Oklahoma City Memorial

Andrew flew in last night, so today we went into Oklahoma City to the memorial of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Federal Building.   Braden was 9 days old and I remember watching the news as this happened, but after moving here and hearing people talk of the tragedy I wanted to learn more.

168 people died, 19 were children (there was a daycare in the building).  Over 700 were injured.  It took weeks to identify all the dead.  The tragedy and heroism were both so overwhelming that I was deeply touched throughout the museum and memorial.

The quote on the wall is beautiful.

as are my children.

Please take a flower

to remind you that beauty still

exists in our world. 

There is a beautiful reflecting pool

and 168 empty chairs...

all with Christmas wreaths.

 This tree survived the bombing.

amazing.

any body know how I can photo-shop Kayla in?

Oklahoma State Fair

Yes, today is Thursday and we let the kids skip school to go to the state fair. 

Why you ask??  Well, besides the obvious fact that we are the best parents EVER, I hate crowds.  I'm sure it's my parents fault.  So off we went.... even though we got sunburned and came home exhausted, it was fun. 

Chocolate covered bacon.

Oklahoma is weird.

Shea wants a pet pig.

good luck on that one.

Braden and the cow with a hump.

weird.

Siblings on a camel.

Shea and Tina

Shea trying to win the bubble pulling contest.

Playing with bubbles....

Fried Everything

or

Everything on a Stick

what do you pick?

Pizza on a stick - only $9.

Thank goodness she has that college fund

fried twinkie on a stick

yum!

Oklahoma City

Mickey Mantle

and us.

My family on a boat ride.

little, itty-bitty (but fun) boat ride.

Grandma and Shea on the end of the boat.

Right before the sun came out and Shea started melting.

loudly melting.

Beautiful paintings on the side of an old building.

Oklahoma yard art.

should I get one??

Niagra Falls of Oklahoma.  hmmmm.

These bronze statues depict the land grab of 1886. 

When they are finished, there will be a total of 46 statues to

commemorate Oklahoma being the 46th state.

Braden and his grandma.  So cute.

This street sign cracked me up!  I found out that it is named after a local band.

Sunday walk with Grandma Zee

Grandma Zee is here!

We don't have church until 1:30

and it was perfect weather for a walk

and a great morning to take pictures of our neighborhood.

Most of the neighborhoods in Edmond have green, or common areas

One of our ponds....

Shea and her curls...

Grandma and Shea playing

The larger pond...

Jack loves to get in and cool off

A portion of the walking path is in a wooded area.

Beautiful!

Taking a rest on one of the benches

Question for the universe:

why do MY dogs ALWAYS waste

in my neighbors yard when we go for a walk?

ICK!

morning boogers...

I am a positive person by nature, but sometimes it's good to discuss what's wrong with life. 
Just because.

I've got a few issues with things here in Oklahoma..

• It was 95 degrees today.  Too sunny.  Too hot.  I'm getting annoyed with this.  My friend, Meg would be happy, but I don't hold that against her.  I'm better than that.
• Morning boogers.  I get them every day.  But just in the morning so I guess I should be grateful. 
• The kids bathroom toilet sounds like it has gas.  Every time they flush.  Funny at first, but now it's annoying.
• Our bathroom has the "shower of death"  If you've every been shot all over by a bb gun, you can relate.
• I'm still getting lost.  Even with a GPS and a compass in my car.  That's really something that is wrong with me, but I don't want to accept responsibility.
• It was 95 degrees today.

Texas to Oklahoma

My quilt friends gave me this GORGEOUS quilt as a going away present.

It's a bit small to see, but there is a Texas Tech logo right on Lubbock.

Right on top of fabric with a cotton pattern.

Who knew there was "cotton" fabric??

The rest is a variety of "Texas" fabrics.

Moving Day!!!

Robert said it was a human microwave inside the truck.  Poor baby.

So hot.. but luckily we had help.

Thank goodness for the wonderful people at church!

After the house was emptied, I realized what filthy pigs we are.

SO MUCH DIRT.

and crap.

I started to get overwhelmed, so Kayla called in help....

Allison had already been there all day helping to pack up the kitchen

Six guys from the singles ward came over and helped clean my house.

I called them my army of Heleman. 

 Andrew and Lexus worked on his room...

Shea played with Brenda all day.
Lucky girl!



The boys took off with the truck and our small car Sunday after church since Robert had meetings Monday morning.

Of course, not everything fit on Saturday, so I had to get a trailer to pull on Monday morning.
Trevor Bradshaw and kids came over to help me load up.
Then he took the last, lingering kitten.  I told him that I loved him.  In a good way, of course.

Then it was time to take off.
Only problem was Kayla's car wouldn't start.
Two hours and one new battery later...
we left with the following:

Crazy mom.
Red-headed sisters
Hairy husky
Evil Chihuahua
Mama cat
Baby kitten.

And the trailer.  And two cars.

Many miles later... we arrived in Oklahoma!!