Good Morning...

Well, called Mom and Dad yesterday only to be told they went to Omak to eat. Chatted with Jan for a while which was really nice. I don't get that opportunity very often! Funny thing happened on Sunday. We got a $40.00 gift card to Spagetti Warehouse from Janice/Michael. So, I came home from church and told Jord I wanted to go to dinner. I asked him four times....do you have the card? We get up to dinner...eat...it was fantastic. Jord turns to me and says.."I need the gift card." I about fell off the chair. Needless to say, things were a bit tense for a while. He thought I was asking him if he had his bankcard and assumed I had the giftcard! Dinner was $71.00 dollars....supposed to be $31.00. Good thing there was money in the account or we would've been washing dishes. Gotta love'em....I guess we have a gift card for Valenine's Day. It's a balmy 63 degrees today. We actually hit mid 70's over the weekend. I do believe our bodies will go into culture shock the first winter in Washington. Hope everyone has a great New Year. Not sure what we are doing. I would like to go see Dana/Joe, they are struggling right now with Nicole gone. She needs your prayers....talk to them last night and its very sad and you don't know what to say. Life is difficult as all of us have experienced. Thanks for all the gifts and great pictures....we loved them.

Christmas in Oklahoma

Here is a little taste of our Christmas. We had a good night with Janice and Michael---played some competitive Pictionary, ate a lot of food and opened presents. Christmas Day was quiet with just the four of us. Prime Rib was scrumptous.....Jord whinned about not having pumpkin pie. I asked everyone what kind of pie they wanted and I got Apple, Cherry cheesecake and Lemon. Pumpkin wasn't mentioned so I didn't make it. Oh well....I guess I will have to make it for New Year's. Hope everyones Christmas was good....thanks for all the presents to the kids. They loved them and are hounding me to take them shopping.....Sugarman has been practicing his pitching so we decided to try out Kat's camera she got for Christmas.

Christmas Concerts

Katarina was loving her tutu

Sugarman in Full Regalia

For all of you picture purest, I forgot my camera for Creston's concert. I had to have a picture of him in his uniform. Katarina asked her classmate's mom to take a snap for me. It was horrible, so I had to doctor it up. I'll include the original, so you can see what I'm talking about.

Merry Christmas

No work today, so I tried to sleep in. Kerri will let me sleep until 8am, and then she harasses me until I am up. So up and at-em early. I ground me some fresh coffee, Blue Star Celebration Blend, that my sisters sent. Double filter, so I get that deep flavor. Thank you, girls! Very nice way to start my morning.

I love the holiday season. It is different in Oklahoma, than what I remember growing up. The valley felt isolated, in a good way. Like a little mountain village sitting at the base of Billy Goat. In the evening Pateros sparkled, and Brewster appeared like a village in the distance. The holidays usually had snow to blanket the earth and home, adding to the feeling of snuggled in. The northern sun sets early. Funny how the mind gets all rosy looking into the past. The holidays do that. I tend to get all soft in the middle.

No sight of snow here. The cold descended on us in hours. In the mid to high 70s one day to 13 degrees the next. Brutal! Sustained winds drop the wind chill well below zero. Our little villages are only visible from the street. For days it was 13, 16, 18 degrees. Raining. Now how does it rain when it is 18 degrees? Obviously somebody sinned to cause such awful weather. I suspect it was a local politician, but I hear other states got similar weather. It might have been that Illinois governor. I hear they they are taking a brutal beating. I'm not sure why we would have to take his punishment too.

The Cardinals were out in full force this morning. An exaggerated guess would be close to a hundred seed-eaters were all over the lawn this morning. Cardinals dominated the group with a few Crowned Sparrows joining the browse. At least a dozen males were scattered across the lawn, and they were out numbered by three to one by females. The little guys covered the lawn and were perched in the trees. I will miss the Cardinals.

Kerri has a pot of fresh beans on the stove. It is our traditional chili beans for Christmas Eve. Janice and Michael will be over this evening. The kids are revved up, and picking at each other in anticipation. Tomorrow will be prime-rib roast. I'm definitely looking forward to that! I do love Christmas dinner.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
jlw

Keep the Kids out of the presents!!

