Oklahoma, Oklahoma!

     Our first full day here was so special!!!! It was just delightful to see our grandparents again—a bit of home out here halfway across the United States, and especially perfect when we were all feeling just a touch of "missing home". 

Way out in the country!

     This morning we headed over to see the homestead where our grandpa grew up...the grandkids have heard stories and seen pictures of this home for all our lives, but we have never seen it in person before (at least not when we were old enough to remember it). The homestead has been sold now, but the gracious owner told our grandpa he could bring his grandkids over any time he is in town.

The cellar where my grandpa and
his two brothers slept...

Some of the property

Our great-grandfather quarried and set
each of these stones by hand!

     The acreage around the homestead is just lovely! It is so green and lush…guess that’s what happens when it rains in the summer, but we Californians wouldn’t know.   

The homestead's front porch

Our grandpa, standing by the home his father built

      The homestead is just a few miles away from the little town of Wynnewood, so we drove out to have a look around the town we’ve heard stories about. It was a beautiful little OK town, just a few hundred people, with cute old houses and magnolia trees all over!

This old house in Wynnewood has been for sale
for forever...it's four stories!

We were also able to see Turner Falls, where not only our grandpa but also our great-grandmother grew up swimming. It's since become more of a tourist attraction, to our family's great chagrin (you have to pay to get in) but in their defense we can see why. We headed up to the free vista, where you can still get a great view. Beautiful!!!

 To wrap things up, we swung by this creek on our way back to the trailer park. Though it's very low now, we've grown up hearing the story of how our grandfather was nearly drowned at 18 in its flooded waters. The "creek" had swelled to overtake the bridge we're standing on and had begun to spread out across the fields, several feet above the ground.

Grant funny...us girls were discussing how gracious God was to spare our grandfather as we headed homeward. "Mom wouldn't be here," we pointed out. Then, "Nor would I!" exclaimed Victoria. To which Ethan laughed and returned, "I would! That's one of the good things about being adopted."

Boy, that guy's got a great sense of humor. Love you, bro!