Down the last sandy hill, across a rocky wash and up to the ramp. I was almost there: 34.3 miles into a 34.4 mile race and about to finish my first Ultra. I hear my kids shout, “It’s mom!” I climb up the steep sandstone, hit the ramp and Abs, my 7-yr-old boy, says, Come on, mom,…

I grab my cup of coffee and sit as warm air from the fireplace wraps around my legs. I open my journal, an old leather cover I’ve recycled over the years, wrapped around a cheap notebook. But who would know? Truthfully, I haven’t written in a journal in years. Who has the time for that?…

Anticipation built all week for our trip to the Midway Ice castles. We even watched Frozen the night before, and like a good mother I endured “Let It Go” at ear shattering decibels for the hour-long ride into the Utah mountains. Every year, the temperatures drop, the holidays pass, and everyone begins posting photos of…

When I was a teenager, skiing and living in Colorado, my friends used to tease me that I was more coordinated on my skis than walking on my own two feet. Every day, walking on the snow and ice, I’d slip and crash to the ground. I began to suspect the most dangerous activity every…

As 2015 wrapped up, I took time to consider myself, not in a critical way but in an honest way. How was I? Where was I going? Did I want to be going there? Etc. Every year for the last five or six, I’ve done this and then used it to set an intention for…

This last year of adventures has truly been remarkable. In looking back, I am filled with overwhelming thankfulness. If I could, I would fill another year up with the same adventures and not find it lacking. So I figured I would share our best and most favorite destinations of 2015 in hopes that someone out…

The snow is accumulating all around the state of Utah, and our family is making the most of winter! This year, for the holiday season, we made reservations at the Homestead Resort in Midway, UT (only a 25 minute drive from Park City Mountain), with plans to ski and explore Park City Mountain. If you are…

Do you ever wonder if you really know yourself anymore? Or do you worry you are merely a product of what everyone expects of you? I do. A month ago I had the opportunity to take a night off, escaping to the Homestead Resort for a bit of a retreat from normal life. My husband and kids…

Country roads, take me home To the place I belong… -“Country Roads” by John Denver The work day ending early, we jump in the already loaded car and hit the road. I laugh (and cry) a bit inside when the kids whine about a 50 minute drive. We are so spoiled in Utah, with the…

We are eeking out of the bunny-hill years but honestly the most questions we receive regarding teaching kids to ski is about how and when to teach your young kids. We started all our kids when they were 2 years old, something I was comfortable with, having also been taught to ski when I was…

Mom, what is a wedge again?” My 5-year-old daughter asks. OH NO … I need to set some seriously low expectations for day 1 on skis! Ski stoke is in full swing as Utah resorts are opening across the Wasatch. But with a couple of years under my belt as a “ski mom” I’ve learned the stoke…

The crisp fall air teases my hair and the city sprawls far below, bumping both sides of the valley. Daughters run up and down the path and take turns climbing the bars. Somewhere across the park, both boys are up a tree and out of sight. It is beautiful. We’d met Jess Curren and her…

Truthfully? Summer has over stayed its welcome here in Utah. Being in the paradise of Lake Tahoe, California as the summer nights chilled down to 40 degrees and day times temps settled in the 60s and 70s didn’t help either. We settled into our front row seat and watched fall put on its display.  …

Early in our marriage, before kids were bumbling around like honey bees, I found myself reading some general living books from the 1950s era (and some recent ones too). Let’s face it, after we have kids, none of us really have time to read any of those instructional parenting books anymore, right? I don’t remember…

Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. – Sir Cecil Beaton Leaves are turning golden. School started almost a month ago. This is the time of year everyone cozies in and makes themselves comfortable….

The deep pine smell fills my lungs. It is one of the things I love most about summer. That and starry nights, warm evenings with a glass of wine, my kids playing for hours in forest and on beach… without any need for interference. What do you love about summer? Maybe you have noticed, but…

Every summer we set aside school, evening sports, and many of the social obligations that fill our time and reconnect with our kids. We reconnect with each other. And with friends and family that are often lost in the busyness. At the start of every summer we brainstorm our “adventurous whims” and pencil trips on…

Wanderlust n. – is a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world. Chances are if you come to visit this site, you’ve tasted a little bit of the wanderlust that plagues this family. We make it roughly one day at home before we are itching to get out the door. And while…

Happy back to school season, parents! Honestly, I have some mixed emotions about the whole affair. Maybe my inner child never really grew up because I love summer break as much as the kids do. We do a decent amount of biking, mostly around the neighborhood, often on dirt trails. And every year the risk…

What is it that drives you out in to the mountains, on to the water, or in to the storm? This is a question that I ask myself a lot. And my answers are usually different depending on the day. But this day, in July, my reason to load on a 40+ lbs. backpack and…