Hello Manhattan!

Nice set of pipes! No, I'm not referring to the vociferous sound Royce is producing with facial contortions; I'm talking about the pipe organ behind us. They began the concert by singing 3 congregational songs (I can't remember the first, but the last two were Victory in Jesus and Wonderful Grace of Jesus), all verses thank you very much. The organist could flat out play (the term "flat out" brings to mind colorful images)! She tore it up! It's rare that you hear an organist who knows how to bring the instrument to life, skillfully getting the most out of it. I enjoyed that almost as much as singing to the wonderful crowd.

Ok, so the skyline wasn't quite what I expected, but our concert in Manhattan, MT was a success. People came from all over the state to hear us at the Brethren Christian Reformed Church. I'm sure they were wondering what was going on with the camera on stage, but now they know.

Only in Montana (and Wyoming)

I never saw this in Indiana. In Montana they just shut down the road for a cattle drive. That little dog that you see in the middle picture was amazing! He kept those cattle moving. We sat for about 3 or 4 minutes waiting for them to get to the other side of the road.

Uno Voce

Thanks for praying, people. My voice was raspy all throughout the day, yesterday, but as soon as I stepped on the stage for the concert it came back in full force. Incredible! This entire trip has been wondeful. Every evening (and one morning), we have been blessed to sing to a fantastic audience who encourages us with their spirit. We have already seen about 25 decisions for Christ in the last few days. Doran shared with us that he had felt impressed to ask God for 50 commitments to Christ on this eastern trip. We have been specifically praying for at least 50 souls on this trip. I think our faith was too weak. God is going to blow the doors off of our little request. It's amazing what He can do!

I have some pictures from a couple of our most recent concerts coming up. Enjoy!

Celebrity

Special props go to Carrie for giving me the idea for this. I'm thrilled to even have a 51% match to Mel Gibson. I'm not sure where the Barry Manilow thing came in. This is very informative, to say the least. I think I'll look like Ernest in about 40 years.

No Voce

As is my custom when traveling to Nebraska and Kansas, I have lost my voice. OK, so it's not as bad as it was last year, but it's still pretty rough. This time it's my allergies that have just nailed me. I save my notes, if you know what I mean. When I have an exposed line I have to be able to hit it, so I really focus on blending the rest of the time, which is a novel idea for a Southern Gospel tenor (sarcasm is included).

Flash

Royce wanted to save a little money on his portrait package

Bill and GooGoo

Dan's dad, Bill, went along with us on the Michigan trip to help drive the bus. Thank God he was with us! It was 36-hour trip there and at least a 36-hour trip home. Bill is a driving machine. Once he gets behind the wheel, he's there for 5 or 6 hours.

Unfortunately, for Royce's diet, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel. He bought a box of Goo Goo Supremes and wolfed them down in short order. OK, maybe he didn't eat them all, but let's just say he ate more than his fair share.

I Feel Like Traveling On

Hi from somewhere in South Dakota or Nebraska. A lot has happened since I last posted. I'm pretty pathetic in my efforts to be a consistent blogger. I would love to post more, but I just haven't had time to get around to it. Anyway, a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, including:

• Trey's first day of school (1st grade); he's not real impressed with the fact that he has to be at school all day.
• The first Boise State football game of the season, which I was fortunate enough to attend, a 56-7 thumping of Weber State. By the way, it doesn't matter who you play, it's just a good feeling to know that football season is here.
• The annual Labor Day golf scramble; I had the worst game of golf since my first feeble attempts; it was fun, though, with quite a bit of laughter at my hitched swing.
• Labor Day picnic with all of my friends at Grace Bible Church; followed up by another picnic over at the Taylors; I ate waaaayy too much food.
• Kassady's first soccer practice. Watching 3 and 4-year-olds play soccer is kind of like watching the Senate in action: you know what they're supposed to theoretically be doing, but the reality is they just end up stumbling all over themselves.
• Trey's first soccer practice: he's making me proud. He's actually getting pretty good.
• A big Colts win over the Chargers, which caused me to shout with joy loudly in our car (much to my family's chagrin).
• The wedding of Matt and Mindy (Crane) Ritchey. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been a part of. I was the emcee for the reception and sang a song for the ceremony (I was pinch-hitting for Doran who lost his voice the night before the wedding; I'd never heard the song before, but Diane and I were able to pull it off; the name of the song was "When God Made You" and originally performed by Newsong and Natalie Grant).
• Leaving for a 9-day tour with Liberty, including stops in Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina. We're going to be spending 2 days at National Quartet Convention, a first for all of us.
• ...and a lot of other stuff.

