Fun in the Colorado Mountains

After a really crazy travel schedule Anne and I wanted to have a break and we thought that a quick escape to the Mountains of Colorado was just the ticket. We packed up the family and off we went in the Van (I write in the description of the car so I can continue to work on feeling ok with purchasing a van).
We made it to Frisco, Colorado just as the snow started to fall. I was really excited since our mountains really needs snow. This only lasted a half hour and then it was back to blue skies. We made it to one of my favorite sledding hills a few minutes later. Last year I had to bring up the sleds for Josh and carry Lexi and her sled back up the hill each time they went down. They loved this and wanted to go way more times that I wanted to and by the end I was the most tired. This year all kids were on their own and managed just fine. Even Lexi loved to sled by herself and had a great time.



We spent the night at Christie"s Lodge in Avon and had a great night swimming, getting warm by a real fire in our room and playing board games. Jackson killed us at the games and Josh won the award for having the most fun rolling dice.

The next day Anne and the kids wanted to stay and swim while I spent the morning skiing with John M, Joe W and some friends of his. We started at 8:30am and hit it hard until noon when Anne and kids came and picked me up. We wanted to beat the holiday traffic on I-70 so we came down to the valley early and went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks new movie.

I was glad for the break from work and was thrilled to hang with my family. Here are some of the photos that I liked the best from my new Camera.

Tyler

Home

After being gone from Denver, my home, my bed since the 22ND of December I am headed home. Tonight I will get to sleep to familiar sounds and of course the familiar comfort of my bed and maybe I will be able to get the temperature where I like it.
Anne and I decided to combine two long trips into one and we left Denver on the 22ND headed for Salt Lake City to spend some time with her family. The second half of that trip included a quick overnight er to LA and then the Miche Bag 2ND annual Conference.
Anne and the kids left me and headed home a week ago and since then I have been working long hours, eating like crap and exercising in majestic hotel fitness rooms. My life in 2009 work wise changed and I am one of those that now travel often. 2010 will continue that way and I am getting better at finding ways to make travel work for me. The thing that I can't seem to figure out yet is how to stay connected with the ones I love most. I call and text often but my schedule does not over lap well with the home schedule. The kids love to tell me about the day but I feel not as connected as I would like and I have a tough time getting quality time with my wife while I am on the road. I will continue to work on this aspect but did not bring it up to complain but to explain why I get so excited on the travel day home. I packed my bags, left my hotel, returned my car and now I have only the flight before I am united with the ones that I love.
Today I am going home and today home is so much more than a place where I live. Home is where I breath the best, where I feel the happiest, where I function most normal (as normal as I CAN be). Home is where my girlfriend, coach, sweetheart and lover is. Home is where my Lexi, Jackson and Josh run and keep the heart beating to a rhythm that is most powerful to me. I get to go home where my soul gets charged and I am able to gain the confidence to do it again; stronger, better, giving it my all cause I can. Home to me is everything and today I arrive.
I love what I do and hope that I can connect with the heartbeat of the real traveler but until then I can operate knowing that I can plug in at home and charge for the next road trip.
I look forward to 2010. I hope that I can become a better person and have the decisions that I make become good ones. I hope I can reach my goals and connect to great people as I work to that end. I see where I want my journey finish and work every day to get there.

I love you Anne,

See you in hours,

T

Solitude Ski Resort....Need I say More!

I kissed Anne and the kids and watched them drive away from her parents home this morning after an Epic Christmas just as Joe and Christine drove up. I am staying here in Utah for another week for work and so I wanted to ski and Joe and Christine said they would take me to Solitude. We were introduced to each other in Moab, Utah and proudly are part of the FOB's. We had a great day, The weather rocked with blue skies and warm temps.

It was our first time skiing as a group and by the end of the first run I was all smiles because I knew it was going to be a great day. Joe is an awesome skier and host to the mountain. I have not been to Solitude in 15 years so the mountain look very different. We skied almost the entire mountain and made the best of what the conditions would offer. We even made it around to Honeycomb Canyon and worked our way into the back bowls.

I was most impressed with Christine for being such a great sport on terrain that she does not normally ski. Thanks for such a good time and being such great host's.

Tyler