Oklahoma!

Last Wednesday we drove to Oklahoma City so that we could visit the temple. As we were driving across the flat plains Stuart asked "are there any songs about Oklahoma?" I guess he didn't know that I was part of the cast of "Oklahoma!" in 8th grade, so I sang the entire theme song for him! I'm not sure if he was impressed or disturbed, but I have to say that the wind sure does come sweeping down the plains. In fact, there was a tornado while we were there. We were staying in Yukon, which is a northwest suburb, and the tornado was in Moore, which is southeast, but the storm was still pretty spectacular. And it is definitely different to see a thunderstorm in a place where the horizon is not interrupted by mountains!

We arrived Wednesday afternoon. I had forgotten my swimming suit and since the girls favorite part of staying at a hotel is swimming, we stopped at the JCPenney so I could buy one. I settled on a suit, but when we got to the hotel we discovered it had an outdoor pool which was closed. Lame. At least I was able to take the swimming suit back, since I wasn't thrilled about it.

I went to the temple about 5 pm, hoping to do initiatories, but they were closed from 3-6 pm. I went back to the hotel, and at 6 I tried going back to the temple. After a few minutes of driving in the storm I turned around and went back to the hotel. It was pretty scary. We tried finding something to eat, and settled on Dominos. I ordered a pizza and arranged to pick it up an hour later when it would be done, but when I went back an hour later, they had forgotten and we had to wait for them to make it. That was annoying, especially since OKC is filled with one-way roads and I kept turning on the wrong road to get back to the hotel. Such an ill-planned city. Too bad Brigham Young didn't plan all the cities in the US.

Thursday morning we got up and got ready to meet our friends, Meagan and Joe Hill, at the temple by 10. We had planned to have the Hills take our kids to a nearby park while we were at the temple, but it was pretty cold and windy. So I walked into the temple to ask if they knew of any indoor places the kids could go. The temple president was at the front desk and told me he could give me the key to the church building right next to the temple. That was awesome because my girls LOVE playing in the cultural hall at the church! I love the LDS church so much, by the way!

Stuart and I were able to perform the baptisms and confirmations for some of my deceased ancestors, and then we did some sealings. It was wonderful and peaceful to be in the temple. It truly is the Lord's house!

When it was the Hill's turn to go to the temple, we took their little son with us to the city to check out the bombing site. I actually waited in the car with the baby boys while Stuart took our girls to look, but he took some good pictures. After that we went to the park (it had warmed up outside) and waited for Meagan and Joe to finish in the temple.

Then we wanted to go out to eat, but there was some mild disagreement about where to go. (ie I didn't want greasy food). So we went to Panera, and I was not impressed, and it was expensive, but at least healthier than Five Guys.

Then we drove home. And we took I-40 even though it was a bit longer so that we could avoid the toll roads (OKC has ridiculous tolls!!)

It was a great little trip!