Bryan Hoffman

Wow, it’s been over a year since I’ve posted. I blame the fact that I didn’t have a real camera and generally stopped taking photos. Now that I do have a camera maybe I’ll post more? No guarantees… So we did the yurt thing again, this time to the Beulah Vista yurt. It’s their newest […]

Here’s a few pics from throughout the summer. Lots of fun stuff!

I’ve mentioned how hard it was this year to get river permits, so when the opportunity to get on the Main Salmon though a discounted guided trip, we took it. Like the Lower Salmon trip, this was pretty smoky most of the way, but still such a beautiful stretch. The best part of this trip […]

We flew back to Minnesota for Tracy and Matt’s wedding celebration. They got married last year during the height of the pandemic, and decided to delay the schindig until this summer. We spent the evening on a river boat on the Mississippi. Fun evening seeing family and floating along. The highlight was getting to see […]

It’s tough to get good pictures at a pool too… but swimming is such a huge part of Tegan’s life that it would be weird not to include it. Various shots from meets, but mainly from the state long course championship meet:

We’ve never been able to secure a permit for the Salmon River, and this year was especially bad for getting permits anywhere. So Tor Boshen put together a trip on the Lower Salmon – which isn’t permitted. It was really great to finally get on this river, even though it was a bit smoky from […]

Here’s some random pics from the ski season. All disciplines should be represented… Including our trip to McCall Idaho for a Nordic race. I’m lumping these all together because there’s not an easy way to tell the different events on these. Maybe next year I’ll do better on that…

Kari and I took a full pack of kids in to the Grizzly Ridge yurt for a couple of days. The skiing wasn’t great, but it was certainly a fun trip with all those kids. Everyone packed in their own stuff, some more than others. The track in was totally sketch, and even worse on […]

We got together with some people for Thanksgiving!

I never seem to get good photos on Halloween. Maybe I need a new camera!

Nice overnight trip down to the Escalante River to hike Neon. We tried to do the same route from years ago, but missed it a bit. Sill got the meat of the canyon however.

Every year Kari and I take a weekend away for our anniversary. We usually go alone, but this year the kids came and we decided to hike Mt Nebo. Bit of a grinder up, but beautiful and we basically had the place to ourselves. On the way down we got a couple pics of the […]

We still love our wood burning stove and harvesting our own fuel, so yep again did we head off into the Uintas with friends. Every year it gets easier and quicker (for various reasons), but this year the kids really put in the effort and helped. We also got a second chainsaw – a brand […]

The Park City Nordic Club set up a running race series to help with some of the lost revenue due to canceled events this summer. Tegan doesn’t really like running all that much, but she’s all in on the Nordic team and keeping up on training. There were a total of three races – or […]

Tory’s soccer team particpated in the Wasatch Classic soccer tournament this past week, and wellwaddayaknow – they won it all. Champs in their division. Fun fact, they won this same tournament two years ago. Given my non-proflicncess in posting lately, it’s probably not documented here.

Last winter, Kari and I partnered with Mel and Jarrett to purchased a lot near Eagle Point ski resort. It’s a bare half acre in the Tusher mountains covered in trees and accessed by a dirt road. The plan is to eventually build a cabin and have a place to ski and snowmobile away from […]

We weren’t sure it was going to happen, but school is back in person here in Park City. The kids are very excited to get back to school – so very different from the past few years…

We run the A/B sections of the Green River below the Flaming Gorge dam every year, and this was no exception. I mean, it should have been the exception, but this summer turned out to be more normal that I would have guessed back in April. The Stoughtons were along, as well as Mel, Jarrett, […]

Tory and Tegan are year round nordic nerds (a Maile term), and they killed it climbing Timp. Not that I was there with them…

We’ve gone every year for the last 3 or 4 years so let’s post it up again! This year the water was pretty low for an early July trip. We celebrated July 4th with burgers and costume night. Everybody lived and had a good time. Trip atendees: DeFords McKains Linnehans (multiple families) Sophia Taite

Kari and the kids headed back to Minnesota for the nuptials of Tracy and Matt. I didn’t go for… reasons so I won’t have too much commentary on what transpired. Photos make it appear that everyone had a good time.

We’ve been looking to step up our rafting game a bit, and got a lucky invitation to run Hells Canyon with some new friends. This is a run with a couple of class 4 rapids, and some bigger class two and threes. Clear, crisp water and some new folks made for a great trip. Remind […]

This was a three day backpack trip down a portion of Death Hollow. We started in Escalante, went up over the top and dropped into DH. Then went right up the Escalante. Fun, wet trip with Trey and Paula. Lots of poison ivy, but thankfully nobody contracted it. I actually got one little bump or […]

Wonderful day in a harder than normal canyon. Used the water trap on the final rappel.

A long time ago Kari and I counted backpacking as a thing we did. We weren’t great at it nor did we do it a lot, but once we had kids it became an activity left behind. Fast-forward 12 years and we’re back at it! Tory and Tegan are both more than capable of hiking […]

School’s back in session. Everyone resume normal life scheduled.

Second half of our Minnesota trip at my folks place in Battle Lake. Sarah and Freddie were there for most of the time, and Jeff showed up later in the week. The weather was meh, but we still got out to fish, hit Granny’s in BL, and have a fish fry. Here’s the pics:

Grandpa Gary and Grandma Pat both turned 70 this year and that means it was time to party! Tracy, Kari, and Jarrett arranged a weekend at Barn Again in Mondovi – we stayed in the Barn and partied on the patio and in the bar. It was a very fun weekend of too much eating […]

We keep coming back to the Desolation / Gray section of the Green River every year because the permits are easy to get. And it’s also an awesome trip. This year we were joined by The DeFords (Josh, Heather, Serisa, Aliya); The Linehans (Jerr, Hilary, Knute, Finn) Paula and Trey The water was a bit […]

Up until recently the kids were not so keen on mountain biking. It’s understandable really – the bikes made for kids are heavy (especially relative to their weight, geared inefficiently, and have generally lousy components. But the biggest reason is that mountain biking is simply hard in a way that other sports are not. It […]

It’s becoming an annual tradition for us to host Easter, thankfully we love doing it. The weather wasn’t spectacular, but given the forecast Kari was claiming all week (torrential downpour all day) it turned out pretty okay. We weren’t stuck indoors and the kids got to hunt eggs in the back yard. Looking forward to […]

Slideanide is a canyon that our family has done in the past, but we thought it would be a great place to bring some first-timers and some folks that were ready for a step up. The DeFords have been adventuring with us for quite some time but haven’t canyoned much beyond the Leprechauns. It was […]

We ended an epic weekend with a slightly easier canyon, or a mix of two canyons commonly referred to as Epic Blarney. It’s basically a hike up the East fork, and a decent of the West. Joining us were Jarrett and his friends Jeremiah and Scott; Paula and Trey; and Brian Kahn and his son […]

Tory’s good friend Jeremiah’s family has spent most of the winter in the Florida Keys. They us all down for spring break – but it was simply too cost prohibitive for all of us to go. So Tory flew down by himself. I’ll say this – the first time you put a child on a […]

Lot’s of canyoneering this spring. This is the day we descended Monkey Business in North Wash! Along for the ride: Zif, Barb, Lily, & Sarah; Ram;

Final races of the year – two days at Soldier Hollow; Classic on day one, skate racing day two. I’m adding these photos way after the fact so I’m not quite sure what to say. Both kids did very well, raced hard and got their butts kicked a little by the course. Soldier Hollow is […]

It used to happen once in a while – I’d forget to post for a few months here and there. Over the years as the kids get older and it’s harder to keep up and get photos, I’ve dropped off even more. If you take a look at the dates, it’s been over a year […]

Another annual tradition is spending a few days in the Bear River Yurt system with the McKains. This year we spent 3 nights, each in a different location. Day 1 was spent at Lilly Lake; Day 2 at Ridge; Day 3 at East Fork; Yes it’s a lot of travel and pulling heavy gear but […]

So I had to look up how to spell twelfth. I tried twelveth but that’s clearly wrong, indicated by the red dotted line below it. Anywhoo… Tory turned twelve this year and celebrated with friends Jeremiah, Christian, Sophia, and Talon. Kari found a bowling alley and arcade down in Salt Lake and it was a […]

