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)

More birthday wishes

Two other Happy Birthday congratulations that I need to pass out for today:

Happy Birthday to my father-in-law, David Frederick, who turns ** today.

Happy Birthday to my nephew, Dylan, (my brother Bob's little boy) who turns 5 today.

The party

We had a small party for Kassady last night. We invited just a few people over to help her celebrate. Fortunately, she hasn't figured out that if you have more people at the party you get more presents. No, those materialistic expectations are confined to Trey who remarked yesterday that he wanted to have a HUGE party with lots of people and presents. Kassady never was aware that the party was for her. She sang along lustily as we regaled her with the "Happy Birthday" song. She seemed shocked when I lifted her up to blow out the candles. "You mean, I can do this?" was the look she gave me. She did enjoy digging through the presents. Emme and Addison gave her some dress-up clothes and I do believe that was the hit of the evening. She tromped around in high heels and a tiara, cheesing for everyone. It was a fun night!

It's hard to believe that my little princess is 2

Kassady has the most infectious laugh

She was very impressed with the balloons. She dragged them around with her the rest of the day.

The Dora cake (a win-win with Kassady, a dedicated Dora devotee)

Kassady was entranced by the flickering candles. She really wanted to touch them.

Trey, Emme, and Noah (you can see his chin) waited for the blowing out of the candles (not to mention the cutting of the cake) with great anticipation.

As I held Kassady up to blow out the candles, she decided to try a different extinguishing technique which involved dousing the candles with large amounts of saliva. She's just like her Mom!

I think everybody got a hand in to help Kassady open her presents. All the kids were ripping off fragments of wrapping paper. OK, I did, too.

Kassady tried to play with all of her presents at once. She thinks that she's hot stuff with her dress-up clothes.

Happy Birthday, Kassady

Yesterday was Kassady's birthday. She is now an official 2-year-old. I say official, because she has been ahead of her time in approaching the Terrible Twos. I guess it's not really Terrible, it's more like the Tornadic Twos. She's a whirlwind of noise and excitement. If anyone in our family would happen to take up base jumping, my bets are on Kassady. She loves climbing, jumping, and yelling (singing). This past year she has evolved into a strong-minded, fun-loving, let's party type of girl. I love this girl so much! She is the sparkplug of our family. As I'm typing this Kassady just dove off of a kitchen chair onto the floor, head-first. This is a typical occurence in our house.

We celebrated with a small party. I'll post a few pics.

no hablo espanol

I would like to thank Dora the Explorer for the educational impact she has had on my little family. Kassady learned how to count to 10 in Spanish about the same time she learned to count in English. Since we don't normally converse in espanol, I attribute Kassady's bilingual progress to the Dora videos she loves to watch. It's funny to walk through the living room and hear Kassady shouting out Spanish words at the screen. Of course, I was well known for my Spanish skills while a student at GBS. My Spanish 101 teacher despaired of my ever communicating intelligibly. I have not failed her perception in the years since then. Si.

I'm not a huge advocate of kids watching videos. However, if Trey and Kassady are going to watch something, I prefer for it to be educational. Here are the Waggoner Film Institute Top 5 picks for kids:

1. Dora the Explorer
2. Blues Clues
3. Little Einsteins
4. Veggietales (we've had some really good conversations about God's Word that were initiated by a video)
5. Higglytown Heroes

Words of Wisdom

Wisdom for the day:

Before you criticize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Thank you, Ken Farmer

Say "Cheese"

I don't know what it is with my kids and cameras, but they are definitely allergic to them. With all of the hoopla surrounding the JonBenet Ramsey case, they have been showing a lot of these child stars, you know the kids with the perfect smile and all that. They parade all over the stage smiling sweetly at the judges.

My kids will never have to worry about that. I say "cheese" and Trey and Kassady immediately freeze into the strangest, most unnatural positions. Trey works so hard to produce a smile that his body spasms forward while Kassady displays what can only be interpreted as a pleasant grimace. They get this from their father (which you can pick up from any of the posted pictures of myself). I need to find some of childhood pics and post them. You would immediately catch on to the family resemblance.

Thank God, they're like that. There is something creepy about those little kids swishing across the platform with perfect smiles. I'll take my normal kids any day of the week!

