Prelude to Christmas

For the past four years, OWU has presented "Prelude to Christmas" as a way of giving back to the Bartlesville community for all the community does to support OWU throughout the year.

This event has about one hour of Christmas music from the Bartlesville symphony and then everyone goes outside for hot chocolate and cookies. After everyone is enjoying the great snacks, the fireworks start.

If you look closely at the picture above, the man in the suit is our President, Dr. Everett Piper. He was welcoming everyone just before the music started.




This event is held in the OWU chapel and is well attended by the Bartlesville community.





The fireworks were great!!





It was a fun evening thinking of the things we should be thankful for as well as preparing our hearts for the Christmas season. This is a great event!!!

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

Our family tradition is to put up our Christmas tree and decorations the day after Thanksgiving. The picture above is how it all started. The entire gang is into the action.

Here are the two elves who helped put everything together.

Of course, we couldn't do it without a good fire going. Here is the master of the flame who took care of the fire all day.

...and finally the finished product. This is my favorite time of the year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the gang!

A Beautiful Bartlesville Sunday Afternoon

Cheri had a fun afternoon riding in this beautiful November weather. It was 75 degrees today!



It was such a nice day even the horse was smiling!




Everyone got a chance to ride a little bit today!!!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

Here are two wonderful OWU students. They have big Thanksgiving plans! Maybe see snow for the first time right Jess?



It's almost time for the Prelude to Christmas event on campus. It's a night of wonderful music and activities. Our great buildings and ground crew have placed the lanterns all along the sidewalks on campus. It is beautiful at night.




OK...I just had to put this one in. It is science experiment time for Troop 2000. Pretty cool stuff...

Another Fun Night

There were a lot of different things happening around Bartlesville last night. The picture above is of the Symphony Ball. Bartlesville has a wonderful symphony!!! A few minutes after this picture was taken the room was full or people for this great event. It was a lot of fun!




On campus "The Real Deal" was taking place. This is a game show where everyone dresses up and plays games to win money and prizes. This one you really need to see. On stage is the student who won the prize for the best costume. It was called "Charlie Brown's Christmas". This is one campus event you don't want to miss.

Order of the Arrow National Service Day

Today was the national service day for the Order of the Arrow. Lodges from all over the nation participated in events to help make their community a better place and to give cheerful service to others.

The local Order of the Arrow Lodge is the Washita Lodge #288. Above are the arrowmen who participated in this event today. The Washita Lodge cleaned the inside of the building and raked leaves for the Concern Center in Bartlesville. The Concern Center is located on Penn Ave. and is really a remarkable place devoted to helping others. The center provides food and services for those who find themselves in rough spots financially.

In the picture above you can see Susan, who is the director of the Concern Center. Second from the left is Daniel who also works at the center. The rest of the people in the picture are from the Washita Lodge. On the far right is Tom who is the Lodge advisor.

To learn more about Order of the Arrow (which is associated with the Boy Scouts of America) you can visit http://www.main.oa-bsa.org/. To learn more about our local Washita Lodge you can visit http://www.cherokeebsa.org/oa/index.html.

First Good Frost

It was cold this morning...27 degrees. It looks like my lawn chair days may be over for awhile. Notice the frost on the grass and chairs?

Boy Scout Fall Camporee

This week was the Fall Camporee for the Cherokee District of the Boy Scouts. We had a WONDERFUL weekend with the scouts. I have to admit...it was cold at night but the days were beautiful. Josh and I are getting ready to head to camp here.



Here is the camp site for Troop 2000. If your interested in scouting this is the troop to be in!!!!




Here is the gang from the Stag patrol cooking dinner. Yum....pizza and chili.





Cooking on the fire. So what's in the three Dutch ovens? Homemade peach cobbler, biscuits, and other goodies. There is nothing like eating camp food...delicious!






Here is the leadership of Troop 2000. What a great bunch of guys.

A Cold Evening

On a cold night there is nothing like a cozy chair, popcorn, movie, and a warm fire. What a life!