Time With Family is Priceless

As 2025 comes to a close, it feels natural to glance back over the months and ask, politely but firmly, where they went. The oldest and wisest among us say time passes in a blink. I would add that it can also pass in a crawl. Both are true, depending on what you are carrying, and what you are trying not to drop. Many of these images have intentional motion blur, which fits this year as time whipped and smeared around me.

There were stretches this year that moved too slowly. There were days I wanted to run away from my responsibilities and hide. Summer was the worst for that. Obligations outside my home kept reaching in and tugging at the hours I thought were mine. And yet, the year also contained moments I did not even know to count until I reached December and found them tucked in the margins.

I mostly write this blog for myself. I do not advertise it, except to my wife. If you have stumbled upon it during this year-end review, welcome, and forgive the rambling. Blogs have drifted out of fashion, but I use this one as a journal and a visual reminder. Impressing others has lost its shine. I am not old, but my appetite for recognition is down to a tiny ember. What I want now is balance, peace of mind, and good memories. I want to be useful when I can, teach what I know when asked, and keep making a life I can remember. I have had some of that backward before, but I do not see myself flipping it again.

A proper review would be chronological. I am going to ignore that if needed as I sputter along. Memory is not orderly, and neither am I, not in December.

I have been working on a project about old town main streets. It helps that several are within a short drive, especially 25th Street in Ogden. As I snap away, the photos do not need to win awards. They just need to serve a purpose.

The Ben Lomond Motel towers over the corner of 25th and Washington. Built around 1927, it has watched that intersection for nearly a hundred years. It was there before the City Municipal Building and it is one of the few tall survivors from the early days. If you look closely at the exterior, you can still see the craftsmanship and the little artistic flourishes people once took time to do.

For some extra history about this building, (Click Here)

Behind it is a small plaza named for a prominent resident, Dr. Dumke. That corner is one of my favorites. It hosts rotating art exhibits, and it always feels like the city is trying, in a quiet way, to be kind to itself. Recently I made a digital twin of the location for touring. You can walk through it here: (Dumke Art Plaza)

Another staple in Ogden is Farr’s Ice Cream, established in 1921. It has been a local favorite for a long time, and it will be for a long time after I am gone. This year I nearly got the perfect photograph of it, the kind you do not plan and do not deserve. One early morning after a fresh snow, blue hour arrived and someone forgot to turn off the signs and the interior lights. The place glowed like a postcard.

I pulled over, jumped out, set up my tripod, and attached my camera. I was ready. Then a plow truck bounced into the lot and scraped up the pristine snow, scarring the scene in one loud pass of wet asphalt and piled slush. My good luck and bad luck arrived within the same minute. I stood there like a man who has watched a beautiful thought get erased.

I finally gave up on that exact moment ever coming back and took a photo another night after the sun went down. It is not the magical image. Nothing ever will be. But the real one is still there, running on a loop in my head, a private slide only I get to see.

Just before the season changes and decor is stored away I took a moment to quietly reflect outside a small church in downtown Ogden. The light on this window and wretch delicately held in place by bare branches created this scene. I took an image to remember it.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I also had the chance to photograph behind the scenes and shoot the poster images for a movie I had been involved with for years. It was good to watch a friend, one I have known the longest, finally get it finished.

Most years I end up in Las Vegas two or three times. 2025 was no exception. That place has a talent for vacuuming out whatever funds you brought with you, and even the funds you tried to hide. Resort fees, parking, thirty-five-dollar burgers, and a long list of other small indignities will handle the job. The farther you get from the Strip, the more humane it becomes.

I made two trips this year, one to help a friend move and one for work. During the moving trip, I stopped at Nelson Ghost Town. I did not photograph much because I went on a mine tour, which turned out to be worth it. If you are ever in Las Vegas and need an escape, take the forty-five-minute drive to Nelson and spend a few hours. It feels like leaving the noise behind on purpose.

As a family, we got out several times too. Mostly micro vacations, the kind that do not require a major plan but still give your mind a different ceiling to look at.