Roadtrip Recap

About 3:45 yesterday afternoon, I pulled into the Waggoner driveway. It was a long day. Liberty left the Seattle area about 11:00 PM Sunday and at about 3:00 AM Monday morning we were parked by the side of the I-82 due to an electrical problem. I woke up to the sound of rumble strips. I headed up to the front of the bus, wondering why all the lights were off. Dan was just coming in from checking out the fuses. He couldn't find anything out of place, so he put out the emergency triangles and went to bed. I crawled back in my bunk thinking about how vulnerable I was. I sleep closest to the back of the bus and while there is a room between the rear of the bus and my bunk, I would still resemble an accordion should a semi pile into us. My bunk is almost 6 foot long (which is my exact height) and I began to worry about being pile-driven into the closet. Fortunately my fears were unsubstantiated and I woke up none the worse for the circumstance. Come to find out Dan began to obsess with the same thoughts and when I walked to the front of the bus he was camped out on the couch. We had a serviceman come out from Pasco, WA and by 10:30 AM we were on the road.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. We spent some more time in Seattle on Saturday. Still a fan. It is a great city to visit. God blessed our concerts and we were able to reconnect with many of our friends.

It is nice to be home, though. Trey starts kindergarten next week, which is just absolutely crazy. There's no way I should be old enough to have a kid in school. Messed up, is what it is. Last night we went over to the school and met with his teacher. She seems like a great lady and Trey likes her. It's one of those bittersweet moments in life, you know. I'm extremely proud of Trey and am looking forward to his school days and activities, but it's hard to think of him not being my little guy. I know, I know, everybody else has gone through it, but let me wallow in my misery. Trey also starts playing in a soccer league next week. Kindergarten and soccer today, college and marriage tomorrow. I'm getting old.

The Launch

www.media-spring.com is officially launched. I have been a partner of Media-Spring for the last year or so, serving as a project consultant for website development. While we have always offered quality websites, our newest offering takes aesthetics and functionality to a much higher level. You can have a website up and running within two weeks, customized to meet your needs. Our new website builder allows you immediate (and easy) access to content. Your changes can be made within minutes. No software. No HTML programming. No hassles. In fact, this allows a web novice to design a professional-looking site using our tools. However, if the customer prefers, we can do the design work ourselves. The great thing about it all is the pricing. We offer the hosting, access to the site, e-mail accounts, web tools, e-commerce tools, and much more for as low as $25.00 a month. When you compare the quality product you're getting with what is offered on-line you'll see that this a great deal.

If you need a website or know of someone who does, please refer them to kwaggoner@media-spring.com. Whether it's a church, para-church ministry, business, or simply a personal site Media-Spring can help take your on-line presence to the next level.

Traveling Lighter

Yep, I got the flu. Sure enough, after all of my cocky comments about how I was a survivor, it hit me. Except for the flu, it was a great weekend.

Liberty sang in California and Nevada this past weekend at some outstanding churches. Those people enjoy serving God! Friday night we sang in a church in Gerber, CA that was as packed as it could get. The church family had recently suffered a tragedy. A young man who was part of their youth group lost his sister in a tragic accident a few days before we were there. He was at the concert, obviously grieving the loss. That church just wrapped their arms around that boy and exhibited the love of Christ. It was awesome to see.

The next morning after a huge breakfast (at which I consumed way too much) we headed for Lake Almanor, CA. Let me back up a little. We have a little thermostat battle that goes on when we stay on the bus at night. Doran and I usually stay together on the road (let me be very clear about this; 2 queen beds), which leaves the leathery old men together as roomies. Dan and Royce like the temperature to stay around 55 degrees, while Doran and I shoot for about 70 or so. Dan sleeps with his head in the vents of the AC system. If I had that much hair I might do the same, but I don't and won't, so I like the temp up a little. Well, on Friday night we were all staying on the bus for the night. Royce and I have bunks on one side of the aisle with Dan and Doran on the other side. I woke up at about 1:30 in the morning curled up in the fetal position, shivering violently. My head was freezing and so were my feet, and that spells disaster for my voice. Those who know me well will vouch for the fact that I am virtually blind without my glasses. My eyes are in awful shape. So, I wake up freezing, looking (without my glasses) for the thermostat. Now, I can't see what in the world I'm doing, so I'm staring at red, fuzzy shapes (which it actually turns out are numbers) trying to figure out where the buttons are to take up the thermostat. I punched several buttons before I could see a change in the shape of the red, blurry objects. I finally put my eye directly up to the readout and changed the temperature to 71 degrees. I went back to sleep, mission accomplished. Unbeknownst to me I had also turned on the heat. At 4:00 AM I'm awakened to a bright light in the back of the bus and the sound of Dan muttering to himself and pushing buttons. I still had no clue what I had done, but I did notice that it was rather warm. I also forgot that my thermostat controlled the temperature for Royce's bunk. I woke up in the morning, sweaty, and as I walk out to take my shower, I notice Dan laying the living room area of the bus. I thought that was rather odd, but didn't think too much of it until I walked in the bathroom and faced the glaring eyes of Royce. His exact words were "Don't ever touch the thermostat again". Dan said that when he walked back at 4 to see what was going on with the heat, Royce was hanging halfway out of his bunk trying to catch some fresh air. I will say this, warm temperatures do cause you to have odd dreams.