Shopping is done and presents are all wrapped. Jord actually has mine wrapped and under the tree this year, he normally is busy wrapping and we are waiting for him before we can unwrap. Enjoyed church on Sunday....Rusty, Mary and the boys were there. Hallie was not feeling great and stayed with Grandma. It was great seeing them, the kids were very excited to see faces from home. We are all counting the months, the kids get more anxious as the days pass. Jord and I are excited, scared and sad all at the same time. Janice and Michael are coming for Christmas Eve and it will be just the four of us for Christmas dinner. So, the prime rib comes out with lots of good side dishes. Jord and Janice requested homemade chili for Christmas Eve---this is what my Mom always made for Christmas Eve. I ended up baking cookies all evening on Sunday, made homemade candy most of the day Saturday trying to get ready for the holidays. I put things off and then I pay for it by having to get it done in three days. I managed to talk to Uncle Don, Uncle Jim and Cynthia in between the candy making. My uncles were emotional when I told them we were coming home. I hadn't told any of the Aunts/Uncles on my side and figured I needed to do that before they heard it from someone else. Creston and Kat are both doing inside pitching practice during the cold months. It's nice that they have a heated indoor facility so they can practice most of the year. We have managed so far to not get all the sickness that is going around, I hope we make it through the holidays without any of us getting sick. Merry Christmas to everyone!!!! I will have Jord post pic's after Christmas.

Christmas is on its way!!

Hello to everyone. I mailed Christmas off yesterday and you should be getting it within the next 6-8 days. I sent everything FED EX. I also sent Oregon's to Liz and Washington's to Mom. It was too expensive to send to everyones house, so if Liz doesn't mind......the Bellew's, Lybargers and Wilson families will have to pick up their packages. We finally got the house all decorated and its really pretty. The kids Christmas concerts turned out great. Kat offered to be a ballarina.....little did she know that she would have to wear a tu-tu. She was not impressed!! She was actually really cute, but way out of her element of comfort. Creston did a great job...they played the Jazz version of Santa Baby and actually had a vocalist with the band. It was great, Dad would've enjoyed it. Jord told me I couldn't get up and do the jig....he's just no fun! Janice and Michael are coming over on Christmas Eve to unwrap presents. They came down for church and dinner on Sunday and ended up going to Creston's Concert with us. Scotty was in church again Sunday. He sat by Bro Trentice Hamm's daughter Bridget. She's a cutie and is in the faith. I'm probably not supposed to be saying anything...oh well....his Mom's not around so I get the honors. He testified and it was good hearing him. I finally broke down and got the nerve to tell Kat's softball coach that we were moving. That was not fun.....lots of tears on both sides. he had great plans for my daughter and it was hard telling him that his plans and our plans for her were not the same. He's a really great coach and has done a lot for Kat and we are grateful for that. I got to watch Creston's pitching lesson with the highschool coach. His lesson is usually when I'm at work. I was really surprised, I think he may make a really good Lefty pitcher. He looked so grown up....where has the time gone?

Time to shop??? When!!

So, I haven't started shopping yet. I planned on doing it the next two weekends, but thats not going to work. Found out yesterday that Saturday is Kat's Christmas Vocal Concert and Sunday afternoon is Creston's Band Concert. That leaves me late at night and not getting home until 9:00-10:00. We put up the tree last night and Jord is working his magic on the house. We definately need a little bigger place to live. We are cramed in like sardines. Church yesterday was pretty good, we had a full house, had to bring chairs in from the kitchen. My biggest surprise was when Scotty walked in. After church, I did get a big hug and kiss on the cheek from him, when the brethern asked who he was.....he would say"I'm Bro. Scotty from Washington, and she used has known me my whole life". Great to see him, he looks good. We also need to shopping for clothes for Gideon's wedding. Time flies by.....

Happy Thanksgiving

Yesterday was good day. We enjoyed Janice and Michael. He seems very nice and she was very comfortable with him. Lots of food, good company and of course the Garden Ridge shopping at night. We told the kids about moving, it went o.k. Kat was ready to go, Creston a little quiet. He has lots of questions so Jord and I spent time reassuring him that Pateros schools had things to offer him that Lexington has. We've prayed about this decision. We feel its time for the kids to be with family. If we stayed in Lexington, it would only be for the money and that isn't important to either of us and we know its not important to God. So, we will venture out once again and start over but with a light heart believing its the right decision and that God will take care of us as he has done so many times. It will be a long 6 months ahead waiting and praying that Mom can find us a house and that Jord can find work. My family is very excited, Jim said that he and Terri get off work at 1:00 on Fridays and they could be in Pateros in time for Taco's. They had all of Terri's family over for the holiday and Jim waited until they were all at the table and annouced "Next year we won't be having Thanksgiving with you!" They all looked at him like he was some rude person. He then told them he would be having dinner with his sister in Pateros. Cory and Kristen were happy and Terri's family also happy. I grew up with all of her family, her sister was my best friend in grade school. I'm sure some of you remember Terri's mom, she was at our wedding and also at Gaylon's funeral. Hope the shopping was good for the girls today....Mom is a brave woman to go out with all of you crazys! We need some pic's posted so we can enjoy Thanksgiving with you.

