I am getting behind! When this happens, it really drives home to me the main reason we do "The Hazard Chronicles" in the first place. See, it's been over two weeks since I wrote on here- two weeks full of activity and good times and funny episodes and meaningful conversations and noteworthy events. When I try to remember this all though, it sort of just blurs together. I have pictures, sure, but I don't have the emotional context for those pictures any more so I can't write much about them.

What I remember for the family is that we have spent a lot of time out in the beautiful Autumn weather we are having. For me, there has been a resurgence in my interest in rock climbing, and I have gone eight times since the last post. Rachel and I have each had a chance to be out with our respective groups of friends and there have been some good times there. We also went out together to the Banff Mountain Film Festival, and as a family to meet some new friends in Spokane.

It's been an eventful couple of weeks, but most of these events took place close to home, and for whatever reason this makes it more difficult to record things. These are the things, however, that become our building blocks, individually and as a family. The small things that, in the day to day don't seem to amount to much, but which collectively represent some of the most significant parts of who we are.

For whatever reason, we feel like it is important to record these things. It gives us a way to look back and see where we have come from. And it is fun. And it is us.

On to the pictures!

Rach made a sign with her friends. It will go in our back yard.

We have spent some good time outside.

Apple picking!

Have a good week!

This post will be brief, but there are lots of good pictures:

On Friday afternoon I loaded the four oldest kids in the car and started driving toward the North Cascades. We were meeting friends at a campsite, and the next two-and-a-half days would be spent in exploration of this beautiful corner of the world.

We got amazing weather while we were there. The fall colors mixed with the rugged terrain left me speechless on many occasions.

Some of the best times were had just sitting around the fire or playing in the woods around the campsite.

One story I have to include here:

All the kids sleep next to their water-bottles in case they get thirsty in the night. Well, one of the mornings, Maren wakes up and says "Dad, can I have some of your water? My water tastes gross."

"What's wrong with your water, Maren? It came from the same place mine did."

"I don't know," she responds. "It just tastes yucky." She pulls her water bottle out, and now that it is light we can see a distinct yellow tint tint coming from inside the container. "Look!" she cries, "It's all yellow!"

I try to hide my look of shock as I glance over at Jackson who is unsuccessfully trying to make himself disappear into his sleeping bag. Finally, he meets my gaze. "What?" he asks. "It was so cold last night. So cold, and, you know..." he trails off.

Oh, I know. Say no more. "Here Maren," I hand her my water bottle. "drink my water. As much as you want."

I don't think she ever put two and two together. 

That is probably a good thing.

Five adults and ten kids. We descend on the campsite like a hoard of army ants :)

The dog's name is Kenai (I have no idea if I spelled that right). Our kids fell in love and cried when it was time to say goodbye. Now they think we are getting a dog. Keep dreaming, kids. Keep dreaming.

Early on the first day we took a short drive up to look at Liberty Bell and the surrounding peaks. It is impossible for me to look at these mountains without subconsciously asking myself when I can come back to climb them.

Although we didn't spend any time on the big mountains, we did climb quite a bit on lower crags. I haven't climbed at my limit at all in over a year, and I had mixed feelings about my performance- I led 5.11, and I top-roped some 12s (it was pretty ugly though). If anything, it was motivation to get back into shape. The kids all did okay too, but I think they had more fun running around with the dog or building forts than they did on the rock.

When we got home, Rachel and I went out together to watch a screening of "The Dawn Wall," a climbing film about a book that I just finished.

It was a good weekend.

Rachel and Lindsey had fun at home while we were out exploring. They went out to breakfast, painted pumpkins, went swimming, and went to the movie theater. 

Have a good week!

Maren ran in her first cross country meet the other day. She was pretty upset for a little while that she didn't win, but went up to her two friends anyway and congratulated them on their first and second place standings. I'm proud of her. When asked how she felt after the race, she responded without hesitation:

"I feel like I swallowed a goose!"

What?!!! Um, alright Mar- whatever you say. It made me happy.

She's so limber! 

Jackson also ran in the meet. He said he did his hair in a racetrack pattern in honor of the event. To be honest, I'm not seeing it, but it still looks...interesting.

Here he is, coming in strong and giving out high fives. He came in seventh, which is the best any of our kids did.

Miss Adalie coming in with a smile.

*****

Lindsey was really tired the other day. When she gets this way she sometimes gets whiny and cranky. She is starting to realize that this comes from lack of sleep. It was during this time that she came up to Rach:

Lindsdy: "Mom, I know why I'm so tired."
Rach: "Why?"
L: "Because I woke up in the middle of the night last night and went outside and played for a long time in the backyard and then went back to bed."

...Uhhh, yep- that will do it.

Children are funny.

Lindsey is crazy!

*****

The big event of the week was our trip down to Utah for Brandon and Kendra's wedding (Rachel's brother). It is fun to get a new member of the family, and it was really fun to re-connect with friends and extended family who we haven't seen in a long time.

Here are some pictures:

Have a good week!