Anyway, Dan had set up some tee times for us at Lake Almanor and Dan, Doran, and I hit the links. I really did hit the course. More than the ball. You could track my progress (or lack thereof) by the divots, grooves, and holes I left behind. I tried to fix most of them, but you can only do so much without heavy machinery. I played awful. I really did. My blood pressure was pretty high. Doran edged Dan by 1 stroke and I finished quite a ways behind them. 21 strokes to be exact. It was sad.

I had started feeling weird toward the beginning of the game and it got worse as time went on. Now, the nausea very well could have had something to do with my pathetic game, but I think my pathetic game had something to do with the nausea. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

We got back on the bus and the guys headed for a restaurant. I told them I was just going to stay on the bus and try to sleep the weird feeling off. Didn't happen. As I lay there telling myself forcefully that I wasn't going to be sick, certain feelings replied that, yes, I was going to be sick. The feelings were right. It hit with a vengeance. You know how the initial onset of the flu is extremely violent and then there's a calm. You actually think that everything's going to be alright. Then an hour or so later it hits again. Not good.

Saturday night we were singing at Lake Almanor Community Church (which incidentally is the church Chuck Norris* attends while in CA) and I had the worst time. I left the platform about 3 times, fortunately never in the middle of a song, and basically survived the evening. In spite of my problems, several individuals gave their hearts to Christ. Pretty awesome! His strength was perfect.

I tore off to the bus following the concert and slept off the worst of the sickness. My fever broke about midnight and I was able to get a decent night's sleep. As I lay there, whining to God about my problems, it hit me. What would it be like to live that kind of life all the time? There are people who deal with this kind of stuff everyday, due to cancer or some other disease that takes away life's "normalcy". Immediately, I asked God for forgiveness and took some time remembering those who are going through some of those valleys. I meet people on a regular basis who go through these times with a smile, no complaining, and a heart of gratefulness to God for His blessings. They're heroes.

Sunday was a great day. God gave me a special touch phyically in both concerts and we were privileged to see another person give their heart to Christ. It's great being able to do what I do.

I've kind of had a "relapse" the last couple of days, probably due to the fact that I was running on a lot of adrenaline and not enough food, but everything's starting to return to normal. I even ate a couple of hot wings. I think I'll make it.

Here's S'more news

My family is on the mend. Besides a few signs of fatigue, they're good to go. This flu bug was particularly nasty. In case I forget, happy S'mores Day. I would have bought a card, but you know...

I head for California and Nevada this weekend. I'll keep you posted. I know that I haven't done much in the way of pics in the last few days. I've been too busy. But, I promise, I have some on the way. I have some good pics from our VBS as well as Trey in action on the soccer field. Priceless!

I will also have information concerning a new business venture. The debut is just around the corner.

Have a great S'mores Day!

Living Water and Loren Harris

I sit in my chair tonight sipping on a concoction dreamed up by the wonderful folks at Living Water (a new Christian bookstore/coffee shop that just opened up in Nampa). It's a mixture of green tea, milk, ice, and some sour apple extract. Whoo, this is one good smoothie. The bookstore just opened yesterday, so I decided to check it out this evening. I highly recommend it to anyone who lives in the area. Living Water is located at the corner of Roosevelt and Midland in the new shopping plaza. Their prices are a little higher than Family Christian Stores, but the ambience is priceless. I can see that I'll be spending some time hanging out at the coffee shop. They offer a little bit of everything in addition to the live bands that they feature on Tuesday and Friday evenings. Very nice.

