What it really is like to live here

We have lived here for 4 years now, so this is our home, our lifestyle.  I tend to forget that this is a prime vacation destination.  After all, we do live in a resort community. One that is hot during both the winter and the summer.

Last year, my family was eating at Perry's for lunch and a family was sitting behind us.  Our kids were talking to their kids and before they left, the dad asked me where we were from.  When I told them that we were from here,  he looked at me in shock and said, "That is awesome!  We are from Seattle and love to come here every year.  It must be great to actually live here".  It sure is great.

Yet, like every town, there are pluses and there are minuses.  Fortunately, the pluses outweigh the minuses.  One minus would be that it is almost April and still snowing.

I love our town and am so grateful that I get to raise our children in this small community with some remarkable people.  I feel like someone is always watching over and protecting my children when I am not able to. We always better be on our best behavior because more than likely, when we step out of our house, we will run into someone we know!  It's like a big old family.

 Our children appreciate the great outdoors and being active.  Then there is the wildlife.  As we were sitting in the living room one afternoon last week, my 2 year old son became very excited and ran over to the window yelling "elk". He spotted a large herd not far from our home.  What a remarkable experience for our children.

Now don't get me wrong, things weren't all honky dory when we moved here.  In the beginning, I didn't fully appreciate all that Sun Valley had to offer. We moved from a big city which meant lots of shopping, lots of parks, museums and things to do with your kids year round.  Oh, how I craved Target. Mid-winter, I just wanted to stroll up and down each aisle with my kids.  First, it would kill some time during the long days, second it's a mindless activity that would keep the kids occupied, plus all those great dishes would make me much happier. I would count my days by how long it had been since I last stepped foot in the mall (the Boise mall, definitely not the Twin Falls mall).  We would go to Boise every month just to fulfill my big city fill---not just shopping, but activities such as the zoo.

Now, I no longer crave Target (not as much) or going to a city, but crave going kayaking with my family on Silver Creek or doing all the 4th of July Festivities with the entire town, plus a few thousand more people.  We look forward to Hop Porter park re-opening after a long winter's nap and mingling with all of our old friends that we have missed most of the winter.  The holidays here are something else!  If you have spent a Christmas in the valley, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.   It's all about the simple, but magical life.

A lot of people come here to vacation, but we came here to live and are still counting our blessings!