Replace them with the thrill of running a rapid, the serenity of watching the sun rise and set on cliff faces rising hundreds of feet overhead, or the frivolity of wallowing in a mud bar.

And, best of all, share some laughs - or simply spend time talking - with your kids, parents and siblings.

A few days on the river can produce a lifetime of family memories, enjoyable and profound. And white-water rafting companies plying Utah's limited but spectacular waterways realize that. Over the past few decades, most have developed and honed package deals designed to entice families to explore the rapids, eddies and side canyons of the Colorado, Green and San Juan rivers.

"Seeing what the river offered a family seemed obvious to me," said John Wood, president and part owner of Salt Lake-based Holiday Expeditions, who fashioned family packages based on the experience of taking his own children on river trips.

"You take a step off the grid and slow the pace way down. That's what wilderness or the river will do," he added. "You get your pace in sync with nature and the canyons and start finding connections that are a little more difficult to come by in today's fast-paced culture."

That is precisely what three groups of river runners were looking for when they signed up for Holiday trips earlier this summer.

Dan and Karen Burchfield of Prescott, Ariz., had taken their teenage boys into the Grand Canyon but never had done a multiday raft trip.

Mike Mitchell, mayor of a tourist community in Iowa, and his wife, Jill, returned for yet another trip because their three children have become hooked on the river. Middle daughter Kelly, now 14, aspires to be a river guide some day.

And Sacramento-area residents Wendy and Rick Beress figured the river was a good place to gather together their five children who, being age 16 to 26, are scattered all around and hard to assemble in one place.

"We used to go to Idaho Falls to visit with Grandma. But she's not around, so we were lacking that excuse," said Wendy Beress, a personal fitness trainer off the river.

"For several of my kids, the trip was a matter of being comfortable with being away from the phone and TV and e-mail, realizing it was OK and actually pretty enjoyable," she said. "When you remove all of the extraneous distractions, that just allowed us to reconnect and enjoy each other."

Daughter Michelle wasn't so sure about that when she heard about the vacation plan to raft the Lodore stretch of the Green River. A 26-year-old production company assistant in Los Angeles, she said, "I don't like camping that much, not being able to shower and sleeping outside.

"But it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was nice not to have cell phones or anything else to worry about," she added. "I'm close with my family. We're all getting older and everybody is moving out of the house, so it's nice to spend this many days together."

Younger brother, David, 16, shared none of his sister's qualms and enjoyed himself immensely. "I just liked being on the river and sleeping outside. It was nice and peaceful."

Reliving history was part of the allure for Burchfield, a 51-year-old orthopedic surgeon at Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott, who shares an affinity for the story of river explorer John Wesley Powell with his boys - Dayton, 16, and Mason, 13. To retrace Powell's journey, the Burchfield clan took a pair of five-day treks through Cataract and Desolation canyons with time in between in Moab.

"It was wonderful time to be together and have water fights and move down the river slowly and take in the experience," he said, noting that additional historical perspective was gleaned from side hiking trips that often took them to ancient American Indian petroglyphs or structures.

"My children gained a real appreciation for the Native American experience in the canyons, seeing what's there and knowing they lived in this area long before we ever thought of being here," Burchfield added. "I was impressed by the reverence with which the guides approached each site and the way they instilled reverence for those sites."

Naturally, there is also much to be said for sharing with loved ones the adrenaline-generating excitement of plunging through roiling rapids.

"It is a sense of accomplishment to go through that . . . the five of us all holding on," said Mitchell, describing a recent run down the Salmon River in Idaho with his wife, Jill, daughters Kelly and Paige, 16, and son Jon, 12.

But there's much more to it than just thrills, he said. "The river running is a good excuse, but really it's the scenery and the family time."

And the other families you meet along the way.

"The people are great and the guides are really fun," said aspiring guide Kelly. "It's really hard to say goodbye."

Wood said his company's goal is to provide a few activities for children, such as making stick dolls out of cottonwood branches, and educational information for adults about the history and the geography of the settings. Ultimately, however, the river takes over.

"Some of the most magical moments happen all by themselves," he said. "A sandy beach at the water's edge or a slow-moving eddy or backwater is a natural playground. On my last trip we had a great experience where we found some five-star mud and had a big family bonding experience."

Little wonder that Mitchell's recent trip down the Salmon left him wanting more.

"I'm already thinking of my seventh trip next year," he said. "There's something about going back to the river. It's at the top of my list as far as favorite activities."

mikeg@sltrib.com

Family float

- Sheri Griffith Expeditions, Moab http://www.griffithexp.com - Offerings include five days, four nights on the Green River; two days, one night on the Colorado; four days, three nights on the San Juan

- Western River Expeditions, http://www.westernriver.com - Four and five-day trips on the Green (minimum age 5); two days, one night on Colorado; six-day trip, half on river, half on ranch in Castle Valley outside of Moab; five days on the Main Fork of the Salmon River

- Adrift Adventures, http://www.adrift.net - Four-day father/son trips on the Green; four-day mother/daughter trips on Green or Colorado

- Canyon Voyages Adventure Co., http://www.canyonvoyages.com - Trip by Fisher Towers on the Colorado

- Centennial Canoe Outfitters Inc., http://www.centennialcanoe.com - Colorado River trips

- Moki Mac River Expeditions, Inc. http://www.mokimac.com - Trips down the Colorado and Green

- O.A.R.S. http://www.oars.com - Three days on the San Juan (Bluff to Mexican Hat), four and six-day trips through Cataract Canyon; three days in Cataract Canyon, three days at Red Cliffs Ranch

Sources: Company Web sites