I am also bemoaning the fact that Loren Harris has left the Perrys. Loren was the most underrated lead singer in SG music and his presence will be missed. During his 6 years, the Perrys produced some of the greatest music in the SG genre. While I was listening to them sing at the Canadian Fan Festival I leaned over to Doran and remarked that this could be a legendary group if they would stay together for a while. So much for that. I see that Shane Dunlap, original lead singer for Signature Sound, will be filling in with them for a while. We'll see what happens.

By the way, still no flu (thank God!). I'm hoping the green tea in this smoothie will contribute to my good health.

Oh yeah, and by the way, no flu yet.

...and Liberty for all

Liberty Quartet has made it to the charts for the first time. If you visit: http://www.thesoutherngospel.com/chart_month.php?id=2420_0_23_0_M you will see that "The Wonder of His Love" is #18 on their chart for the month of August. We were #43 in the month of July. To whoever is requesting our music in the Carolinas I say thank you. We also just got a call today from the largest SG station in the state of Washington and the DJ told us that "The Wonder of His Love" was the #1 most-requested song in the month of July and was #1 on their August charts. Thanks!

Our CD "Old-Time Gospel Songs, Vol.1" which was due out in June will finally be released in the next couple of weeks. We had some last-minute changes to make that necessitated moving back the release date. If you like those old Stamps-Baxter style songs, you're going to like this album. I'll let you know the exact date before too long.

And more news from the Liberty front:

It's official. Liberty Quartet will be recording a live video in Yuma, AZ at the First Christian Church on Friday, February 16. If you live anywhere near Yuma make plans to be there. If you don't live near there, book your flight today. We are looking forward to a fantastic evening. I'll have more information coming in the next few weeks. We'd like for your mug to be in the video.

Flu-like symptoms

I bring you greetings from the quarantined Waggoner household. Kassady, Trey, and Lori all have the flu, (how do I say this without being crude?) the kind that features losing great amounts of liquid at a time. So, while they bow before the porcelain throne, I ponder the inevitable onset of my own personal version of this malady. I definitely want it to happen before I hit the road this weekend. There's nothing worse than being sick away from home.

I thought about eating peas. I hate peas and figured that they would get everything jumpstarted. I don't know though, if I'm going to get sick I want to do it the right way. So, instead, I have gorged myself on some Taco Bell fare and a package of Reese's chocolate-covered peanut butter balls. I'm interested to see if this sends me over the edge. I have to admit that I feel a little queasy. I'll keep you updated.

Reality TV can't touch my blog.

The Sights

Alaska has to have some of the most beautiful vistas of any state. I sheepishly admit that I don't always pay attention to God's gorgeous scenery, but there's something different about Alaska's landscapes. They jump out and grab you. They demand attention. I have several pics of the great Alaskan outdoors, but they don't do justice to its grandeur. So, I'm just going to post a few, especially for Shanna. Enjoy!

Mt. McKinley, by far, was my favorite spot. It's imposing presence can't be missed on a clear day and is just awe-inspiring. This was the 7th time for Liberty to be in Alaska, but this was the first time Royce had been able to see McKinley. It was worth the wait, I'm sure. We spent over an hour taking pictures and just taking it all in.

Speaking of an imposing presence...

Royce and I attempt to show the viewing public how large McKinley is. Our conservative estimate is at about 5'8".

I had never seen a glacier before, so I was blown away by this immense ice object. Very cool! I try to keep my cool in these types of situations and so am very hesitant to look like anything but an absolute moron when being photographed. What facial expression are you supposed to use while posing in front of a glacier, anyway?

Royce forgot his camera, so he took some really clear cellphone pics. Those .75 megapixel cameras are just amazing.

We were fortunate enough to catch a large bull moose frolicking in the great Alaskan outdoors. That was an incredible sight! Wow!

We were also fortunate enough to catch a Southern Gospel pianist frolicking in the great outdoors. Not quite as impressive as the moose, I can assure you. Very disturbing.

Crabby

Royce delicately dances around an aggressive crab. I had heard of the crabwalk but had never personally witnessed it. It was quite impressive.

God's frozen chosen

As I have mentioned in a previous post Royce reeled in a 47 lb. king salmon on our first Saturday in Alaska. We spent the next 8 days hauling around frozen salmon steaks. Royce was pretty excited as you will note from this picture while the rest of us were, well, not so excited.

