Yet another reason Sun Valley is tops for everyone (especially families)

Ice skating cutie, Evan Lysacek, recently rated his top 10 places to ice skate.  Since he is the pro, then he must know!

Our wonderful town made the list! Check it out HERE

Just another reason to love this place!

How can you not love a town where you can take your kids sledding and skiing all in one day and still have plenty of time to make dinner?

Ketchum is a great small American town

Ketchum was just rated as one of America's great small towns.  We all knew that, so it's nice that the rest of the world is discovering it!

Way to go Ketchum!

Click HERE to read about Ketchum's praises.

What's your dream?

Everyone has a dream location where they want to live. Perhaps in a penthouse in New York City, or  a beach house in Hawaii or a mansion in the South.  Sun Valley is my dream (the others wouldn't be so bad either though!).  I feel so lucky that at my age, I have found my dream location and am able to raise my family here.

The reasons behind everyone's dream location is always different and always fascinating to me.  Some like to live near all the big stores others like to live in solitude in the mountains.  What makes it your dream location is that it is unique and special to you.

The other I took my two sons and two dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. As we were walking, my 6 year old, told me to look up in the sky.  Right above us were 3 Bald Eagles!  They were so close to us that we could see their white markings on their tail and hear them chirping to each other.  The next day, while on a bike ride just down the rode from our home, I spotted a coyote stalking something in the grass. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera to share the images with all of you, but I was able to share it with my family.  Those things are just a small part of what makes Sun Valley perfect for me and for my family!

Mountains in the winter, rivers in the summer

Our kids are all pretty lucky to grow up in Sun Valley. I guess that means that we, as adults, as just as lucky. We have great mountains for winter sports and the summer leaves us with plenty of hiking, biking, lakes and refreshing rivers.

To make us even luckier....we have two rivers to enjoy right in our backyards (or within biking distance).  The Big Wood River which runs throughout our entire valley is a great river for fly fishing or just taking the kids and dogs for some water play time.  Our favorite location to play is right off of the Broadford Loop down in Bellevue. There is sun, sand and plenty of space for everyone.

Our newest favorite river is the East Fork River.  This is a much smaller river that has plenty of lush green stuff all around. We can explore around the river for hours with the kids and dogs.  Sometimes, when we are really brave, we will actually get more than our legs wet. I just love my kids fully appreciating nature and getting a kick over climbing big rocks and trees.

I don't think we could ask for a better place to raise our children!

Even kids love it here

As I was pushing my 4 year old daughter in the swings the other day, we had the following conversation:

Daughter:  Mom, I just love this town.

Me:  Why, do you love this town?

Daughter:  It's beautiful, it's a good place to live and the people are nice.  I just love it

Hmmmm......I think I have brainwashed my daughter.  Not that that is a bad thing!

A great place for families

Just another reason why the entire Sun Valley area is a great place to raise families.....

It was recently reported that the crime rate in the valley dropped during 2009.  For a town that is already very safe, it just keeps getting better and better for families!

The newest and coolest part of Ketchum

If you haven't spent some time at Ketchum's new Town Square,, then run there as fast as you can. You will be amazed and impressed.  Grab a to-go lunch of crepes or yummy pannini's at Penelope's, plus some ice cream at Leroy's (can you tell that I love ice cream) and enjoy a nice lunch outside at the square.  The kids can run around on the nice square while you can sit and people watch.

It was so nice to see how many people were using Town Square on Saturday morning.  Well done Ketchum, well done!

A date night in Ketchum

Last night, my husband and I took advantage off the YMCA's Sitter Saturday and headed out with some friends for Gallery Walk.  The rain stopped, there was a rainbow and lots of locals and tourists enjoying our fine galleries, plus some wine.  In our two hour "walk", we only managed to make it to two galleries. We were too busy talking to many of our friends that we ran into.  It definitely was a social night and a great night!