Tegan celebrated her birthday by taking some friends to the Midway Ice Castles on opening night. There were a ton of people there but it sure was neat! She brought Manon, Morgan, and Ella along, and they all slept over after eating ice cream and watching a movie:

Grandma and Grandpa Moe have been spending winters in Arizona for the past few years. They like it very much and while Kari and the kids have made a few trips to see them, I’d never been. Not that my previous absence had anything to do with it, we made plans to spend Christmas with […]

For some reason we rarely get good photos at Halloween. Here’s a few from the night. It being a weekday and all, we had a small-is affair starting at our house. We then strolled the neighborhood trick-or-treating, ending up at Kristen and Pete’s. Spring Creek is becoming a top-notch Halloween neighborhood! Tegan was Granny, a […]

For UEA this year we decided to spend time in North Wash on a Canyoneering adventure. Prepping for the trip we discussed getting the kids to step it up a notch by attempting harder canyons. And having them repel on their own. They weren’t too psyched about that leading up to the trip, but I […]

Even though she’s 8 now Tegan still has cute ways of saying things. She’s getting into cross country skiing this year in a program called Kickers and Gliders. They aren’t learning to skate ski yet, but I’m pretty sure that’s coming!

For the third year in a row we headed up into the Uintas with the Marsh family to pick out (and cut down) a Christmas tree. For the kids it’s a chance to sled and jump and play in the snow, and to be honest, for us adults too. The weather was warm (relatively) and […]

Tory’s class held a ‘Rendezvous’ where all the kids dressed up in ‘mountain’ or Native American attire had a fun day. Including square dancing!

UEA Break is two days off of school for the kids while the teachers attend a convention put on by their union. I think anyway. For us it’s two days off that we’ve traditionally spent in southern Utah canyoneering. This year we got a call from aunt Jenny that she could use some help moving […]

Here’s a gallery of our two woodcutting sessions this year. The first trip up we spent the night, just our family. The next, a few weeks later we simply came up for the day. Check out the new trailer too!

Every summer we try to get out for an overnighter with the kids somewhere. Usually it’s been in the Uintas for one night. Pack it all into a couple of backpacks, and get the kids to hike in. Years ago this was quite a feat, but lately it’s not so tough. They love to hike […]

Yet Another Ruby Horsethief Trip. Being late August, this trip was much mellower than the earlier June Ruby trip. Which was a good thing, except we did it in two nights instead of three. We were nearly forced out of our Blackrocks 7 camp in the middle of the night… Kari woke around midnight to […]

Tory made this video and sent it to me while I was at work. He’s been skating for about a week here, and we’re learning together. I never learned to skate growing up, and he’s already better than me :)

Tegan has a little actress inside of her. Some days it’s a little shy but she really likes it. Especially when Seneca and Serisa are also involved.

Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary came to visit for a week visit. It’s always so nice when they come, we celebrated Grandma’s birthday, the girls got their toenails done, and generally hung out.

After failing to get on the river at Flaming Gorge earlier this spring, we gave it another go – this time with the Marsh’s. We spent two days on the river, camping just below the Little Hole boat ramp. We arrived the night before and camped at the Canyon Rim campground and secured the site […]

Kari and the kids headed up to the Unitas for a night of car camping with Babbie Tai and Aspen. The next morning Julie and Luke showed up to hike and hang. I wasn’t there but it looks like it was a bunch of fun!

We’ve done the Ruby Horsthief stretch before, and we’ll do it again for sure… It’s an easy class II float that is great for the kids, and our current skill set. This trip was a bit different as we booked it at high flow without really realizing it. This made us a bit nervous about […]

Well, the last day of school has arrived. Here’s the bus stop crew getting on for the last day this school year.

End of the year Field Day is something the kids look forward to. I remember looking forward to it myself when I was a kid. Here’s Tegan’s kindergarten Field Day:

We were pretty excited to get the new boat out for the first time on a float down the Green River below the Flaming Gorge dam. Unfortunately we were rained out instead. Still, we had a nice time camping with friends and commiserating with each other in the rain!

Tegan’s Kindergarten play, Mystery of the Missing Jewel Fish… Tory did the same production when he was in Kindergarten, but I don’t think I documented it…

A spontaneous Mothers Day found us hiking into Diamond Fork hot springs. We took a new route – hiking in from the north. It was a quiet hike with only a few others on trail. The hot springs were busy as usual, but still a very very nice day with the family!

After renting and borrowing rafts the last few years, we decided to plunge in and get our very own. The kids were there as I unboxed and inflated it for the first time. We still need to name her, so if you have any ideas…

We do this one every year, and sometimes twice! North Wash is a great place to take kids canyoneering – easy access and a wide range of difficulty levels. Got most of the kids down East Leprechaun this year and they all loved it! We also went through Blushing Bride canyon for the first time. […]

Kari booked the Lilly Lake yurts for a second trip this winter. Coincided with a visit from Tracy and her boyfriend Matt. The weather was much warmer this time and was a bit harder to get in – the snow had melted from the track in a few places. Very nice trip with great weather. […]

Tory turns 8!

To b dade fum TegAn

Tegan turned 6 this year, here’s how she celebrated:

The day after Christmas we headed out to the Lily Lake are of the Uintas for a couple night stay in a yurt!. We stayed a total of two nights – one by ourselves, and the next night the Marsh’s came out for two nights of their own. The weather was pretty amazing, with a […]

The tradition seems to change each year – whether we let the kids open gifts on Christmas Eve or morning… This year they opened most on Christmas morning:

The Kindergartners put on a sweet Christmas Carol pageant every year. It’s very sweet to watch them all up there singing and dancing.

In past holiday seasons we’ve either purchased a regular cut tree from the nursery, or a live tree we hope to plant in the spring. This year we decided to get a permit to cut our own. Putting aside the discussion on how ethical it is to cut a tree out of the forest, we headed […]

Thanksgiving 2014 at our house! Grandpa and Grandma Moe came, Sam Michelle and Soph, and Mel’s family also was there. Very nice meal, good people.

Kids spent the day with Grandma and grandpa at the UOP!

Certainly didn’t get enough photos for Halloween. Bad daddy.

For the first time we decided to hire a photographer to take a family photo session with us. We headed down to Salt Lake City and had a nice afternoon with Jamie Beecher. We’ve known Jamie for a while – her kids went to the same preschool as ours. She’d take portraits of the kids […]

For the last couple of years we’ve headed up into the Uintas with Sam and Michelle and Soph to cut a bit of wood. Most of it goes with them – they have the wood burning stove – but it’s a ton of fun and we get a nice little pile of wood for camping […]

Both of the kids really like sushi – Tory says it’s his favorite food.

We love gardening and our greenhouse. Here’s some veggies harvested in July.

For the second straight year we spent a few days on the Colorado River with friends. This is becoming something we want to do more of – become river people or somesuch. We’ve even considered buying a used raft… This year was 3 nights on the Ruby Horsethief section of the Colorado. The DeFord’s, McCain’s […]

We try to visit family in Minnesota at least once a year, and July is usually the best time. Good weather, the 4th of July holiday, and of course the kids are out of school.

For the last couple of years Kari and the kids go to the Timps for a weekend of camping and hiking. And visiting Timpanogos cave. Without me. Looks like they had a really good time though. Aspen, Tai, Rex, and Kai came along this year as well.

The last day of school for the year. Bring on Summer!

Tegan and Serisa spent nearly every Monday of the school year at evening dance class. This year they were at Parley’s Park Elemenatary (closer to Serisa’s house). Thanks again to Melissa Nestor (Dancing Little Stars) for all the time and coordination.

I can’t remember who, where, or why, but this facepaint was pretty fantastic.

Jarrett graduated from grad school, and we went to celebrate. Congrats Uncle J!

The kids do swimming lessons in the spring, usually two sessions in a row. Here’s a few highlights from the last day. Tory’s class had a mini swim meet, racing each of the 4 strokes. Freestyle Tory gets a third place ribbon, but check the end of the video, he actually comes in second… Breaststroke […]

It’s become an annual tradition to spend Easter with our Park City friends, hoping for sunny warm weather to mark the end of winter. This year the McCains hosted at their new house in Prospector. Fun day for the kids and the adults.