Fishing the Kenai

You asked for pictures, you got 'em:

Royce puts on his salmon face as he prepares to fish

Dan grins close to one of the many rainbow trout he reeled in

Doran was the only one to catch the monster trout. Doran is pretty sure that he snagged Arthur, the Kenai River trout whose size has reached mythical proportions. By the way, he's sitting here in the sound booth at church (we're at VBS; no sarcastic comments, please) making sure that I'm quoting him correctly.

Royce doesn't worry about using bait on his hook. He figures if he flails his line around enough he'll be able to snag one in the eye. His method worked. (Please refrain from calling PETA).

Royce holds up his one-eyed beaut. Now, we were just doing catch and release fishing. It's illegal to keep them in the area we were fishing. So, there's a half-blind trout flopping around the Kenai these days. Incidentally, you will notice that I am the only one who isn't pictured with a fish. During the first hour of fishing I caught 5 fish, 3 tiny, 1 small, 1 medium. I should have got my pic taken with the mid-sized trout, but I was feeling pretty cocky and made the comment that I was going to wait until I caught Arthur. I caught exactly 3 more fish the rest of the day, all of them miniscule at best.

Alaska: Chapter 2

There is something to be said for the isolated beauty of the Alaskan landscape, but nothing beats the sight of my beautiful house. We pulled in mid-afternoon on Monday after an exhausting day of flying. We left Anchorage at 2:00 AM Monday and had a five and a half hour layover in Seattle. Yes, you can sleep on concrete. I didn't pull in the serious Zs that I do at home, but I still caught some shuteye. Needless to say I have done little but exist the last couple of days.

We had a superb trip. Alaska is by far the most beautiful state that I have visited. The gorgeous scenes that we witnessed traveling across the state can't be explained; just experienced. Awesome! I caught a glimpse of why God said, "It is good". Let me explain that I love the Midwest. You know, growing up in Indiana and living in Ohio, I have a warm spot in my heart for the country of my roots. But I'm convinced that God just passed his hand over the Midwest, taking the extra stuff to form Alaska. It's absolutely beautiful! I highly recommend touring AK.

We headed up to the northern part of the state on Tuesday, singing in Glenallen. While we were there, we met a great guy who has already become part of the Liberty family. Park made sure that we enjoyed our time up north. Wednesday morning, Royce and Dan hit a trail, or I should say created a trail, borrowing Park's Yamaha Rhino. Park had told us the night before that the Alaskan pipeline was just a mile or so from his house, so Dan thought he knew where he was going. They crashed through the underbrush, scaring off any grizzlies in the area (which is important since 9 people have died in recent months as a result of bear mauling) on their way to the pipeline. After some time of wandering around they finally discovered what they were looking for. As they were riding along the pipeline, a federal helicoptor came out of nowhere and dove toward the guys. Apparently, you have to have a pass to legally get in this particular area. Park had the pass, but obviously Royce and Dan didn't have it. The chopper hovered overhead scoping out this terrorist threat. His mind was set at ease as Royce leaned out and began taking pictures of the aircraft. He took off, probably thinking to himself, "Stupid tourists."

We then headed down to Talkeetna where we enjoyed a good time with the pastor of the AoG church. Thursday morning, we woke up to our first clear, sunny morning of the trip. We were able to see Mt. McKinley clear as could be. It was jaw-dropping awesome. We spent quite a bit of time on the deck of a lodge in Talkeetna taking pictures and enjoying the view. I have some great footage that will never make it to a Liberty video, but is quite entertaining, nevertheless.

Thursday night we were with some of my great friends in North Pole, AK. I spent my first trip to Alaska in North Pole at the Missionary Chapel. Pastor Duane and Gwen Newton were phenomenal hosts. In fact, they had just moved into their new house that same day and still let us spend the night. I saw so many of my friends from the GBS days. Scott and Kristina Clemens were up there (he had just finished speaking at a youth camp) along with their two cute boys. I hadn't seen Scott and Kristina since my days at Immanuel in KY. They moved to Indiana about a month after we moved to Idaho. It was also good to see Sonya (many of you will remember her from her work in the Revivalist office), Jodie Newton (one of the greatest girls in the world), Heidi, Thad, Jonathan Miller (shouts out to Maloyed in MI), the Betters, the Mitchells (including future GBS student Sheronna), and so many others that I had met previously. Jodie has bought a huge house and has opened up a daycare and is doing an incredible job. I was impressed! After our concert we headed over to Gary Mitchell's house (Gary is Royce's cousin, as well as a fellow GBS alum) for a barbeque. His grilled salmon is the best I've ever tasted. OK, moment of truth, I had never tasted grilled salmon before, but I loved it. That cajun mix was delicious. A good time was had by all.

