It's great to be eight!

Happy Birthday Addy and Jack!

A walk down memory lane...

A few weeks ago we found out that we will be adding a new member of the family. On Friday we had an ultrasound to find out an accurate due date. 



We found out a lot more than that! It took me a while to process this image too. It looks like we have the joy of adding two more Hazards to our sweet family. That's right. Twins...Looking at this ultrasound gives me chills!

We are getting over the 'freaking out inside our heads' phase and we are into the extremely excited and a little bit daunted phase. We have successfully grown out of our car over this weekend (something Logan pointed out as soon as he saw the ultrasound), and our house is seeming a little bit cramped (It was so big when we moved in!). Everything will work out perfectly! We are ecstatic and Evelyn would be too if she knew what was going on. ;)
         -THC: February 8, 2009


We arrived home on Wednesday night. Our big eighteen week ultrasound was scheduled for The next day. We were finally going to find out the genders of Noodle and Twitch!

We gave them nicknames a long time ago, and Twitch has always lived up to her name. She is the one that constantly feels like a centepede or small earthquake in the left side of my belly. Noodle is the calm and collected baby that wiggles and kicks just enough to know that he is OK. We are VERY excited for our little boy and our little girl.
         -THC: May 3, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen- We are announcing to the world the birth of the two most beautiful twins ever born! 

-THC: September 9, 2009

My, how our lifestyle has changed. I was looking through some pictures the other day and came across one of me and Rachel at Rock Canyon in Provo. I remember days when I would have a couple of hours between classes and I'd call Rachel up on the phone, and 15 minutes later we were walking up the trail to The Green Monster to go rock climbing. I remember when Rachel surprised me with a spontaneous 3 day trip to Vegas for our anniversary. Once, we drove up a canyon in the middle of winter and found some snow caves that were already made (probably scouts or something) and slept in them overnight. We used to keep camping and climbing stuff permanently in the trunk of our car for spontaneous outings like this.

Contrast that with now. As I was brainstorming what to write about in the blog I asked Rach what some of the highlights of the week were. After some thought she replied, "We spilled Cheerios." It's true. We have moved on to a new phase in our lives dominated by diapers and feeding schedules-short walks and trips to the zoo. Our energy is spent in short two-hour bursts because that is when the babies have to eat again. A trip to Walmart is a major accomplishment. We still do what we can to stay active- those who know us can certainly attest to that. But it is definitely different.

       -THC: November 22, 2009

*****

Those years seem like they were yesterday! It was definitely a crazy time, and I remember that the sound of a baby crying was pretty much a constant fact of life. Since then, our family has grown up and we have figured out a pretty positive work-life balance that fits our family extremely well. They were good years though. Addy and Jack have definitely added to the overall flavor of our family- in really good ways. What a cool couple of kids.

Eight years. Wow. These guys are getting so big!

For their birthday party we put a lot of options on the table for them. Roller skating? Pool party? Beach? Climbing gym? Pizza parlor? Art place? The possibilities were endless. After talking it over, they decided they wanted the theme to be...

Wait for it...

Archery.

What?!

Yeah. Archery. And they wanted it to be at our house.

Well, that's a lot more work than what we were anticipating. Rachel came through though, and the party was full of creative activities, lots of friends, and lots of fun. 

Here's some pictures.

Here's the cake that Rachel made. The top in M&Ms, and they make a target with arrows in it. She's so clever! You can also see the targets on the windows in the back of the next picture (for suction cup arrows). Besides this, there was a target shaped pinata, a javelin toss thing in the back yard, and homemade bow-and-arrow crafts...and lots of free time to just play. It was a good party.

Some people sent birthday money to them. Addy decided that with her newfound riches she would buy a compound bow (it matches the one that we gave Jack a few days ago for his birthday present).

Jack is really excited about his very own new fishing pole that his siblings picked out for him.

Look closely and you can see him fishing

He caught two fish the first time he went out.

*****

In other news, Rachel is officially up and going with community work. I'm so proud of her!

Have a good week!

Well, with Rachel's last post it looks like we finally got caught up with our Summer on the blog. Whew! It's been a busy one. There is one last Summer adventure I want to record- one last thing before school started and we fell back into a comfortable and much-needed routine. That thing is the visit from my cousin, Tyson, and his family.

These guys are so much fun to hang out with because we have so much in common. We both have lots of young kids, and we both love this fact (most of the time). We also both go out of our way every chance we get to be active and pursue new experiences. This made for a very full, and very fun weekend.

To start out, we met them at Hiawatha trail-head on the Idaho/Montana border. There's no better way to start out a weekend than a nice, long bike ride through the mountains. Especially when one of the kids has training wheels and another just learned to ride a two-wheeler the day before. This was going to be great!

Well, that last sentence was definitely true. It was great. Things didn't go quite as expected for some people though.

By the end of the ride, Ty was riding with one of his kids on the handlebars, one on his back, three more in the trailer, and two bikes tied on top.

Amri coming through the tunnel. She did great on the ride and was very patient with her bike. I put the chain back on that thing 44 times before someone on the trail had a wrench with them, allowing me to make more permanent repairs.