We go to Shepherd of the Mountains church in Park City. Our Pastor (Pastor Steve) believes that first communion should come when ever the kids feel they’re ready. So after a quick class with Pastor Steve and a communion bread bake session, we decided to have the kids first communion come on Easter Sunday. The […]

North Wash is becoming a traditional place for our kid canyoneering adventures due to it’s easy access to a wide variety of canyons. I’m a bit short on pictures here, but this gallery contains images from our day in Horseplay. Horseplay is rated 2A, which essentially means it’s dry and easy. None of us had […]

Since the skiing conditions have been less than stellar this winter, we decided to head down to Zion for Presidents weekend with the Lesters. The 70 degree weather was a nice break from the cold, although it hasn’t been all that harsh so far. The first day we hiked Angels Landing, sort of. The sheer […]

It was another year for the joint party for Tory and Tegan. They asked to do it so I guess we’ll keep it up until they say otherwise. This year they wanted to go to Black Diamond Gymnastics, which included an hour and a half with two coaches and it was a lot of fun. […]

Here’s a few pics from the early part of this winter.

Thanksgiving was spent in Minnesota this year. It was a relatively quick trip, spending a couple of days at each grandparents house. On Thanksgiving day a bunch of the Landgrens came to my folks house, so it was filled to the brim. Very nice to see Grandma Jeane, Bill & Trudy, Tom & Louise, as […]

What started out as a fun afternoon sledding in the back yard turned into absolute horror as Tegan fell off the sled and split her head open. Okay ‘absolute horror’ might be a stretch. She was a big girl about it all and gave her patented “I’m Tough!”:

This post has absolutely nothing to do with the kids except for the fact that Kari and I had a couple days alone, sans kids. We hiked Mt. Timpanogos to celebrate our 12th anniversary. We went during the Republican Shutdown of the government. The campgrounds were closed but we got lucky. The trailhead was open […]

Tegan’s first year of soccer. They played ever Saturday – she started a bit slow, but really enjoyed it overall. Here’s her team, The Orange Tigers: Tegan Bella Tegan Sierra Isabelle Bailey Coach Andy

Tory’s 1st grade year of soccer concluded this week, and I was amazed at how much better the kids were this year. This is the first time they look like they’re playing the game rather than just mauling the ball. Here’s Tory’s Black Knights team: Alex Blake Christian Cooper Dillon Eldon Tanner Tory Coach Michelle

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to Salt Lake and the kids somehow found out about it. So we went! My folks were in town at the time so they came too. The show was absolutely amazing – for the most part. I wasn’t too keen on the animal stuff – I’m not […]

Spent the weekend climbing with friends – at City of Rocks in Idaho. It was our first time up there and even though I didn’t get many pictures, we certainly had a good time. The kids were only sorta excited to be on rope climbing, but even sorta is a start. I had fun as […]

Kari and Michelle teamed up with a few other girls to run the Dirty Dash – dressing up as bridesmaids and running thorough the muck. Sam and I brought the kids down to cheer them on, but unfortunately we never saw them! Turns out they ran it even slower than we could have guessed. The […]

We were lucky enough to go to a second SLC Bees game this summer, this time with our neighbors the Jacksons (Russ, Julie, and Luke). Luke is a year older than Tory and they ride the bus together. We sat in the outfield so the kids could ride the train. After the game was the […]

Yep, it’s that time of year again. Thank goodness!

I don’t know if I had to work or what, but Kari and the kids headed down Sundance way for a weekend near Mt. Timpanogos all by themselves. It looks like they had a ton of fun hiking, exploring, and even spelunking a bit. I’ll try to caption these the best I can.

At least one SLC Bees game a summer is becoming a tradition. This year we went with the counselors from the bible camp at our church, as well as Pastor Steve. Later in the game we went and sat in the outfield, which is basically a big lawn where the kids can run crazy. Might […]

It’s been another great year for our covered veggie garden. We also had a bit of luck growing garlic over the winter. Here’s a few mid-summer harvest pics.

Kari and I have been kayaking ever since we lived in Maine, but had never been on an extended raft trip. What better way to get the kids out and about than pile camping gear in a boat and float down a river? We headed out with the DeFords and the Lesters for 3 days […]

The kids love pillow pets. They have about 10 of the critters and wanted to post about them. So here it is. Actually we should do a post of all the ones they have, with names and pictures. For another time… check the Pillow Pets tag for potentially more one day. These pics here are […]

The Canyons resort throws off their fireworks on the 3rd of July every year, and it’s getting bigger and bigger each year. So we’re lucky to have our friends the DeFord’s living so close we can avoid the traffic and parking headaches. They invited a bunch of us over for dinner before the concert, and […]

Last spring we built an open raised bed garden behind our covered garden with the intent of planting raspberries. The Battle Lake raspberries we brought home from my parents house last July never made it (not even close) so last fall we planted garlic as an experiment. The garlic made it, and Kari added a […]

We took a quick trip to Minnesota in June to see Marcus and Lindsey get married, and celebrate Jacob’s high school graduation. The 4th of July is definitely a better time to visit Minnesota in the summer, but it was nice to see everyone. I made the mistake of leaving after visiting the Moe’s while […]

Grandma Moe hired a photographer to take photos of the family, so we took the opportunity to snap a few of our own with the kids dressed up. Some of these are sweet, most are weird or goofy. There are a lot of them so scroll through at your own risk.

Every Monday during the school year Tegan went to dance class after school. This dance recital was the culmination of all that hard work. Serisa was in the same class as Tegan. Seneca was in a different class, which is why she has a different dress. There were tons of kids in about 10 classes, […]

When we go canyoneering it usually means the kids hang at camp with an adult or two while the rest of the adults go adventuring. We wanted to shift that focus towards a kid centered trip. We thought it would just be us but quite a few of our friends thought it was a great […]

Easter was early this year (I think) but thankfully the weather was warm and sunny. We spent the day relaxing in the back yard while the kids hunted down elusive eggs and treats.

Tory was awarded a certificate of excellence along with some of his friends and neighbors. Our neighbors Calvin and Luke were also awarded. Good on you kiddos!

Tory said he wanted to ski the terrain park. I didn’t think he’d hit any of the tricks… pardon the poor camera work, I wasn’t prepared to keep up apparently.

Their birthdays being 5 days apart, celebrations overlap and get shared. This year we had a party at our house, with sledding, games, and a special box of doom with brains and goo and treats hidden inside. It was a ton of fun. The adults had an evening soup fest later on too. On Tegan’s […]

I resolve to keep this site updated, on time this year.

Christmas season pics and stuff.

The kindergarten through second graders put on a Christmas carol show, including such hits as Nuttin’ for Christmas, and a bunch of others sung at scream level. It was fantastic.

Christmas cookies!

Thanksgiving in Minnesota – A quick trip overall but we got a few days in with my folks, saw Sarah and Jeff, Kari’s folks, Jarrett and Mel flew in, and finished it off with a party at Bridget and Tim’s. Whirlwind.

It happened – Oct 31 came around, kids got dressed up, and candy ensued. Pics of the Halloween season:

We headed down to Moab for an extended weekend of riding, which included a day on Slickrock trail. Tory wanted to give it a try too, and ended up riding the entire practice loop. He had to walk much of it, of course, but rode a whole lot more than we expected. Here’s a little […]

A new addition to the garden was a potato condo… or perhaps high-rise. I built 5 wooden tiers, the theory being that as the plants grow, you continually add a tier and bury the plants. Then potatoes grow up with it. Unfortunately that’s not how it worked out. Grandpa and Grandma H, and Jenny were […]

Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman purchased a Volkswagen RV earlier this summer and headed west to visit us as well as Uncle Loren and Aunt Audrey. They were here for a week and we had a very nice time seeing the sites around Park City, hiking a bit, and playing in our garden.

Here’s a few pics of getting ready for the first day of school. Tegan is back at Keystone Montessori and Tory is now in Kindergarten!

Tory played soccer again this fall, loving every minute of it and making new friends. Here’s a quick video of Tory scoring:

Tory drew up a plan for a platform style bird feeder after seeing it in a book. So we decided to build it.

