Back in September, Noel and I did a Rim to Rim to Rim run of the Grand Canyon broken up into two days. It was a couples getaway for masochists. My parents (who are now retired) came and watched the kids so we could do this madness. Honestly, my parents carry a lot of blame for this whole thing. They instilled a deep love in me for the Grand Canyon. I’ve been there several times and it was the location…
We had penciled a backpacking trip onto our calendar for fall break months ago, but it wasn’t until the week before that we actually decided what we were doing. We’d originally wanted to backpack in Canyonlands, but didn’t realize how competitive the permits were and that our fall break was at the same time as the entire state of Utah. Undeterred, this just challenged us to go even further off the beaten path. Finally, we decided to backpack the Halls…
Our big summer trip this year was a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. We booked our Yellowstone campsite months ago, put it on the calendar, and then just kind of got distracted by other things. When we were debating whether to rent a pavilion for our cheesecake party, Noel and I made a pros and cons list and enumerated the reasons why it was a good idea. One of our biggest reasons would be that our house wouldn’t be…
By the time the eclipse was on our radar we figured we were just too late to be able to see it. There were rumors of 10X10 foot spaces on golf courses going for $100/night and Motel 6 renting rooms for$1000/night. We tried to tell ourselves, that a 90% eclipse would still be cool and we’d be glad we missed out on traffic and hoards of people. Plus, the kids would have just started school. There was some part of…
Our last day in Zion, I added up our hiking mileage for the day and realized that the kids had hiked 6.6 miles. This realization of the kids’ capabilities and a new mantra to savor life (losing someone will do that to you) got our wheels turning. It was time for us to finally backpack Coyote Gulch. We’d read a blog post a few years ago about a family that took their 4 and 7-year-old and had felt inspired, but at the…
I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams…” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince Noel got three days of bereavement leave when his mom passed and we knew that we needed to use some of that time to decompress before heading back to regular life. Fortunately, Glenna’s funeral services were in close proximity to one of our favorite healing balms: red rock canyons. The day after…
At the beginning of the year we got caught up in the spirit of resolutions and decided we were going to do our first triathlon. After much thought, we decided we would do our triathlon in UT so we could visit family, have plenty of reliable babysitters, and choose from a variety of race choices that weren’t on Sunday. Eventually, we decided on a sprint triathlon in our old home, Logan, UT. It was a well thought out plan, at…
At the beginning of the year, we made plans to visit Noel’s sister, Danielle, at the sweetest place on earth – Hershey, PA. We were excited to take the kids to visit their cool aunt who worked at a chocolate factory. Then, a few months ago she broke the news to us that she was looking for a new job and it was very likely that she wouldn’t be working in Global Chocolate Innovation (yes, that’s really what she did)…
I guess you could say Spring Break started early for Cooper since he didn’t go to school the last three days before the break. There’s a nasty cold that’s been going around and we all caught it. In two weeks we: Went to our HMO’s Urgent Care twice. Called the nurse hotline three times. Visited the doctor’s office three times. Treated two ear infections. Learned you can get canker sores on your uvula. Thankfully we have good insurance. All of…
In high school I could run a sub six minute mile. In college, I ran two Boston qualifying marathons.* I have a box in my basement full of ribbons, medals, and trophies, but as proud as I am of those accomplishments, the miles I’m proudest of these days are much slower. They’re long lasting miles fueled by patience and full of silliness, lack of focus, and creative endeavors at motivation. They’re the miles I do with my children. These miles require…