Happy Independence Day!!

A couple weeks ago, the activities director at the Burwell nursing home called and asked if we would consider celebrating the 4th of July with them. We readily accepted the invitation and so while listening to the classic audio-book, The Count of Monte Cristo, we enjoyed the lovely two hour drive to Burwell. (It is about 100 miles due north of Holdrege.)

We enjoyed meeting the residents and had a great time singing and playing songs about the history our nation.

Our program was a variety of songs from the different eras in American history as well as just some of our favorite songs to play such as "Goin' to the Chapel", and "the Preamble". Joseph cleverly tied this conglomeration of music together with a narrative written entirely in verse. This is a talent that none of us knew he had until he became the emcee at our programs. Keep it up Joseph!!!

I can't believe that Independence Day has already come and gone. We all feel so blessed to live in this nation and we enjoy being able to share this love with other people. God Bless America!

Once the 4th was over it hit us that the Great Plains Opry was right around the corner. In fact it was only four days away. Now we had not been lazy or negligent in preparing for this program and we had practiced everyday for several weeks. But when you get to less than a week before the performance and you find that nobody knows exactly what they are going to be wearing, that the singing harmonies are still not exactly together, and that the routines are not totally put together, and that to tell you the truth the program is still pretty rough then you start to get worried. So we jumped right into polishing each song and routine. Finally when Saturday arrived, we finished our final dress rehearsal and then quietly put our faith in the Lord and just prayed that He would "consecrate our performance".

The Great Plains Opry was being held in Holdrege (which was very convenient for us). We were going to play in...

Yes, the Tassel!!! It is a relatively new building and is an extremely nice performance hall.

Here is a picture we found of the stage. It is a pretty large stage and it was a relief to be able to have plenty of room to do our routines as you will see in some of the other pictures...

I guess I had better mention that we had decided to go back to the 1950s for this program. We had a lot of fun learning some of the popular songs from that era. Here are some videos and pictures of our performance.

Here is a video of the flag poi routine that I have written about in past blogs. When we practiced this routine we had to do it in our backyard and I am sure we kept our neighbors very entertained. We hope you enjoy watching this because we sure had fun learning it.

John and I had worked many hours to try to learn this dance. It was rewarding to actually get it pulled together in time. We hope you enjoyed this video.

Ba Ba Ba Ba Babara Ann

Here is the finale for the Barbara Ann line dance

"See ya Later Alligator" Richards' style

Don't John and Seth look sharp!

After the performance we got a group picture with a couple of our friends Hannah Robbins, and Michael Jones

We again felt the Lords' hand sustain us and help us accomplish the impossible.

MORE??

If you are not tired of us yet you will find that life continues to fly by. Here some random pictures of our days after the Opry...

Its time to say goodbye... to what?

Yup say goodbye to their "bushy bushy hairdos"

Summer must really be here because the boys were finally ready for their summer buzzes!!!

Hey Graham its lookin' good?

"Marilee loves Baskin"

is definitely an understatement.

Seth is in charge of this juggling routine and it will be neat to see it when they get it together right boys?

PHOTO TIME!!!

"To be or not to be"

As you can see they got a hold of the cat-eye glasses and kept us all entertained while they experimented with every photo setting they could find.

Inspiring Art!!!

A couple weeks ago we were visiting a historic Pioneer Trail Center in Omaha and we saw several bronze statues on display. Upon closer inspection we found that the bronze displays depicted different events from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. We have seen many depictions of Jesus Christ but these touched us immediately with a spirit of reverence and awe and we could tell that these were truly great masterpieces of art. Here are some of our favorites...

"Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea"and He "spake unto them, saying... It is I; be not afraid"

Matt. 14:25, 27

These words are just as true today as they were 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ is the master and Lord of both heaven and earth and so no matter how strong and scary the spiritual storms may seem there is nothing to fear when we put our trust in Him.

"Mary... sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word... and Jesus answered and said... But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part..."

Luke 10: 39, 42

"How oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her

chickens under her wings, and have nourished you."

3 Nephi 10: 4

"Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name..."

4 Luke 11:2

We left the visitor's center uplifted and inspired by the life and example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is not an experience we will soon forget.

Practice makes perfect or permanent?

This is our dilemma... Are we actually improving our musical skills or are we just permanently forming bad musical habits? We work really hard to achieve the former goal. I can't believe our summer camp is half over. This 3rd week has just flown by too fast. We have had many good practice sessions and we are finally pulling our next Great Plains Opry program together. It should be a blast!

As you can see we are still working on choreographing this song. Either I need to grow a couple inches taller or Joseph needs to shrink a little. right Joseph?

I'm positive that these are the skinniest saxophones ever invented. If you ever want to make one its actually very simple, all you need is foam core, gold color spray paint, and a kazoo.

Stick it all together and you get a kazoozophone!!!

Can't go a day with out practicing our poi. It is so much fun to be able to get the balls to swing the way you want them to and not get hit every second.

John put together a dance for the song Ba Ba Ba Ba Babara Ann... This is the finale!

Water breaks are always welcome!!!

BREAK TIME!!! Now boys if you are going to wrestle go outside (chuckle)...

Tuesday June 29, Hastings Village:

Yes, we went to Hastings for the first time this week. It was wonderful to be able to meet new people and make new friendships. It was a very good experience. There is nothing quite like playing music for a new audience that does not know what to expect and to watch them warm up and start tapping their toes and really get into the music.

And then again there is nothing quite like the feeling of seeing old friends who welcome you with big smiles and make you immediately feel at home. We had just such an experience on Thursday when we performed our patriotic program for the Senior Center Volunteer Brunch in Elwood.

