For spring break, my parents along with Blake and Gwen, decided that there's nowhere quite like Oklahoma when it comes to excitement during the spring (although they may have come a little early for the real excitement). They did get some crazy looks at the airport when they said they were going to Oklahoma for spring break, not coming home to Oklahoma after spring break.
We were able to go the the Oklahoma City Temple with them while they were here and do baptisms for the dead with a group from Stillwater. A member of the temple presidency spoke to all of us about Jacob's dream found in Genesis 28 where he saw a ladder connecting heaven and earth. He then talked about how the temple is where heaven and earth are connected and mentioned how the symbols of both heaven (circle representing eternity) and earth (square with its four corners) can be found throughout the Oklahoma City Temple in its design. He also pointed out how the stained glass windows have a ladder pattern on them, representing Jacob's ladder. That was a wonderful insight that I have thought about as I've returned to the temple and pondered its purpose.
After visiting the temple, I called a member of the bishopric to ask him for a dinner recommendation in the area. He asked about our price range and we told him low. He gave a recommendation and we were a little surprised when the dinners were close to $20 each. (I later asked him what would qualify as an expensive dinner for him and his wife. His response was $500 ($250 a plate) at some restaurant down in Dallas!) During that meal, my dad got a phone call from the stake executive secretary asking him to meet with the Stake President between sessions of General Conference the following Sunday. By now, we all know the result of that meeting, with my dad's new title of Bishop.
The faithful readers of the BS Report (if there are any other than those who visited us) can probably guess one of the other destinations attended by our visitors - the Oklahoma City Zoo (because almost half the posts since Sarah got here have involved going to the zoo).
The lion with his lionesses.
Even though I couldn't go with them, they were able to capture what I was doing at school.
Maylee, the baby elephant with her mom (which I'm sure was my mom's favorite part of the zoo).
While they were in Oklahoma City, they also visited the Oklahoma City Memorial, commemorating the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, where there are glass chairs resenting each person who was killed as part of the memorial.
My family also picked the perfect time to visit because I think there were two days of nonstop rain, which people told us hasn't happened in years here. That resulted in an abbreviated campus tour, with the few pictures below.
Speaking of weather, they also toured the National Weather Center, located on the southern end of the University of Oklahoma campus. From what I hear, the tour was pretty long and dry despite the rain outside, with the highlight being a girl passing out during the tour.
The final adventure of my family's visit was going to the Medieval Fair, held in Norman for the last 37 years. For any familiar with LARPing (live action role playing), the fair is that on steroids.
My dad was chosen as the lovely assistant in a balancing act to hold heavy objects that they would later stand on in addition to looking important.
Sarah found a new item to top her wish list, so if anyone runs into a chain mail tailor traveling the country with these types of fairs, let me know.
The final event we watched together before leaving for the airport was jousting, which had the potential to be really neat, complete with lances and real horses. Unfortunately, the performance ended up making professional wrestling look much more reputable.
Overall, though, the best part of the trip was being able to spend time with family, even if we are a funny looking bunch, complete with our attempts at medieval facial hair.
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