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 […]