Christmas List

Little Brother,

So if you were reading the blog between 5:30 and 6:30 Central time, you would have come across what Kerri said was too political of a Christmas list. She said that I had to delete it because I sounded too negative about life. On the contrary, I've not been negative about life, I am just a little exasperated about living in the heart of such a red state.

So my Christmas list (with no commentary):
1. I have an extensive list of books I want at Amazon.com, Jord's Wishlist.
2. A nice winter scarf
3. I can always use coffee.
4. A nice coffee cup. I prefer the shape of a coffee beaker or English mug.
5. I could really use a nice thermos to put my coffee in. I have a bullet, I would like one a little bigger than that.
6. I would like a copy of the 1940s Grapes of Wrath on DVD, with Henry Fonda and John Carradine.
7. I could use a new wallet.I do like the metro money clip.

This is about as good a list as it gets. Just do what feels right. I'm sure I will love it. I hope everyone has merry shopping, I plan to do my fair share too. I do like to wait until all the stores are full of people though. I turn into such a pleasant shopper in the face of such adversary.

jlw

Tis the Season

Because I'm posting does not mean that I've ready anything in the last month. Kerri has pushed me into this! I'm swamped in homework! The end of the semester is fast approaching, and the workload is not decreasing.

To all those blackfriday goers, shop wise! Visit Tightwad Tod at Consumer report for a little advice. It is the season of pell-mell consumerism, so go gett'm girls. I'm sure you can help stimulate the economy. Our current President sure hasn't figured anything out.

Warning
You are about to read a political tirade that I blame solely on my parents. Read at your own peril. You might see a smidgen of liberalism in yourself.

p.s. Kerri strictly forbid me to write about politics on this blog, I am anyway. I am prepared to face the heat.

You would think that Oklahoma would have corrupted me by now. Mr. Bush (a Freudian slip) got 65% of the vote, the highest percentage of all the states. The daily Supulpa reported the day of the election "McCain takes Supulpa County!", no mention of who actually won the election, anywhere on the front page. Don't think it was an isolated case either. Tulsa didn't even desegregate until 1974, and a non-criminal blackman didn't make the cover of The Oklahoman until the mid 80s.

So let me put this in perspective. I blame my parents on my overt liberalism (I'm actually a centrist, but for the sake of flaming rhetoric I continue to write). My formative years were full of eating nuts, raisins and berries (Jerry can probably relate to this). As a child I remember walking across a small wooden plank crossing an abyss to visit a geodome, which I was going to be raised in one day (were my parents hippies? I suspect they were yippie hippies. Too conservative to wear velvet ponchos, but liberal enough to think that marigolds might be a solution to nematodes instead of DDT. ). My parents camped in earth-muffin Oregon (a source habitat of liberalism and other nutty species) and considered buying a home in the area. My early years with mother were based on respect of the earth. I was taught to have a respect for the environment, care about the land, and not shooting songbirds. As I recall, Silent Spring was on my list of must reads, as punishment for failing in school. My mothers solution to grass was to pluck it out by each and every root nodule, and tomato worms were to be harvested as chicken food--no herbicides or pesticides allowed. Now obviously you can be a republican and eat nuts and berries, I'm not suggesting otherwise.

So then the political years came, the 90s. My CWP class of 1986-1987 was completely about the Iran contra scandal. A scandal about a republican president circumventing and breaking the law of the people to wage a private war. I remember defending R. Reagen to Mr. Hunter, my math teacher, after Reagen was first elected. "How can you talk bad about a president that a majority of the people elected. That is unpatriotic." Oh, would I change my tune over the next few years. Then the election of 1990. A philosophy of clean air, clean water, and protection of our natural resources. A governing philosophy for the middle class. Prosperity went up, the average home income increased over $7,000 annually by the end of the Clinton administration. How could I not buy into something that I felt I had benefited from?

So I move to Oklahoma. The only state in this election cycle to throw out the democrats in the state house. For the first time in Oklahoma history, the state house will be run by a republican majority (I actually find that unreal, but it is true.) So why hasn't the Rush Limbaugh or Bill O' Reilly philosophy of life rubbed off on me? Besides that he is a complete knucklehead?