I'll be posting more from the road. We all brought our video cameras, so I'll try to have some video clips available too. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Liberty. I forgot Trey and Kassady's soccer pics at home. I'll upload them later.

Noble on Criticism

I don't even know this guy, but I love his blog. Perry Noble just challenged me (again) about criticism (OK, I think it's closer to gossip). You have to check out his post. It's way too easy for me to fall into a trap of going off on someone I've never met. I love his comment about how internet criticism is for cowards. They hide behind an anonymous ID and blast away.

By the way, you really need to subscribe to Perry's blog. It's incredible. Mega-kudos to Paul for directing me his way.

Playing catch-up

We are back, none the worse for wear. Dave and Crystal Bittinger are visiting us for the next couple of days. After they fly back for the fields of Kansas, I'll update you on our Michigan trip, Kassady's birthday party, and Trey's first day of first grade. Life is good.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this.

Finally...some recognition

It's so nice to get a little love in the blogosphere. I truly believe I would have made it to #1 if:

#4 Paul Peterson hadn't traveled with Joel
#3 Angie Davis wasn't Canadian
#2 Jon Plank wasn't so...well, old
#1 Tim Calhoun would take pictures with a real camera

So, I feel good about this. I really do.

Tour de Caldwell

My latest venture into the world of exercise includes a Mongoose mountain bike picked up at Vista Pawn in Boise. Trey is doing quite well at pedaling around the neighborhood, so I was inspired to keep up.

My spandex body suit should be delivered sometime next week.

Style Tip of the Week: Just Say No

Royce made us all proud last weekend by breaking out the boots. He apparently hadn't worn these fine examples of footwear for quite a while, because as he was pulling them on he found a sock that had been missing for some time. Unfortunately, he had thrown away the match sometime back.

Stories from the Road

It is now 10:01 AM in Chicago. We are patiently waiting for Royce to show up. He flew in last night, got a hotel a few miles away, and has been living the high life while the Liberty peons drove 34 hours (that includes 3 hours worth of stops for food, fuel, and bathrooms). While he was drawing a steam bath, wrapped in the furry white robe provided by the hotel, we were racking up the miles, unshaven and unkempt. So, now, we are sitting at a little side street outside Midway International Airport waiting for Big Daddy to show up in the limo. Tough life.

Here's a picture for Royce, just in case he forgets what bus life is like:

Lifescript

OK, we are on a trip to Michigan that is taking forever! 30 hours, one way. I've already slept about 12 hours. Right now, we're somewhere in Nebraska. Of course, the weather is pretty nasty.

I'm a whiner.

An early birthday

Because I am leaving in just a few minutes for Michigan and Indiana, I am posting my birthday wishes to Kassady a day early. It's hard to believe that my little princess is three. What a girl!!! Her loves include Cinderella, Belle, anything to do with dress-up, chapstick, waffles, apple juice, Ninja Turtles (thanks to her brother), chicken nuggets, Tony Stewart (I have no clue where that comes from), pink, Sprite, Maggie (her bear), and singing.

She's my sweetheart! Since I have to miss her party tomorrow we let her open a couple of presents from us and then headed out to Red Robin, Kass's favorite restaurant:

My Little Princess

Groban Rocks

I just returned from a Josh Groban concert at the Idaho Center in Nampa. What a fantastic evening! Every once in a while, Lori and I break free for a date. This one was certainly memorable. I'm too tired to give you the set breakdown. I'll wait 'til tomorrow. Good night.

See what you missed?

