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.