This last administration is the first to not protect and add federal land to national ownership since Teddy Roosevelt, (a republican with a little bit of vision). The current administration actually have had the opportunity to add sensitive ocean habitat to national ownership, but have failed. Who needs coral reefs anyway? The clean air act of the 90s was thrown out. The car industry was encouraged to build Hummers!? "Drill baby Drill!" The financial markets were deregulated in the spirit of R. Reagen, in hopes of a trickle down. The average family income over the past 8 years has decreased over $2,000.

Now I grew up in a place with clean air and clean water, and a place that respects the land. I was fortunate to have national forest lands, wilderness and national recreation lands close by. I now live in a place that still dumps directly into its lakes and streams. I would wager that I cannot show you a creek or lake that doesn't have a private, still active landfill on it. The teeth of the EPA have been pulled out by this administration. The EPA's emails are refused by the White House, so that they are not responsible for their contents (I am not making that up!).

So.....Kerri did not want me to talk about politics...... I'm not. I'm blaming all of my hair brained ideas on my parents. Over the past election cycle I have nobly resisted tirades....

"Let's go for a Grand Erosion Tour." If that isn't environmental philosophy at its finest. Just think what a good picture the Landscape Arch at Arches National Park would be with a jackpump in the foreground.

War! Then we go to war. The American President makes the decision to spend 10 billion a month on war, instead of over 10 billion a month on ways to get out of the middle east?! I can hear it now. Run for your houses everyone. If we decide to pull out of Iraq they will come and get us. They are coming, they are coming!!!! Imagine, if we would have spent all that money on a failing auto industry, on new fuel for new cars???? Doesn't anyone remember the 70s? The last time we bailed out the auto industry it was the Chrysler corporation. Why? Get this....It was over a failed business model that bet on gas prices staying low. It bet that American's wanted gas guzzlers, but when the chips were down? Guess what. I'll tell you what. At the beginning of this administration gas prices were at $1.60 a gallon. At the height of prices, I paid over $4 a gallon. I don't need to tell you'all that though do I? So my tank of gas went from $18 to fill to over $40. That was most of my weeks lunch money. I think I would have preferred paying 10 billion a month for alternative fuel, instead of nothing to show for it but dead and maimed soldiers and civilians.

So....My Christmas list?

Much of my Christmas list is coming when this War mongering administration leaves office! I will end it there. I will not talk more about the war. I will not talk about the results of the war. I know this is a family blog.

I will not talk about the republicans who insist on having a president that prays?!? Really now? Do you hire a mechanic because he prays? Do you put your money in a bank because the banker is in touch with God? I hope not! I hope you hire a mechanic because he knows what a collaborator is, how it works, and how to fix it.

.....so I did talk about religion in politics a little.....get over it.......

Tirade over
jlw

I really intended to talk about my Christmas list....Later

Blogging Problem

O.K. So, I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting any comments on the family blog. I thought maybe it was the plague or that I needed a shower. I still don't know why your comments weren't showing up. Jord will have to look at it tonight. So, I will try and answer the questions. Yes, Janice is still dating Michael. We invited them to Thanksgiving and haven't got a confirm yet. I'm hoping, because we still haven't had them in our home since they started dating. They are talking about flying out to Washington in March to meet the family. Sounds a little serious. Next...Jord's Christmas list for Gideon. I will try and get it out of him this weekend. He is so busy trying to finish his grad project and working, its hard to get him to even read the blogs from family. May is not coming fast enough for him! Kat played her first basketball game and they got creamed. They play a school twice the size as Lex and the girls looked like Amazons. It was fun to watch. She is very aggressive and gets in their faces....reminds me a little of her Aunts. Of course, I was yelling in the stands "elbow them in the gut Kat....thats about all you can reach." Ha. Jord was not impressed when I told him the story. He informed me that if I behaved that way again, he was not going to go the games with me. Party Pooper is what I call him. He should know by now that I get excited when I watch the kids play. Creston has been asked to join Jazz Band. Its a select group of highschool kids and he will have to be at the school every morning by 7:00. I'm excited for him, he was the only 8th grader asked to join. Go Creston! He is also doing off season baseball. He has a new coach and wants to start teaching Creston to pitch because he is left handed. We will see how that goes. Well, its good chatting with all of you. I wish I was there for Black Friday.....I remember very well our adventure shopping Liz.....Jord will not go with me shopping on that day, no matter how much coffee I agree to buy for him.