Quick weekend trip to the Uintas with the DeFords, Lesters, and Mark & Seneca.

Our covered garden, year two. Or was it year three? No… two.

If you’re going to visit Minnesota, do it in the summer. The 4th of July is always the best time of year there, and this year was no exception. Beautiful, hot weather, swimming, boating, ice cream, bowling, and parades. Kari even snuck in her 20th high school class reunion.

Kari and the kids few home to Minnesota for a weeklong trip to see Marcus graduate and leave for the Air Force. The kids were excited to spend time with family and loved flying. Kari, you should add a few notes here since I wasn’t along on this one…

Fathers Day, 2012 – Salt Lake Bees vs Fresno. Bees lost, but it was really great to get out and see a game with Kari and the kids. Brad Bath and his family were there too.

Here’s a quick video of Tory and Tegan in an early summer swimming lesson. They were in different classes, but in the same area so the video shows them both:

Camping and biking in Brian Head! Neither Kari nor I had ever been to Brian Head, so we headed down there with the Lesters and our bikes to explore the acclaimed mountain bike trails and get the kids outside. The biking was actually very good, although it was extremely volcanically dusty and hard on the […]

Here are some early pics from waaaaay last summer when I stopped posting for some reason. If you’re wondering about me keeping up this year, see this post.

Earlier this spring we spent a few days in North Wash with Brad, Babbie and their family – including Babbie’s mom and brothers. It was a nice trip, with enough adults around for watching kids while others canyoneerd. Brad and I had the kids for an afternoon, so we went to the alcove at Hog […]

Getting the kids to keep their rooms (somewhat) clean is a constant for us. Today Tegan’s room was what’s referred as a ‘disaster pit.’ I asked her to clean it up and two minutes later she comes out saying she’s done. Uh huh. So it’s to be the old, behind the door trick, eh? No […]

Earthday 2012 wasn’t much of an event for us this year, but Babbie and Brad stopped by (and Tai and Aspen of course) and we all got to plant something, at least. The Chicks and Hens that were in the backyard got planted in the front!

My first job as a kid was a paper route. The thing I got up so early in the morning for? A 1/10 scale RC car called The Frog, by Tamiya. A couple of friends and I saved up for months to buy these cars (Eric had The Hornet, and Steve had The Ultima) and […]

For the most part, it’s been a pretty disappointing winter. You know this is so when people start talking about spring skiing when winter never really started. Anywhoo, it has been warm enough to think about going to the park. We met up with Heather, Josh, and Serisa at Willow Creek park for some park […]

While we thought it took a long time to get to Tory’s first haircut, it was over three years until Tegan’s. But she’s a girl so it’s different, and she’s got her mom’s awesome thickness too. Not much was taken off so you can hardly tell, but apparently doing this makes hair healthy. Tory got […]

Tory has been asking all season if he could snowboard. We finally caved and rented one for the afternoon. I was hoping that he wouldn’t like it*, but turns out he really did. Even though he just rode heel edge all day, I was still amazed at how quickly he picked up the balance. Here’s […]

Bowling was all the rage for this years Tory and Tegan Birthday Week™. Tonight we went to Jupiter Bowl in Park City. Josh, Heather, and Serisa showed, as did Sam and Sophia. Jarrett and Mel were there, and Uncle Nate too. Watch as Tory nearly picks up a split:

We’re still holding combo parties for Tory and Tegan’s birthdays. At least until they scream uncle about it. This year we headed down to Heber City’s Holiday Lanes for a little bowling session. Gutterballs and $2 everything ruled the night ($2 shoes, $2 games, $2 food). Lot’s of friends showed up, and I only got […]

Tegan turned three in January, and after a fun night at the Kamas pool came home to find a new penguin in her cache of gifts. She requested pizza for dinner with a cookies and ice cream chaser.

High Meadow is the bunny hill at Canyons (still have a hard time not calling it The Canyons) but we’ve been skiing there quite a bit with Tegan. Here’s a video of Tory top to bottom:

Very excited to post this about Tegan skiing on her own for the first time. Top to bottom on High Meadow all by herself. She’ll turn three in a week, but technically, she’s skiing on her own at two. My little girl.

It’s becoming somewhat of a tradition in our family to make sugar cookies for Christmas and let the kids paint them up. Tradition as in, this is the second year in a row we’ve done it. Sugar cookies happen to be my most favorite Christmas cookie so I can see this continuing. The kids had […]

We haven’t got a lot of snow yet this season, but I don’t mind as it gives us all a chance to get our legs back under us riding the groomed runs. Here’s a few pics and videos of this early season.

I picked Tory up on Wednesday and his teacher, Miss Sylvie, asked him to tell me what he did today. Typical kid, he’s says something like, ‘What? I don’t know.’ Turns out he read his first two books. They’re Bob Books, Mat and Sam. Pretty simple of course, but Miss Sylvie was pretty excited, saying […]

Just a few photos of the Tegers hanging out with her Daddy.

It’s that time of year again, where kids get crazy with the clothes and run around sugar crazed. Too much fun. I missed the Doggy Parade this year, but (thankfully??) Halloween is more of a ‘season’ than a single day.

Here’s a walk along Scarecrow Lane by the White Barn in Park City with Aspen and T’ai, Heather and Serisa, and Tory, Tegan, and Kari. The kids got to make their own scarecrows afterwards.

Fall means canyoneering around here, so we headed down to the North Wash area of Southern Utah. It’s located between Hanksville and Lake Powell – essentially BFE. Heather, Josh, and Sirisa, as well as Babbie, Brad, Tai, and Aspen showed up too – But the first morning was just us. We took the kids through […]

Growing up, soccer wasn’t available in my home town. Here in Park City, though, it’s as big as football in Texas. There’s Spring and Fall kids leagues (and probably Summer and Winter too, not sure) and we finally got Tory on a team this fall. He was lucky enough to be put on a team […]

Rather than try and go back and separate out each event that happened over the last two months, here’s a bunch of photos from that time. The main reason I’ve missed so much is our camera had a series of unfortunate events… but we’ve got it back now so I’ve no longer got an excuse […]

Potty training is one of the milestones I’ve been looking forward to the most. With Tory we experienced a long, drawn out process that required much bribery in the form of ‘potty prizes’. It was never meant to be this way… we’d started him sitting on a mini potty from about 5 months and were […]

Big Milestones this week – one for Tegan that I’ll write more about later, and the big T rides his bike without training wheels! I’ve been bugging him for the last few weeks to let me take them off and he’d been reluctant. Then one day he asked me to take them off, so we […]

The Park City Fire District has a wood chipping department, and since I have an in with the chief they’ll sometimes drop off the chips in our driveway. This load the kids have been helping us distribute.

Since I’ve been such a slagger with updates these past few months, here’s some randomness from May.

Aunt Jenny stopped in for a few days while on route to Crested Butte. We tried to convince her to stay but her heart was set on a return to her old stomping grounds. I don’t blame her, Kari and I both had many good years in CB.

This image was included in the previous post, but it’s so special to me that it deserves it’s very own post. After we had a lunch and cocoa break I asked Tory where he wanted to ski. He said wanted to try 9990*. I asked him quite a few times if he was sure – […]

Hard to believe it’s April 10 and we’re still getting mid winter quality snow. Even though we’re wishing spring would come, these extra powder days at the end of the season are a great opportunity for Tory to get better and more comfortable in the deeper stuff. Earlier in the year he wouldn’t have been […]

Come on kid, let’s get you into bed.

As fun as tomato soup is to eat, it’s apparently even more fun to wear.

We try to get Tory out 2 to 3 times a week skiing – at least once during the week and the weekends. Saturdays have been the best this winter when he gets to ski with his bud Evan.

On Saturday Kari participated in the annual Wasatch Powderkeg race at Brighton. It’s an uphill/downhill type race in the Wasatch backcountry – 6 miles of climbing and skiing. Babbie and Brad participated as well – everyone was a little tired but had a good time. The kiddos and I were there to watch them finish.

Only 22 photos were taken in February, and zero posts. I better get on it.