We had a fun weekend out in Oregon. Here are a few uncensored pics from the road:

It really is a tough life we lead on the road...Thanks to Dan (and a friend; you know who you are) we now have two leather easy chairs in the front lounge. I'm usually ensconced in one of the chairs, either getting some work done on my laptop (sometimes) or controlling the bus media content (notice who's holding the remote). Thank God it's almost college football season!

Doran got caught in the act of hitting me in the head with his microphone by a photographer at our Wood Village, OR concert. He declares that he just barely tapped me on the head, but I'm here to tell you that it was more than a tap! I will get even...

Of course, when you see Doran in person, it's hard to hold him responsible for anything. I think his ticket's punched for Heaven, if you know what I mean. Most of his bus activity involves those thick crayons.

Every once in a while, Royce feels inspired to help Dan out on the bus cleaning. He gets such joy out of doing the most menial of work. God help him!

We are really becoming quite accomplished at our intricate choreography. Doran spends quite a bit of time watching "Dancing with the Stars". His lurching, lunging footwork leave much to be desired, however.

I have become quite comfortable in my on-stage participation. Dan and I carry the load of laughing. Fortunately, Royce and Doran come up with new material every concert to keep it fresh. I really do feel that I am one of the best laughers in Southern Gospel music. I guess you could say it's a gift.

Every once in a while, we'll let the audience ask us questions about Liberty, what we do, how much it costs to fill up the bus, etc. Dan really enjoys this part of the concert, calmly responding to each query.


You can always spot those certain individuals who feel that the late 70s and early 80s defined cool.

Coming soon to an asylum near you...

Ansel Waggoner

OK, so it's not quite up to Adams par, but I was impressed with this pic I snapped in beautiful Bagge Gardens, near Mosier, OR. I didn't even Photoshop this picture. I promise!

Pit Crew

I had a chance this past Wednesday to show off my mechanical skills. Pastor Dave reveals all.

Days of our lives

Today has been a good day. I took Trey over to the church this morning to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. He's been riding a scooter all summer, so he hasn't even worried about riding his bike. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he asked, "Why can't I ride a bike without training wheels like all the other kids my age?" Lori replied, "Because your parents are LOSERS!" OK, so we're really not that bad, but I definitely hadn't spent time with him in that area. So, we headed over to the expansive asphalt at Grace. He climbed on the bike, I pushed him to get him started, and that was all it took. After that one push, he took off. He rode his bike all morning. We worked on sharp turns and braking after awhile, just to keep him challenged. He's a pro! I couldn't believe it! I still remember my education in bike riding on Green Street in Frankfort, IN. The professor was my father, who has slightly less patience than I do. How he stayed with me through that, I'll never know. I fell countless times, ran into bushes, ended up in a small drainage ditch, and pretty much flunked my first lesson. It took hours for me to pick it up. Trey takes one push...

He must take after his Mom. He has taken a couple of nasty falls, but he pops right back up, so it's all good.

Also, I bowled 140 tonight. That's really good for me. All in all, it's been a good day. Hope yours was the same.

On Tour

Coming soon to a venue near you (techno sounds, pumping music, yells of excited throng): Liberty Quartet!!!

Hey, for all of you that read my blog and have no clue who these guys are that I travel with, now's your chance to find out for yourself. We're going to be somewhere near you (at least within several hundred miles, which out here is really, REALLY, close). Here's our eastern itinerary:

Aug. 24: St. Joseph, MI (First Baptist Church; 7:00 PM)

Aug. 25: Stanton, MI (First Baptist Church; 7:00 PM)

Aug. 26: Waterford, MI (Williams Lake Nazarene; 8:00 & 10:50 AM)

Aug. 26: Waterloo, IN (First Baptist Church; 7:00 PM)

Sept. 12: Inman, KS (Bethel Mennonite Church; 7:00 PM)

Sept. 13-14: Louisville, KY (NQC; we'll just be hanging out)

Sept. 15: Clearwater, SC (Midland Valley First Church of the Nazarene; 7:00 PM)

Sept. 16: Greer, SC (Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church; 6:30 PM)

Sept. 23: Copper Hill, VA (Parkway House of Prayer Campground; Painter Tabernacle; 6:00 PM)

Sept. 24: Covington, KY (Central Church of the Nazarene; 7:00 PM)

Sept. 25: Fortville, IN (Church of the Nazarene; 7:00 PM)

Sept. 26: Pekin, IL (First Church of the Nazarene; 7:00 PM)


For more info, visit our website.



