April 26, 2007 -Adventures continue!

We seem to pick amazing times to be on the road - we left Midland on April 20, and turned north at Sweetwater TX - we saw wildflowers galore..not just patches, but fields of bluebonnets, which were just fantastic! There were many many different kinds of wild-flowers, fields of colors, and we were overwhelmed with it all. Not only that, but the wheat fields were lush, green and lovely...so the trip into Oklahoma was an enormous success from our standpoint.

We spent one wonderful afternoon down at Bricktown in Oklahoma

City--what a magnificent creation that city has pulled off! We were joined by our dear family friend, Abby Mahone, to take the canal ride in one of Bricktown's barges, seeing all the businesses that have gone in along the canal (including time to wander around our favorite, Bass Pro) and see the beautiful bronzes depicting the Run to settle Oklahoma. We finished off the Bricktown experience with dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse, joined by David Mahone.

This is the centennial year of Oklahoma - a very special spot for us, since my parents lived here for 37 years; both daughters were born in this state (and Carla turned 40 yesterday!); our first pastorate was here in Hobart in 1964 (where we first became friends with the Mahones); and we returned to Oklahoma to serve the church in Enid in 1985.

Tuesday we filled the day - in the morning and again in the evening, we attended the Festival of Arts downtown--3 stages for performances as well as many artists and lots of food vendors. At night we listened and danced to the big band music of the Al Good Orchestra--an orchestra my folks used to dance to here in Oklahoma City, and we danced to his music when he came to Enid OK as well.

In between, when the rains came, we managed to be at the Cowboy Hall of Fame--both my parents had served as docents there so there are lots of memories associated with that spot. PLEASE don't miss visiting there, if you are ever in the area. Over the years, we have numerous photographs in our albums taken by the statue "End of the Trail" that you see above--when our girls were little and visited their grandparents, when our Indonesian AFS daughter lived with us in '83, etc...many memories!

We also found a painting done by my high school friend, Fritz Scholder, and his words in a quote painted on the wall of one gallery...along with works of one of his teachers, Oscar Howe--all of us were from Pierre SD in those days. Fritz died a few years ago, but left a legacy in his paintings. And would you believe - I have a painting he did for me when we were in high school?

It was a treat Sunday to worship at Westminster Presbyterian Church..my parents' church home during their Oklahoma City years. Jerry and I had our picture taken (above) in the chapel of WPC, where we were married forty-four years ago next month. I used to think that was the largest sanctuary I had ever been in...and the biggest campus...and it just didn't feel like that last Sunday. Isn't it interesting how the passing of time and your experiences changes one's perspective?

We are grateful for these days - renewing friendships with friends from Hobart days; seeing folks at WPC with whom we toured the Holy Land back in the late 70's; revisiting some special sites; seeing the beauty of this land as we travel; and now in Enid OK, where we will see some special folks from our pastorate here and worship with them on Sunday.

Bless you all - and if you are along this route we are traveling, we look forward to seeing you! Next week we will be in Kansas City visiting daughter Carla, on to Wichita KS to see the folks at Eastminster on Mother's Day, and then to Jerry's home territory in southwest Missouri.

Love, Mary and Jerry

Christ is Risen!

What a season of rejoicing! Even with all the snow, sleet, rain and cold that many of us experienced on this Easter week-end, it was a glorious experience! Above, you see a few of the spectacular roses that grace the entry to Incarnate Word College, just up the street from Jo and Scott's home in San Antonio. Even in the cold dreary day, the roses were radiant--a reminder of what a radiant life can do to brighten even the dullest of days!

Part of our Easter trip included a trip to Wemberley TX - and on the right we are visiting Ron & Nita Bagby, friends from Eastminster in Wichita, who have become Texans (again) after their retirement. It was such a special treat to be with them...to see a little bit of their new town...to watch Ron feed the deer who wander right up to their back deck. I do encourage any of you who are traveling in that part of Texas to spend some time in this little town--its a delight. (and on the first Saturday of each month, they have a HUGE market--I can hardly wait to be able to do that!)

Our family picture was taken on Easter Sunday at the Hilton/Peters home. What a great time we had just being together. To celebrate our birthdays, Jo and Scott treated us to dinner at a delightful vegetarian restaurant in SA called "Green". Family and friends are truly among God's greatest gifts to all of us - and we hope we are properly appreciative of this Gift. Our Easter circle was completed with the arrival of Scott's sister, Lynn, and husband, Jack, from Pueblo CO--who braved sleet, rain, snow and ice to make the drive to San Antonio--thinking several times of turning back. We are glad they persevered! Since we were all in London together over the Christmas holidays, we had lots of reminiscing to do. Jo has published her own book of our Christmas trip--so those of you who cross paths with us will one day have an opportunity to view it as well.

Speaking of friends, tomorrow we are off to El Paso to visit our cousins and see some special friends from Crane MO - back when Jerry was in high school, "Dr. Bob" was the "young optometrist" who came to town to practice, and is still there--and Jerry still thinks of him as the "young optometrist"---never mind that Bob is now 82 years young, and young Jerry is now 68 years old! Its all relative, isn't it? And even these birthdays have been occasions for celebration, and yes--amazement-- that we are, in fact, as old as the calendar says we must be! I don't believe it!!!! Not for a minute!

We'll be back from El Paso next Monday, and by the end of the week, we will be on the road again in our new RV to head north--with stops in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri--but you will be hearing more about that later.

Thanks for reading this blog, and for being such an important part of our lives!

Love, Mary & Jerry