We had a fairly typical week. Matthew finished up his summer program Thursday and is looking forward to a few weeks off before school starts up again for the boys on August 18th. Where has the summer gone? Nikolas is ready for school to begin as he is getting tired of having to go to the daycare center each day. Andy and Gail continued to plug away at work. Everyone was ready for our little weekend trip.

We spent Friday night and Saturday in Twin Falls investigating the area a little more. We went so that we could visit the newly built Twin Falls Temple and take the boys to the open house.

This is a pictures of the Twin Falls Temple as the sun was setting. The temple is similar to the Boston temple, but not as large. The murals inside are beautiful, as you would expect. The woodwork, carpet and windows all have the Syringa blossom as the theme throughout. The Syringa is the state flower of Idaho.

We stopped to walk around the temple grounds but didn't stay long as the boys were tired and they were closing up for the night. We all had a wonderful time and Matthew especially was touched by the experience. How grateful we are for the temple and the sacred ordinances performed therein.

We drove into the Shoshone Falls park and were amazed at the falls. We didn't expect something quite so beautiful in the middle of the potato farms. The dam wasn't completely open, can you imagine what the falls would look like when it is? Shoshone falls is known as The Niagara Falls of the West. It is about 36 feet taller than Niagara and thanks to some conservationly fore-sightful people about a hundred years ago, does not have any commercially developed areas. The entire area is a city park run by the city of Twin Falls.

Up river from the falls is a nice little swimming hole which is part of Deirkes Lake. The lake is the result of the dam and offers all kinds of recreational activities. There was a nice playground and picnic spots and a very small beach. They have a shallow swimming area roped off and several lifeguards patrolling the rest of the water. You have to pass a swimming test to be able to leave the roped off area. They've built a retaining wall around one side with stairs to get in and out of the water. There's also a diving board built into the rocks or you can climb up the rocks and go cliff diving. The kids looked like they were having a really good time. Matthew has decided he's going to try the cliff diving the next time we are there.

The Snake River Canyon Canyon is beautiful. It lies in the area downriver from Shoshone Falls. It was created some 10,000 years ago when Bonneville Lake broke through the earthen dam and carved out this gorge as it emptied. Bonneville Lake covered most of Northern Utah, Eastern Nevada and parts of Southern Idaho. Nikolas kept asking if this was the Grand Canyon. Just as you come into Twin Falls, there is a section of the gorge that has been developed into real estate lots and a beautiful golf course. Andy and Nikolas plan to take their clubs next trip and enjoy a round of golf by the river.

The rest of Saturday was spent checking out the shopping in the area. Twin Falls in closer to us than Boise, Reno or Salt Lake City and we have decided after this trip to spend more time there.

That about sums up our week. We hope all is well.

We actually got some rain

As we left church today we saw rain, real honest to goodness rain fall. It went on for about an hour and it is the first precipitation we have gotten since the first week of June. It is amazing how things like this get your attention. Living in the desert sure changes your perspective and outlook on things. It reminds us of the contrast in environments between NH and NV.

Yesterday Andy and the boys went to a fishing derby put on by the Nevada Department of Wildlife at Angel Lake, which is another glacier fed lake located about 12 miles southwest of Wells. Wells is the community that had the earthquake back in February. Unlike Lamoille Lake we could drive to this one. It was really fun. The boys got to fish for a while, but then participated in a bunch of classes. There was one on water safety, the fish stocking program, fly casting (Nikolas won a special poster for getting the lure into the target area), how to tie a fly for fly fishing, how to clean a fish and the favorite, how to put out a brush fire. The BLM firefighters brought a tanker truck up there and allowed the kids to spray the firehose. Nikolas managed the firehose really well. Unfortunately, while Andy did bring the camera, the battery was dead, so we have no pictures to share.

Gail had a really good week. Her leg infection healed up and she was able to do two Pampered Chef shows, one on Friday and one on Saturday. Both went well.