This picture will make those kids wanna come...or run screaming!

Dave

And, I'd also like to welcome our new pastor, Dave Keep, to the blogosphere.

And the winner is...

I finally won a contest. I think this is the first time it ever happened. Well, actually, I won a "Masters of the Universe" light-up sword from a Bubbalicious gum package but my mom wouldn't let me collect it because she wasn't sure she liked the way the characters looked.

OK, so my design is a little corny. And, you have to either know Eval Knieval history or live in Idaho to get it. But, hey, a free CD is a free CD. I actually already have it. Maybe I'll come up with my own contest to "Give It Away" (sorry; couldn't resist).


***UPDATE***

Lori just reminded me that I won a lip-synch/dance contest in Cincinnati. I know this shocks many of you, but, yes, I did win a dance contest. It was at a Christian bookstore, no less. They were doing a big promotional push for Steven Curtis Chapman's new CD, so accompanied by my friends Carol Gardner and Lori Frederick (this was long before we were dating), I tried out for a contest. Let me rephrase that: Carol and Lori did not accompany me in the contest. They were there to provide moral support, which consisted mainly of leaning against bookshelves heaving with laughter. The grand prize was the SCC discography as well as all of his videos and a CD Walkman (for you young pups out there, this would be comparable to an iPod). I knew the words to nearly every song that Steven had ever recorded, so I figured I had a pretty good chance. The judges were the bookstore manager, some record company reps from Sparrow Records, and others. I believe it was the uninhibited joy of movement I displayed that won the contest. Whatever it was, I won. So, this is the second win of my illustrious career.

Hurricane Flossie

Congratulations are in order for my Grandma Kirkman. They finally named a hurricane after her. You know they're running low on names when they pull out Flossie.

I remember as a kid wondering why in the world someone would name their child Flossie. The obvious word picture associated with Grandma's name wasn't one that particularly impressed me. So, as a 7 or 8-year-old I asked Grandma if she liked her name. She replied that she sure liked it better than her middle name, Marie. I still don't get it. Flossie...?

Home

The new Waggoner mansion. We have now lived at 16702 Ardyce for about a month and a half now. Which says a lot of my recent blogging habits. I have spent quite a bit of time on home repairs, which causes much chortling among close friends familiar with my mechanical inclinations. Seriously, I am pathetic when it comes to building "stuff", installing "stuff", or assembling "stuff". I readily admit my shortcomings. I was just talking to Lori about it last night, and I'm convinced that my awkward repair attempts (and inevitable frustration) are brought on by a low sense of self esteem in that area. But, then, there are many examples that I could bring up that have contributed to a lack of faith in my mechanical abilities (such as assembling our grill). The only thing that makes me feel better about myself is that I can do everything else in an above-average fashion (at least, I keep telling myself this). I guess, all's well that ends well, and so far everything I've attempted at the new estate has worked out OK.

Come by and see us. Especially, all you people from the far regions of the US who still aren't convinced that Idaho is actually a state.

For all of you who ever played the original Super Mario Brothers

Camping

Another year of family camp is over and we head on to...the next week of camp? Yeah, 2 camps back-to-back, and then I'll take a week "off" (I'll be doing the normal Liberty thing on my off week) before heading to my next camp, AYC.

Actually, I love camps. When I was a kid I went to several each summer. You run around, get absolutely filthy, eat lots of junk food, and rarely shower. You run to the altar each night that the evangelist tells a scary story (I still remember the one about the stake through the foot), peeking under your crossed arms to see who's praying for you and pounding you on the back. After service, you head to the snackbar to stock up on more junk food, especially that hard, pink gum PAL. That stuff was awful. I'm sure my many trips to the dentist were a direct connection to my imbibing of PAL. After your trip to the snackbar, about 10:30 PM you'd head to the steamy, clammy dorms and fall asleep about 1:30 AM on one of those striped, stained mattresses that seem to be the industry standard of your average small-sized campmeeting. You'd wake up the next morning, forego the shower option, and start the day all over again: tasteless oatmeal for breakfast, building forts in the woods, morning service (which always seemed to take forever), tackle football, softball, lots of sweat, and then back to the altar that night (which I'm sure I needed; most of the fights I got into happened at family camp). Great memories.

