Well, I just checked the mail and we got a bunch of Christmas letters from friends and family and it made us think that we should probably do one as well. Since we waited so long, however, we are just going to put it up on our blog instead of mailing it to each person individually. Yes, it’s lazy. Yes, it’s cheap.

And yes, it’s very, very efficient (We’re being “green” this year and saving paper. If you feel so inclined, I would encourage you to print out our picture and hang it on your refrigerator for all of your friends to see.)

So, without any further ado, here’s our year in a nutshell:

I worked really, really hard and took a bunch of high-stakes exams, jumped through a lot of bureaucratic hoops, graduated from dental school, and got my dental license. Meanwhile, Rachel was busy being social and stuff, while at the same time raising our three wonderful kids and getting NIC certified (a crazy hard national ASL interpreting certification test). We moved from Cleveland, which was a bittersweet event in our lives, and hung out with family for a couple of months before I started working. During this time we went to Mexico and considered throwing the whole “dental” idea out the window and just living our lives out on the beach in a foreign country. Also, around this time we found out that Rachel is expecting our fourth child- a girl- who is due on February 16th. We’re pretty sure that her name will be Maren.

In June, we moved to Coeur d’Alene, ID (actually Post Falls) where we lived for a stint in a smallish duplex next to a truck stop. That was…noisy, but also a lot of fun as we discovered what a wonderful corner of the country we had moved to- I think that God designed this place with us in mind. Also, I started my job and can honestly say that I love going to work every day. Yes, I am a total dental nerd. After living in our yard-less rental for about three months we finally found and purchased the house of our dreams where we hope to be living for the next several years.

3-year-old Evelyn is finally starting to adjust to her new surroundings even though we’ve been living here for half of the year. The move was actually a little hard on her, and she still asks from time to time when we are going to see her Cleveland friends again. She is involved in pre-school though and is making a lot of new friends. One thing she has definitely caught hold of is the fact that we live in a great place for outdoor recreation, and has taken a strong interest in camping, hiking, swimming, rock climbing, and “campfireing.” She is definitely a daddy’s girl (and I am writing this letter, so I can say things like that).

Adalie and Jackson are two-year-olds in every sense of the word. Cute, lovable, noisy, and curious, they have definitely “taught” us how to baby-proof a house. Nonetheless, they love having the space to run around that our new home offers, as well as the large backyard and swing-set. They are both growing up faster than we are able to keep up with, and it is fun to watch them as they grow into real people. Jackson has a very sweet personality and loves to give hugs, whereas Adalie is spunky and defiant and loves to wrestle. We love both of them.

Well, that pretty much sums it up. For those who are interested in knowing more about our very exciting lives, check out loganandrachel.blogspot.com where a certain person who happens to be a very good writer, father, and husband, shares his thoughts and stories on a weekly basis about family life.

In closing, we wish you all a Happy Christmas. We are so thankful for all of our friends and family who have shared their lives with us, and we pray that 2012 will be a great year for everyone.

God bless,
-Logan, Rachel, Evelyn, Adalie, and Jackson

Here is the promised family picture for your printing pleasure.

Illustrated by Evelyn Hazard

A couple of weeks ago we went and got a Christmas tree and decorated it. The next day when I came home from work, Rachel suggested that we put the tree on our front porch, or the roof, or the garage, or anywhere that was out of reach of the kids. Thankfully they have started to do better with the tree and we are all getting excited for Christmas. Rachel's been going crazy with her sewing machine for all of the presents she is making.

So, this week Rachel has had some exciting developments. She is starting to get back into the interpreting world! She met a lot of people around the area who are interpreters, she went to an interpreter's gathering/workshop, she had two community jobs, and she may be starting up more regular work at North Idaho Collage in the pretty near future (but not until after the baby comes, so not too near.) Anyway, I am excited for her. She is a wonderful mom and wife, but she is also so good at so many other things that I am glad she is able to take some time for her own personal and professional development too.

Anyway, it's going to be a quick post today because Evelyn is waiting for me to make peach cobbler with her and we want to finnish before Addy and Jack wake up from their naps. Here's some pictures.

 Pajama Party!

 I got in on the action too even though I wasn't wearing my PJ's.

This is pretty typical of Addy this week. She is crazy. She is overly dramatic. She cries a lot.
Oh wait- she's a girl!

Real Life

Well, this week has been awesome but unfortunately I can't write too much about it. Don't worry- it will all come to light in due time. Until then, just be patient and know that life is good. And no, we are not having twins again. That would not be awesome. That would be frightening.

So, besides the awesome part, we also did some fun things. We had our ward Christmas party. We (Rachel and I) went to the temple. We had some friends over to our house for dinner. Nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary- but just an overall good week.

Since it was a pretty normal week, I want to pull out my soapbox for a little while and write about something that has been bothering me lately (I warned you last week that this was coming). So, what is the thing? Guys. Not all of them, but there is definitely a certain minority that is giving the rest of us a bad name.

