The Rider's Established 1997
Fresh out of high school we began dreaming of our future together. We were going to be rich, travel to exotic places, and enjoy the life of luxury. So we set to work. Before we knew it three years past. Right in the middle of dreaming and working we experienced something that would for ever rock our world. We created life. Yes…a baby was on its way. All of a sudden we went from happily dreaming to reality. It’s not just going to be all about us any more. Now we have a baby. Well we adjusted and planned and carried on. Surely we could do everything we dreamed of with a baby in tow. We were still going to be vastly different than anyone else in our sleepy little town.
Josh was delivered by emergency c section five weeks early and stayed nine days in Newborn Intensive Care. Huh, maybe this having and raising babies was going to be harder then we thought. There is a lot of surprises. Josh ended up being the love of every nurse on the unit because he was just the quietest, cuddliest, little baby. As long as they brought him his favorite bottle on time he didn’t make a peep. We took him home and began our life as a little family.
The dreams of traveling to every end of the world slowly crept to the way side. After all, we had to “do right by our kid”. One day… as we were really settling in. We have this whole raising a child figured out…we got the news that he was going to get a sibling. We planned to have two children. Make it an even number. Traveling would be easier. And they would be best friends. Right?
Cory came into the world earlier then planned as well. Four weeks early but he didn’t need any supplemental care or any fussing over him. He was an independent little man and didn’t need any one telling him when to grow, how to grow, or how fast. He hit the ground running and climbing and fit the exact description of “all boy” to a tee . In a way it was good because when he was only three months old we found out that indeed we would have one more. Like it or not.
McKenzie made her entrance into the world 11 months after Cory. She came fast and furious. The world was going to know she was here. There were so many people packed in the delivery room that I lost Sam at one point. But when the commotion settled and we were handed this beautiful baby girl we had a moment of quiet perfection.
At this point in time we have three children under the age of two and a half years. We are building a house. Sam is keeping his new business a float. Jesica is trying to figure out how to raise kids and contribute financially. But that dream of seeing new places, meeting new people never died. It was always there. Popping up every time life was chill and we thought we had it all figured out.
Finances were tight. Kids were wild. Kids needed attention. Josh running one way, Cory running the other way, Kenzie climbing anything she could find, including the refrigerator. Yes, I indeed caught her one day climbing the refrigerator. There she was with her hands and feet in the handles of the door. We needed to get these kids out of the house and into adventure.
We couldn’t afford to take these kids to the ends of the earth but we could find adventures at home in anything that we did. Grandma’s house…adventure. Grandpa’s house…adventure. Cutting fire wood…adventure. We started camping, four wheeling, snowmobiling, and hiking.
We are blessed to live in Utah. We have everything but an ocean. We have high mountains to low deserts. And everything in between. The kids spent summers hiking through Escalante seeing the slot canyons and chasing lizards. They hiked Mt Timpanogos in the dark to see the sunrise from the peak. Boating, swimming, and wake boarding in the larger lakes. Fishing in the smaller lakes. They didn’t love every second of it but they loved their memories they have now.
We did take a few longer trips out of Utah. A couple trips to the West Coast of Northern California up to Washington. Where they played in the ocean, looked for wild life, searched for sea shells, and went crabbing. Road trips to South Dakota and also to Yellow Stone. One of their all time favorite trips was a loop we made through Colorado stopping in Durango, Silverton, Mesa Verde, 4 corners, and home. Maybe it was the fact their dad had been working there reclaiming mines that past year or the that they only went on that trip because of an injury Cory had experienced that either required Sam and I to stay home or just take them with us. Forever grateful we took them with us.
Every summer we spent planning out weekend adventures and every winter weekend was spent snowmobiling. We spent time with the kids. From the very beginning. I feel as if that was one way we kept the lines of communication open as they hit teenage years and didn’t want to hang with mom and dad as much. There was plenty of times as they got older that we had to convince them it would be fun. In the end they had fun and recognize how blessed they are to have the life they do.
We have spent the last 20 years raising these fine humans. We tried very hard to always have an adventure no matter what we were doing or where we were going. From camping and boating in the summer to snowmobiling in the winter. Around every bend there is a beautiful world to explore and we took them along. Every other year or so we would try and take a trip just the two of us. Costa Rica, Mexico, BVI, Thailand, Cambodia. That’s where the dreaming never died.
Here we are, 24 years later empty nesters and fulfilling our dream to finally see the world. Come along with us as we chase our dreams and share smiles. We will continue sharing our story with you. Thank you for traveling along with us. Our hope is that you chase your dreams, what ever they may be.
Sam and Jes