Friday night we sang in Fairbanks at an outdoor concert sponsored by the First Assembly of God church. Those people were incredible! They treated us like royalty. Whoever made the marshmallow covered brownies needs to be awarded.

Saturday night's concert was at Church of the Wildwood, near Anchorage. The youth pastor and I got into some great discussions about music groups from the 80s and 90s. Ask Doran about his input.

We spent all day Sunday at Anchorage Baptist Temple. I've been to a lot of churches with Liberty, but this has to be one of my favorites. We had some wonderful times of worship and preaching/teaching. If there is anyway that you can download or buy any of Pastor Prevo's messages, do it (http://www.ancbt.org/). His Sunday School class might be the best session I've ever been a part of. God has gifted Dr. Prevo with the ability to clearly and concisely teach the Bible. We are rarely able to hear messages while we are on the road, so it was nice to be a part of the service. We sang for their television program which is seen all over the state. I tried to keep one eye on the screen so I didn't do something stupid in front of a million people. It didn't work. I have the uncanny gift of making gaffes in front of the camera. It's scary, actually.

Sunday night was a full concert at ABT. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. By the way, for those who say that bus ministry doesn't work anymore, they need to check out what ABT is doing. They literally crisscross the city with scores of buses, reaching out to their community. They are making a huge impact on their city.

Overall, it was a great week! I'm tired, but it was worth it. At least 20 people gave their lives to Christ during the trip. Man, that's incredible! It's cool to be used by God.

I really do have a bunch of pics to upload, but I'm tired. I'll post them tomorrow. Good night.

Stay tuned...

Alaska Trip, Chapter 2 will be released tomorrow, with pictures. We just kicked off the first night of our church's first VBS. Lori has helped coordinate (and is still coordinating) many of the details. My esteemed sister-in-law, Charlotte Frederick, is the special speaker. The first night was awesome! We had no idea how many kids to plan on, so Lori estimated 60 at the most. We ran out of nametags and fireman hats during the registration. We ended up with 79 on the first night, totally blowing away my faithless prediction of 30 or so!

The theme is "Jesus to the Rescue" and features a special presentation each evening from emergency response units in our community. Tonight's presentation was made by Life Flight out of Boise. They flew in a helicoptor and landed in our church's back yard. The kids were impressed, to say the least. I'll have some pics uploaded later.

Crabb Family Calling It Quits

An interesting day for Crabb Family fans. I have copied a post by Chuck Peters (www.southerngospelreporter.com) from a SG fan website:

CRABB FAMILY.. ONE MORE YEAR. August 1.. 2007 will mark the end of The Crabb Family.. as the group we know today. The official anouncement was made Tuesday (08/01) in Hendersonville, Tn. Press information released shortly after the announcement says each member will keep with tradition and continue to pursue their separate ministries once their tour has been completed. The siblings feel it is time to move to a new season and are anticipating what God has in store for all of their ministries. The Crabb Family will set out on a tour immediately to thank their fans for their unwavering support.The CF representative adds: "Everyone is being asked to respect the decision of the Crabb Family and keep each of them in your prayers.

Ironically, this announcement comes after several of the concerts on their "Blur the Lines" tour was cancelled.

The Crabb Family have been awesome, no doubt about it! They are one of the few groups that make it in my "buy every CD they produce" category.

Alaska: Chapter 1

Hello from beautiful (and might I add) chilly Alaska. From what I hear Boise is quite toasty with temperatures around 105 degrees. This 55 degree weather feels pretty good, to be honest. We have had a fantastic time so far. The people in Alaska have gone beyond the call of duty to make us feel at home. Today is an off day, no concert scheduled, and so I'm getting caught up on my e-mail from Alaska Christian College.

