House O' Sullivans

 Yesterday, Kim and I brought the kids up to the Thayne's Canyon trail up Millcreek to get a piece of this: Izzy Hallee, fast and furious.  (I categorically banned her from riding head first in her sled, so this was her second choice.) Walking up the trail, it was evident that we'd kill ourselves coming down on sleds.  The trail was hard-packed, trees and rocks peppered the trail, and we had 5 kids 7 and under.  To avert death and bodily injury, we hiked up the trail and fashioned our own sledding track, running parallel to the trail but off in the woods a ways.  Kim and I removed several dead trees (very burly ladies we are) from the proposed sledding path and the kids took off.  When we finished our foray (because the kids were starving--we'd postponed lunch to get a piece of this action) we decided, against our better judgement, to sled down the packed, obstacle-laden trail.  Our plan was to keep the kid's sleds right behind ours and l...

I HATE this picture.  Pretty much I look absolutely AWFUL.  I look like I just rolled out of a boxing ring with two black eyes.  There is also something that I love about it--it is REAL.  Seriously.  Who has perfectly groomed hair and make-up on right after they battle the forces of nature to birth a child?  For sure not me.  (If not already obvious from this photo.)  I love something else about this picture.  It reminds me of the difficult path that mothers walk.  The difficult path that I've walked.  It was hard for me to become a mother.  It was something that I deeply desired, but at the same time it was something that mentally, emotionally, and physically leveled me, forcing me to redefine who I was.  Somehow I'd collected the idea that when I had children, I'd automatically "level up" (as my brothers like to say).  I wish.  At first, being a mom for me was being a robot.  Asking myself what I "should"...

This year we put in for the lottery to stay at the Big Water Yurt up Millcreek Canyon.  We stayed there last year and had a blast, so we were hoping to morph that singular experience into a yearly family tradition of winter yurting.  With no luck on that draw, we resorted to our original yurting background on the north slopes of the Uinta Mountains.  I'd been travelling into the Uinta backcountry to various yurts for years with friends, so this area is one I know well.  We settled on the East Fork Yurt, situated at 8,500 feet and over-looking the east fork of the Bear River.  After hauling three small children (and two loaded gear sleds) nearly five miles uphill in frigid temperatures last year, Casey and I took the option of leisure with a mere 1.5 mile walk to the yurt this year.  We also decided to stay two nights instead of one to optimize the experience.  Upon arriving at the yurt this year, Casey and I reminisced about how EXHAUSTED we both were ...