For Grandma Fedie’s 90th birthday card, another sequenced photoshoot. It’s tough to get in on the first try with kids. We love you Grandma!

This probably won’t be very interesting, but I thought I’d try it. Call it, Camera Setup Test – with kids.

Keeping with the tradition of nudging Tegan into things a little too early, we took her up for her first ski in mid January. Luckily the Canyons now has a magic carpet in the beginners area (used to be a t-bar) to make things easier. She wasn’t sure at first, but after a couple of […]

For Tory’s 4th birthday party (and Tegan’s by default – bad parent, bad parent), we decided to do a drop-off soiree at our house, with games and prizes and screaming uncontrolled kid frenzy. Luckily Brad decided to stick around and help control the chaos. Actually it turned out really well and the games all got […]

Saturday’s are days when Tory and I get to ski together, and today was a little extra treat, a random encounter with another dad, Gary, and his daughter Ana – a little older, and slightly better skier.

We spent Tegan’s official birthday-day on the road driving back from Minnesota. We got home in the late afternoon and decided to throw together a quick celebration. Kari picked up a slice of frosted cookie thingie. It was very gross. We’ll celebrate her birthday with a little more enthusiasm this next weekend in a combo […]

We try to make it back to Minnesota at least once a year, and common sense usually dictates that it occurs during the summer months. Since we missed going last year (as a family) all together, we decided that it would be nice to head back for the Holidays. So it was Christmas with the […]

Through most of the year this journal about Tory and Tegan is more about pictures, and the little captions that try and capture the moment each image reflects. The story that goes along with each post is usually very thin – it’s the pictures that are meant to do all the talking. This is very […]

There are certain things I’ve just accepted as gone in my life since getting married, and topping that list is Sugar Cookies. Being married to a holistic nutritionist has it’s benefits, along with the occasional “I will NEVER bake you sugar cookies.” Well, apparently hell hath frozen over, as Kari decided to crank up our […]

Instead of spending X for a cut Christmas tree this year, we decided to spend a little more, like about 3X and get a live, though dormant, potted tree. As with anything there’s pluses and minuses that go along with it all. The biggest bummer is that you can’t leave it inside for very long, […]

Tory and his preschool pals got to spend an afternoon on a dogsledding adventure. Kari was there too as a chaperone and picture taker. The kids all loaded up into two sleds and went for ride down East Canyon Creek – which is a road, but I’m sure they still had fun and enjoyed it. […]

Perhaps we’re jumping the gun here, but Tegan is getting out of the crib and into a big girl bed. We switched out of a crib a bit early with Tory too, and it worked out fine. Last night was her first night and it went great. She slept through the night and I didn’t […]

A couple weekends ago we made it down to Zion NP for a full-on, real canyoneering trip. Zion is a little too big to really get the kids out into it, so Kari and I took turns. Kari spent part of a day with the kids with a plan to get a few good shots. […]

Fall means Canyoneering in Utah, at least in our house, and while we’re still very limited in what we can do with the kids, it’s still important to get them down there and exposed. Babi and Brad, Tai and Aspen came down for a couple of days as well, and all the kids had a […]

While we’ve done a lot of car camping this year, there’s always something a little different about packing it in. We did it once last year, and while it didn’t turn out to be the greatest of trips, we thought we’d try it again. The kids are another year older, and another year independent-er. This […]

Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman came to town! They drove out for about a week and blended in nicely with our daily lives. Even though there were more of us, the house seemed to stay much cleaner that week. Strange. Grandpa also unleashed his handy-man tinkering skills. Lots of little projects that were on my list […]

Tegan’s vocabulary isn’t that extensive yet – she’s got Mommy, Daddy, Tory, and even Tegan down among others. But when ever we wrestle these days she says – Got You – whether she really does or not. I’ve posted it so I remember. You may have to turn up the volume a little- it’s kinda […]

Here’s a video of the kids riding their bikes.

Tory’s been into making different dishes out of his sandbox kitchen – and today’s fare was Rice Soup. Is it my fault for telling him to take a bite, or his for actually doing it? At least he was smiling about it.

While the rest of the world celebrates Labor Day, here in Park City we celebrate Miners Day. Even though most laborers in this town no longer mine.

Here’s a few images of Tegan wrestling with a popsicle. In the end she won, but that popsicle put up one heck of a fight.

Here’s a recording of Tegan crying.

Here’s a recording of Tory singing the ABC’s from about a year ago. He was 2 and a half at the time.
[audio:http://toryandtegan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/tory-abc.mp3|titles=Tory sings the ABC’s]

Nothing special to read here, just a normal morning at the breakfast table. Some days it’s oats, some days it’s eggs. And on special days it’s Cheerios and milk. Today it’s just toast.

My mom used to take a picture of us kids on the front steps of our house on the first day of school each year – so it’s only right that we get one of Tory on his first day of preschool. He’s been so excited to go, it’s fun to see the day finally […]

We should have done this at the beginning of the summer, but Tory finally has a big boys bike. Bought it brand new after failing to find a used one. You’d really think there would be more of these around. He’s been riding it every day since. He falls off quite often but gets right […]

Right after Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary left Tracy and Marcus showed up. Literally. Same day. Again, not a whole lot of pictures were taken, but I did get a few of the day we spend hiking Bald Mountain in the Uintas. It was really fun having so much family around for a few weeks, […]

THis is an excerpt.

When Kari and I were living in Maine those many years ago we learned to whitewater kayak and have done it off and on since. In the last few years it’s been more off than on, so we’ve been very excited to meet some people recently who also love to paddle. They also have kids […]

We make it up to the Uintas quite a bit every summer, this year a little later than usual due to our extended winter/lack of spring. We spent just one night and then hiked the next day. These hikes are still short, but I’m guessing in the next few years they’ll stretch out longer with […]

It’s finally summer here and that means the Mountain Town Music concerts are in fill swing. We’re pretty lucky here in Park City – there’s free concerts 3 or 4 days a week during the summer. This band was from South Carolina and were dang good! Shoulda bought a cd.

I’ve had to start titling these posts with a year extension as we come around to doing the same events year after year, but what the hey… I could do some kind of clever title, but that’s not what this site is all about so again – what the hey. That aside, the Kids Fair […]

I wasn’t able to make this one, but Kari and the kids went down to Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake to celebrate Jarrett and Mel’s anniversary. Red Butte is, of course, where they were married and Mel’s parents, Jim and Olive were also there. Looks like they had a lot of fun, it’s really […]

On day two of our recent trip to the desert we decided to explore Little Wild Horse canyon just southwest of Goblin Valley. It’s a non technical slot canyon that has a little bit of everything, except the drops and swims. I’m tempted to call this Tory’s first real canyon as he hiked nearly all […]

Two previous trips were canceled by weather this spring, but we finally snuck out for a weekend in the desert. The Goblin Valley area is relatively close, and even though it’s quite busy these days it’s still a fun romp around the hoodoos. My very first southern Utah experience was here so it was great […]

The weather this spring has been rather crappy – snow and rain and cold – so getting a little sun and warmth for Mother’s Day was a real treat. It was a perfect day to get outside and build our first two raised bed gardens. The soil here isn’t as rich and black as I’m […]

Sorry Tegan. I’ve never really liked these shoes that I refer to as ‘The Classic Baby Shoe,’ but my goodness are they useful. They stay on her feet, she can’t take them off, and she seems to like them. They’re not as easy to get on as a shoe with velcro, but they’re white and […]

Willow Creek park is one of the bigger places for the kids to run and jump so we were happy to find that it had finally melted out from the long winters nap. At least for a day, anyway. The next day we woke to another 9″ on the ground.

Lately the kids have been making ‘pops’ from a Mickey mold that their friend Evan got for them at Disneyland. So yeah, it’s been pops every day. The best pops, by the way, are made with yogurt, fruit, apple juice and just a little sweet, like agave.

Every year The Canyons holds an Easter egg hunt on the mountain, and every year we miss it by just a few minutes. Luckily the kids are still too small to really care (I hope), so like I said last year: We’ll make it next year! The Epsteins did make it on time, and the […]

For most of Tegan’s short life she’s barely registered on Tory’s radar. The older she gets though, the more they play together and interact. Lately they’ve taken to eating together. Tegan is starting to use a spoon, but it’s often pretty awkward and ineffectual, so Tory’s been ‘helping’ her out. It usually ends up in […]

There’s not much snow left at our house, but there’s still plenty up on the mountain. This pink suit was our best option for keeping Tegan warm on family ski days. Next year we’ll have a better solution.

