The Hazard Chronicles

"A-six-year-old, five-year-old-twins, a-two-year-old, and-a-newborn" is enough to raise eyebrows pretty much anywhere I go around here. It's a lot of kids.

But then I stop, and think, and my own eyes open wide. Did I really just say "FIVE-YEAR-OLD twins?" Has it really been that long since we walked in the doors of the hospital to meet "noodle" and "twitch" for the first time? Wow.

Obviously, Adalie and Jackson had a great week.It was their birthday on Tuesday, and it got stretched out all week. We had a family party that night, where they got presents. They had parties the next couple of days in their pre-school where they got cupcakes. And then we had the big party on Saturday with 19 people over at our house celebrating these two very special kids. It's been an exciting time.

Rachel made this cake- I think it's pretty good.

Besides the birthdays, there have been a few other things going on around our house lately. Namely:

The great Autumn clean-up is continuing. More loads to the dumpster. More loads to Goodwill. More breathing space in our home. More smiles all around. Ahhhh- it feels good!

Addy and Jack and Evelyn gave me a stick for my birthday. Yes- a stick. They were very excited about it too. I made this with it, and for now it hangs in our living room. We'll see how long that lasts :).

This girl is on the elementary school x-country team/club. They don't really compete, but they do meet and socialize and practice and stuff. Evelyn said she really liked it- everything except for the part where she had to run. But she wants to stick with it because she also says it is fun- especially the running part. In either case, she is good at it. I think I understand where she is coming from because I have the same love/hate relationship with running that she is starting to develop. It's interesting what we do to ourselves, isn't it.

Rachel and I went on some dates. On Thursday we went and watched the BYU football game while enjoying a pizza together. It's been a while since I've watched BYU play, and the experience was somewhat nostalgic of our courtship where we used to go together to the home games and cheer our hearts out. Those were good times then. These are good times now. I guess there is nothing quite like watching a bunch of guys beat the crap out of each other over a funny-shaped leather ball to cement a marriage into place.

Here's one from the archives- 2004 at the BYU stadium. The ten years that came after this picture was taken have been the best years of my life.

We also went to the Spokane fair where we enjoyed the various shows, booths, displays, and competitions. I don't really consider myself to be very "country," but the atmosphere of a fair just does something to me. I don't know if it is the smell of fried food mixed with cow manure and diesel fuel, or the competing sounds of live music and people shouting and old rides running. Maybe it's the sights of people walking every which way, some vying for your attention and some not caring at all, or the vividness in which the entire scene is bathed in the dim twilight as the sun slowly sinks beyond the horizon and the brisk autumn air is filling your lungs. But whatever it is, it's a great feeling- especially when you are walking hand-in-hand with the girl who means more to you than the entire universe and all worries seem to slip away and things are just...perfect. For one brief instant that is gone if you blink, there seems to be nothing that matters except for that moment, and you just wish it could last forever. That, to me, is the fair. I love it.

Anyway- have a great week!