Pictures from the hike

Some trees

Campsite

Meadow

Kimball and Dad


Con amor
Mark

Dunanda Falls Hike

On June 25th, Kimball, Mark & I went to the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park and hiked from the Bechler Ranger Station to Dunanda Falls. The hike is between 8 and 9 miles and is mostly flat. We were warned that June is too early to do this hike but we didn't listen. We should have listened. This corner of Yellowstone (aka Cascade Corner) is low and wet. In June, even the last week of June, it can be very wet. We left the ranger station at 7:10 AM and were at the falls by 11. The sign below is what greeted us.

As we approached, we could see the falls off to the right hand side of the trail. The description of Silver Scarf Falls I had was that it was kind of pretty but not too large. As you can see, in June there is plenty of water coming down.

Silver Scarf Falls


Just .2 miles to the left is the spectacular Dunanda Falls. While Silver Scarf Falls is a cascade of water coming down at an angle, Dunanda Falls is a straight drop off. The trail takes you to a great viewing site but you can continue a little bit farther to the brink of the falls for a view that is a rush.

Dunanda Falls



Because we went so early in the year, many of the meadows that we hiked through still had about 4 inches of standing water. I'd guess that we had about a third of the hike with our feet in water. We had about 8 stream crossings and only the first one had a bridge. While walking with wet feet can get a little uncomfortable, the big thing that water brings is mosquitos. Big, hungry, aggressive mosquitos. If you go early take plenty of deet. You won't take too much.

This hike is worth it. Any time of the year (well, I can only vouch for June but i'm betting that August will be good too, anybody want to come along?). Go prepared for what is ahead (even water and mosquitos) You get a wonderful hike and two great waterfalls all for the effort of one hike.

Postcard From Matt

So this is a glimpse of Andalucia. This little town is like a suburb of Malaga except it is 1/2 hour away by bus. It is a cool little town and I got some good pictures I'll send home. Today is transfers and as you know I'm not going anywhere.
We really would like to have a baptism this transfer, so here's hoping/working/praying. Thanks for the great support!
Elder Durrant

Suzanne is off to Camp!

Hi there family,

Yes Suzanne has left home again. It will be good to get her back the end of the week. But I am glad the weather had held for camp. And I know she's having a lot of fun at camp. She has worked really hard on the Camp activities and so it will be good to have it here.

This morning I went once again to play the piano at R.S. in the Rest Home . I have done it all month. Next week they may use a youth to do it but we'll see. Our ward has this month to do the R.S. and Sacrament Mtg. for the Rest Home.

Then this afternoon I went visiting teaching to or with Sis. Sue Jensen. We actually went to lunch. It was a great visit. So that was fun.

It was fun to see Mark this past weekend in Rexburg. We went to lunch with him at a pizza buffet. He dresses nicer than we do at a buffet. But it was nice to see him and be able to drop off some of his things that have come in the mail since we last saw him.

Well I hope you all got the word that the boy scout that was lost last Friday is found and in good health. He was thirsty, hungry, wanted his mom and was interested in playing a video game on a phone a volunteer had. So he is on his way to Primary Children's Hospital to be checked out. What a testimony of faith, hard works, and prayer that he was found and in such good condition.

Well have a great day. Take care and I love you all.

Love, Mom

Yea!!! Suzanne is home!!!

Family,

Yes, Suzanne is home from an exciting EFY. She even got to see Mark on campus. So that was fun for her. She has spent the day getting ready now to go to Girls Camp with our Stake. So she has even stayed busy after she got home. I hope she gets lots of sleep tonight because I don't think she did much of that this past week or will next week.

Dad and I went up on Friday night and stayed in a hotel. We met Mark for lunch at a pizza place near campus. So it was good to get to visit with him. Then Mark showed us where Suzanne was staying so we could find her the next morning at 7am. That help was very much appreciated.

While were there I also took the chance to go to Artco for cards for some friends and even a bit for me. We got lucky and they were having a garage sale. Now the only thing I could see priced differently was the envelopes and they were half price. But they did have a spare area filled with things on sale. But the real stuff was what I wanted. So that is always a fun stop.

