Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains!

We were lucky enough to head to Oklahoma this summer!  William arrived home from scout camp and we hurried to wash some laundry before heading off on our adventure.  We were able to leave around 2:30 and got into Gallup, NM at around 11 local time. Surprisingly many of the hotels were booked but we were able to find something that fit our needs.  It was a long day.  Sunday we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel and then drove 2 1/2 hours to a ward that started their meetings at 11.  We got there just in time for Sacrament meeting.  After we took the sacrament we headed off to our long drive.  We listened to a Hank Smith talk on CD and watched The Testaments in the car.  We rolled into Edmond just after 8:00.  

Monday morning we decided to head to the zoo.  It was supposed to be the coolest day while we were in Oklahoma so we thought it would be a good choice.  Although it was in the upper 80s we realized that our bodies really had forgotten what humidity felt like.  It was so hot!  We don’t have a zoo in Las Vegas so this was Lydia’s first time at the zoo.  She really loved seeing all the animals.  Henry was so little the last time we were at the zoo so he doesn’t really remember either.  We didn’t get to see everything but we saw a lot!  It was a lot of fun hanging out with all the cousins.

This gorilla was so gross!  He kept throwing up and then eating it!!

One of the orangutan's was having a birthday!  They decorated her cage and she opened presents!

Lydia really loves giraffes and elephants so she was happy to see both!

Later in the afternoon we went to swim at Bob’s house.  The kids loved the pool!

Tuesday we took the kids over to play at Catie's house.  Lydia loved playing with the girl cousins and dressing up like Elsa.  

Rich and I went with Bob and Daniela to a river sport place in OKC.  We went white water rafting and did a high ropes course.  We even did a controlled free fall from 80 feet up.  It was a lot of fun!  The rafting course took about an hour which allowed us to do the loop 3 times.

Lydia really loved Lisa's cat, Maude.

Wednesday we made it to the Edmond 4th of July parade.  Lydia loved it the most—she liked the bands, the princesses (Miss Oklahoma, Mrs United States, etc) and the real live unicorn!  

The boys and Rich enjoyed playing Hero's Quest several times throughout the week.

We went with Bob’s family and Grandpa and Lisa to Pop’s.  Everyone picked out a unique soda... there were some gross ones! 

Later in the day we headed to Bob’s house.  We ate dinner, swam some more, and tested out Bob’s scuba gear in the pool (it was fun!  William and Alex REALLY loved it).

In the evening we lit some fireworks.

Thursday Rich met up with an old high school friend for lunch.  In the late afternoon we drove around Piedmont (which doesn't take too long.  We visited the library and I was happy to see that the curtain with William's picture and handprint were still hanging.  It was fun to see Ms Rhonda too.  The Piedmont Library is still my favorite.

We also played at their new community playground with the cousins.  In the evening Bob and Daniela hosted a little get together with some of our old friends.  It was fun to sit and chat with them and catch up.  The boys spent the night and partied til all hours that night.

Friday was our last day in Oklahoma.  Bob was able to get us into Frontier City for free on his passes.  We went with his family, Lisa, and Layla. We spent about 5 hours there.  It was fun and hot! 

In the evening after we showered we visited Aunt Lisa and her kids.  Our kids loved feeding her animals.

The cousins all spent the night at grandma’s that night (except for Scarlet because she was sick).

We left late Saturday morning for Albuquerque.  We made good time and had fun walking around near our hotel and swimming.  The hotel had an awesome water slide!! Henry even got the courage to go down.  

Sunday morning we slept in a little and went to a ward in Albuquerque near our hotel.  We made good time  and got home around 5:00.  

We remarked that we saw a lot of different places on this trip because our kids needed to go to the bathroom—tiny little towns that we never would have stopped in.  We found places like this cool little museum in the gas station!

On our way home we found out that Rich’s grandma Crane passed away (she was in a car accident earlier in the week) so he will likely be traveling up to Burley soon.