Now, when I became a teenager and headed for youth camp, it all changed. Now, I was focused on impressing the beautiful members of the opposite sex. All of a sudden I started taking showers all the time, using lots of deoderant, and lots of hair gel. That's probably what happened to my locks. Way too much hair gel and hair spray. I learned some important lessons early on such as never take wear khaki pants after taking a shower on a humid day. It tends to leave, shall I say wet impressions on the back part of your anatomy. I also learned that your glands produce immense amounts of sweat when you even begin to think about holding a girl's hand. And, speaking of which, you cannot be cool when you nonchalantly hold your hand open, knuckles down, (which is a very unnatural position, causing extreme cramping) and sporadically brush it against the girl's hand hoping that she'll catch on that you are making an amorous pass. Very few do, actually. Then, of course, there are the morning sessions (at least at one of the youth camps I attended) that focus on rock music, fornication, and respect for authority. Aggressive softball games in the afternoon, more showers in the afternoon after supper, asking a new girl to sit with you in church, Bible college pre-services at 6:30, evening services, afterglows, and the occasional ringmeeting (nod to Jody). What a great life! Actually, most of the youth camps I attended were great and I loved every minute of them, even the ones that, looking back, weren't so great. God used camp to profoundly impact my life. I gave my life to Christ at HHYC in June of 1991. I've been part of youth camp ministries now for over 10 years and still believe in the purpose of youth camp. In fact, that's why I'm catching a red-eye flight to Pennsylvania from Seattle next week, spending lots of money to get the rest of my family there, putting in countless of hours of prep work, and planning on working 16-hour days. It's worth it. Definitely!

Anyway, after all that, we had a great camp last week with Richard Gremillion and Lucas & Hannah Shrout. Fantastic services, anointed preaching, and fervent worship. Awesome! My kids loved it. They have never been that filthy, ever. Kassady looked like a raccoon each night. She would normally crash during service, with Trey forcing his eyes open so he could get ice cream afterwards. During one service that apparently was taking too long for Trey, he leaned over to Lori and said, "Can the preacher take five so we can get out of here?" Money quote! It was nice to see so many of our friends that we don't see that often the rest of the year. Some of the friendliest people in the world are up here in the northwest.

This week, Liberty is singing at the Nazarene Inter-Mountain District campmeeting in Nampa. Dr. James Diehl is the evangelist and I can already tell that I am going to thoroughly enjoy his ministry. Last night's message was incredible. Just what I needed. Royce is also directing the camp choir and that's a great experience. Last night, which was the first night of campmeeting, several of our friends were at the service and afterwards Dan, Julianne, Royce & Tammy, Marc & Talisha, Duane & Sheila, Aaron & Sherilyn, and Lori & I (along with all of the kids) went out to Applebees. We laughed waaaay too much!

Life is good.

Nouvelle Star

OK, I promise I'm not reverting to one of those bloggers who just post YouTube videos, but this one has to be shared. This guy is incredible!

Insight

I subscribe to the RSS feed of a handful of blogs. Recently, two of my friends posted thought-provoking words of wisdom.

Paul Peterson posts on what qualities make up a good friend.

Phil Bishop comments on the temptation to be a people-pleaser (I know all about this one).

the 4th

Happy Independence Day from the Waggoner Pyromaniac Clan. Trey has inherited the genetic tendency towards sparklers, firecrackers, and large explosions. I just talked to Dad the other day and he was planning to purchase large quantities of explosives (well, at least fireworks) in Indiana. If anyone in Frankfort hears a loud bang followed by sirens, give me a call.

It's difficult to keep those punk sticks burning. At least, my 4-year-old, bargain bin punk sticks.

This is the first year for Kassady to partake in the holiday festivities. She was a little tentative, mostly sticking with the poppers.

All Trey wanted to do was have sword fights with sparklers. This might have contributed to Kassady's hesitation.

