The Hazard Chronicles

We just returned from a wonderful Hazard Holiday weekend, and as much as I want to just dive right into describing these events, I feel like there are a few housekeeping items that we need to go over first.

For example, we had our fourteen year wedding anniversary. Fourteen! Fourteen years, and I still get just as excited as ever at the thought of spending an evening with Rachel watching the sunset from our deck, or curled up under a blanket watching a movie. Fourteen years and we still enjoy going on dates together, usually at least once a week, and sometimes much more than that. Having Evelyn available to babysit has really made this easier, and we often go out spontaneously after putting kids down for the night. Fourteen years and we still read books together, take classes together, and discuss together our thoughts about life. We have both become more vulnerable, and at the same time more comfortable with each other in discussing the deepest parts of ourselves. We laugh harder with each other, and we cry more openly into each other's arms. We are both very different people today than we were when we got married, and yet we feel more connected than ever before. For those who understand the reference, we are each other's "Johnny Lingo," inspiring in the other a degree of self-confidence and assurance that might not ever be possible otherwise. It's been fourteen years standing side by side, hand-in-hand, through victories, failures, heartaches and most of all, the unspeakable joys that life has to bring. It has been an amazing ride so far, and we look together with eager anticipation at what the future might bring.

Rachel, my love- it has been a WONDERFUL fourteen years.

And that's only the beginning.

Here's to our future. Cheers.

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As many readers of this blog might know, we usually celebrate our anniversary with a big trip which isn't always able to happen at the same time as the actual date. This year we have planned a splendid road trip up through British Columbia and then back down through Seattle that will take place in July. For now however, we simply bask in the lovely weather of spring and count the blessings that we are able to bring to each other.

Part of that, of course, includes the start of a long season full of social events and backyard barbecues. To kick things off, we hosted about 50 people for a lovely evening around the fire-pit, full of good times and good camaraderie. We were able to make some new friends and reconnect with old ones. I really like that our home is able to accommodate these types of events so well, and that there is able to be something for everyone, from the very young to the very old. To this end, we recently added a pool table to the mix which, so far, has been a lot of fun but has done nothing to boost our egos as we clumsily try and figure out how to actually play the game well.

Other recent events have included dancing at the piano bar, rock climbing at our local park, swimming at the beach, and a very upscale dinner party at the resort with a bunch of my colleagues. Things have been peacefully busy (or busily peaceful), and we seem to be on a mellow sort of auto-pilot from now until the end of the school year. It's a nice groove to be in.

Here we are testing out the newly-installed pool table. That thing is a lot heavier than it looks!

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Here is something that is kind of neat. The Kroc center (local community center), in celebrating their tenth anniversary, commissioned a local artist to do a painting. It will be placed permanently near the child care area. Do you recognize any of the children in the painting?

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One tradition that has really become an indulgence around here is that of the annual Hazard Holiday. I don't know if there is ever a time when we are so self-consciously full of  ourselves as this, but we have fun and it has led to some great memories. This is especially true of this year, where we forced our children to take a walk with us down memory lane and visit all the sites that were meaningful to our courtship when we were in college (at least, those that were still standing). Of course we threw some fun stuff in there as well to try and give some respite, however brief it may have been, to the constant eye rolls and gagging noises coming from the back seat. (Actually, I'm just kidding about that last part. Our kids actually liked all the stories about when we were younger and they got pretty excited about see the areas we were talking about.)

We started out in Provo- home of Brigham Young University. We saw the apartments that we used to live in when we were dating, the house we rented after we got married, and the places where we spent our time at work and at school. It was a nice walk.

The rest of our trip is going to have pictures to go with it, the story evolving in the captions. I think it is more interesting to read that way. And honestly- a little easier to write. Also, some of these pictures are pretty good, but as always, the quality isn't there because of limitations on Blogger. Click on them for full resolution. It's funner that way.

Our tour of campus started on the south end where we walked up the same stairs that brought us both to our classes every day. Behind this graceful crew of girls is Y mountain, which is visible only because the Widtsoe building (Home of the molecular biology department- one of my majors) was torn to shreds. I'm not bitter though. Really, I'm not. The new Life Sciences Building is amazing.

Here is the home of my second major- Biochemistry. One by one, turning the next generation into science nerds. Oh yeah!

I'm pretty sure this is a picture of Adalie tattling on Maren and Jackson during our ten-hour drive.

After walking all the way across campus we ended at the Bean Museum where we saw live animal demonstrations and gawked at the magnificent variety of dead things. It was pretty cool.

We wanted to have milkshakes at the place where Rachel and I used to go on dates, but it was torn down (not bitter, I promise). Instead, we went to a new burger joint. It wasn't quite as good.

This is the big, wide open field we were walking in when we shared our first kiss. It was raining, and the air smelled like dandelions. It was very romantic. Now it is a building.

Here's a picture of the park where we would go to and talk until all hours of the night while we were dating. It was the site of our first date. It was where we broke up...and where we got back together. It was where we first said "I love you." Except that it's obviously not there any more. It was torn down and replaced with this building.

Seriously, it's like the town of Provo is out to get us- dismantling our past one brick at a time, leaving nothing in the relentless wake of progress but tender shadows of memories- memories which will eventually fade, and then die as mere teardrops, lost in the great sea of humanity.

But these sure are nice looking apartments, right? 

That night we stayed in a hotel WITH A SWIMMING POOL!!!!!! Honestly, I don't get it. We have access to amazing natural beaches where we live, we own a boat, and we go regularly to three different water parks. And still, there is nothing that can beat the incredible thrill of a small, puddle sized swimming pool in a hotel. It makes no sense. I give up.

The next morning we went to Rock Canyon- a place I visited probably five days a week when I was living in Provo. I am looking so triumphant in this photo because I went back to an old climbing project of mine- a slabby 5.12b that I was never able to even reach the second bolt on- and after a twelve year absence I onsighted that sucker. BAM!

The kids all got to climb as well, in a place called "The Kitchen." Some of my earliest climbing memories were on this formation. Also, Maren is super fashionable. Just sayin'.

This house has SOOO many memories. This is where my grandma lived before she died. Rachel and I both teared up a little when we took this picture.

The aquarium in Draper was a highlight for everyone. They probably tore down something important in order to build it.

We also got to spend some time with my Grandma and Grandpa Hazard at their house. The next day, they took us to the Curiosity museum. My cousin, Krystalee, was also there with her kids. This was an unexpected bonus stop for us and one of our favorite parts of the trip.

Overall, I'd say that this year's Hazard Holiday was a huge success. Kids and weather were both (mostly) cooperative, and we got to pack a lot of activity into a short amount of time. That's just how we roll.

Have a good week!