Camping in Island Park

The Hincks and Borens at their campsite (Buffalo Campground)

  

At least once a year our family enjoys a camping trip.  This year was no exception as we just returned from our outing where we camped at Buffalo Campground in Island Park, Idaho.  (Just over an hour north of Rexburg and about 20 minutes from the west entrance of Yellowstone.)  Joining us for part of the stay was Aunt Suzanne Boren, (Dave's youngest sister), and her three children, Jasper (13), Jenacie(10), and Ethan(7).

Some of us were a bit apprehensive to tent camp due to a recent unprovoked Grizzly bear attack near the east entrance of Yellowstone.  We mustered up our courage and followed all the guidelines outlined when camping in bear country and then tried to have the attitude that the chance of another attack was very slim.

One activity we enjoyed was an inner tube float down a five mile stretch of the Henry's Fork River.  Tourists are allowed to float this section of the river because it is fairly shallow and very slow moving.  The float begins near the source of the river, Big Springs.  It has beautiful scenery.  When we neared the end, we enjoyed looking at a big moose on the river's edge feasting on it's dinner.  Because the river is slow moving, floating with inner tubes can be fairly laborious.  We had little control of our speed and our direction except when we used our flip flops as paddles.  If we were to do this again, we most assuredly would use canoes where the speed and direction can be easily controlled.

Dave and I both enjoy delicious meals served in the "roughin" it style."  We cooked with our dutch ovens where we tried all sorts of dishes including potatoes, pork chops, poppy seed cake with a blueberry topping, breakfast muffins, omelet and of course more potatoes.

Mesa Falls

Today we visited a beautiful water fall found on a scenic byway between Ashton and Island Park. The water fall is part of The Henry's Fork River which weaves its way down from Island Park towards Rexburg where it eventually converges with the South Fork River to form the Snake River.  It certainly is beautiful country and we very much enjoy visting the sights.

We then stopped at our traditional ice cream cone spot. Here we pay just 99 cents for a very large serving of hard ice cream.  A delicious stop!

Playset is Being Painted

Dave had some forces join him today.  It was nice to look outside and see him painting with Spencer, Catherine, Sarah, Matthew and a neighbor boy, Landon.  They accomplished a good portion but then ran out of paint  We missed getting to the store to purchase new paint because it closed at 6:00 p.m., so we will have to finish it another time.   Tomorrow we are heading for one of our favorite camping spots, Warm River.  It isn't a fast river, which allows the kids to float on their innertubes down the slow moving stream.  We have packed a lot of yummy food and will stay their until Saturday.

Two Days of Scrubbing

This week, Dave decided to tackle staining our play set.  It has been several years since he last stained it.  To prepare it, he had to clean all the wood.  It ended up being a huge job.  About 15 hours of elbow work.  He didn't request any help because he was working with an acid substance.  So we all just looked on and admired his perseverance.  At about 3:30 p.m this afternoon, we heard a shout of "Hallelujah".  It was Dave shouting his exuberance at finishing the muscle aching work.  Not only did he burn calories from the his work horse effort, but he chose not to stop for meals. Stopping would mean having to clean up and then get messy again.  So I'm sure he shed a couple of pounds over the last few days.  Now onto the staining!

From Beaver Beginnings to Madison Missionaries

Kirsten  and Sam Hibbard at MHS graduation

Dave's first teaching job brought our little family to Beaver, Utah.  It was August of 1990 that we moved into the old home next to the Kerksiek Nursery.  (The description of that rental is a sure story for another day.)

As baby Camille (nearly 1 years-old) and I were exploring our new surroundings, we ventured into the nursery located next to our rental.  The employees were mostly Kerksiek family children, but there was one employee that looked to be about my age.  After inquiring a bit further, we found that we had much in common.  Her husband, Rob Hibbard, was also a new hire for the high school and would be teaching debate, history, and drama.  The knowledge of being in such similar circumstances immediately provided me with a new friend, Dianna Hibbard.