Oh yes, little friends, you are indeed in a bit of trouble.

I’ve been a little slack at keeping up with Tegan’s updates… perhaps it’s the second child syndrome? Anyway, Tegan has really come alive these last few months. She seemed to turn some corner right after her first birthday. She’s now walking and navigating stairs. And even though she hasn’t officially said her first word yet, […]

Our house butts up against the Glenwild open space area with hills and trails. This means it’s perfect for a day of sledding!

We started out by skiing with Tory between our legs, then graduated to using a harness with tethers, and now he’s moved beyond the tethers and is skiing solo. It’s been fun watching the progressions, and we can hardly wait until the day he can keep up with us. Ok, Tegan, you’re next!

Grandma Pat and her sister always had to share their birthday parties, and the advice is – even though there’s less than a week between Tory and Tegan’s birthdays – do separate parties. We’ll definitely take that advice, but for the next few years while they could really care less, we’ll do them together. And […]

Here’s an old video recorded by Mel. Tory and Evan have fun popping bubble wrap.

In honor of today’s Vikings game against the Cowboys, Tory wears Number 4. Click for a few more.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since pregnancy, hypno-birthing, and extreme infantude. But here we are, and Tegan is starting to show signs of becoming a little girl! Sure she’s always been a ‘girl,’ but I’ve come to calling her ‘little girl’ now instead of ‘baby.’ These are big steps. And speaking of […]

What better to do on a cold Saturday than pack the kids up and go for a mass transit adventure? The goal was simple: Walk to the bus, take it to the Canyons, ride the People Mover up to Kindersport, and then head back. While the goal was eventually accomplished, the panache with which it […]

Not that there’s a lot of pictures to prove it, but Christamas ’09 was great. Grandpa and Grandma Moe braved a winter storm to travel across country to be with us through the New Year. (They even endured a night in – gasp – Lincoln, Nebraska! Oh, the humanity!) Mel and Jarrett were over at […]

If there was one milestone I was looking forward to, this was it. It’s been over a month now, but Tory is now diaper free. Notice the ‘potty prize’ in his hand – A Matchbox garbage truck. I found it fitting.

Here’s a quick post about our new house here in Park City. It was a strange process getting it, but in the end it worked out thanks to luck, patience, and a huge help from our family. We owe a big big thanks. As you can see from the pics, this place is a bit […]

Tory loves bubbles. Bubbles in the bathtub, bubbles in his juice, and especially bubbles that come out of a jar.

It’s been a craaaazy last few months, which is a sad sad sad excuse for me not posting anything on the kids. I’ll be adding lots soon as there’s much to catch up on. For those of you who can’t get enough of Halloween, even after Thanksgiving, here’s how ours went this year.

Kari spends a Sunday afternoon capturing pics of Tegan crawling around in the autumn leaves. She did a similar shoot for Tory at this age, but I didn’t have my merde together with this site at the time or I’d post the link.

This is over a month late now, but Piper had her 3rd birthday party at Black Diamond Gymnastics in Park City. There was running and jumping and swinging and sliding and flipping and bouncing. And some other stuff. Oh, and some cupcakes – chocolate, if that brown schmeere on Tory’s shirt is any indication.

Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman came to Park City for a week load of fun. We went to the zoo, walked to the park, and other stuff.

We’ve done quite a bit of camping with the kids, but up to now it’s been of the car-based variety. We decided to change that in August with an overnight in the Uintas. Tory and I slept in bivy’s, and after waking to a drizzle and cold kids, we were forced out too early. It […]

Kari took the kids to Cold Stone Creamery the other night while I was out.  

You know how Crayons are non toxic? Well it’s a damn good thing.    

It’s been a couple of weeks now (Judging from my timeliness, they must have been very busy weeks?) but Grandpa and Grandma Moe came to visit, along with Tracy, Marcus, and Jacob. They were able to rent the condo directly above us, which allowed us to be together quite a bit without being directly on […]

Friday night found us at the Summit County fair, along with some Park City and Heber City friends. There were rides, games, snow cones, and corn dogs. Kari and I even got to ride the Zipper (still my favorite carney ride). This being our first Summit Co fair, I was struck by the fact that […]

I know I’ve posted this image already here: Yuba Reservoir Boat Trip, but I want to remember Tory’s first nights under the stars as an event on its own. This is only important because I’m eager to return to our backcountry ways, and this is a step closer.

The ice cream man drove by the other night, and it being such a rare event, Sam decided to partake. And no, I don’t normally let my kid go shopping in his birthday suit. It was a swimming pool/potty training thing.

We’ve been feeding her for about a month now, so here finally, are a few shots of the mess. Beware of the last one though, it may not be suitable for the weak stomached.

We headed south to Yuba State Park for a weekend of camping, beaching, and boating. Four families and one dog spent three days in the heat, eating drinking, surfing, swimming, laughing, and playing. It was a great time, and thanks go out to Pete and Kelly for inviting us all along. Click the image above […]

We always go to the Uintas to camp, because it’s relatively close, and so very woodsy-mountainsy. But we like to explore new places too, so we treked on up near Powder Mountain to a place that looked pretty good on the map. The bummer part is that lots of other people had that same crazy […]

We spent the 4th here in Park City, and it was a jam packed weekend. Concert and fireworks at the Canyons on Friday, Parade, street party and fireworks on Saturday,

These pics are now a couple of weeks old, but we try and make it to the free concerts at Deer Valley each week. Evan, Piper, and Riley often show up too, so the evenings are most often a kid-corralling fest.

My sister Jenny and I’s (is that a word??) grandfather was put into a nursing home recently, and we decided to plan a trip to visit him while he’s still sharp witted. She flew in (from Oregon) a few days early to hang here with us and get to spend a little time with the […]

We thought we were lucky that Tory was such a good baby. So before Tegan arrived, I was nervous that the scales would level, and we’d have a little terror on our hands. HA! This little girl is the happiest, easiest baby – if all babies were this easy there would be a lot more […]

“Hoo-ray for Underpants!” – These words, uttered by Prairie Dawn in Sesame Street’s Elmo’s Potty Time, are perhaps more exiting to us than to Tory, but he seems pretty excited to wear them none-the-less. Especially since they’re styled with characters from Cars. (Speaking of which, I really should rent that one from Netflix. Tory hasn’t […]

Sophia and her parents Sam and Michelle come over to visit quite often, but this time I got a couple of pictures of the occasion. Tory and Soph played in the grass, and Soph spent a little time with Tegan. Click above for more images.

While we didn’t expect it to happen quite this soon, Tory got his first set of stitches last Wednesday, the result of him apparently falling and smacking his face on the side of his bed. I say ‘apparently’ because neither Kari nor I were there to see the initial impact. Later that day he pointed […]

The Park City Kids Fair, hosted by the Soaring Wings Montessori School, was held last week and we headed on down with Julie, Piper, and Riley, as well as Sam, Michelle and Soph for some timid horseback riding and bouncing around on blow up toys. It was a really nice day and I think the […]

We’d planned on heading down to Fruita for the weekend, but the forecast was dire. The prospect of spending the weekend ducking the rain with the kids was enough to keep us in closer range to home, so we headed up to the Mirror Lake area of the Uinta’s with Michelle, Sam and Sophia for […]

I’ve been giving Tory a gummy bear (organic of course) for sitting on the potty lately, and telling him he can have a pop if he poops. Well, I’m glad to say the boy got a pop today! I was going to take a picture of this historic event, but decided against it. Even if […]

Not 10 seconds before this image was taken, Tegan was on her back, arching and kicking, and then – boink! She rolled over. Keep up the good work girlie!