Andy had a typically busy week. He was in Wendover quite a bit this week. Wednesday afternoon he was there for the juvenile drug court and then back Thursday afternoon and Friday, to meet with clients and attend various hearings on Friday. In between meetings he had a chance to do some exploring and found the old air base located on the Utah side of Wendover. This is where the crewfor the Enola Gay lived and trained. The Enola Gay was one of the planes involved in dropping the first atomic bomb, leading to the end of WWII. He also learned a bit about the history of Wendover. It was the location of the first licensed casino in Nevada. What had been called the Stateline Casino (it literally is on the border between NV and UT) received its license in the 1930's and still holds License #1. If you are ever in Wendover the casino is now called the Nuggett. It started off as a gas station and cafe with a few slot machines

That about sums up our week, we hope all of you are doing well.

Matthew and Andy had a very exciting day yesterday (Saturday). The cub scouts went on a hike up to Lamoille Lake at the top of Lamoille Canyon, which is about 30 miles from Elko. We all drove up the canyon when we first arrived and it is a beautiful drive. A lot of trees, granite walls and some beautiful small waterfalls. In order to get to the lake, it requires a 2+ mile hike over some fairly rugged areas. The boys left at 8am. Once to the top, they did some trout fishing, had lunch and then hiked back. Andy did make it to the top, but by the time he did, Matthew had already caught two rainbow trout and had eaten his lunch. Essentially, Andy made with about enough time to have a 1/2 hour rest before hiking back down. The lake is just gorgeous. It is a fed off of glaciers which run to the end of the lake and the trial there requires crossing some snowy areas. Matthew enjoyed being able to throw snowballs in July. The boys all got back to the trail head by 3:00pm. It was a fun day.

Nikolas spent the week playing up at his Grandma & Grandpa's house in Idaho. He enjoyed playing with the cousins and having a wider area to ride his bike. Grandpa even took him golfing. Gail, Andy and Matthew enjoyed having dinner every night and not hearing "I hate that." In fact each night we had something Nikolas "hates." Matthew enjoyed having the bedroom all to himself, but quickly discovered the excuse, "I didn't make the mess", doesn't go over as well when he is the only one here.

Gail had sort of a rough week as she developed another leg infection, the first since we moved to Nevada. She spent a good part of the week with her leg up and on antibiotics. Friday morning she traveled to Idaho to attend a Madrigal Reunion Concert which she participated in. All reports indicated she had a good time.

That about sums up the week. We hope you are all well.

We spent a wonderful weekend in Idaho over the 4th of July. It was quite warm here last week (upper 90's) and with the air conditioning not working so well in the van, we decided to get up early on Friday morning to make the drive. Surprisingly, we were on the road by 5 am and made it to Caldwell by 9:30am. The ride up was beautiful, the wildflowers were in full bloom and with the windows rolled down you could smell the wild rose bushes. The flowers were particularly nice driving through the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, which is on the Nevada/Idaho border. We saw quite a few deer and other wildlife.

We got to Caldwell in time to watch the parade which was fun. The boys had a great time and it was nice to see Gail's family. After the parade we visited for a while and then went back downtown for the fireworks. The fireworks were nice and Andy and Forrest put on quite a show on their own.

Saturday morning we did family pictures and then were off to the Municipal Park in Boise for a family picnic. We had a great time, especially the water ballon fight which did get a bit out of hand. Thankfully it was sunny and warm, so everyone dried quickly. Saturday evening we all attended Gareth's baptism. The service was nice and we were all glad to be able to witness this wonderful event.

Matthew is very excited for this upcoming week. He has the house all to himself. Nikolas stayed in Caldwell for the week so he could play with the cousins. Matthew, because he has school had to come back to Elko, but once he realized he would have the house to himself any resentment quickly dissipated. Actually, it was quite a quiet Sunday evening. We had a nice dinner together and then went over to some friends' house from our Ward for some snacks and social time.

Gail and Andy continue to do well. Gail is still plugging along with work. She continues to book more shows for her Pampered Chef business. Andy's office last week began representing juveniles and he had his first detention hearings. He was quite busy and is sort of learning on the job. The PD office has never done juvenile cases, so it is a sort of learn as you go process.

We hope you are all doing well and send our best until next week.