Friday night at the Wilson's

The kids went to the football game. Creston had to play in the band and Kat goes mostly to irritate her brother and socialize. He resents the fact that he has to chaperone his little sister.....I informed him, its just getting started---just wait until she turns 13! So, Jord and I have a free Friday night and guess what were are doing? NOTHING! Jord is in the tub and I am blogging. Feels really good. Am I getting old when I want to stay home on a Friday night instead of going to town for dinner? Instead I fixed Taco's for Jord and I and they were soooooo good, much better than any Mexican restaurant and cheaper too. Hope everyone is doing good, I am going to go online and see if I can find any deals for Christmas presents.

Saturday at the Wilsons

Well, Jord had a conference today in Norman so he left early this morning only to call and tell me he forgot his drafting paper. Sigh. It wouldn't have been bad except I had to have Creston at a paintball party at 9:30 in Purcell and Jord was the other direction in Norman. So, off to town I ran, then back to Purcell to drop Creston off and then back to Norman to try and find Kat a new coat. It doesn't help to plan your day because something always happens to change your plans. I've been trying to find coats for the kids and not liking anything that is out there. I should change that...they aren't liking anything that's out there. I may have to go online and order one for Kat. Gas is below $2.00/gallon and its wonderful. It's the first time Jord filled his car and it cost under 20.00. With prices this low, it saves us about 30.00/week. I'm loving it. Feeling a little disconnected lately. I wish we were closer to home. It's awful hard to miss Brandi's shower.....I should be thankful we are going to make it for the wedding. And these pictures of Aubre--Oh My....you want to pick her up and squeeze her. All this will have to wait until January. I'm making homemade Clam Chowder for dinner. Both the kids have been asking for it. I haven't made it in about 4 years, so I not sure it will turn out. We will see. Not sure what we are doing for Thanksgiving, I haven't talked to Janice for a while. We may go to the Foote's. Keep the pictures coming, Jan....its what keeps this family going. We anxiously wait pictures of the family.

Surprise

Me and the kids were sitting in church and in walks Aunt Shirley and Sis. Tina. What a great surprise!!! They had flown out to see a long lost cousin for her birthday and also to see Andrea's new big baby boy....over 10 pounds! It was a great day...I was so glad we had our cleaning party on Saturday and that I was in a cooking mood. I had put a pot roast in the oven before church, along making a green salad, fruit salad, apple pie....I had plenty of goodies to feed our company. They ended up spending most of the day with us. Jord pulled out some pictures that Paul (Wanda's) husband had sent....they were old pictures of the Swezey kids, Nere kids and Wilson kids way back before some of them were even married. He burned a copy for each of them. It was nice because we didn't know some of them and Aunt Shirley/Tina recognized everyone. Great day with good food and even better company.

Free Saturday

Finally a Saturday with no softball, marching band etc...We went to town early for Jord/Creston's haircuts, then to get groceries then back home to work on the house/laundry. It's actually nice because it turned out to be a family project with everyone working on it instead of just MOM. Creston is asking for Chicken Alfredo for dinner, I can't seem to keep this kid full. Kat is at the school for a Harvest Carnival put on by the Student Council and because she is President, she gets to stay there for most of the day. She did get out of most of the cleaning, we managed to get 3 hours out of her before she had to leave. The temperature has finally started to change to Fall. The sweatshirts came out last week and one day we probably could've used a coat but neither of the kids have winter coats. I guess I will need to take care of that before we fly out in January. Creston assures me that we won't need a coats in Washington in January.....how soon they forget! Jord is begging me to make Apple Pie...what is it with this family....we just get the house clean and they want me to mess it up. I think there should be an "Easy" button for us mom's to push and waalaa....House is clean, laundry is done, dinner on the table.....never going to happen.

Another weekend gone....

I must say, I have a very patient husband. We were gone all day Saturday to a softball tournament...home late and exhausted. Up again on Sunday, Jord had to stay home and finish a project that was due for school so he couldn't go with us on Sunday. The kids and I returned home Sunday and Jord had done about 3 loads of laundry. He had no supper and I didn't think about picking something up for him on the way home. I'm on the couch not wanting to move, to tired to think, dreaming of the day when softball will be over. Oh wait....basketball starts....I really need 1 weekend free to vegetate.