I’ve always heard that it’s best to keep your kids in a crib for as long as possible, until they can climb out on their own. This makes sense really, since once they’re in there, they can’t do much damage, except perhaps on your ear drums. So what would possess us to convert Tory’s crib […]

We considered flying back to Minnesota this year but opted for 2 days (each way) of torture in the car instead! We saved a bit of money this way, and also learned what high level, concentrated stress feels like. Actually it really wasn’t too terrible, we got a portable dvd player for Tory and Tegan […]

Ok, since I like tweaking this and other sites so much, I’ve gone ahead and made some changes to the site. First, since Michelle didn’t like the fact the ‘old’ gallery wouldn’t let you scroll through the picutres by using the arrow key, I’ve upgraded the the way the gallery works. While it looks nicer, […]

So I’ve heard through the grapevine that I don’t post enough pictures of Tegan. This is all very true, but that’s because she mostly just sits there, or is sleeping. I didn’t think anyone would really want to see another one of those. Apparently I was wrong. As before, click on that image up there […]

Here’s a recording of Tegan crying.

So I know there was a recent post about Tory skiing for the first time – and there’s no doubt that he was on a pair of skis that day, and gravity was doing its thing – but today the little man hit the big time and rode his first chair lift. As you can […]

Another powder day, another kiddie swap. I took a few pics of the kids on my shift, and I’m trying out a new gallery viewer. Let me know what you think. EDIT: So I broke this post by deleting the old gallery. This new gallery is much better.

One of the nicer things about living in Park City is that there are so many people around who love to do the same things we do. And we’re doubly fortunate to have friends like this who also have kids. Pete and Kelley offered to spring for a condo at Powder Mountain last Monday night, […]

Kari and I recently took a class on the Love and Logic® parenting… uh, technique?? Method?? Whatever… its a way for us to be on the same page, and have a plan about how we raise our kids. Basically its a way to give kids choices and consequences on the way to becoming responsible people. […]

I’m sure everyone has a different idea of what sleeping through the night means, but for us, a 6 hour stretch means we’ve made it through the woods. It means only one feeding at night. It means getting up only ONCE at night. Last night Tegan did it. Six hours straight. Let the hallelujahs begin!

When I was in kindergarten, we got to perform the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I don’t remember much of the story, except that there were three goats who crossed a bridge and troll who threatened to eat them, and then the goats ended up pummeling the troll. And I think the moral […]

Since Tegan was born over a month ago, we’ve been blessed with visits from family members from the east. I thought I’d just throw a couple of photos up as proof. First, Aunt Tracy was here: Then Grandpa Moe arrived: And then Grandma Pat was here after a week in Mexico: It was really nice […]

  On January 25 Tegan was baptized at Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Park City. Kari’s folks were in town so we thought it would be a good time to do it.

  When ever Tory wears a dark pair of socks these days we get to spend a little too much time picking out the toe jam. Good concentration though.

After all the wrangling that goes into naming the child, once she’s here it becomes fun to start calling her other cute little names. Here’s mine thus far: Grunter – because of the predominant sound that emanates from her Squaker – for the tetradactyl like sounds she makes Baby – As in, ‘Hey Baby, why are you fussing… or […]

Tory gets on a pair of skis for the first time today and ‘rides’ a little powder. Looks like he’s enjoying himself to boot. Ok kid, it only gets better from here.

Here’s a few more images of Tegan. She’s still mostly just eating and sleeping and relieving herself. So I guess that means she’s right on track. Click the image to view more.

Happy birthday kid! This is a little late, but last week we celebrated Tory’s second birthday. Hard to believe. Especially with Tegan being here now, and so small and… infant like. It’s hard to believe that Tory was there once too. And now here he is, two years into his life, acting like a little […]

We’ve been meaning to cut the boy’s hair for over a month now. Today was the day. Click on one of the images to see slightly larger versions.

If you visited the site by going to torycedar.com, you should notice above that you were redirected to the new url, toryandtegan.com. I’ll be posting everything to this site now, but will keep Tory’s domain active and pointing here. I’m also thinking of making some incremental changes to the site… it’s still only 800 pixels […]

A happy birthday note from Aunt Jenny!

Here’s the initial public offering of Tegan… Avery! Hoffman. Pardon the pause and the exclamation point there, but it’s been up in the air for a while what her middle name was going to be. (Yes yes, daddy wins again). Mommy and baby are doing very well and the whole process went as perfectly as […]

It’s now officially less than two weeks until the new baby is (officially) due. All is well so far, and with all the little mini surges Kari has been having, it may happen sooner. Overall we are fairly well prepared. The new crib is set up and Tory’s old infant diapers are at the ready. […]

Merry Christmas everyone – I though I’d share this picture of Tory just hanging out, reading. While I know he doesn’t understand it, it’s still neat to see him calmly reading a book. Update: By the way, that’s the Baby Owner’s Manual he’s reading. Must be getting prepped to take care of his little sister.

While not quite as debonair as Puss in Boots, Tory wears his first pair of ski boots. It took a while to get to this point, as we’ve had the boots (and skis) around for a month or so with no sign of him wanting to put them on. But thankfully Auntie Mel has super […]

It should be less than a month now before we three become four, and so far, things are humming along nicely. We are planning on using the hypnobirthing method, which is sometimes thought of mainly as a pain management technique, but for us it also creates a calm and welcoming atmosphere to bring our baby into the […]

The second of our twice annual treks back to the homeland landed on Thanksgiving this year, which is a perfect time to be in Minnesota. Though repeatedly warned of the bitter temps, the weather was a balmy 30 degrees most of the time, and we got outside quite a bit. The airplane ride there was […]

I’m just wondering if the boy plays with trains because he was born to, or because I’ve bought them for him. Yes, it’s the old ‘nature vs. nurture’ question, and if science can’t seem to figure it out then who am I to try. Starting in a little over a month we’re getting a study […]

Here’s the boy, playing with the gigantic abacus at our local park. It’s too bad these things are more like a rattly instrument to me, or maybe I’d be teaching him how to multiply with it. No, he’s not yet a math wiz or chess champion, but he is counting to ten, and it sounds […]

On Friday, I celebrated what I called ‘d300 day’ which marked our return to quality snapshots. You may recall a previous post, from July, in which I mentioned the death of my Nikon d80. Well, after months of missing out on Tory’s photographic history, a shiny new, refurbished Nikon d300 arrived just in time for […]

I have never owned my own TV. Ok, so that either makes me an unsophisticated yokel, or a crazy, spittle ridden anti-television crusader guy, right?. Well, maybe. But between us, Kari and I have four computers. We often rent TV series on Netflix. I think the Office is pretty dang funny. And what would Sunday’s […]

There are those who think this should have happened quite some time ago, but on Oct 5, 2008 Tory got his first haircut. I think perhaps a Flobie would have been a little easier. This is also a good time to post my first video. I hope I don’t get in trouble for using a […]

I realize its been a while since the site has been updated, but I have a real, live excuse. Ever since I killed my camera, I’ve had a hard time finding a reason to post. Not that this is a photo blog, or that nothing interesting has happened in Tory’s life recently, but I’m a […]

This image has nothing to do with Tory, but it’s too dang funny to keep to myself. I found it at the blog at backcountry.com.

Having kids changes your life in so many obvious ways. That’s as obvious to those without kids as those of us with. For people without kids, this sometimes means your life ends. All the things you did in your previous life are dead and gone, you might as well resign yourself to a life of […]

We usually go camping for Kari’s birthday, but in a sign of us either getting lazier, or growing older, we decided to take the easy route of admission fee family fun. Big fee = Big fun. We haven’t been able to expose the boy to water enough and it shows in how timid he’s been […]

Not that I’m a huge Wizard of Oz fan, but somehow Minnesota is still referred to as ‘home’ in our house. That might always be the case, just as I’ll always be a Twins fan. We spent nearly two weeks at ‘home’ visiting the GP’s and other family and friends. Much summer lounging around the […]

For a few weeks now Kari has been feeling a bit off… food doesn’t taste the same, she’s stopped drinking coffee and she’d often get this sickly look on her face. I thought it probably was just gas, but she went to the doctor anyway… a special doctor called a mid-wife, and they took pictures […]

I don’t recall ever taking the boy to one of those fashion stores in the mall that have the faux-annoyed models littering the walls, but here he is, striking that pouty pose. Just no skimpy underwear fashion, ok kid?

