Rain, Rain, Go Away

Don't get me wrong. We need the rain. I love the rain. A warm summer rain is one of my favorite thing. But every day for weeks? I'm just kinda starting to get sick of the rain. I leave in a mere 15 days and have a lot of things that I want to do... outside. Yep. I'm starting to cancel plans that I've made because the weather just isn't cooperating. According to the Post Register we have had almost 2.5 inches of rain here in IF--as of Friday. And it's rained since then. Our average rainfall for that timeframe is less than .5 inches. We're fast on our way to having the wettest June on record--just over another inch to go to beat that. And we've already doubled the average rainfall for the entire month! And lately, every time it hasnt' been raining, I've been at work so I haven't been able to enjoy what little sunshine we have had. It's actually quite depressing.

Well, one of the things that I had on my "to do before i leave" list was to go up to the St. Anthony Sand Dunes. I've gone for the past 2 summers and had a blast! I guess I've kinda made it a tradition in my mind. Saturday morning was beautiful! I was hoping and praying for good weather so we could head up there that evening. Jill was up in Rexburg for the weekend and we'd been planning on going to the dunes for weeks. Well, about an hour before I got off work it started to rain. I'm sure you can imagine my disappointment. Because lately when it rains around here it pours. No, let me rephrase that. It dumps. Buckets full of water. So driving up to Rexburg in the rain (and most days lately) I've felt a lot like this:Well, when I got up to Rexburg I sat and talked with Shaina and Jill for a while, you know, catching up on our oh-so exciting lives of school or work. Then we were like "Okay. What are we going to do tonight." None of us really had any ideas. Then Jill remembered that one of her friends told her that she needed to go see this gorge that's about 20 or 30 minutes south-east of Rexburg. We figured we could do that in the rain, so we got in her car and headed out.

Honestly, I'm so grateful that our plans of going to the dunes fell through. I had forgotten how beautiful Idaho really is. As we drove out through all of these fields of hay and potatoes I was in awe. Yes, I see potato and hay fields every day. But they went on for miles! They were all that I could see! And backed by the hills and gray clouds it was really a beautiful sight.
As I stared out the car window at the amazing beauty I was surrounded by, I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving us so many wonderful things. And I was grateful that our plans to go to the dunes were ruined. The dunes look the same every year. All you can see is sand for miles upon miles. But on our drive everything was so lush and green--because of all the rain that we've had. When we got to the gorge and got out of the car, it was POURING down rain. We were all super grateful for our hoodies to keep us somewhat dry. Yet despite the rain, we just stood there looking around at the beauty around us for a good 15 minutes--at least. Enjoy the pictures...even though they don't do it justice, but forgive the blurriness because of the rain. Wow. How beautiful. On the way back down we stopped at a couple of dilapidated houses/ barns and got out and took more pictures.

It was really interesting to see these little snippets of history. It really made me wonder how long they'd been there and the stories behind them.

Our journey also took us past the "haunted" swing. As the story goes, there was a little girl who loved to swing so her dad put up this swing in the middle of no where, surrounded by fields and one day he ran over her with the tractor so the swing is constantly moving whether or not there is a breeze. (I'm here to say that the swing was most definitely not moving, but that's another story for another day.)

All in all, our adventure was great fun and I was glad our plans to go to the dunes were ruined so we could see this. As I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, my mind wandered to this drive, and I thought of my favorite hymn, How Great Thou Art.

O Lord, my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze

Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing
Sent him to die; I scarce can take it in
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin

Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim my God, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art