Currently Watching The Emperor's Club (Full Screen Edition) By Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Embeth Davidtz, Rob Morrow, Edward Herrmann see related

  Our first stop was the peaceful and restful sanctuary of the Shiloh Morning Inn.  http://www.shilohmorning.com/ We spent one night there a year and a half ago and it seemed like the perfect place to celebrate Heather's birthday.  Bob and Linda are wonderful hosts and the food is fantastic.  The serenity on the property is amazing and we enjoyed taking walks and lying in a hammock.  We also watched several movies and had a fantastic time together.

  We arrived in Norman,Oklahoma on Thursday afternoon and were able to visit coworkers and old friends right away.  Heather visited hospice coworkers and caught up on all that is going on there.  Gary was able to visit with his former supervisor and catch up on all the chemistry happenings at OU.  We also were able to visit JD that night, a dear friend of Heather’s.  We then got settled in at our friend Shawn’s place.  He has a new family member named Shiloh, a very energetic and sweet dog.  On Friday, Gary had a phone interview for a faculty position and Heather enjoyed lunch with her friend Shae and then hot chocolate with Tava.  She had a wonderful time with both of these ladies catching up on life and sharing stories.  Saturday we had pizza for lunch with a group of friends from OU.  Some of the chemistry folks have finished there Ph D’s since we left (Shawn, David), others are still going strong (Gwen, Rachel, Tami, Alex), and others are the non-chemistry friends that are so great (Bridgette, Thabani, Savannah, Rob, Mirianna, Eric, Isaac).  That night we were able to take JD out for Mexican food.  We had a great time visiting with him.  After dinner we also got to hook up with one of our great friends Savannah.  It is always entertaining to hear her stories and we shared about our trip as well.  She is graduating soon and so many great things are ahead for her.  Sunday we visited our home church, St. Paul’s Cathedral.  It is a very special place and we were so glad to visit old friends (Marshal, Linda, Ms. Ruth, Scott, and many others) and to see our precious priests (Luke, Dean Back, Susan, Carol).  Holly, a friend of Heather’s from SNU also came to church and we got a snack with her after lunch.  She is graduating soon and off to many new adventures.  It was really nice to spend time with her. We also were able to visit with another friend (Tracy) of Heather’s from SNU that afternoon and catch up.  Sunday night we were able to take Shawn out for dinner and spend more time with him.  He is a great friend and it was really nice to hang out together and look at many pictures together from our trip.  His hospitality in hosting us was also fantastic.  The next morning we headed up north to make a visit to SNU.  Gary was able to visit with his former chemistry professors, Drs. Cox and Reinbold.  It was really nice to catch up and see the old place of where the studies began.  That morning we also hung out with Kyle and Caleigh, members of the YIM team that we hooked up with in Korea.  We had a great time hearing about the rest of their summer and how life has been since they got back.  We also shared many stories from our trip and we enjoyed lots of laughs together. 

  We then headed east on the highway and stopped in Ft. Smith to visit our friend Brandon.  He is a regular stop on our way to Tennessee from OK and will definitely miss those times together.  We caught up on life and enjoyed staying the night at his place.  Gary and Brandon also got in some needed Playstation time!  We were off again the next day and made it in to Nashville by the late afternoon.  We got connected with Brent, Marcy, and their beautiful new boy Elijah.  It was great to catch up some, have dinner, and visit.  We then picked up the good ol’ Kia and dropped off the rental car.  We arrived “home” late that night.  “Home” is graciously provided by Don and Jan and we are so excited to be here.  They are fantastic and we look forward to sharing many moments together.  We also arrived to find the mail they had been collecting for us over the last 10 months!