Wish it was Friday

Another week almost down for the Wilson's. We haven't been doing a whole lot of any different. Creston is in off season baseball. He decided not to take basketball this year, we got a new baseball coach and Creston wants to improve his game. He is also full speed ahead with Marching Band. (every morning at the school by 7:00) He has Regional Competition next weekend. I guess Jord is going to go with Creston and I am going with Kat. She has a Softball Tournament in OKC....I really want to go with Creston because I see every single one of Kat's games, but I can't talk Jord into taking my place and being the dugout Mom.....Imagine that! Kat also started basketball this year. She has never taken it before only the one summer camp in Pateros. She is doing great! She is very fast and pretty good at controlling the ball, we will she how she does in games. Kind of exciting, she has only ever shown interest in softball. We are missing the Salcido's! It's not like we seen them every weekend, but knowing they were only 30 minutes away was always nice. Now its 32 HOURS! We are counting down the days for the new Wilson baby and of course Gideon/Brandy's wedding. We can't wait....

Rough night at the Wilson's

Well, Kat and I returned home lastnight from Softball practice to a very grim Jord and Creston. Shasta tried to break through the fence and ended up getting caught with no one home to rescue her and Creston found her dead. She was such a good guard dog for the poultry. Big sadness for the Wilson's.

Finally angry with the school system

Lexington Middle School got a new principal this year and she is a woman. Not that it matters. I got home last night and had received a letter in the mail from Creston's school informing me that he had missed an "excessive" amount of days and that if we didn't correct the problem she would turn me in to DHS and/or Truancy Officials because I was neglecting my child of an education. HOT!!! I am very HOT!!! Attached to the letter was the request for the 6 days off for Josh's funeral. First of all, in eight years of school, Creston has pulled 2 B's and all A's. He also misses an average of 3 days of school for the entire school year, he's on student council and the list goes on. He isn't failing, and isn't neglected....if they only knew the amount of time Jord and I put into the kid's school work so they can become better educated. As you can tell....I'm a little angry. I called the principal this morning and she is at a conference. So, I'm calling the School Board-it just so happens that the President of the School Board was Kat's softball coach for 5 years and his daughter is friends with Kat. I just find it hard to believe that they would accuse parents of neglect when their kids are pulling straight A's.....I'm done venting....hope eveyone has a good weekend....we will be at softball games. Oh...and on a lighter note....Janice is going out with a brother from the OKC and is bringing him down to meet us this weekend. First time for this....she's never brought anyone home for us to meet...kind of exciting. I hope we like him...that's the Mom in me coming out.

Fall in the air

It's funny how some things never change. The temperature has dropped and the air is cool in the mornings.....yesterday I opened the front door to go to my car and found myself sniffing the air. I stopped and thought a minute....what am I sniffing the air for in OKLAHOMA! It dawned on me that its habit. If I lived in Washington, I would be smelling the apples. I suddenly got this overwhelming craving for an apple fresh off the tree. Sigh....not going to happen. Jord, and I have finally worked into the family schedule. It takes us about a month to work out all the kinks. Last week, I woke him up at 5:15 am to tell him to get in the shower.....he grumbles, I have school today, not work. Oh my!!! not a happy camper, he didn't have to be up until 9:00. Creston and Kat has been very busy. Creston has to be at the school at 7:00 each morning for Marching practice. He also has some night practices and all day Saturday classes. They have been preparing for a Marching Competition. Kat is doing school ball and Fall league softball. She is a busy bee. Her team still hasn't lost a game. Next weekend, we will be in OKC for a tournament and the following weekend in Konowa for the Marching Competion. Life is so busy, I feel like Sunday is the only day we have to breathe. Miss everyone...can't wait till Gideon's wedding. Its fast approaching!!

Our Trip to Oregon

A Windshield Tour of Our Trip
Oklahoma City-to-Eugene

It looks like the picture taking started outside of Denver on day two. These are not the sunflowers of my childhood. I remember giant sunflowers on 8-10 foot stalks. These guys are half that size, but still make a beautiful

Day two is starting out well.

Rocky Mountains in the distance

One of the nicest shopping centers I've ever been too. Very well design.

Somewhere after Cheyenne. Headed up the great Divide.

Not a very attractive monument. Kind of strange really. I think this is at the top of the Divide.

You ever wanted to look up Abe's nose?

Wyoming is pretty in places

Snow fence country
It's a horizontal world

The desolate parts of Wyoming and Utah

What a concept.

They obviously destroy the view-shed.

Must be getting close to Provo

A little reminder of why we are headed out to Oregon.

The Great Salt Lake (I think)

On to Idaho

We are fairing well

Is that the Okanogan?

We don't know it, but we are about to see the ugliest country in the West, Eastern Oregon

Civilization

The camera man must have been tired. The following are the few pictures taken on the way home. A few pictures from about Sisters to Provo.