It was more than just an OK visit in Oklahoma!

Since Dad has begun lecturing for Invisalign and Oklahoma was the second stop on his lecture tour,

 I decided to tag along for the weekend. 

We had a wonderful time visiting our old stomping grounds and spending time with Tyler and Sonya.

Our favorite Texans and fellow residents, Bill and Mary Ann Osborn drove up from Amarillo

 to attend the lecture and spend the weekend together.

 We enjoyed a fabulous reunion when we all got together 

with another fellow OU resident, Mike and Ann Kierl.

 Dad looks so professional...and isn't he good looking?:)

 Tyler and some of the OU Ortho residents 
(including our good friend and former patient, Adam Hoybjerg) 
came to hear him lecture about Invisalign.

 They served eggs, sausage and biscuits and gravy for breakfast...YUM!

 Tyler and Bill enjoying lunch outside on the beautiful balcony at Nonna's.

Don't worry, Dad's 3 hour lecture didn't put Bill to sleep
...the camera just caught him blinking his eyes...really!

 Mary Ann ordered the Oklahoma Cobb salad and it looked and tasted delicious!
It certainly was "a classic with a Okie twist!" just as the menu said.

Mary Ann and I had to pose with the Pineapple lady at Nonna's.

The first of many pictures together this weekend.

Friday night, the Kierl's met up with us at Red Rock Canyon Grill, 

which is located on Hefner Lake and is the perfect setting for a fun evening. 

The restaurant has received great raves and reviews 

 and we were not disappointed.

The atmosphere was a lot of fun, with the sun setting over the lake 

and the fire burning in a large firepit all night long.

And the food was absolutely delicious!

I highly recommend the short smoked north coast salmon.  Yum!

Every evening, just as the sun sets over the lake 
they ring a cowbell and everyone in the restaurant cheers.
We decided to go outside on the deck to enjoy the view.

 Tyler and Sonya, with the sun setting over the lake. 

 Mom and Dad

 Mary Ann and Ann posing with the yummy bread pudding.

 Sure do love these two cute Oklahomans!

The girls.

Another picture together in front of the fire pit.
(Don't worry...we took a picture of the entire group out by the lake
 but I don't have a copy yet.  It will be included later.)

* * * * * * *

On Saturday, we spent the morning at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

We were so impressed with the Memorial, especially the Museum.
We spent 2 1/2 hours roaming through the Museum, reading about the bombing, 
listening to the heart wrenching and inspiring stories of the victims and rescuers,
 and watching videos of those rebuilding and providing hope.
At times, it was a little overwhelming as I thought of the innocent victims 
and their families, especially the children.
But the Memorial also provided great hope,
 and showed the strength and resiliency of the people of Oklahoma City.

It was truly touching.

Tyler and Dad in front of the reflecting pool.

This is "The Fence" that was originally installed to protect the site of the Murrah Building.

Almost immediately, people began to leave tokens of love and hope on the Fence,
 which now totals more than 60,000 items. 

Today, more than 200 feet of the original Fence still stands and 

gives people the opportunity to leave tokens of remembrance and hope.

One of the "Gates of Time", which marks the formal entrance to the Memorial

 and the moment things changed forever.

The "Reflecting Pool" occupies what was once N.W. Fifth Street.

Walking around the Reflecting Pool towards the Museum.

"The Field of Chairs" represents the 168 lives taken on April 19, 1995.
Each chair bears the name of one of the victims.

Nineteen smaller chairs represent the children who lost their lives that day.

The Children's Area in front of the Museum, included a wall of tiles 
painted by children expressing love and encouragement.

..

Standing in front of the "Wall of Tiles."

The childrens' handpainted tiles are so tender 

that I had to include some of my favorite below: 

The view from the Museum overlooking the Rescuers' Orchard and the Field of Empty Chairs.

Across the street from the Memorial is a beautiful statue of Jesus...

with the words, "And Jesus Wept" engraved at the bottom.

We enjoyed IronStarr BBQ so much with Tyler that we just had to go again. 
So we took Mary Ann and Bill there after we finished at the Memorial.

The boys do love their BBQ!

It won't ever replace Gary Dale's BBQ (pronounced gear-dells)

but they both agreed that it was some of the best they had tasted!

Bill and Mary Ann and their BBQ!

It's been quite a few years since Dad has had the opportunity to attend

the priesthood session of General Conference with Tyler.

I don't know who was most excited, Dad, Tyler or me

 because I got to take a cute photo of my favorite boys dressed up in their Sunday best.

Don't they look handsome?!!

We grabbed dinner at PF Changs, dropped the boys off at church and

 Sonya and I had just enough time to visit Pinkitzel, 

a cute cupcake and candy store located near Bricktown.

We didn't have nearly enough time to thoroughly enjoy our time there...

in other words, I didn't get any pictures of this cute shop...

but we did find a few cute things and we vowed to come back when we had more time to relax, 

take some pictures and sit down and eat a cupcake or two.

* * * * * *

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of waffles, scrambled eggs and sausage 

at Tyler and Sonya's cute apartment on Sunday morning.

We watched the first session of conference and then headed for the airport.

It was a wonderful weekend spent with some of our favorite Oklahomans.

 I stopped short of saying "all of our favorite Oklahomans" since Allie wasn't there. 

(or should I say Allison...that's what we called her during her early days on the Oklahoma plains.)

 But we thought of Allison a lot this weekend 

 and decided that we need to bring her back to her "homeland" to visit with Tyler and Sonya soon!