Bend it like Trey

Trey started soccer practice last night. This is his first year to play in the Nampa city league. He loved it! Trey is really impressed that he got the #7 jersey. He strutted around, preening for us after the practice. He was pretty confident in his skills last night, remarking to his teammates in a matter-of-fact tone that he was a really good soccer player. He actually is pretty good. He is one of the better athletes on the team and he's pretty good at dribbling and passing the ball. Their practice was pretty (I'm really stuck on using the adjective "pretty") entertaining to watch. It didn't matter whether the ball was inbounds or out of bounds, the entire team could be found running, jumping, kicking it and each other. It should be a pretty interesting season.

Trey has just developed this competitive streak. I don't know where he got that (cough, cough). He hates losing, which I can relate to. But we've been working on the concept of sportsmanship, of losing gracefully. He'll offer congratulations if he loses, albeit grudgingly. He's a good kid.

Here is the team; all 6 of them. They play 3 on 3 soccer in this league. So, 3 starters and 3 subs.

Trey enjoyed the dribbling drills, this due to the fact that he was faster at it than everyone else.

Trey is getting to where he enjoys meeting new people. He and his teammate, Griffin, hit it off immediately.

Triptales

We had another terrific weekend in Washington. This weekend was a little bit different in that all of the churches we sang at were new stops for us. They gave us a tremendous welcome! The promoters all did a great job and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many new people. We've been trying out some of the material on our new album due out September 12. The audiences seem to like our fresh arrangements of those old Stamps-Baxter numbers. "I'm Gonna Walk" is my personal favorite off of the CD. Of course, there were some hilarious moments on the road. Unfortunately, I can't print all of them. You'll find some miscellaneous snapshots below.

The bus is cruising along quite nicely.

We were at a beautiful country church in Cedonia, WA Friday evening. We had a fantastic concert!

Dan teaches Bus Maintenance 101 to Doran: "Now this here thingamajig plugs into this whatyamacallit. I think that's what keeps the generator running. Oh, and by the way, don't forget to open this bay door when the generator is running. This here piece will overheat and cause this here thingamajob to pop out and..."

Take me out to the ballgame...

Tuesday evening, the Waggoner family headed out for Boise for an evening of laughter, delicious hot pretzels, fluffy cotton candy, cold drinks, and...oh yeah, baseball. Trey and Kassady had never been to a baseball game, so Lori and I took them to a Boise Hawks game. The Hawks are a farm club for the Chicago Cubs and are leading their division in the race for the Northwest League Championship. It was a great game! Trey was so psyched to be at the game he could hardly take everything in. Sensory overload. He was jumping up and down for the abnormally slow, off-pitch version of the National Anthem that seems to plague minor league ballparks. By the time the first pitch was thrown he was frothing at the mouth.

You know, the funny thing about Trey is his obsession with the technical. He enjoyed watching the players hit and all that, but he was absolutely enthralled with the scoreboard and keeping track of everything that was going on. He kept informing me of all the statistics of the game, what the pitch count was, who was up, and all that. Trey missed half of the action trying to keep up with what was going on the board. One of our players smashed a home run and Trey was up screaming and jumping around. Then, he turned around and said, "Hey, Dad. Where did he hit it?" He was watching the scoreboard flash "Home Run!!" and missed it completely. He's a funny guy.

The Hawks just mutilated the Spokane Indians 9-4, which thrilled Trey to no end. In fact, the Indians took an early lead and Trey turned to me, lip quivering, and said, "You mean the home team can lose?" It shook his confidence early. But the boys came through. It was a perfect night for baseball and we had terrific seats behind home plate. The popcorn was awful, the pretzels were good, the cotton candy was better. We loved it all!

Trey takes a moment out of his time checking the box score to cheese for the camera.

Just as I was snapping this picture of Kassady, she slipped through the seat, trapping her legs. The next few minutes were spent gingerly extracting her feet. She screamed loudly, of course.

Trey posed with the Boise mascot, Humphrey the Hawk. He thought it was the mascot for our favorite restaurant, Red Robin.

Now, tonight, Lori, Marc, Talisha, Dustin, Angie, and myself are off to see the season-opener of the Boise State Broncos. The Smurf turf awaits.

Recording

I'll be posting some pictures from last weekend's trip to Washington. It was a wonderful weekend. We sang in 4 brand new venues and were very warmly received. This weekend we're off, but there's still a lot to do. Here in about 30 minutes I'm heading over to the studio to finish up vocals on our new album which will be out in late fall or early winter. Phil Cross flew in last night and will be here the next couple of days to help arrange/produce the rest of the project. I am very excited about this recording! It's definitely stretched us and is a fresh approach to our music ministry.

By the way, I just found out that our album "Old-Time Gospel Songs Vol.1" which was supposed to be released in June is finally going to be released on September 12. I'm working on the contest rules for those who want to win a free CD. Even though we had to wait longer than we had anticipated it will be worth it. We've added 2 songs to our original lineup. Stay tuned.

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Trey's first day of school. Fortunately, I was able to get back in time from Washington to take him to kindergarten. He loved it! When he got home I asked him how everything went. His response was typical: "We got to play on the playground and everything!" He then informed me that they are learning about the important letters of the alphabet (I presume they'll be the vowels) and today's letter was "I". There are a couple of his friends from church who are in his class, so he feels right at home. Here are a few pics of him getting ready to go:

Since he goes at 11:45 AM, Trey grabs lunch at home

He really likes his new backpack. I think he was as excited to show off his backpack as he was to go to school.

At this point, Trey was beginning to ask "Is it time to go yet?" over and over. He gets that from me. I hate to be late for anything. In fact, I prefer being there early. When I was a kid going to the Bible Holiness Church in Frankfort, IN I would be the first one there; by at least 15 minutes. I'd sit there waiting for someone to show up and open the doors. I didn't want to miss a thing. For the record, the second person to show up at church was my Grandma, so you see where I got it.

Lori and Trey cheese for the camera. We both (Lori and I) made it without tears. We are proud parents, though!

Once again, Kassady steals the show.

Kassady insisted on getting in on our picture this morning. I'm a lucky man!

World, My Son Starts School Today!
World, take my son by the hand--he starts to school today!
It's all going to be strange and new to him for a while, and I wish you would sort of treat him gently. You see, up to now, he's been king of the roost. He's been the boss of the backyard. I have always been around to repair his wounds, and I've always been handy to soothe his feelings.
Buy now things are going to be different. This morning he's going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand, and start on a great adventure that probably will include wars and tragedy and sorrow.
To live in this world will require faith and love and courage. So World, I wish you would sort of take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know.
Teach him--but gently, if you can.
He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just--that all men are not true. Teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every enemy there is a friend.
Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest people to lick.
Teach him the wonders of books. Give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hill.
Teach him that it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd then everyone else is getting on the bandwagon. Teach him to listen to all men, but to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and to take only the good that comes through.
Teach him to sell his brawn and brains to the highest bidders but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob--and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.
Teach him gently, World, but don't coddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
This is a big order, World, but see what you can do.
He's such a nice little fellow.

By Abraham Lincoln
An essay written when Tad, the youngest son of our 16th president, began his first day of formal education.

(thanks, Sue, for sending this my way)