Hooray for bike trailers!

The day after the ride, we spent the morning playing with cousins at home and then headed out on the boat to one of our favorite spots- Mica Bay. Camping by the water is always fun. We also got a great site- right next to a park, an electrical outlet, running water, a bathroom, and the beach. This is camping, right?

Monday morning was Amri's birthday, and we celebrated with donuts and more boating, swimming, skiing, and tubing. I've also got to mention how this was sort of a weird day on the lake because of all the smoke in the air. Visibility was pretty limited, unfortunately obscuring the customary beautiful views on this lake. It also made driving sort of surreal though- much of the time there was no shoreline in sight whatsoever and the water just seemed to go on forever- like in some sort of post-apocalyptic disaster scenario. At least that's what my imagination thought of.

Let's see how many people this boat can hold! Actually, things were surprisingly comfortable. The older cousins turned the cabin into their "cousin's club" and sat in it while telling stories to each other. I think that friendships were strengthened, and I love that.

Look at all that smoke behind us!

Happy Birthday Amri!

Back to Routine

I really like the busyness and spontaneity of Summer. I think we do well at making the most of it. But I couldn't live that way all the time. I think that part of what makes it fun is that is is different from the norm. Sometimes...especially this year...I found myself just trying to catch my breath though. Because of this, I am happy that school has started and that we are starting to find our feet again.

This year, we have ALL of our kids in school for the first time ever. Also, without the need for a nanny any more, we have been able to hire a housekeeper. These two things have opened up new doors of possibility for Rachel and me as far as career goes, as well as for time together. We have already started the Monday-breakfast-date tradition, and Rachel is getting back into community work (something she hasn't been able to do much of since we lived in Cleveland!). She is also able to volunteer more in the kid's classrooms, and we are both able to have individual time for us, usually resulting in workouts at the gym, one-on-one dates with kids, special projects around the house, or hikes in the mountains.

Here's a little hike that Ev and I did last weekend. It started with some scrambling down through some "caves" until we got to the riverbed. The dam was closed, so we thought we'd explore things a bit.

Right below the dam there were tons of these smooth bowl shaped areas in the rocks where water and sand had worn things away.

Sitting next to the flood gates. To be honest, it was a little eerie.

Hiking down the riverbed (dubbed "Dragonfly Canyon" by Evelyn), we were able to find some secluded natural pools that hadn't evaporated yet. She called this area "Hidden Lakes." It's somewhat enchanting.

All the kids have been loving school. Jack is excited about his homework of reading to his younger siblings each night, and Evelyn and Addy love their "challenge" class. Each of them are also getting involved in extracurricular activities. For Evelyn, this means an art group/class. Addy has started gymnastics at a local gym. Jackson does archery (sort of non-traditional and cool) and a culture/cooking group. And Maren does dance. It sounds like a lot...it is a lot...but it somehow all fits very comfortably into our week and we feel much less overextended this year than we did last year at this time. That's a relief.

Back to school pictures. This one's a little awkward. Fourth grade.

Second Grade

Second Grade

Kindergarten

Oh my gosh, this picture makes me smile every time I see it. Lindsey is sooo excited about preschool.

Another part of routine that I didn't even realize I missed comes from our activities at church. I have started playing weekly in the band again- something I haven't done for at least a couple of months because I was always gone, but which feel natural to me now and is something I look forward to. Also, Rachel and I have been asked to co-teach a class on parenting- a fact which shows that we are good at pretending to be in control while in public.

We don't really do studio pictures much, but the church had professional photographers come in to make their annual directory. Enjoy this, because it's probably the only time you'll see it. Still, I think it turned out pretty good.

In short, things are going really, really well. After this summer I feel like I do at the end of a long race- tired, but fulfilled...and happy to be breathing normally again.

Have a good week!

Oh- and I did NOT forget about Addy and Jack's birthday. There will be a whole post on it next week.

Courtney and Rick's farm and the Solar Eclipse

Summer is slowly winding down and we are sitting back and enjoying quickly shortening final days. Since we returned from our double family reunions I have felt a shift with our kids. A few days after we came home we were planning out a day that included shopping, filling out star charts (stars are earned by completing math, science, or reading work and will be followed up by a party at Skate Plaza for those who complete the chart), chores, showers and a picnic lunch and afternoon at the beach.  Evelyn mentioned that the day sounded extremely busy and she announced that we should probably skip the beach so that we can just stay home.  Since then we have stayed home almost every morning.  A typical morning begins with me hearing the kids wake up and almost immediately begin playing a “game.” They imagine a new scenario and play it out throughout the whole morning.  Many times it is all of the kids together and sometimes they break off into groups.  I LOVE this.  Mornings are a great time for them and they typically play well together.

On Saturday, Logan took off on an exciting trip to Europe with his brother and cousins (see last week's blog post).  He is currently experiencing a greater adventure than either of us had imagined.  I will let him tell that story after he returns because with how things are going I am guessing he will have more stories to tell before his trip is done.