In our years at Beaver, we both delivered two babies, had many a get-together and became lifelong friends.  When we both left Beaver four years later, we really didn't expect that we would ever live in close proximity again.  But as events turned out, a few years after Dave took the job at Madison High School, the drama position came open.  Knowing that they weren't entirely settled with their position in Grace, Idaho, we let them know of the job opportunity.  As stated by the principal, he probably would not have given Rob a chance if it hadn't been for Dave's word that he would be a great addition to the MHS drama department.  Happily, Rob was offered the job and they moved onto Rexburg.

It has been awesome having them near us again.  As both of us have arrived at a time of life where schedules are swamped because of activities that coincide with growing children, we have not been able to spend as much time enjoying their company.  But when we do it is always a great time.

This brings me to the reason for giving such a lengthy description of our past connections.  Their oldest son,  Samuel, who was born in Beaver, gave his Sacrament talk yesterday, and now he descends upon the MTC this Wednesday.  Sam has been called to the Montreal French Speaking mission.  Most of the family attended the talk yesterday.

(As a side note, Camille and I actually attended Molly Davis's Sacrament Meeting.  She is going to the England Manchester mission.  Molly was the Jr. Miss for MHS the year before Camille was in that position.  As a result, we gained a good friendship with the Davis's from sharing that common thread.)

Camille & Molly Davis and Moms (Mindi) - Jr. Miss 2007

So our lives are facing many changes as our children reach the age where serving missions and attending college are options.  Many emotions flow as children begin to leave the nest.  It is certainly what needs to happen but that doesn't take away the sting that is felt when these leaps occur.

We wish Sam and Molly the best as they embark on their missions to England and Canada.

Pioneer Day

A few weeks ago at an evening Relief Society Meeting, the theme was "Celebrating the Family".  Included in the evening was a challenge to create more moments to celebrate.  Whether it be birthdays, anniversaries or unusual celebrations such as the mathematical 3.14 (pi) day, we were encouraged to try and make family life more memorable and fun by celebrating.  So as I considered that challenge, I decided to do something extra for Pioneer Day.  Even though it was very simple, it instigated a few laughs.  Catherine looked at my "Deseret Cookbook" for pioneer ideas.  She suggested Spud nuts.  That was perfect because I had some leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge.  For dinner we ate, Navajo Tacos, corn on the cob, watermelon, and the Spud nuts,  Quite delicious.  The entertaining part for the children was that I wore a lovely pioneer bonnet.  It made for some good laughs.

In the evening, our ward celebrated with homemade root beer, treats and fireworks at Rotary Park (a small park near our home).  Good times!

New Blinds

After a few years of blocking view into our bedroom with a sheet, we finally invested in new blinds.  Having such a lovely new feature in my bedroom prompted me to do a thorough cleaning of the room.   It's funny how just one little change can improve the feel of a room.  The blinds have changed Sophie's (our cat) habits a bit.  With the sheet, she would duck under it and perch on the window to enjoy the fresh night air.  Because the blinds are heavier, it is not so easy to sneak underneath, so Dave and I pull them up a bit at night so she can still enjoy her nightly ritual.

Congrats! Camille

Going to school for 3 semesters in a row is a big undertaking.  Camille just finished her last final for the Spring track and is now officially out of school for 7 weeks.  After serving in her church calling since December, she was released as Relief Society president on Sunday.  To make life even busier, she worked at her regular job at "Circle of Love", was a chemistry tutor and taught a ballet class twice a week for the high school drill team.  On top of that, she is a member of the dance team at BYU-I which practices 7-10 hours each week.  We love you Camille.  Thanks for working hard to meet your responsibilities and all the while remembering to be a good daughter and friend.  Good luck Camille as you enjoy a 2 week tour doing something that brings you great joy.

New Pool

Matthew pooled (excuse the pun) together his birthday and Christmas money and with a little help from his parents purchased a fun new pool.  It arrived via FED EX today.  They made their first dip this evening.  Pretty cold considering it was water from the hose. It should warm up within the next few days and will be a fun place to cool down on those hot summer days.

