Family, Friends, and Christmas Time!

It's Christmas time! Hooray! It has been a fabulous week. Maybe because it was the last week before flying home to see our families for Christmas. I finished up sealants which was a lot of fun. Our sealant group had a big lunch at a Mongolian grill to celebrate. Also, Rachel and I went to several fun Christmas parties this week. We love our Cleveland family and feel grateful to have good friends out here.

Now we are headed back to Utah and Idaho for our long winter break. Rachel will be having a baby shower in Utah to see many of the relatives and friends out there.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. First of all, for the constant reminder of our Lord and Savior. Also, for the love, family, fun and friends. Really, the people make the season. Thank you to everyone who is making our Christmas a happy one. We wish all of you a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Counting down to Christmas

It's official. Rachel is constantly able to maintain a busier lifestyle than I am. I didn't think that was entirely possible, because I am a pretty active guy (at least I like to think so). Also, she has every reason to not be active, being seven months pregnant and all. Nevertheless, she somehow keeps running between work, school, several social events, church meetings, working out at the gym, and home. I don't know how she does it! Every day I am more impressed with the girl I married.

As for me- Well, I stay pretty busy as well. Recently my dental school class has been going into local elementary schools to place sealants on the teeth of second and sixth graders. This is a cool confidence building experience that lets us do some real dental work, even though we've only been in school for a few months. Actually, Case is one of the best schools in the country when it comes to early clinical experience and I feel lucky to be here. I think I'm learning a little too, because it seems to me like I am hurting fewer and fewer children as I get more practice!

On Saturday we were honored to attend the baptism of a friend, Kevin. I first met Kevin while doing splits with the missionaries, and we have since gotten to know him better as we give him rides to church, and have the occasional missionary discussion in our home. We have also met some of his family members who are remarkably nice people. Rachel gave a talk at his baptism, and I was able to confirm him today at church. We were excited to see him get baptised and I think that everyone there felt the spirit.

As for the latest book reviews from the Hazards- I just finished reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It's about Abraham Lincoln and the civil war, and is very interesting. I wasn't really interested in political civil war history before reading this book, but I am now! Also, Rachel just finished reading "The Twilight Series" by Stephenie Meyer. This is a trilogy- yes, she has outdone me yet again :)- about vampires which is extremely popular. Rachel says that the books are good-- but not as good as all the hype. We both love reading and are open to any recommendations.

Anyway, that was our week. Here are some pictures:

This wasn't taken this week, but I love this picture of Rachel playing my guitar and I just had to post it.

Here I am doing sealants. The other guy is my partner, Kee Kang.

Happy Holidays!!!!!

It has been an amazing Thanksgiving break for us.The original plan was to leave early Monday morning to visit Niagara Falls where would see the falls, do some hiking, and scout the gorge for a possible future run :). We would then head over to Palmyra, New York, and spend the next day and a half visiting church history sites. On the way home we would stop at the Aaronic Priesthood restoration site and then at Kirtland, following (more or less) the trail of the Saints as they made their way west.

As it turned out, Rachel got a horrible toothache and was seeing the Dentist all of Monday morning getting a root canal. Not the greatest start to our vacation, but we were able to make the best of it. The Niagara/Palmyra trip will have to wait for another time, which is great because it gives us something to look forward to! Instead, I was able to play racquetball in the mornings, which was a lot of fun. Rachel was also excited to be also able to workout all week which she has missed because she has had a terrible cold, then an exquisite toothache.

Also, on Tuesday we went on a hike at Cuyahoga National Park. This is a small park just about a half hour south of us, and every time I go I am reminded how pretty it is out here. It is the time of year that the trees don’t have many leaves on them anymore, but the ground is carpeted in an immaculate array of color from those that have fallen. We were there for a few hours, and we did several small hikes to different landmarks and overlooks. It was a beautifully brisk day that was perfect for hiking. We feel lucky to have a place like this so close to where we live.

We spent Thanksgiving Day with friends from the ward and from school. We were able to have our feast in the cultural hall of the ward building. Eight other families showed up and we had a lot of fun eating, talking, playing basketball, and just “hanging out.” The food was great- the company was better; we are happy that there are such cool people around us to share our time with. Also, there were plenty of leftovers, which means that we can have Thanksgiving dinner again and again for a long time!

