Buffalo River Camping Trip

 Herriman State Park

This is near our campsite.

While we were walking around the park three ladies riding their horses offered Elizabeth a joy ride. Don't you see by her face she is over joyed! 

After the horse ride we took a walk around the park and found two moose grazing in the grass. If you look closely one is standing (left) and one is sitting (right).

This moose and her baby (right) was captured on film by Brian who gets up before the rest of us. He took the picture through binoculars to get the close up. This was at our campsite.

 Chillin' with our books at the river waiting for it to get warm enough to dip our toesies in.

 Okay, it's a little warmer.  It is a slow moving river and everyone (minus Mum) floated down the river on their bellies or walked. Kristen had the luxury of using a tube.

 The water is fine!

 So cute!

 This lady is the fire master.  She saw what Brian did and became an expert fire maker and keep-it-going-er. Don't mess with her fire!

Camp fire yumminess!  It's interesting to have everything in our van and live like that for 3 nights. We also had to all fit into one tent because we left the poles of the other tent at home. Family togetherness, that's what it's about. Everyone was a good sport and we all enjoyed the simpleness of it.

 Yep, had to hit Yellowstone. We actually only saw a few buffalo and this one happened to be walking right next to the road. We almost gave him a high five.

 Yellowstone river and falls.

 It's a long way down Bre, could you please step back a little you're making me nervous.

 The best way to see Old Faithful.  We were tired and ready to go home, but we thought Elizabeth and Lydia should at least see Old Faithful. We timed it perfectly. We drove near it and it just so happened that right at that moment it was going off, so Lydia and I jumped out of the van (the parking lot was so full) snapped a picture and jumped back in and drove off. Oh it was perfect.

 Mesa Falls.

 How far could she go back without actually going over? We never found out thankfully.

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone

Twelfth Night and Shakespearience

We had a lovely experience directing and performing in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and, in Brianna's case, Shakespearience (where she was in several different excerpts from Shakespeare's plays). After weeks of harried shopping trips for costumes (I practically lived at DI), scouring every dingy antique store in Twin Falls (seventeen, to be exact), nervous breakdowns, obsessive compulsive behavior, and heart attacks, etc, the kids pulled it off beautifully. It was the best experience because we all put in our very best work and effort into the play, and became so much more unified in the process. Then I got to sit back and watch the magic happen--and it did. The kids would come out every scene with something new that even I was surprised. It was a work of art. 

The Directress

The Actresses

Kristen played the role of Maria. She was really disappointed initially, but she learned a lot about interpreting Shakespeare her own way, and ended up adding her own touch to this character.

Bre rocked her part as Helena in Midsummer Night's Dream. She stayed in character despite these two awkward boys trying to woo her.

Summery Days