Then around 5:00 we headed to Mac's Inn. It is about 1 hour north of Rexburg in Island Park. Andrew is doing a play there and we went to see him. It also had a dinner to go with. So that was fun. Andrew or "Drew" as they call him was the wolf. He really can command the stage. He was only on stage for 4 minutes but he uses his time well. It was good.

We got back to our hotel about 11:00pm and slept until 6:30am. We picked up Suzanne at 7am and headed home. After an hour or so of stories of EFY 3 of us went off to slumber land and Dad thankfully kept awake and we arrived home around 11:00am.

So we've spent our day uppacking and preparing for girls camp, Fathers' Day and Sunday.

Mom

BYU-Idaho

Last night we played our last softball game of the season. The game was really close but we were up by two when the other team went up to bat for the last time. We made some mental errors and lost the game. But the crazy thing was this. In softball up here you have to slide if it is ever even close or you are called out. So Byran, who is on my team, came running into home and it was going to be really close so he kind of slid. It was more like he just ducked down at the last second and he just plowed the catcher. He totally knocked her over. He hit her so hard that she dropped the ball and he was safe. It was amazing.
Today in IS 140 we were all just sitting there working on the computers when the power went out on all the computers - but the lights stayed on in the room. So we say there for a few minutes and then my professor let us go home. It was sweet because we usually have class for 2 hours but today it was only 1 hour.

Mark

Kidney - Kurt and Sydney reunited

Kidney 

Kidney 

Family Letter June 9

Dear Family,
This week has finally felt like we have “settled in.” With Kimball’s structured work schedule, everything just seems to be back to normal. It’s good. Kimball works with some interesting people. The recent high school grad he works with was stunned to hear today that he is married, with a child, and a degree. When he told her that he was training with CES, she warned him that he would have to work with teenagers “just like me.” The week has gone smoothly for beginning a job with the exception of this morning. The car was dead when Kimball tried it at 6:40. He didn’t want to wake any of our neighbors so he walked to a car parts place and bought a new battery (we’ve suspected it was going out for awhile) and installed it in time to get to work just over an hour late. His boss was very understanding. He hated for that to happen during his first week.
Kurt is doing well. He walked around all day today saying “no no no no no…” Can you guess why? His other favorite syllable is “dum.” We don’t claim to encourage him on that one! He’s never been favorable to whole milk, so we gave in and gave him strawberry milk today. (Are you proud Mom?) He loved it and we’re just glad he’ll finally drink it.
I went to Deseret Book’s Time Out for Women last Saturday. It was so uplifting. I was surprised when Sheri Dew shared her “bad day” story. She had skipped work the day before and watched Matlock and played game boy all day long. It’s comforting to know that even she has those days.
We’ve run into a problem with the entertainment center we mentioned last week. It was scheduled to be delivered on Saturday. Kimball called that morning to find out what time it was coming and he was informed that there was no entertainment center to be delivered. It was a floor model and they had sold it to someone else. I won’t go into all the details, but we’ve been talking first with the salesperson and then the sales manager trying to work something out. They haven’t been all too helpful, but hopefully we’ll get it settled very soon.
Sunday we went to my cousin’s baby’s blessing. (We are yet to attend our ward…) We got off to a late start because the car battery was dead, but got there in time for Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting. My cousin, James, is a seminary teacher and he and Kimball talked a lot. He gave Kimball lots of advice and told him to call with any questions in the future.
Yesterday we had our friends, Angela and Eli, from Manhattan over. They have been visiting Angela’s family in American Fork and decided to come see us. It was so much fun. We tended Sydney while they went to the temple then had dinner together. After dinner as we were talking, Kurt and Sydney chased each other around the living room, giggling as they went. It made us miss having them so close. We’re eager to make friends here.
Love, Sharla, Kimball and Kurt

Date With Lindsey Walker 

President Kimball

“I find myself hungering and thirsting for just a word of appreciation or of honest evaluation from my superiors and my peers. I want no praise; I want no flattery; I am seeking only to know if what I gave was acceptable” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 489).

My softball team. We won our last game and we are now going into the tournament. 

