactly as they were forever. And I went over to each of them and I whispered to Evelyn that she would always be "My Little Girl", and I told Jackson that he would always be my "Little Mister", and I told Addy that she would always be my "Sweetie Girl".

And they will.

For the time being I will just try to hang on to every fleeting moment and enjoy it for what it is. It will be fun to watch them grow up, and I'm sure we have a great budding relationship that is only in its very early stages of development, but in my mind a part of them will always stay little.

Okay. Now that I got that out I can actually let you in on the activities we did this week:

My mom, dad, Allison, and Courtney were here through Labor Day. On Sunday we went to Coeur d'Alene and hiked Tubbs Hill with everyone. The kids loved it. As Evelyn would say- it is a very beautiful place.

Food coloring + Shaving cream + Shower Wall = Tons of Fun and Easy Clean-up!

Addy and Jack turned two! There were two parties- a "friends" party during park day, and a family party later that night. They ate a lot of cupcakes that day. Also, we went to the doctor the next day for their 2-year check up and Jackson has finally made it onto the growth curve. WooHooo!

I thought this picture was funny. I told Evelyn and Jackson to look at the camera. Evelyn thought she could "help" Jackson to pose.

Grandma Almond got Jackson a little Vacuum for his birthday present. Judging from this picture I can't tell who is more excited about this, Rachel or Jack. Seriously though, he loves it. That night he had to sleep with it next to his bed.