His side of the story: a guest post by Michael

Many of you have commented on Ellen's blog posts with something like "you must really love your husband" or "you're a trooper" type of thing that implies this trip is all my idea and that Ellen would never decide to do this if it were up to her. 

Well, you're right!

I have many reasons why I wanted to take this trip and many reasons I wanted to take this trip in this particular way. 

Yesterday I discovered a new one-- keep reading to find out! 

First, we are taking this trip simply because I want to and we are doing it this way because it's the only way we can afford to do a trip like this. Hotels for 18 nights would be too expensive, for one thing.

I have been out of college for 18 years and have had kids for twelve years and I have not had a vacation longer than one week since the summer of 1997.  So this was the summer I decided to have a big trip.

I am, naturally, a discoverer and a wanderer and thankfully the Lord balanced that with Ellen in my life so i do not live exclusively out of those modes. This trip does touch something deep within me and to experience that in a righteous way with the four people I love more than anything on this earth really is as good as it gets for me. 

This trip also fits in very nicely with our values when it comes to parenting. We want our kids to be courageous and brave--not safe and comfortable all the time.  We want them to love the people of the world, the people who are different than them in the world. We want them to have confidence that they can face the hard world we live in and with the gospel and the reality that they are sons and daughters of the Father and that they can bring hope and healing. This trip lays the ground work for that as they see new things, meet new people, and experience living life in a different way for a bit. 

So back to my newly discovered reason for the trip yesterday. We were riding up the vista bahn at vail yesterday and were looking at the trail map and saw the Git Along Road and I had a story from my childhood come rushing back from my deep memory. When I was John's age, I took a trip similar to this with my Dad in December of my 6th grade year. I have been telling the kids about the trip a bunch lately. So when my dad and I  arrived at Vail, it was mid-day and I had never skied. No problem! we got skis, lift tickets and immediately went to the top of the mountain and tried to work our way down. I guess my dad and are similar in this regard. Go big or go home. So the easiest way down the mountain was along the Git Along Road. I was a five or six mile windy, semi flattish route down the mountain. And....I did not make it. It was getting dark and we were getting closer to the bottom

But still, I did not make it. The ski patrol was sweeping the mountain and I had to get on the back of a ski patrol snow mobile and ride the last third of the way down. I told the kids that story on the vista bahn looking down at the road where it happened and they laughed and laughed. That was a special moment.  I had not thought about that story in forever.  

So my new reason for taking this trip is to rediscover lost stories. We all have stories that make us who we are. Some are on the front of our minds and others are buried deep. It's hard to discover these stories and pass them on when we run around during our normal lives making our appointments and working and doing what life demands. 

I am so glad we are getting enough time with the kids these next few weeks to rediscover these lost stories with them. 

Michael