Check it out

There is a cool website with new wristbands.
The "6 BE's" wristband is only 76 cents!
It's free shipping too, but only for a limited
time.
http://www.livemormon.com/order.html

Dean of Harvard Business School to Be New BYU-Idaho President

SALT LAKE CITY — Arguably one of the best minds in the business world will be taking the reins at Brigham Young University-Idaho after a long and illustrious career at Harvard University. Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, today announced the appointment of Kim B. Clark, dean of the Harvard Business School, as president of Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg.

President Hinckley made the announcement from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City in a broadcast to faculty, staff and students at BYU-Idaho. Clark will travel to Rexburg to be formally introduced to faculty and speak with students at a devotional assembly tomorrow morning.
Complete Article

President Hinckley

I just sat down in the computer lab and checked my e-mail. Here is the e-mail that I just got:

All students and employees are invited to attend a satellite conference with President Hinckley today, June 6th, at 11:00 a.m. The conference will begin promptly at 11:00 a.m. and can be viewed in the Hart Auditorium, the Kirkham Auditorium and the Hinckley Chapel and Cultural Hall. Students and faculty are dismissed from classes to attend, but should quickly return to their class at the conclusion of the conference. Campus offices should remain open with minimal coverage. Supervisors should make arrangements for as many employees to attend as possible.

I wonder why we are having a conference right now. Interesting...maybe they will be calling a new president for us here at BYU-Idaho. I will keep everyone posted.

Mark

Fish---

Sorry, but i couldn't find a picture of the fish.
visit http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=8&sid=209914
and you can watch a video & see the enormous fish.

HUGE FISH --- 881 lbs.

A Fish Story that Lives Up to Its SizeJun. 4, 2005
OK, you've heard of "fish stories"... but here's a case where no one is lying about the size!
Take a look at this giant Blue Marlin! A fisherman in South Carolina brought it in yesterday, off the coast near Charleston.
This is a record catch too: It measured more than 11 feet long and weighed some 881-pounds!
That's 100-pounds more than the previous state record.
Turns out, this giant marlin was caught during a Blue Marlin fishing tournament... our guess is, the guy who landed this one is going to win hands down!

June 2, 2005

Dear Family,
Our week has mainly consisted of trying to create order of our apartment. We’re getting closer, I think. :) We still need to decorate and unpack a few more boxes. This apartment is the closest thing we’ve had to a house. It’s exciting to feel like we are moving in that direction.
We decided to spend the weekend in Idaho Falls with Kimball's parents. They were nice to watch Kurt while we went furniture shopping. Kimball and I felt so free as we went from store to store without fussing with a car seat at each stop. We ended up finding a bargain on an entertainment center.
Kimball and I met with Brother Griffin, the preservice trainer (he’ll teach Kimball’s seminary teaching classes). He actually taught at my old high school so we already had that connection. He was very helpful and encouraging. Going into it we wondered if it would be a “do you know how slim your chances of getting hired really are?” or a “welcome to the program, you’ll do great” kind of meeting. It was definitely the latter. We appreciate the help he gave us and look forward to the fall. As we left his office we both felt even more excited and certain of our decision to do CES training than we have before. It will be a great experience. We heard that one of our neighbors was in the CES program, but didn’t meet him for awhile. Kimball finally ran into him the other day and asked about it. It turns out that he was a student teacher but didn’t get hired. Eeek! I’m used to hearing about people who do get hired. We realize that’s a possibility for us as well, but are excited to give it our best anyway.
Speaking of jobs, Kimball got hired as a picker today. And what, you ask, is a picker…good question. He’s working at Icon filling orders for replacement parts for their exercise equipment. So, I guess you could say he and Steve will be colleagues. It may not be the most exciting job, but Logan’s got a tough job market, so we’re grateful for it. Some of the other jobs Kimball looked into were car washing 2 days a week, door-to-door sales, and (get this) 12-hour shifts pushing a 600-pound block of cheese. Yeah, the picker position sounds pretty good.
Until next week,
The professional picker & co.

Thought of the day

"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base." -- Dave Barry

This quote came up today in my English 312C. Just hearing this made me happy.
Mark