We flew into Anchorage Thursday evening at about 9:oo PM (11:00 MST). Royce picked us up, dropped Jeremiah off (he flew out that night for Boise), and we then headed for Soldatna, a 3 hour drive. We stopped for fuel and food and then tried to find a motel in the area. Due to this being prime fishing season in Alaska, we weren't able to find a room where we had intended. We finally found a room at a slightly seedy motel in the middle of nowhere. We got in bed at 2:00 AM. The alarm went off at 4:00 AM for our first fishing trip on the Kenai River. We were supposed to go halibut fishing, but got blown off by high winds. So, instead, we went trout fishing. Kenai River is the #1 destination for fishermen all over the world. I have never fished before, so I started out at the top. Unfortunately, it was just catch and release fishing. I caught about 6 fish, 5 of which were tiny and 1 that was medium size. All the other guys caught pretty nice size fish. Needless to say we were wasted by the evening concert. But God came through. God has a way of making great things happen when we're at our lowest. 3 people gave their hearts to Christ Friday night and we sang to a packed-out church in Sterling. Awesome!

All of us were scheduled to go King salmon fishing at 4:00 AM Saturday. Doran and I decided that it was going to be too early, especially on only 2 hours of sleep from the previous day. So, we slept in, and felt really good about it. Royce has been obsessed with catching king salmon. This was his seventh time to go and he had never caught one. Fortunately, he pulled in a 45 pound salmon. Needless to say, he's been in a good mood. He smiles much through his moustache. He often stares out the window, smiling, with a dreamy expression on his face. He da' man. By the way, Dan didn't catch squat.

Saturday evening we were in Homer, AK for a concert. A good time was had by all. I tried halibut chowder for the first time and it was delicious!

Sunday was a great day with 2 concerts in the area. Sunday evening's concert was outside at a fish camp and preceded by a meal. Now, I've been to a lot of pitch-in dinners, but never one where barbequed llama was on the menu. This food critic's description: it tastes exactly what you think a llama would taste like. After the meal I fought overwhelming urges to stare bug-eyed and perk my ears.

Today we were supposed to go halibut fishing, but once again the waves were too choppy and we weren't able to go. So, Doran and I opted for a nice relaxing round of golf. I use the term relaxing much the same way I would say that boot camp is relaxing. Doran shot an amazing 122 while I came in one stroke down at 122. We bought 3 sleeves of golf balls and ended up with only 1 original ball left. We did find many other golf balls, though, during our frequent treks to the underbrush to track down errant shots. I also found out that the majority of the Alaskan mosquitos nest in the underbrush on the Kenai Golf Course. For some reason, they swarm persons who tramp through the weeds. I am one big lump. I am a mosquito lollipop. I should look pretty interesting tomorrow evening.

We're going to be heading up for the northern part of Alaska tomorrow. I don't know if I'll find a computer before I'll get back, so just stay tuned for further details.

Blur

Wow! Two days can go by really fast. So fast that I haven't really had a chance to post anything of merit. In a couple of hours I'll be flying out to Alaska. We'll be doing a 10-day tour up there, singing and fishing. It's a tough job, people.

I'm not taking my laptop with me so there won't be any posting for the next week and a half. I'll catch you later.

Red Deer

We've been having a great time in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. I'm in Southern Gospel heaven right now, listening to some of my favorite groups. Two groups that have been especially popular in Canada are the Perrys and the Booth Brothers. This is the first time I've been able to be around the BB and they are as great off the stage as on. Michael is just naturally funny and he has kept things exciting around here.

Speaking of exciting, Thursday was quite a day for Liberty Quartet. We had left Wednesday at about 8:00 AM and were planning on staying about 60 miles from the Canadian border. Well, when we got to where we were going to stay on Wednesday evening we looked over the map, looked at the time we would need to get through Canadian customs at the border, and decided that we probably should drive the bus on ahead.

A few weeks ago we purchased a van for our Alaska trip. We're hoping to sell it in Alaska, so Royce, along with his son Jeremiah, is driving it up following our Canadian stint. So, he was following the bus. We decided that there was no need for us to cancel the room. Royce and Jeremiah could use it and leave early Thursday morning.