In early spring we went to Southern Utah, including Zion National Park, and we found a new favorite in Cathedral Gorge. It is less known, about an hour or so from St. George, and full of strange little slot canyons. We had a blast exploring them, watching the light bounce around and carve the rocks. It is well worth the drive. (Cathedral Gorge)

We also made a quick trip to Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks. My in-laws joined at the last second, which made everything better. They brought my nephew too, and having the three of them along changed the trip in the best way. I am almost embarrassed to admit it was my first time at Cedar Breaks. With the National Parks nearby, it seems to take a back seat, maybe because there are fewer hiking trails, but it is stunning. We will be back. (Cedar Breaks). If we are really lucky, 2026 will bring some kind of trip or dedicated time with each set of grandparents; something I must make a priority while parsing out incoming priorities. Grandparents are special and I want my boys to know and love all of their grandparents dearly.

We took two more trips to the Rexburg, Idaho Falls, and Island Park region. Part of it was because it is beautiful up there, and part of it was because we simply wanted to get away. On the first trip we stayed in Rexburg, then found an unusually good price on a newer hotel in Island Park. We extended the weekend and ended up loving the place. It sits along a river, and sitting out on the patio at sunset felt, for once, like life was doing exactly what it was supposed to do.

That trip included a quick run through Yellowstone and the Tetons on the way home. Myles kept asking to use my cameras and, because they are not cheap and because I enjoy sleeping at night, I bought him a used camera of his own at the Yellowstone Camera Store. He loved it. He loved getting wildlife photos. There are worse things a kid can fall in love with.

Our next trip to that area included a stay in Idaho Falls so we could go to one of the last remaining drive-in theaters. What a gem. The food was great, the venue was great, and we had the simple pleasure of watching a movie the way people used to watch them, as an event. The next morning we went to a farmer’s market along the river and then stopped at Craters of the Moon. All in all, it was a solid weekend getaway.

Most years I take a small photo trip in the fall. Some husbands fish, hunt, or attend big sporting events. I have my outings too. Mine are quiet, just me and the fall weather with a camera. Some people find that odd. I do not spend much time worrying about it. It is my way of clearing my mind, watching the elk rut, and remembering what my own thoughts sound like.

This year I got a stretch of time off and used it to cover Yellowstone, the Beartooth Highway, and the Tetons. For lodging, I found a small cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs. The whole area was in peak fall color. It was an amazing trip, and I was grateful for it, but I missed my family more than I expected. Because of circumstances at home, they could not come. When I returned, I was lucky enough to spend the weekend away with them, which felt like the part of the trip that actually mattered.

We are also blessed with something I do not take lightly: truly rare and wonderful people in our neighborhood. A group of women and my wife have been close friends for years now. Two of these friends have a family cabin at Bear Lake. Normally we go in the summer, but this year we got to be there in the fall, right around our twenty-first wedding anniversary. Great company, beautiful scenery, a trip to Tony’s Grove, and the kind of time together that makes you feel quietly wealthy.

To wrap up the year, we did two overnight stays that have become traditions.

The first was in Helper, Utah. The first weekend of every December they turn their main street into Christmas Town USA, complete with a light parade that is actually a parade. It starts with a dance party, they throw out swag, and then come the floats, real floats covered in lights. Not a line of insurance agents handing out flyers. Not a parade of advertisements. Actual floats.

The final weekend trip is an “eve of Christmas Eve” stay in Logan. Why Logan? It is close. The kids feel like we took a real vacation. For about $125 we can stay at a hotel, swim, sit in the hot tub, and do absolutely nothing on purpose. When you think about it, that is cheaper than the zoo or aquarium and it lasts longer. This tradition began by accident, which is how many of the best ones start, and I think we will keep it.

Looking back, this year was full of micro vacations. We did more than I realized. I hope the boys remember it. I know I will. As much as I enjoy making money, what I enjoy more is time with my family, time away from work, and time spent building memories with the people who matter most to me.

Find time to get away with your family. It does not have to be a real vacation. It does not even have to be overnight. An evening at a campground roasting s’mores can feel like a getaway if you let it. I am grateful we have been able to take these small trips. They help balance out what often feels like a three-ring circus the rest of the year.

On that note, we also went to the real circus when a traveling family show set up nearby.