During the week of Thanksgiving Sister Woodbury's daughter Lori and family came to spend the holidays at our apartment in Lawton. It was a wonderful time to enjoy each others company and for them to see the sights of this area of Oklahoma.
The children, all 6 of them, enjoyed visiting the Prairie Dog village in the park by the McMahon Auditorium and Museum grounds. They also accompanied us to the Graduation ceremony at the McMahon on the 26th of November.
The whole family accompanied us as we drove to the Wichita Reserve and took the hike up Elk Mountain, we were surprised to see a Bison next to the trail on the steep mountain side.
The walk up was too much for Sis Woodbury and her daughter so they hung out after climbing one-third of the way to the top. The rest of the group including Elder Woodbury made the entire trip to the summit and then came back to the trail head where the ladies were waiting for them.
The accomodations for sleeping were a little hap-hazard as with only one bedroom, the floor was the best option for the children to share. Thankfully we had borrowed a full size blowup bed for Lori and her husband Brian to sleep on, as well as the baby Aaron.
Oh what fun, at our mission apartment when night time arrived. We had to be careful in walking around and through a maze of bodies in various positions on the living room floor. So much for Sleep-walking, NOT!!!!!
Of course visiting with grandma wouldn't be complete unless the girls made cookies to share with everyone.
Here is a picture of Rachel and Aaron helping out in the kitchen, the cookies were delicious, just ask the boys, the 4 dozen went quickly. 
The cookies were good enough for an improvised picnic on our back patio, who knew it was good for more than hanging up our laundry. Rachel, Celeste, and Aaron enjoyed sitting out in the sunshine and having the last of the cookies, what fun??????
Pumpkin pies were baked, with help from Aaron they got a little too browned, he likes to turn knobs, and turned the oven to broil during the pie baking process. Grandpa was in his glory, eating all the burnt crusts, maybe it is a cure for lack of head-toppiing, you know what they say, that charcoal grows hair, or something like that!!!!!
Just a sweet little fellow, as you can see, but he is almost two years old and he likes to get into trouble just the same. Or it may be curiousity, he wants a lot of attention as we found out. His siblings would be playing a board game and he would do his best to get involved even if it meant taking some of the game pieces and running off with them.
To keep him occupied one evening we gave him the unopened individual salt and pepper shakers that were in the supply cabinet. He enjoyed stacking them up and then knocking them over, as long as we were watching him. When our attention wandered to other things, he would attempt to throw them around, at people and things. He does have a good throwing arm, come to think of it!!!!!
All in all the visit from family was a success, we enjoyed having everyone with us for the Thanksgiving holiday. Along with turkey, ham and all the trimmings we were vey satisfied and our tummies were filled as well as our spirits with the joy of families.
We now look forward to the Christmas Holidays and all that it brings to us in the celebration of our Saviors birth.