The day after Thanksgiving I had a new experience- I went shopping. Not just a leisurely stroll through the mall either-no, this was extreme shopping. I’ve kayaked class V+, and I’ve climbed mountains with thousands of feet of exposure, but those pale in comparison with Black Friday Shopping. We got up at 3:30 in the morning. We stood in lines. We watched fights break out all around us. We laughed at the things people say and do- for example, I heard someone at Circuit City ask what a particular electronic device was. “I don’t know,” their friend replied, “But it’s fifty dollars off. I’m buying it!” I think next year instead of shopping I’m just going to bring a lounge chair and watch people squabble over the hot items. Nevertheless, we did get some pretty fantastic deals, so I guess to some people all the madness pays off in the end.

On Saturday we made our annual gingerbread house. This is a tradition we started the first year we were married, and hopefully one that continues through the years as our family grows up. Every Thanksgiving we carefully make our blueprints (finally! A good use for geometry), plan our decorations, then go to the store and buy tons of candy. This is generally a two or three day process because of the gingerbread recipe. The dough must chill overnight, then we roll it to cut our designs, bake them, trim off the edges and wait for them to harden enough for the structural design. Our home building skills improved considerably this year because we figured out some new tricks! First off, the hack saw we used to trim the pieces was a great success, and second we figured out how to put the frosting in a bag and use it to ice the pieces together (it took us way too long to figure that out). I think that this year’s house turned out pretty good, but more importantly, it was a lot of fun to make- and it will be a lot of fun to eat when the time comes.

Also, the day after Thanksgiving is the traditional “decorate for Christmas” day, and it was fun to bring out some the Christmas decorations and music. I love this time of year! Happy holidays to everyone! We are looking forward to seeing many of you in upcoming weeks.

Here are some pictures:

This is a cool tree we found at Cuyahoga National Park. Does anybody know why it looks like that?

Here's a cave we hiked to. It actually goes back pretty deep. We'll have to come back with flashlights to explore.

I'm posting this for Diane because she very stealily sneaked into it. These are the preparations for The Feast.

Fun, Food, and Friends. What a good way to spend a holiday.

Our annual gingerbread house. I think it turned out pretty good.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad and me at the City of Rocks on one of our many fun trips together

......................................................................................

My dad's birthday was on Tuesday- 50 years old! That means that he is exactly twice as old as me. Crazy.

For his birthday my mom put together a book of memories from all of his friends and loved ones. I'll post part of my letter here on the blog- a tribute to the best father anyone could ever hope to have.

________________________________________________

All I Really Need to Know I Learned From My Dad…

How to be happy • How to love life • How to show others that I care • How to light a fire with just one match and a tall cup of white gas • How to make the best of a tough situation • How to laugh • How to win a water fight • How to change a flat tire • How to be nice • How to put my family first • How to always do my best • How to know that my best is good enough • How to do the little things • How to fight off a bear with a handful of pebbles • How to be happy that at least the bear didn’t eat the Spam • How to appreciate beautiful things • How to show my dear wife that I love her • How to ride a bike • How to admit when I need help • How to be confident when I can’t have help • How to scout a rapid • How to swim a rapid • How to have faith • How to make the name Leroy sound scary • How to be patient • How to drop everything when a friend needs help • How to stop a school bus • How to manage my time well • How to dance • How to win • How to lose • How to tie a figure eight • How to try everything at least once • How to skip rocks • How to pray • How to make other people feel special • How to hug • How to enjoy a good book • How to be obnoxious in a racquetball court • How to keep going, even when I don’t think I can • How to set goals • How to listen • How to drive a fifteen passenger van on a road that was only meant for jeeps • How to involve everyone • How to write well • How to make people laugh • How to admit when I’m wrong • How to catch crawdads • How to teach kids not to gamble by taking all of their candy • How to know what’s important • How to make lasting memories • How to be the best dad in the world

"You are not a scrub" -President Hinkley

That quote came up in the church news this week and I thought it was funny to picture president Hinkley using the word "scrub" over the podium. We have the coolest prophet!

Anyway, apparently we forgot to write in our blog last week. That is probably because last week was mostly full of me studying for finals and Rachel working. It was a great week, but not a whole lot of exciting news for the blog.

This week was a little more exciting. It started out fun last Sunday when we had a friend, Kevin, and the missionaries over to our house for dinner and a movie (the movie was "Believing in Christ"). Kevin is investigating the church and will be baptised soon.