Mom and the boy spent a week in California visiting friends, which left me all alone in bachelor mode. Sounds like it should have been fun, but the weather was lousy so the trails were muddy. But this isn’t about me. Here’s one of the boy: Apparently the weather there sucked too, so they had […]

Since it hasn’t been that long since Tory started walking, I’m guessing I’d be asking too much for him to be a jungle gym maniac already. So instead we spent the afternoon observing the other kids play and munching on vanilla wafers (Kari’s out of town, so me and the boy eat what we want). […]

Its been a while since our last update, but quite a lot has happened… the biggest being Tory’s new tub! Up until now he’s had to use the same tiny blue plastic tub he’s had since day one, and now having out grown it, Kari and I decide to get him the real deal, porcelain […]

Sophia and her parents Michelle and Sam came to Park City for a week of fun and figuring… fun skiing and hiking and figuring if PC is a place they want to be (they’re considering moving here). It was a great week of snowshoeing, skiing, and walking around at Sundance. We also rented a condo […]

Has anyone ever seen a kid who loves lemons? Now you have!

I generally tend to label my son as an active child. Not hyper-active, but he’s constantly moving or falling or picking something up. Stick him in a stroller and go for a walk, though, and he’s as calm as can be. Its almost eerie how he goes into a sort of zombie zone. Until he […]

I have yet again changed up the way I server photos of the boy, and hopefully this will be the last of it for a while. All photos are now on the Spigot Design flickr page. The images are bigger, its faster loading, and we won’t run into Adobe Flash problems anymore.

Kids these days… Apparently for this “new generation” of one-somethings they no longer feel its necessary to use commonly accepted standards of communication. Whining, or a medium to high pitched “Unnggghhhhaaaaa” polls a higher success rate at getting what you want than simply asking for it. Grunting and pointing at your object of desire follows […]

After many months of patience on my part, the boy has finally decided to get up off his hands and knees. Good on ya, kid. See the rest of the pics here. Enjoy.

After losing two ceramic bowls to Tory’s wild eating habits, the brilliant idea of… wait, I can hear you thinking, “why were they using ceramic bowls to feed a child…” An understandable thought, but when you’ve gone through (read: broken) most of the “unbreakable” kids bowls, you turn in the end to what ever is […]

At what point in your child’s progression do you call it official that they are walking? Tory has been standing for months… About a month ago he took his first steps… and today I witnessed him link 8 or 9 steps. But is that “walking?” He still chooses the crawl as his major mode of […]

We’ve been teaching Tory a few signs with the help of the Baby Signing Time series, and its been fun to watch him learn to communicate with us. It’s also cut down on some of the frustration for him as he can tell us somewhat what he wants. Heavy on the “somewhat.” Eat, all done, […]

If you would have asked me 6 months ago when the boy would be walking, I’d have told you it was just around the corner. He was a stellar crawler, and he would stand up holding on to furniture and such. Ask me now and I may tell you to wait another 6 months… not […]

The hardest thing about being a dad, at least so far, has more to do with me than with the boy. He is a little bundle of joy. He is the one who finally makes my life complete. He is the one in the Johnson & Johnson commercials who brings a tear to your eye […]

The boy turned one last week as you know, and an interesting little tid-bit came out of the celebrations… To Kari’s eminent satisfaction, Tory gagged and thoroughly disliked his first taste of brownie and ice cream. Yes, I said GAGGED. While the rest of us sat utterly dumbfounded, Kari beamed with joy- her son, one […]

A year ago at this time I was holding smoldering moxa sticks at Kari’s feet, in hopes of turning Tory around from his breech state. Why these stinky, smoky sticks have any hope of turning a breech baby is beyond me, but in the end they didn’t work, the boy stayed breech, and we had […]

Since it hadn’t been snowing in Park City, the family decides to visit Portland Oregon, in hopes of getting rained on, and seeing friends and family. We saw both friends and family, and boy how-do-you-do did we get rained on. We visited the Portland Japanese Garden, in the rain, with recent Portlandites, Kelly and Martin; […]

It’s only been two months since we left Minneapolis, and we’ve already been blessed with a visit from the nearly weds. Bridget and Tim were here for a long weekend visit, a little hiking, strolls about town, and for the boys – Sunday football. Here’s the pics – Bridget & Tim.

Back on Track! The Moe/Hoffman family is Back On Track! After much moving and shaking, packing and unpacking, we have tilled the soil and planted the seeds for our new roots in Utah. It’s pretty sandy out here in the desert, but we’ve got the compost needed to make it fertile. As of now, its […]

My apologies to all for not updating the site. I have a ton of excuses, I don’t want to add insult to injury by detailing them here. Expect new info soon, like in the next few hours. I guess that makes this post pretty pointless.

Tory and I packed up the Baby Bjorn, some milk and a few diapers – and caught the train downtown to see his first Twins game today. It was also his first ride on the light rail, and his first time at the Metrodome, so there were many new things to look at and drool […]

A couple site improvements have been made in the last week: A Better Gallery A new version of the image gallery has been created. The link is now called, of all things, “Gallery,” and it takes you to a flash version of the old “Pictures” page. This version provides a nice interface to view images, […]

Here is a short list of the boy’s skills. When ever he wants to amaze and impress, he whips out one of these, like a magician with his bag of tricks. Rolls over from front to back Starting to roll over back to front Laughs Smiles Grabs things with one or both hands Flinches Starting […]

The boy got his first taste of life in the Mountains last week. Uncle Jarrett and Aunt Melodie got married in Park City on May 26th, so the family got an early look at our future home. Tory was eager to get in some hard core adventuring, but Kari and I firmly believe in a […]

Part of the fun of being a new parent is wondering and watching what the Next Big Thing will be. I haven’t read up on what the general developmental order is, so for me its even a bigger surprise. I have heard that sitting up and crawling is coming soon, but it turns out Kari […]

April 29 was a big day for Tory as he got baptized into the Christian faith. It was a really nice weekend spent at Grandpa and Grandma Moe’s, with Grandma Ogie, Tonya and Kelly coming from Wisconsin, and my folks coming down from Battle Lake. Sarah and Jeff were kind enough to agree to be […]

Being able to poop on command is something I consider quite the skill. Biding my time, waiting for the right moment… I know I go once or twice a day, so even if I don’t feel the urge, if the time is right I can usually get the job done. If I’m in line at […]

On a fridged Sunday afternoon the family ventures out to visit dad’s work studio. Since mom has never seen it, it was an adventure for all. Some highlights include: Having to make two trips to the car to fetch all the necessary gear, dreaming of living in such a big space, and dunt da da […]

Here are a few images of Tory’s friends and family. I’m trying to get a shot of everyone who comes by for a visit, but I know I missed a few. Its a great excuse for you to drop on by again. 249

Its been a month, what has transpired: Jan 8 – Birth Very important step in the development process. Much like the mouth of a great river, all things must start at the source. Apparently this analogy says that birth is the source. Take that, Ponce DeLeone. 6lbs 13oz Jan 12 – First Day Home Bewildering […]

Being a parent is a lot like being Christopher Columbus. You’re sailing unknown waters, out on an adventure of discovery, not knowing whats ahead, or when you’ll get there. You think your the first one to do it, the first to see these strange things, even though Erik the Viking and billions of other humans […]

“MAH WINGIE”! the 2 year old said to me. What? “MAH WINGIE, MAH WINGIEEEE”! She said again, this time holding up her finger. Your Finger? “MAH WINGIE”! I could see the relief in her face once I got it. There was nothing wrong with her finger, it was just one of the words she knew […]

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not at all. This was the way we most wanted to avoid. I sit holding the hand of my best friend, lying by my side, surrounded by a sea of blue. I stand up and watch as the surgeons, chatting about sumsuch, cut into a place I know […]

Here are a few pictures of Kari a couple of days before Tory was born. At this point we figured we still had a couple of weeks to go. Little did we know this was the last chance we’d get to get some good pictures of the pregnancy. Glad we did! She is 39 and […]

Welcome to the world Tory Cedar Hoffman. Tory was born on January 8, 2007 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. He was 6lbs 13oz., and overall very healthy. He decided he’d rather come out feet first, which may be a good indicator of his intelligence, for who really likes coming out and landing on their […]