Our sound check was 2:15 in the afternoon and so we figured out that if they left by 5:00 or 6:00 AM they could make it. Dan, Doran, and I (along with our good friend Paul Munson), took off and drove several hours, pulled over, and caught about 7 hours of sleep. We headed out about 7:30 in the morning and made great time. I called Royce about 9:30 to see where they were. He said that they were quite a ways behind us, but that they were making pretty good time. There was one thing that worried me, though. He said he was on Rt. 220 and when I looked at the map after hanging up I couldn't find 220 anywhere close to the route we were taking. We were about a half hour away when I called him again. This time there was a slight tinge of panic in his voice as he relayed that they had gone nearly 75 miles in the wrong direction. He told me to go ahead and go with the sound check and he would get there in time for the concert. What we didn't know was that they had ended up in Montana somewhere and had circled all the way back to where they had started that morning. The concert promoter told us to plan on doing a trio. Based on where he was, there was no way he was going to make the concert.

Now, you have to understand, Royce is the main man for Liberty. He does the emceeing, puts together the song list, not to mention the fact that he has one of the best bass voices in SG. So, we were pretty stressed. We put together a makeshift list of songs that might work as a trio and tried to get our minds and spirits ready for the evening concert. Royce asked me to lay out his suit, shirt, and tie just in case he made it. Jerry Goff, who is the emcee for the weekend, had a whole schtik based on the fact that Royce wasn't there and was getting ready to head for the stage when Royce comes bounding down the stairs towards the lower level. We were supposed to be on at 7:15 and he got to the platform at 7:13. Talk about relief! Close call!

For some reason, Royce doesn't want to talk much about what happened. Everything else has gone OK (save for the sound issues that mysteriously plague regional groups at these big conventions). We've had a great time, though! I'll update you guys later.

McCune

I just got back from the Gold City concert in Nampa. Without going into a lot of detail, I just want to say that their new bass singer, 25 year old Aaron McCune, is on track to be one of the all-time greats. I first heard him 7 years ago in Winston-Salem, NC where as a rookie for the Anchormen Quartet he blew all the other basses away at a Ray Flynn Promotions concert. Ironically enough, one of the bass singers that night was Tim Riley.

I have to say that Aaron is already better than Tim. And that's not putting Tim down. Tim belongs in the bass singer Hall of Fame. It's just that McCune is incredible. If he would just stop fiddling around with his monitor (in his ear and the controls on his belt) and sing it would be that much better. We were with him at Fresno when he was still with Palmetto State. We'll be with him again in Canada, and I'm looking forward to it. I like listening to a bass singer who knows how to hit notes cleanly without lots of fake growling noises. You know, like Royce (just in case you're reading this, buddy).

Canada bound

Well, it looks like I'll be playing catch-up again. I'm running around like crazy today trying to get everything ready for our trip to the Great Canadian Gospel Music Celebration (http://www.gospelmusic.ca/). I think I have the border paperwork for our product figured out. I hope so, anyway. If not, we'll be waiting quite a while to get across. I'm looking forward to singing with and listening to some of my favorite groups like The Perrys, the Booth Brothers, and Legacy Five. Another group that is heading up to Canada, Gold City, is going to be in concert here in Nampa tonight. Lori and I are planning on going over there this evening. I'm curious as to how they will sound with their new bass, Aaron McCune. The guy has an awesome voice, no doubt about it.

Trey started soccer camp this week. He's participating in the Upwards sports program at a Nazarene church here in Nampa. He loved his first night! He was awarded a star for being one of the top offensive players. He made his dad proud! I got all misty-eyed sitting on the sidelines watching him. I can't believe he's old enough to be doing this kind of stuff. He's the only 4 year-old out there, but he holds his own. In fact, most of the kids are in 1st grade and above. He doesn't seem to be intimidated.

I'll be gone for about a week to Canada, so I'm hoping for a hotel with broadband so I can keep you guys updated on what's going on.

Back Home

Well, I'm back home after a fun week at our family camp in McCall, ID. The kids are filthy, my dress shoes are dusty, and we're all tired. I'll try to give you the details later. One of my good friends (as well as former pastor and college professor), Ben Durr, Jr. was our camp evangelist. His flight leaves at 5:50 AM tomorrow, so he was going to have someone drop him off at the airport tonight and spend the night in those narrow, uncomfortable chairs. I told him that he was crazy and there was no way I was going to let him do that. So, he's spending the night at our place tonight and I'll take him over to Boise tomorrow. I'll also be meeting up with the guys from GBS as well as my former boss, Jack Hooker, and dropping them off at the airport in the afternoon. I have been promised lunch at Goodwood for my troubles. "It will be worth it all..."

I'll check back with you later.