Not only was the company excellent but the food was so good!!! I would like to say that again, the food was DELICIOUS! They served sausage, biscuits, and gravy, an egg casserole, sticky buns, and a frozen fruit slush. Yummy!

Thank you Elwood Volunteers for making our visit so enjoyable for us!!!

The next day we played at the Holdrege Memorial Homes. Since they had already heard the first version of our patriotic program last month, we played a more polished revised version of it for them.

Practicing sure pays off right Marilee?

During the program, we thanked the war veterans with all of our hearts. They are an inspiration to us. We feel so grateful for the men and women who have served to keep our nation free. We are so grateful for them and for our country. We are proud to be AMERICAN!!!

This week has been filled with the Lord's "tender mercies" as we have traveled, performed, and even just practiced. We feel His love as we try to dedicate our lives to His service. Our gratitude for the Savior grew today as we read about Jesus' Atonement in the New Testament. It is indeed awe inspiring to learn about THE Son of God, who was willing to come to this earth to make it possible for us to live with Him again. I think the most sublime explanation of this eternal sacrifice is found in the gospel of John chapter 3 verse 16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Summer Camp: Week 2

We only had two performances this week and so we were really able to dive into our summer camp. Everybody is working hard and are making wonderful progress. I can't wait to incorporate the songs they are learning into our programs. Unfortunately, everybody was working so hard they forgot the camera (sniff)... So I guess I will just hit the highlights of the week that were actually captured on the camera.

Every Thursday a local Farmer's Market is held three blocks south of our home. We have always enjoyed walking down there to buy the delicious fresh produce and listening to the entertainment. A couple weeks ago, I was shocked when I was informed that we were actually going to play for the Market. I thought that was impossible. How were we going to come up with two and a half to three hours of music in less than two weeks? However after a family council meeting we found to my astonishment that if we combined the gospel, patriotic, and hillbilly programs together we would have more than enough music. When we got there and saw how many of our friends were there we just relaxed and enjoyed the evening. We had a wonderful time. Here are some snapshots of our first Farmer's Market...

First things first: TUNE UP!

Kimball, our photographer, is responsible for all of these pictures.

Thank you Kimball...

Dad introduced the family while we played our medley of fiddle and old time songs.

Then we played some of our favorite gospel music. Here Graham, Isaac, and Marilee are doing the sign language to Jesus Loves Me...

Graham and Seth are our official "everything" players. They are really good at picking up any instrument and being able play it.

Next to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we love our country so we played some of our favorite patriotic music.

During our Civil War medley, (as you can tell we love medleys) John and Katie played: When Johnny comes Marching Home.

Dad has been learning the bass guitar and he does a fantastic job.

Then the RUN RUCKUS band (Katie, Seth, and I) played some fiddle music while everyone took a break. We are going to improve our "dynamic" memory skills by memorizing about 30 fiddle songs. Wish us luck...

When everyone was ready to start again the boys sang their theme song "Hillbilly Fever". Don't worry its very contagious and by the end of the song everybody has caught it and is in the mood for our other HILLBILLY tunes.

John put together a military march that stars Graham as he "tries" to be a soldier with his overalls on... Thank you John!

Jumping Jacks are just part of their "PT" (military term for physical training) program that they love. right graham?

"Haul in the line sailors"

When the imaginary "anchor" gets hauled in and ends up on Graham's toes, Seth ends up carrying him out.

So we played and played and even after the Farmer's Market was all over we still had music running in our heads and blood. Might as well keep going, who cares if we have an audience or not?

The time passed very quickly and was a great experience for all of us. God has indeed blessed us abundantly.

STICHES!?!

Everybody in our family down to Graham have had stitches at least once until now... who could it be?

Yes, poor Graham has finally joined the "stitches" club!!! This is how it happened...

It is very hard to grow pumpkins in a tiny garden as you can see in the picture. So instead of having them take over the ground like they do every year, the boys were making a trellis that would be strong enough to hold pumpkins. It is made out a strong metal grid that they attached to a wood frame. Well the metal grid was too long for the wood frame so as Graham was cutting the wire his hand slipped and slid along the sharp corner of the cut wire. Mom and Dad took him to the emergency room and he came back with 5 stitches and a doctor's order that he cannot use his finger for 10 days. What are we going to do without our cellist and our "everything" player?

Thankfully Graham found that he did not need that finger to play the bass so guess what he has been doing? It is healing very well and we are so grateful it is not a very serious injury...

Friday evening we had the opportunity to go to Lexington's Parkway Estates. It is the first time that we have performed in Lexington. We enjoyed meeting and talking to the people there. It is always fun to go to a new place.

We performed our patriotic program for the residents there. We are so grateful for this country and love to thank the Lord for providing a country that has the freedoms that we enjoy. The 4th of July season is always a special time for us...

Graham, Isaac, and Marilee did a line dance to the traditional tune, Black-eyed Suzie...

Here Marilee and I are playing Arkansas Traveler, another traditional American tune.

As we were driving down the main street in Lexington we were surprised to see this sign...

This was the last thing that we ever thought we would ever see. Four years ago, we would have never guessed that this was the direction that the Lord wanted us to go. However, we know that He has a plan for us and has been showing the way to go step by step. We are so grateful to be able to be doing this together as a family. As we have been working together we have truly felt His peace.

"Happiness does not consist of... the world’s idea of a “good time.” Nor must we search for it in faraway places with strange-sounding names. Happiness is found at home."

Pres. Thomas S. Monson