Courtney and Rick’s House

Before I get into this week though, I want to jump back to our fun trip to Kimberly, Idaho to visit Courtney and Rick’s farm. We decided to add on a few extra days to our vacation because… why not? 

We pulled up their driveway to a picturesque little house and farm silos silhouetted against the morning sky. When we opened the doors our city kids quickly learned that pigs do not have the same inviting aroma as freshly cooking bacon and that flies are more interested in the former.  After we unloaded we walked into the cutest farmhouse I have ever seen!  I was so impressed with the fresh paint, cute and inviting décor, and warm comfortable feel of Courtney and Rick’s home.

We were there for a short time, but we were able to cram a LOT of activity into our brief stay.  As per normal, I will let the pictures do the talking! Let’s just say that the kids have been asking repeatedly when we can go back to the farm, and when I am alone in the car with Lindsey she regales me with stories of our fun activities there and how much she wants to go back.  I am looking forward to it, too!

I am going to let the fun pictures do the talking now.

After we arrived we packed a lunch and went on a picnic at Shoshone Falls.  We walked to the falls, then the kids had time to run around a large grassy area with water running through it and just be kids!  Love them!

The Backyard Bird Club could be a post of its own, but I will take a quick second to explain because it was relevant to this visit.  Evelyn, Adalie, Jackson, and Maren began this club at the beginning of summer. They have their own bird watching journals, books they have read together, bird watching times, etc.  I thought it would be a fleeting thing, but whenever we are outdoors it never fails that one of them will point out some random bird and tell me the name and an interesting fact about it. I am shocked with how much information they know!  Anyway, now I will relate this to our farm visit...

As we got settled at the farmhouse, the older four immediately gravitated to the office and began and bird watching meeting. Evelyn did a presentation (youtube videos, notes, and all) about hummingbirds and they observed the hummingbirds at the window.  They were in this room 90% of the vacation learning about hummingbirds, owls, and even doing a bird craft!  Crazy kids!

We encourage our kids to climb trees with a few simple rules: the branches MUST be bigger than their arm and they have to be able to get back down by themselves.  The kids had been outside for a while and I went to see what they were up to... Well. They were up to the TOP of this tree!  To their credit- The branches were bigger than their arms and they were able to get down themselves (with the exception of a tree sap covered Maren)! Also, Jack was able to get to their objective. He saw the inside of an owls nest and all of them saw the owl swoop from his nest into the neighboring tree (probably fearing for his life!).

Jackson headed up the "Museum Project."  He quickly made this little space his own and even had labels for the items on display. 

When Rick got home we took a tour of the farm via four wheelers.  We checked out the farm equipment, rode down to the corn fields, and played with (tormented) a sweet baby pig. So much fun!

The Solar Eclipse

I have to admit: I went for the kids.

I went back and forth on my decision to go to Rexburg to see the Solar Eclipse.  In the end, I left it up to the kids.  They all were a definite “go.” So, we packed all of us, our stuff, our solar eclipse road trip notebooks, minus one Logan who was in Europe and headed south.  The kids were awesome on the trip (let’s be honest, they are great road trippers and I would happily have them on any trip), and everything went smoothly.  

Nancy and Greg definitely had a full house for the event! It was exciting to be there because a lot of the Hill side of the family joined the celebration and I have not seen many of them since our Provo/Grandma Wilma family nights. It was fun to catch up and see familiar faces again.

The night before the eclipse we all sat around in the living room trying to predict what the actual event would be like. No one had any idea, but it was fun to speculate. It also revealed who was and was not planning to be impressed.  Honestly, I was more in the second camp. 

The morning of the event the guys went out and picked a spot for us to save.  It was on a wheat hill overlooking Rexburg. We arrived as the moon was quietly approaching the edge of the sun. I put on my fabulous pair of eclipse glasses and saw blackness.  I was pretty surprised that there was nothing else.  As soon as I aimed at the sun there was a yellow circle. This yellow circle had a tiny indent on the top right corner.  I was surprised by my reaction.  This tiny discrepancy impacted me more than I expected.  It was cool. At that moment I became a bit more excited about this whole eclipse thing. As time went on the air took a hazy quality. It felt like I was wearing sunglasses during the day. I struggled to find something to compare it to, and the next night on my drive home I studied the sunset to see if there was any time that feeling was present, but it was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was surreal.

"The total eclipse totally blew all of our expectations out of the water. Wow. There are no words. That was completely worth it."

-My text to Logan after the eclipse

There really are no words, but I will give it a shot.

As a group of strangers sharing a wheat field we studied the town of Rexburg and watched a dark shadow sweep across the town. The Temple lights in the distance recognized the change and came to life. As the darkness approached there was both a tension and stillness in the air. We were enveloped by darkness that felt as deep as the final light of sunset.  Sunset colors played on the horizon in every direction and the sun was a magnificent ring of light. We were all together, yet all in our own minds, in our own thoughts.  Then, magic happened.  As I looked at the sun there was a flicker of movement and a vivid, brilliant light exploded from the top edge of the sun. The diamond effect. It was Stunning and unable to be caught on camera or in words. This was just something you had to experience.