Rupert, Idaho on the river

My sister, Jill's, very good friend has a lovely home on the river in Rupert Idaho. Her and her husband were going to be out of town, so they offered their house to Jill, and our family. Every summer my sister, and Mom, and I take our kids and go on a "girls trip". My dad really wanted to come, so he called and asked Jill if he could come on the girls trip too. Of course she said yes.

At one point Jill, Sariah, and I were in the house with the baby and we looked out the window and there was all the rest of the kids, and grandma and grandpa all jumping on the trampoline together.




We went to church on Sunday and the Bishopric member who was conducting told a really neat experience about something that had happened at the Twin Falls Temple open house.

The story goes that there was a man there for the open house on Saturday evening. The last tour of the night. One of the tour guides felt prompted to give him his own private tour, instead of adding him to the group that was already ready to go.

As they talked the man said he had been studying temples for something like 10 year. Not Just Temples from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but temples of all religions. The day before he had been in Nauvoo, IL visiting the LDS temple there. That temple has already been dedicated to the Lord, so he was not able to enter inside. One of the patrons in the temple visitors center said to him, "Too bad you're not in Twin Falls, Idaho. There is a brand new temple there that is still open tot he public." The gentleman got in his car and drove straight through to Twin Falls without sleeping, arriving Saturday night in time for the last tour. It's just too bad the patron in Nauvoo didn't mention to him that the Twin Falls Temple is open for tours till August 16th. The man was very touched by the spirit and sacredness he could feel in the temple.

Sunday afternoon we drove over to see Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. It's beautiful, the kids liked it for about 10 seconds. It's was a hot day and they were a bit tired.





On Saturday afternoon and Monday we spend most of our time down by the river. I caught Sariah deeply engrossed in New Moon, by Stephanie Meyers. She's not mad, I just caught her in he sad part. If you've read the books, then you know what I'm talking about.




I just LOVE this picture of Jennica being crazy.

There was no dock at the rivers edge, and the drop off was about 3 feet deep so my dad secured a blow up float as a temporary dock. Aaron was making me nuts cause he kept jumping onto it without a life vest. He has no fear of the water, even though he can not swim.





At one point, Mom, Jill and I were all up in the house eating lunch, and watching the kids through the window, we see Aaron jump, but we don't see him land! He missed his target and jumped right in the water. He was under for about 10 seconds till he got a hold of his footing and was able to stand up. After that it was a little easier to get him to keep his floaty swimsuit on.



Dad also tied up a raft to the shore so the kids could ride it out and then pull themselves back in.

The current wasn't very strong in this section of the river.




Baby John sleeping in the shade of the Tomato plants.


I'm not exactly sure what was going on here with Ethan, but I love the picture.


Sariah learned how to drive the jet ski. Once she figured it out we couldn't hardly get her off. She gave all the kids ride after ride. She even gave Jill and I a ride. We rode the Jet ski till it completely ran out of gas.




On Tuesday we went to the Twin Falls Temple open house it was beautiful and so peaceful. I am so grateful for the blessings that temples have brought into my life. It was wonderful to be able to share the experience with my children.

My parents had to leave straight from the open house to travel back to Boise. Between them leaving and trying to get the kids all situated in the car, we forgot to take pictures at the temple. We realized it as we were pulling out of the parking lot, but the kids were so cranky, and hungry for lunch so we decided it wouldn't be worth it to unload everyone again.

After Lunch we went back to the Shoshone Falls area were they have a great beach area for swimming. The kids had a blast.






After swimming we headed back to Rupert for the night. Then drove home the next afternoon.

We had such a lovely time.

Thanks Stephanie and Cary!