Cougarville

This past Saturday the kids had a swim meet (Kate got first place in each of her four races, and Todd got 4 fourth places and 1 fifth place. He was very gracious and excited for his sister. :)) When we returned home a bunch of city workers were canvassing our neighborhood warning all the residents that a cougar had wandered in to town and laid down for a nap at the north end of our neighborhood. They had him cornered and he wasn't trying to move, but they were warning everyone to stay inside just in case he got scared and bolted before they could tranquilize him. Apparently he sauntered in to town and right past the Sheriff's office at 6 am that morning. They caught him on surveillance cameras and were able to track him without scaring him. Then they had to wait for Fish and Game to arrive from somewhere up past Twin Falls. We haven't heard any news of anyone being eaten, so I assume all went well with the relocation process. It was pretty darn exciting!

Family Fun Day

For anyone anywhere near the Rupert area on the 9th of May, just wanted to let you know that there will be a completely awesome Family Fun Day at the Sunrise P Ranch going on that day from 3pm until late. Food, games, karaoke, American Idol-Barn Style, dance w/live band that night, kayaking, 5k race, sack races, log roll, etc. The day is a fundraiser for a ward in our stake that is taking its youth on a big summer activity. Barry and RexAnn Peterson have donated the Sunrise P (an amazing, fun, and popular reunion/large group retreat recreation area) and there will be tons of stuff to do all day with your family. Tickets are $5/single and $10/family. $10 people!!!!! No better deal in town, especially for a full, fun day of unique and varied activities for every member of the family. Check out this website for all the info. If you want to compete in American Idol-Barn Style you need to sign up beforehand.

4th of July Parade

Did you notice the kids are wearing matching shirts? One night while we were enjoying entertainment on the square we noticed the 4th of July committee was selling "I Love Rupert" t-shirts. So as a show of solidarity (and because we really do love Rupert) we bought a few. The kids proceeded to wear them for the next 3 days straight. Apparently they love Rupert a lot!!

I should have taken more pictures of the kids during the 4th of July Parade, but I just got so enthralled with watching them that I forgot! For a tiny town like Rupert they sure do know how to put on a great celebration. The kids were absolutely thrilled with the parade. Many different floats gave out candy, otter pops, buttons, stuffed animals, fans, water bottles, etc. so the kids came home with a bag full of goodies. The parade always begins with a flyover from some type of army aircraft. This year was a low and slow flyby by a large C-4 aircraft. As you can imagine, Jack was completely captivated and squealed with delight, "ane, Mom, ane!" (that's "plane, Mom, plane" for those of you who don't speak Jackanese). Our stake entered a float which won "Best Use of Theme" (Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue). It was a scene of the signing of the Declaration of Independence complete with actors portraying several of our founding fathers. It was pretty impressive! The parade route is just two blocks from our house, so our friends, the Bairs, let us set up chairs on their curb and watch the parade in the shade. What a fun day - further evidence that small town life is the life for me.

Rupert 4th of July Festivities

As many of you know, Rupert has a full week of fun 4th of July festivities to enjoy. Beginning this Monday and continuing through the end of the week, the town square will be awash with entertainment and food booths galore. Each night there are free concerts and Monday is the big fireworks extravaganza. There is also PBA Bullriding and a carnival at the fairgrounds. Monday night's concert will be The Parrotheads (a Jimmy Buffet cover band), Wednesday night is some country singer that was on the Nashville circuit last year, and Thursday night is the big Patriotic Program. You may have noticed that I left out Tuesday night. That's because that night is reserved for local talent. This year our family has been asked to provide a 1/2 hour of entertainment from 8:00-8:30 pm. We're working hard to get a program together that will be entertaining (fingers crossed). The kids are going to sing some of the music they're preparing for music camp (Kate will sing "Everybody Wants To Be A Cat" and "Zipadeedoodah", Todd will sing "I Won't Grow Up" (with backups from Kate), and "It's Possible" (from Seussical), then they will sing "Fifty Nifty United States", "Solla Sollew" with me, and the family will sing "America", I will be singing a few on my own including "Someone Like You" (from Jekyll and Hyde), "Popular" (from Wicked), "Over the Rainbow", and "I'm Afraid This Must Be Love" (with Brad). We're still kicking around a few other ideas, so if anyone has a great suggestion I'm all ears. Anyway, if you're over Rupert-way next week you better stop by and enjoy a little slice of Americana. This week is one of my favorite parts of living in Rupert. It feels like stepping onto the set of Pleasantville.