During the week Rachel worked a lot, and I studied a lot. I have finals this week, so I have been pretty preoccupied with that. On Thursday, Rachel had a doctor's appointment to check on WB, and everything seems to be going fine. Our baby girl is now the size of a half gallon of milk, and supposedly Rachel's uterus is the size of a soccer ball. Every once in a while I'll be talking to Rachel and all of a sudden her stomach will do this weird lurching thing as the baby shifts around. It is a little bit eerie, but exciting also because it means that we will be parents soon. We've been doing a lot of babysitting for friends and the prospect of parenthood, as frightening as it sounds, is starting to seem doable. I guess that's easy to say when you can just walk out on a screaming baby after mom and dad come home!

On Saturday we finally decided we needed to get out of the house, so we got in the car and started driving out into the country with no particular destination. First we went to the Aurora outlet Mall where we walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere. Then we drove to Cuyahoga Falls, which is a charming little town just South of here. There is a series of beautiful waterfalls which gives the town its name, and we were fortunate enough to make friends with a local Social Studies teacher who gave us a brief historical tour of the downtown area. It will definitely be a place to go back to.

Here are the pictures for the week. We love hearing from everybody, and we hope you are all doing well. Congratulations to Tyson and Cambria on their wedding!

Here's the pie we made for dessert with Kevin and the missionaries. It was soooo good!

Here we are in beautiful Cuyahoga Falls

Here's a picture of the waterfalls. For those who are interested, they are all runnable (class V). The river then continues for a few miles of class III.

"Heaven has a lot to live up to"

This has been an awesome week for us here in the Hazard household. The weather is still very “Autumny” but is quickly cooling off and Winter appears to be just around the corner. We have heard several warnings about Cleveland Winters and we are a little nervous to see what we’re in for. Apparently, the sun takes a 3 month vacation, but we’ll see. In the meantime we are just loving the sweatshirt weather and we go on a lot of walks to look at the changing leaves.

At the beginning of the week, Rachel finished sewing the curtains she is making for the baby’s room. They are very cute. We have decided to do a “Winnie the Pooh” theme; it’s not so original, but that’s okay because we like Pooh Bear. It is fun to imagine what our lives will be like with a baby girl to keep us busy.

On Saturday I played in a racquetball tournament, which was a lot of fun. I ended up winning first place after playing a sponsored player for the championship. I’m having a hard time walking now- after going for almost a year without much real competition, my body has to get used to the game again. I also made some friends at the tournament and hopefully I’ll be playing more regularly now.

On Sunday night, Rachel and I carved our pumpkins for Halloween. I think they turned out pretty good! Also, we finished reading another book together. This one, Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross, is definitely a book we would recommend to anyone. We have read some good books lately.

Rachel seemed to sum our lives up pretty well the other day when she remarked that “Heaven has a lot to live up too.” Truly, we are very blessed.

Here are the curtins that Rachel made. She came up with the pattern and design all on her own!

This is Rachel's pumpkin. For some reason, I couldn't get a picture that did justice to the lighting.

Here's my pumpkin. Happy Halloween!

This week has been another one of those weeks that is so full of fun that I just don't know where to start. Seriously. On Wednesday we saw an ultrasound of our baby and found out that little Wiggle Bean is a...(see the post below this one for details). This was very exciting news for us and we couldn't be any happier.

Rachel has been busy in different groups she is involved with. We hosted the cooking club at our house with the theme of "breakfast for dinner," and that turned out some very yummy treats. Actually, Rachel hosted it while I went to the library to study, but I still got to eat the leftovers! Apparently there was a good turnout with a lot of fun conversation to go along with the food. Also, Rachel has taken up knitting, which brings out her perfectionistic tendencies.

As for me, I am pretty predictable. I go to school every day and learn about teeth. Of course I learn other things as well, but they seem to be putting quite a lot of emphasis on the mouth, and specifically, teeth. I continue to love every minute of school and am doing well in all of my classes.

During the weekend we went to an apple orchard and picked a bunch of apples. It was a beautiful day and the trees were all sorts of brilliant colors. I love it out here! It is so pretty and it makes you feel all giddy inside. Anyway, we picked a big ol' bag of apples then brought them home and cooked with them. Yum. Nothing says Autumn time like caramel apples, apple dumplings, and hot apple cider.

Here are some pictures of our week, for those who care to look. Don't forget to check the post below this for an update on WB! Also, Rachel put up a new post on her baby-belly page.

This was the drive to the apple orchard. Beautiful Ohio is full of Autumn color and fresh air. We love it here!

Here us us at the orchard picking the apples

And of course, we had to bake all sorts of fun stuff with all of our fresh fruit.