Sometimes, I want to walk up to a guy and punch him in the face just to get his attention (and I'm really not a violent person), and then tell him to join the rest of humanity in a little game called "real life." And no- the Xbox is not real life. In fact, nothing with a screen qualifies as "real life" material- not the TV, not the smart phone, and definitely not the computer. Also, real life is not to be found in a book or in a magazine. And it shouldn't be exclusively in the workplace, although it does come into play a little bit.

See, I have noticed that so many people (most, but not all of them, guys), seem to have totally lost connection with reality. Here's a news-flash for you guys- REALITY IS GOING TO HAPPEN- with, or without you. You can't choose not to play- that's not an option. But by pretending that it is, all you are doing is allowing yourself to lose at the game. And that might be okay with you, and that's all fine and good, but it's NOT okay for your wives and your kids.

You made the decision to take on the responsibilities of a family, so step into the game and start playing your hearts out for them. That's what a husband does. That's what a father does. Your families need you to be present- and that means taking an active role in their lives and not just being another piece of furniture that your wives have to clean around and that your kids have to watch out for. And it is sad that while they are sitting there begging for you to notice them, the fake little man on the screen gets more of your attention than they do. Really, it's disgusting. Stop doing it. It makes the rest of us look bad.

Okay, (deep breath). Now I'm going to step down, slide my soapbox back into the closet, and finish this post so I can have the rest of the night to spend time with my beautiful wife.

Have a good week!

Here's Evelyn giving a haircut to Jack. They both really liked this. A lot.

One of the many reasons that I love my backyard. Beautiful.

Ok- it's been a busy week. We did a lot.

First things first though. I'm sure that the pending results of the gingerbread house contest have been weighing heavily on everyone's minds. Well, here's the bottom line. Team A won. The official count was 21 votes for "A" and only 15 for "B."

Now for the part you've really been waiting for: who was on which team?

Team A:

Team B:

As you can see, it was a guys vs. girls thing. And it shows. I think it is really intersting that, except in a few rare instances, guys voted for team B and girls voted for team A. I also think it is interesting to note that the audience for this blog is mostly female. I'm not trying to make excuses or anything- just stating a fact.

I also think it was interesting that Lindy, one of my dental assistants, said that she thought I was on team B. I asked her why. Her response: "It just looks like it was built by a doctor or an engineer or contractor or something." I kid you not. Those were her exact words. The irony? I, of course, am a doctor. Brandon was a contractor and is also a mechanical engineer. Wesley is going to med school. I think she had us pegged pretty well- but she didn't know any of that when she made the comment.

She is right though. It DOES look like it was made by more "analytical" minds. It was really interesting to listen to the two teams talking as we made the houses. It was something like this:

Team A: Oh- that is such a cute little boat, giggle, giggle. We need to put a person on it!
Team B: So, 39 minus 7 is...alright, and add 4 to that...okay, minus 3. Got it. So there we have the possible dimentions of the exterior walls.
Team A: twitter, twitter- what a funny little marshmallow man!
Team B: Now, structurally, what kind of candy would work well for the internal cross-bracing?
Team A: Oh, oh- I know- we should make a PALM TREE! That would be awesome!
Team B: ...and to reinforce the walls we can use Ritz crackers. Go get a ruler and a level so we can draw a structural footprint.

All said and done, I would say that both teams did a great job and that we had a lot of fun doing it. Thank you to everyone who voted, and thanks to Rachel's family for making our Thanksgiving such a good one.

On to the next subject. "Campfiring." This is Evelyn's word, and it has stuck in our family. On Tuesday night we used left-over graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows to make s'mores. Evelyn loves that we can do this in our back yard and she was very "helpful" in teaching Jackson how to effectively start things on fire using a flaming marshmallow. Addy was grumpy so we put her to bed. She will have to campfire with us a different night.

Also, this week, not to be outdone by the grown-ups, the kids made their own gingerbread houses. Well, technically I made the structures, cheating just a little bit with a hot-glue gun for the sake of time, and the kids decorated them. They all won awards too: To Jackson goes the best decorator award. Evelyn earns the "tell-everybody-else-what-to-do-but-don't-do-much-yourself" award, and Addy gets the award for eating the most candy without allowing it to come anywhere near her gingerbread house. It was a fun activity.

We also made some upgrades to our house this week. The biggest one is that we now actually have some furniture in our family room! WooHoo! Rachel has been searching diligently on Craigslist for couches ever since we moved here, and finally she hit the jackpot. Two matching microfiber couches in great condition, the color matching perfectly with everything else in the room while also being dark enough that you won't be able to notice little stains (not that we'd ever allow that to happen...), and the couches themselves being comfortable enough for me to easily fall asleep on either one of them- Final price: $50 for the set! I have to say, I sometimes make fun of Rachel for speinding so much time browsing the offerings on craigslist, but she did good on this one!

Well, this post has actually gotten pretty long. I was going to step onto my soapbox and rant for a little while about "Real Life," but I guess you'll be spared my personal opinions until a later day when we've had a slower week. Too bad.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy your week!

 You'll notice small snowflakes in the first picture. The kids got cold after a while so we came to our other "campfire" in the house instead.

Even with the couches this room still feels massive. We need to get a pool table or something...one day.