Tom, Madison and I went to Oklahoma for the weekend a couple of weeks ago. My niece Aubrey was getting baptized and so we wouldn't miss that for the world. She is such a nice person, so happy and cheerful and we loved spending time with her. While we were there we had such a great time visiting family and friends. It was a wonderful weekend. Thank you to my sister and her family for the wonderful hospitality.
After the baptism, we went to my sisters house and had a party. The following pictures will give you a glimpse of some of the events of the day. I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture of Aubrey before the baptism! She had a really cute outfit on.
This is the only picture I have of Jordan, my nephew. It looks like he's having fun with my other nephew, Brendan.
Wanda and George I have known all my life. They still live in the house on the street we lived on back when I was a kid.
Sean, my brother in law, Tom, Parker my nephew, and Jessica my niece
Madison found some of Jessica's clothes to put on after the baptism because we left hers at Aubrey's house. Aubrey is standing with her and Ryan, her friend is seated.
We love our big brother! Me and the sibs
Kelly, my sister, and Kelly her husband
Jessica, my niece and her boyfriend
my 2nd cousin, Alex and Greta
two cute nieces, Aubrey and Lindsey
Kyle and Connie, my cousin
I have always appreciated my mom and dad never having any problems getting along after they divorced. They have no issues with posing together with their children.
my sister, Tracy and cousins, Lisa and Connie
Aunt Tillie and my dad (boy she really looks like Grandma) She is the mother of 5 and just like my mom and dad's family had four girls and one boy
You can tell these two are related! Jessica is Tracy's youngest and Madison is my oldest.
two sisters, Aunt JoAnna and my mom, Julia
Big Betty kept watch on the gathering, kind of.
Daddy, a long time family friend, George and my step dad, Joe
Me and my best friend from school in Oklahoma, Kristen
Right before the baptism, Kristen and her husband came over to say hi. I don't think I have seen them since their wedding day in 96!
Aubrey and the missionaries that taught her. Elder Carlson who is seated performed the baptism. I have never seen Aubrey so happy. I am so proud of her and so happy she has found joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ!!
My brother in law, Jimmy did a great job grilling the meat. We had such a feast.
We used to call Daddy, Ervin Cowboy, appropriately so. My brother Marc has a great smile, like Aubrey.
Jessica is now a 5th grade school teacher. I am so proud of Jessica too for her accomplishment and goals she has set and achieved for herself. (another great smile)
Tom wanted to show Madison the stadium where he attended many games with John back in dental school days.
Tom loves this place. The Sooners football field.
The Greek House is so dang delicious. They have the best gyros, ever!
Coming here to eat was a must do while we were here.
The Oklahoma City memorial is such a moving place. Tom and I have been there before and wanted Madison to see it. The last time she was there was back in '95 a couple weeks after the bombing. She remembers it well. The Murrah building was still there, or rather the rubble was still there. We wanted her to see how beautiful it is now. When you walk up to this sight you cannot help but be moved to tears. It is sacred ground.
I'll never forget the day this happened. I was on the Nordick track and my kids were watching Sesame Street when it was interrupted with the news that a federal building downtown had exploded. I panicked thinking that my sister who worked at the Federal Reserve might be in danger. I tried to call her immediately. All phone lines downtown were down. I tried to call the military base where Tom worked. I couldn't get through. As the news progressed and a helicopter with a camera on it flew around the Murrah building and showed the front and the devastation that was left, I was in shock. It was terrible. It wasn't Tracy's bank, but another building just two blocks away. For the next several days I was glued to the television watching and hoping more survivors would be found. As the week unfolded and you'd talk to people and you would realize that that bombing affected every single person in the entire state. Every person knew someone who was killed or wounded in that single incident.
One of Tom's teachers from dental school was killed in this attack. Each one of these chairs (which light up at night) represent a person. They are put in rows to represent which floor they were on when they perished.
Madison got this shirt from Aubrey, who found it at a garage sale. To say she was thrilled would be an understatement. It is a vintage concert t-shirt from a Rush concert done back in the 80's. She is a huge Rush fan, thanks to her adoring daddy who introduced her to the band back in her high school days. Thanks to Aubrey for thinking of my kid. She kept telling me her shirt was so cool and it fit perfectly and she was so excited about it.
Let us NEVER forget what terrorism is and never get too comfortable thinking that it couldn't happen again.
goodbye Oklahoma, the place of my birth
goodbye Oklahoma, the place of my birth
5 comments:
What an excellent post, Julie. I loved seeing all your Oklahoma pictures, especially since I didn't take very many that weekend. Believe it or not, I have never visited the memorial downtown. I never really allow enough free days when I'm in Oklahoma. Some day I will. I want to point out too, that worked so near the devastation that it was felt in her building and debris was in her midst, and their building was on lockdown. She had some friends who worked in that building too. Our cousin, Carla, worked nearby and also was affected. What an unnecessary tragedy.
I liked the shirt that Aubrey got for Madison. I even liked seeing the Sooners Stadium pics with Tom showing it off to Madison but that doesn't change my feelings for Texas! (Hook 'em Horns!!!!)
The baptism and party afterwards at Tracy and Jimmy's house was awesome. What an incredible weekend for a special occasion.
Jessica's classroom looks great!
Hi Julie! I am glad you put pictures of the memorial. I wanted to go with Parker the last few days we were there but it rained continuously. What a nice blog you have. Keep up the great pictures and good luck with puppy sales. We are going to an OU football game, I am not sure which one but I am hoping it will make Sean want to move back someday to the place where I was born! I am a Boomer Sooner forever."Hi Dog,check out my Blog" my future blog name...
It is always so fun to see the family of your friends to learn more about them and the family they come from. What a great weekend for you guys--brought back memories of our recent quick jaunt through Oklahoma! I love looking at all your pictures--the more the better!!
This was a great post, Mom. I didn't take many pictures, either, so I was glad that you did. I didn't realize how much Jessica and I look alike until I saw the one of us together! Pretty wild.
And yes, I love that shirt. It's now the favorite shirt I own, so a GREAT BIG THANKS to my cousin Aubrey for thinking of me!
Oh my HECK! I am DYING over Jimmy!!!!! That is NOT him. Can't be. He is a completely different person. That is just incredible. I can't wrap my brain around how losing all that weight completely changed him!
Looks like you had such a great time on your little trip. I am so happy for Aubrey, and how wonderful that so many of her family members were there to support her.
I miss Oklahoma! What great memories we have there. And seeing that stadium! I can still smell the beer/nacho combination from when we would go and clean it after the games. Ick.
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