Luckily for us, one of the galleries we stopped at was DeNovo and Jamie Lee Curtis just happened to be having a book signing there. Since I have young kids, love books and am slightly star struck, I just had buy a book and have Mrs. Curtis sign it herself.

Did you know that her "Where do Balloons Go" book was dreamed up at Atkinsons Park in Ketchum?  Once upon a time, Jamie Lee Curtis attended a birthday party there and they let all the balloons go up in the sky.  One little girl asked her mama, "Where do balloons go?" and voila!  a book was created.   Of course, I had to buy 3 of those books!

After admiring art and mingling with friends, we headed to Ketchum's newest restaurant, Cornerstone.  At 8:00pm, that place was PACKED.  Again, we ran into so many people that we knew. That is one of my favorite things about Ketchum, everywhere you go it's like running into "family" and you feel so welcome.  Cornerstone is a really cool (for lack of a better word) building.  This building is about 100 years and one of Ketchum's oldest buildings.  Cornerstone offers great food and it has only just begun.  In the near future, they will be offering family nights.  Can't wait to hear more details about family night and enjoy Cornerstone with my family and more friends!

We went home with huge smiles and big bellies.  It's going to be a great summer in the valley and I can't wait to experience it all.

YMCA fundraiser night at Ketchum Dry Goods

This post is long over due, but better late than never!

 Back in February, during the YMCA's successful Y Partners campaign, the good folks at Ketchum Dry Goods hosted a ladies to help the YMCA raise money. 10% of all proceeds went back to the Y.  The evening was packed with delicious food, beautiful flowers, the best clothing staff and some pretty fun gals.  They thought of everything to make ladies night special. OH, what a night!

This great staff (and owner) of Ketchum Dry Goods sure know how to fit clothes on any body.  Not only are they super fashion smart, but very helpful and friendly.  You can never go wrong with an outfit that you buy there.

A snowy night and white flowers makes for a great ladies night!  A huge YMCA thank you to KDG for raising $300 that evening.

hmmmm.... A trip to Ketchum Dry Goods might be the perfect gift for all the mother's out there this weekend.
 

Despo's in Sunset Magazine

One of my favorite magazines is Sunset Magazine. I have been a loyal reader since college, so that's about 3 years (or perhaps a a few more years).  I love the travel ideas, the garden ideas and the healthy recipes.  I will sit and read the entire magazine at one time. Of course, this can only happen when the kids are snug in their beds.

I get extra giddy when our hip town is mentioned in the magazine--which happens quite frequently.

This month,  Sunset lists Despo's as makers of one of the best burritos in the West.  The specifically mention the all-veggie Richard Burrito.  I  usually try the zucchini burrito, so I will have to add this one to my menu wish list.

I must add that Despo's is the ONLY place mentioned in Idaho.

Way to go Despo's!  Looking forward to some chips and salsa this summer outside.

The Guilt

(picture taken at Easter from the steps of St. Thomas in Ketchum)

Not a single day goes by that I don't count my blessing and am in awe that I live in such a beautiful place. Seriously, I'm sure that my husband is sick of me saying, "Wow, can you believe we actually live here?"  or " Geez, this place is breathtaking".

As extra icing on the cake, it was an absolutely gorgeous weekend with perfect temperatures and a big party on the mountain. People were skiing, hiking, biking and fishing.  All in the same weekend.  Pretty incredible.

I do feel guilty that we live live in luxury (the Saks of small town living) and not everyone gets to live here.   But for now, I will continue to feel very lucky.

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!

Click below to see a video from The Arnold on Plum TV bragging about our very own Sun Valley.


www.plumtv.com/videos/arnold-schwarzenegger/index.html

Family vacation ideas

The kids and I just watched this video about this family who traveled all over Idaho for 10 days doing some really cool family activities---think horseback riding, white water rafting, visiting a bear park, etc.  It really showed idaho in a great light and made me want to follow in their footsteps.

Check it out here:  www.greatidahogetaway.org

The video is about 30 minutes long and to view our wonderful Sun Valley, go to about the 10 minute mark.