This might be the worst national anthem performance ever

The next 2 videos are just horrific renditions of the National Anthem. You have to appreciate a country that doesn't cart these men off to a well-deserved hanging. For a beautiful rendition of "America the Beautiful" (thanks to the interns at Our Roller Coaster Ride who caught my misprint) visit my friends over at edgewise.

Happy 4th of July

Days of Liberty

This has been a fun weekend for Liberty. Sunday morning, we were in Baker City, OR for a God and Country Rally in the park. About 600 or so people showed up for our performance, which featured among the many wonders of a Liberty concert, the funniest moment since I've joined the group. Those of you who have witnessed our outrageous rendition of the Jimmy Buffet-tinged tune "Contagious" will remember that Doran is an absolute idiot on the song. He pulls off dance moves which to be honest more closely resemble a siezure and yells out random comments from the keyboard. At one point, Doran screeches a Caribbean trill and Royce will usually act startled and stagger around the stage. Well, it went off like it has for several concerts, but this time with one memorable addition. To bring it all into context, you have to realize that we were singing on a giant trailer and were approximately 4 foot off the ground. In the front of the trailer were patriotic banners and streamers. Well, Royce jerked around the stage and decided to jump off the trailer. Unfortunately, he failed to think through the fact that the banners and streamers would be in his way. As he lunged forward, his foot got tangled up in the banners, tripping him. He hit the ground, hard, at such velocity that he just naturally rolled over on his shoulder. You know, all this was happening in milliseconds, but it seemed like everything was in slow motion. As he rolled over, his eyes were wide, his mouth forming a perfect "o". He got back on his feet and lumbered back to the trailer where the rest of us had quit singing and were doubled over the back of the makeshift stage. I was laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face. I tried my best to complete the song, but couldn't. The track just finished without us. I would give big money if someone had caught that on video.

Sunday night we were at Eagle (ID) Nazarene (Royce's home church). The concert turned into an incredible worship experience with people in the audience testifying to what God was doing in their lives. Awesome!

Last night we made our way up to LaGrande, OR to Hot Lake Springs, a historical resort. Hot Lake Springs is being renovated by a wonderful Christian couple, David and Lee Manuel. David is an incredible artist whose work is internationally recognized. He has pieces in the White House, Department of Justice Building, as well as other prestigious locations around the country. For more information on his incredible artwork, visit the Hot Lake Springs website. We were each presented with a rare print. Incredible! We had a fantastic concert. Aaron Horn, Liberty's road manager, accompanied us on the trip. Actually, Aaron was on youth staff with Doran and I at Grace and is now working on a ministerial degree at Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs, CO. Trey and Courtney (Doran's daughter) also went with us and had a fantastic time. They thought they were big stuff. The concert promoter had them hand out programs and take the offering. They were in the height of their glory! Below are some random shots from the evening:

We posed with our honorary road manager, Aaron. We had a blast!

Normally, this expression can be found on Dan's face when he forgets the words to a song, but this time Royce stole the expression to display his joy with the sound system.

A work of David Manuel that particularly moved me was a statue entitled "A Tenor Going Home". It's part of his "Great Men of America" series.

Courtney and Trey took time off from the free pop foisted upon them by the incredible Hot Lake Springs staff to pose for a picture. Trey's not really into hugging, but that will change.

Royce occasionally moonlights as a news correspondent for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". He delivers one of his brilliant and poignant monologues for the camera operator (me).

Doran and Royce exchange goods in front of one of the oldest trading posts in the west.

Royce practices his bass singer pose. He has quite a bit of work ahead of him.

Dan takes time before each concert to meditate. He normally uses "The Wizard of Id" comic strips as inspiration.

Doran was often mesmerized by the chickens, roosters, and peacocks who freely roam the grounds.

The peacocks were very loud and often interrupted Royce's jokes, much to our delight. Fortunately, he only crowed back twice.

We did have an incredible time of worship last night. We sang "Holy Ground" and the crowd rose as one and joined us in a beautiful time of praise.

This might be one of Oregon's most historical sites, but that doesn't stop us from doing our bluegrass rendition of "Gospel Plow". Classy, classy, classy!