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.