Families are Forever

This past week many folks in Rexburg have followed the blog of a family whose little girl drowned in a canal in Rigby.  The events are tragic, yet the handling of the horrible events are faith strengthening.  The mother is just two years older than Camille and is from Hibbard.  Her family were members of our stake until it was split about 1 year ago.  If you would like to read the beautifully worded testimonies surrounding this event you can go to patrickandashley.blogspot.com

Keys, locks, gauges, and cars. . . we have a few things to learn.

Over the past year or so we have gathered a few incidents that when looked back upon may seem like we enjoy a little more adventure then planned, but trust me that is not the case.  We just must be incredibly forgetful.  I have already recounted Camille's experience a few entries back.  Here are a few more.

I will start with last week.

Dave, Spencer, and Matthew gathered their overnight camping equipment and fishing gear and set off for Warm River Campground for an overnight outing.  All went as planned except that the campground was completely full, so they had to set up camp on the outskirts near a parking lot.  Oh well, at least they had a spot.  Towards bedtime, Dave and the boys needed to clean up and prepare for the night.  They went to the car to retrieve some hand sanitizer.  After doing so, they locked the car without realizing the cell phone and keys were still in the car.  So Dave searched out the camp host who had a land line.  Trying to reach us was quite a challenge.  All of us were attending Camille's dance show so our cell phones were not on.  He left messages wherever he called.  Because some of us rarely check our voicemail he knew that he should probably leave word with someone personally.  He reached our friends across the street, the Smith's (our bishop), who said that they would be sure to get us word.  So when I found out their predicament, I planned to meet them in the morning with an extra set of keys.  But Bishop Smith and his wife realized this would be a prime opportunity for him to do a little fishing.  So he purchased a license at 10:30 p.m. and met Dave the next morning with the keys.  A good outcome. . .they all got to enjoy a morning of fishing and the beauties of nature.

This next experience has been hard to recount because it is a little embarrassing.  But time has helped us look back and just laugh at ourselves.
As we returned from Utah a few weeks ago, we found ourselves in a pretty large mess.  Dave finds it adventurous and fun to let computers lead out on trips.  He very much enjoys a GPS.  Our new van (new to us) has a feature that keeps track of the mileage left to travel before the car runs out of gas.  He decided to follow the prediction on our return trip. As a word of caution, I mentioned that he might be taking a chance and if I were him I would follow the good old-fashioned gauge.  Upon hitting a hill near Pocatello, one mile from his planned exit to buy gas, all the gas moved to the back of the tank while climbing the hill.  As he was trying to maneuver the car to the side of the road, I  of course asked him the obvious, "Are we out of gas?"  His response with great regret was a yes.  Not only were we out of gas on the side of the freeway in a rocky, hilly area, but our battery also immediately died.    At that point most of us gave our opinions to Dave addressing his computer pastimes.  We were not happy campers to be stuck at 11:00 p.m. on the side of a freeway with semis whizzing past.  After hearing various opinions of how to approach our dilemma, one of the boys mentioned that we should pray.  It was the obvious answer to our problem but one that we all had not thought about.  We did so and then began the efforts to solve our situation.  Long story-shortened. . .we ended up being raised onto a big tow truck with all of us still on board and then taken 1 mile to the gas station off the freeway.

Finally, about 1 year ago in Teton National Park, once again we were camping.  Again Dave left the keys in the car and locked it.  This time the keys were still attached to the belt of his pants laying over the bench middle seat of our van.  Luckily, one window latch was broken and through intense maneuvering of a hot dog stick and a few prayers, about 1 hour later we gently attached the keys to the stick and ever so carefully moved them towards the opening in the window.  We were so thankful to have not delayed our vacation in longer then 1 hour.

This is a shortened summary of our errors with keys.  Trust me there are a few more to record, but I will spare you the efforts of having to read through anymore car mishaps.  Hopefully, we are learning from our mistales.